CHAPTER FORTY TWO

Everyone pauses after hearing my shriek. Tears start falling from my eyes as the betrayal pierces my heart. The words of his promise echo in my head loudly of how he was not going to do something like this, yet here he was with blood on his knuckles.

I rushed towards him only to be stopped by Roger and Julian, who stood at the side like always, letting Arcadio do what his insane mind allowed him to do. They had blocked my way as they both held my arm tightly.

"Arcadio!" I shouted.

He moved to look at me. His face rose with goosebumps on my arms. There was no facial expression except his cold dark eyes gazing back at me.

"Ellie, get out," Arcadio says with a tightened jaw.

The words straight shoot through my heart, and anger bubbled inside me, "Oh, no. You don't ever tell me what to do!"

I try to walk towards him, shaking off their hands, but none of them twitches. "Get away from me, both of you!"

I tried to push them more, but their bodies didn't budge. "Arcadio, Tell them to get aside!"

Arcadio nods at them, and their hands automatically trail down.

I rush towards Arcadio, but instead of going up to him and smacking him, I move towards the chair.

The moment I entered the room, my eyes were on the chair. The room looked so different than yesterday. The cream couch covering the centre of the room was replaced with a giant plastic in the middle. The same chair made me shriek as soon as I entered the room because of someone sitting on it whom I never expected.

"Beth, you....came...." The hoarse sound made my tears fall twice as hard. No words can fathom coming out of my mouth at this time.

"Adrian?" The blood dripping at the side of his face made it difficult for me to recognize him. The busted lip and the cut on his right eyebrow made my knuckles white. What might happen if I was not there on time disturbs me to the core!

Without thinking, I turn towards Arcadio and am about to slap him when he stops my hand. That doesn't stop me, and with the other hand, I push him. He stumbles behind a step. "Why are you so hell-bent on ruining my life?" I scream at him.

I hear footsteps behind me, but Arcadio immediately raises his hand. I am sure it was for Roger and Julian, but I couldn't care less.

I turn back to Adrian. Immediately I remove the restraints from his hands and legs. "You okay, Adrian?" He looked unconscious. Yet He groaned and blinked open his eyes again slowly.

"Don't worry. I am right here." He started coughing blood on the floor as I removed the ropes from his hands and legs. My eyes began to water. No matter how much I hated Adrian for whatever happened in the past, and sometimes I used to wish I could injure him like this, I did not expect Arcadio to hurt him, especially after what he promised me yesterday.

I glared at Arcadio, "You know, I almost thought you did change. I guess I was wrong. A Gangster will always be a gangster no matter who comes into their life."

I bow my head down to Adrian to check if he's okay. I move away from Arcadio so that he doesn't see my tears. "I am taking him with me. Don't even dare to stop me and tell your goons the same."

I try to help Adrian stand up. I hold his waist, and he leans over my shoulders. "Beth...." he groans.

"Don't worry, Adrian. We are going to the hospital."

As we stagger outside the room, I hear Julian calling out Arcadio's name, but he only replies with, "it's fine."

That pierces my heart more. How many times am I going to let him hurt me like this? I always forget that this is a reality, not a hearts and flower novel that will make everything right at the end.

We stumble a little as his whole body weight is much more than mine, but I see Arcadio's goons staring back at me, and I ignore them. As soon as we reach the exit door, I sigh.

A voice calls out my name from behind me. When I look back, Arcadio is rushing out behind.

Surprisingly Adrian's body is taken away from my shoulder, and I stumble a little as the weight gets lifted off my body. Before I could hit the floor, strong arms tighten around my waist. Endorphins get a release at the sensation.

I panic and move away from his touch. Arcadio looks hurt when I resist his touch. Good!

I thrash my hands in the air, "what do you want now?"

He tries to take my hand in his hand, "you have to listen to me. There is something that I need to tell you."

I interrupt him, "what reason are you going to give me now, huh? Are you going to tell me that it was Adrian's fault for knowing me? That he disrespected you in some way, which made you do this to him?"

"Ellie, it is not like that...." Before he could finish the sentence, I interrupted him.

"From the time you came into my life, it has been a complete mess. I wish I had never met you!" I shout the words and move out of the gate.

Suddenly sounds of screeching tires come from behind. I look at the side of the road from where a black van is coming our way. The sounds of guns blazing follow next as it gets closer and closer.

I see guards immediately taking their stance. Everyone is panicking from left to right. I try to move, but my legs get stuck on the ground. Instead, I fall to my knees, scared of the sounds of a gun. It's like my body has gotten paralyzed with fear. I try to open my eyes to try and find Arcadio standing in front of me, yet the vision only gets smokier, and the sound gets louder and louder. I move my hand to try and feel him near still nothing.

An unknown touch makes me shiver in anxiety. I try to get away from the sensation, but another set of hands captures me. With fright, I scrunch my eyes and start throwing my hands in reflex. Suddenly, when a cloth covers my mouth, the strength of my body starts giving up. Chloroform never gets old. The last thing I feel is getting picked up in the air by someone.

I feel a loss of breath, and my hands start thrashing in the air when cold water splashes on my face. My hands are disabled to move, which makes my body get into a frenzy again. When I open my eyes, it gets blurry everywhere because of the water. I tried to shake off the water, but because of the limited movements, it didn't do a good job.

When an angry growl resonates from behind me, "Make her shut up!"

I realized that I had been shrieking at the top of my lungs. Immediately my mouth gets covered with a piece of cloth. I try to bite the fabric off, but the restraints only get tighter.

"You had one job. One job that you motherf*ckers weren't able to do correctly!" The man roared from behind me. The goons didn't have any objection lowered their head, and apologized. This man had to be their leader if they listened to his abuses.

Aggressively someone grips my cheek harshly and yanks it to the other side. The man looked nothing like a villain, as they showed in movies. This man was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He had a French-cut beard with his hair groomed. The man seemed to be older, maybe in his thirties, and had a scar over his left eyebrow.

I try to remove my face from his grip, only for his little nails to poke my cheek deeper. "Listen carefully, Bitch. I am the one who has captured you. If you try any stunts with my men or me, then I will make sure that when I am killing you, it will be slow and painful." As soon as he leaves my cheek, the pure terror starts flowing through my bloodstream.

Gripping the arms of the chair, which they tied me, I try to calm myself from hyperventilating after listening to the threat. The man continues instructing his men about what will happen if they let me run away.

Right after, the room starts emptying. I get left behind. Panic pours in more after being left alone. My heart starts drumming faster forehead starts sweating. The worst scenarios begin to play in my head one by one, making the gumption rose in my chest. In addition to this pain, the thought of not seeing Arcadio chimes. Guilt comes in next after remembering the fight that we were having. That might have been the last time that I saw him.

No, no, no. I wished there was more time to tell you how much I loved you.