Chapter 2 2

Hailey's POV.

"So my baby girl will soon be a freshman of Oxford university. Wow. I still can't believe it", Gregory sighed as we stared at the moon slowly taking its place high in the dark sky. "Very soon, you'll be speaking like late Queen Elizabeth", he teased.

I playfully hit him on the chest "Stop it", I mumbled, but it only succeeded in making him laugh harder.

"Thank you", I suddenly said with a sigh when the laughter died down and we got silent.

"For what?", He asked, genuinely confused.

"For being there for me. For fighting with me and for me through the tough times. You've always been there for me even when I couldn't be there for you. You and Margaret are the only two people I have in my life who truly love me despite how much of a loser I am-"

"You're not a loser, Hailey. I hate it when you say things like that. You are the best, and Oxford university agrees with me. I'm always going to stand by you, no matter what. You mean the world to me, and no one can ever take your place in my life", he assured me.

"I'm going to miss you, Gregory", I confessed.

"I'm going to miss you too. But don't you worry. I'll make out time to visit you, and so will Margaret", he promised.

"Will you wait for me?", I looked into his eyes and asked.

"What?"

"Will you wait for me to finish college and get married so we can have our first sex as married couples?"

He smiled.

"I've waited for years. I can wait some more."

The thought of the conversation I had with my boyfriend an hour ago made me smile like a little girl.

He was the first person I told the good news too, and he made sure we celebrated it throughout the day. Margaret had work, so she wished me over the phone.

I thanked the universe for giving me two people who genuinely loved me.

Talking about those who didn't...

I just realized on my walk back home that I hadn't told my father about it yet. Not that he would care, but I had to let him know about it to fulfill all righteousness.

The small apartment finally came into view, but something caught my attention. I was surprised to see big, black sedans scattered all over the small compound.

What was going on?

Did my father suddenly have visitors that I did not know about?

I walked closer to the door, and from the window I saw men dressed in black. I could see my father in the crowd, but I could hear noises and cries.

I was even more confused at this point. What was happening?

"Please!! Don't kill me!!"

That was my father's voice desperately crying for help.

Without thinking, I immediately swung the door open and barged into the house to see what was going on.

Before my own eyes, my father was beaten and tied to a chair with the nozzle of a gun pushed against his forehead.

Just a little more pressure on the trigger, and my father would have been a dead man. The tensed silence that occurred throughout the whole room made it obvious that it was my sudden presence that stopped them from ending his life.

I looked around, and I didn't need a prophet to tell me these were evil people.

It was as though I'd stepped into a den filled with hungry, dangerous lions.

They were all dressed in black suits, with faces harder than a brick wall. Most of them had tattoos scattered all over their faces, but I noticed that they all had a common tattoo of a dagger on their necks.

A mafia gang.

I was doomed...

One thought came to mind, and that was to run away.

In one swift move, I turned away and made for the door with all the speed my frail, shivering legs could muster, but it was not enough.

Before I even got to touch the doorknob, I was lifted off the ground by one of the men.

"Drop me down! Drop me down right now!!", I cried and kicked with all my might, and I was duly thrown to the floor, blood rushing from the cut I got from falling head first.

"Axel, p... Please! I need you to spare my life! I know I was stupid, but I shouldn't have done what I did. I shouldn't have stolen from you. I was being stupidly greedy. Please spare my life!! Please!!", My father kept begging for his life, not caring at all that mine was also in danger.

I would've begged too, but I'd been hit in the head too many times today to even think right at this point.

For some unfortunate reason, I'd caught the attention of the man who was just about to kill my father. From the aura of dangerous authority that he possessed, it was obvious he was the gang leader.

One step after the other, he began approaching me, his dark soul piercing eyes not leaving my body for once. He finally squatted when he was close enough. I was retreating in fear, but my back was already against the wall.

"Please, Axel. I still have a lot of life left to live. Please don't cut it short! Have mercy on me-"

"Edward?", He finally spoke, his voice echoing through the whole room, even though he muttered.

"Yes, boss!", My father answered immediately.

"Do you want to live?"

"You know I want that more than anything else my boss! I just need you to spare my life this one time-"

"I'll let you live."

"Thank you so much boss!! I can't thank you enough-"

"Only one condition."

"O... Okay boss... Anything you want, you will have this very instant-"

"Your daughter. She's the one I want."

For the first time since I came close to me, I looked him in his cold eyes to make sure he was joking, and he wasn't.

"S... Sir?"

"Let me rephrase... Your daughter is the one I want in exchange for your life. In other words, it's either I take your daughter with me, or I take your dead body. Choose one-"

"My daughter! T... Take my daughter and do with her whatever you want!! Infact, she's still a virgin and can serve you very well! She... She will go off for a very high price if you sell her off in the black market!! She's worth more than my life!! I promise you, my boss!!!"

In sheer disbelief, I looked over the shoulder of the gang leader.

This had to be a joke.

Surely, my father wasn't selling me off to this evil man just so he could live.

It wasn't just the fact that my father was being so inconsiderate to make me pay for whatever sin he committed against this devil, but the fact that he didn't even think twice about it.

Hell, he didn't even wait for the man to finish making his offer!

"Take her and do anything you want with her... Just spare my life", he begged him.

It was now I knew that the man I called my father hated me more than anything. I meant nothing to him.

The gang leader turned to me.

"You heard your father. You're coming with me", he said.

I don't know where I found the courage, but I looked him dead in the eye.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!"

The disrespect agitated one of the men standing beside me, and before I had a chance to fight for myself, I was picked off the ground again.

"Let go of me!! Let me go now!!", I screamed and cried at the top of my lungs. "Father!! Do something!! Don't let them take me away like this!! Father!!!"

But there he sat, watching as they carried me out of the house.

"Be careful with her. You heard what her father said. We can't scratch our diamond before selling it", the devil teased before they blindfolded me and bundled me into one of the cars.