Obviously, since I didn't have any money and had no way to earn any either, I had to quit school. I didn't have a place to live anymore, so I had to move in with my only surviving relative: my grandmother. With just one small luggage of clothes and necessities, I took a train to a nameless town in the countryside where my grandmother was living.

By the time that I left the capital city, I was already prepared for the worst. When I first stood in front of the address that was supposed to be where my grandmother lived, the reality wasn't too far from my expectation. My grandmother, as I was told, ran a small confectionary and cake shop in a very small town. The description was spot on.

'Sweet Time' was the name on the faded white and pink sign of the small shop owned by my grandmother. It was clear that the sign had faded from white and red to its current state of pink. The shop was located on the first floor and our living quarters were on the second floor.

Life with my grandmother was like a return to the basic of everything. We were poor but happy. Our house and shop were small, but it was enough for two small girls like us. I went to a local public high school to continue my education and was granted a scholarship to further help with my expenses.

I did everything that I could to support my grandmother just so that we could survive and keep the shop afloat.

That meant that I worked every single hour of the day that I was free. I rarely went out with friends because I had to work at the store. I focused on my study so that I would get a scholarship to university. It went without saying that we didn't have enough money to send me to university.

Life was tough but it was simple enough. Throughout it all, my grandmother was always there for me. Not once did she complain even as she got older and that meant that I didn't have any valid reason to complain either. At the end of my highschool life, I got a full scholarship to study arts and design at a nearby university.

That meant that I had to move out and live at the university dorm, but I still made sure to travel the short distance home to visit my grandmother and help out at the store.

It was during my freshmen year at university that I met my first and only boyfriend. Life was all well and good until...those men turned up.

One day, when I arrived at the store from one of my grocery shopping trip, I could immediately sense that something was wrong. The whole neighborhood was quiet, too quiet. It was like no one was living or breathing there at all. No one walked the street, no car passed by and there were just no signs of life.

My heart skipped a beat as my eyes focused on a large black limousine that was parked in front of my home. I have never seen a limousine in real life before, only in the movies. It was obvious that in this small and poor town where few people owned cars, no one owned a flashy black limousine.

What I couldn't wrap my headd around, as the shock of all this took over, was why was there a limousine parked right outside my house?

Once my body had recovered from its initial shock, I found myself dropping the grocery bag out front and running as fast as I could towards the store. The sight of smashed windows, broken signs and flowerpots tipped over spilling black soil everywhere stunned me to the core as I gasped in shock.

What happened here while I was gone?

The next thought that entered my head was...grandma! Where is she? Is she ok?

"Grandma!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I ran through the ajar door into the store. The inside of the store was also a mess just like the outside. Everything that could practically be destroyed was destroyed and there, kneeling on hands and knees in the middle of the floor, was my poor grandmother.

"Grandma!" I cried out as I ran to her side, bending down to support her frail body.

"Lisa..." my grandmother called my nickname softly in between her upset sobs.

The sight of her crying and how her body shook from shock and fear broke my heart into a million pieces. What did we do to deserve something this cruel?

"You're finally back,"

A man's low and emotionless voice said, making me realize for the first time that my grandmother and I were not the only ones in the room. Slowly, I looked up in the direction of the voice. There, not so far from where we were crouched down on the floor, were three very tall and big men. All dressed in black.

I couldn't make out their faces because they all wore black sunglasses that hid their eyes from view. Their black suit, pants and shiny leather shoes seemed pristine and perfect even after all the havoc that they have wrecked in my home. These men seemed like they appeared straight out from a movie...a mafia mob movie.

So, this...was the mafia...

"Dear sir, I apologize if we have offended you in anyway but...I'm sure all of this has to be some sort of misunderstanding..." I said in a shaky voice as I slowly got up to my feet.

"Do you know Simon and Marianne Maxford?" one of the men dressed in black asked sternly.

"Yes...they were my parents..." I replied softly. What did the mafia have to do with my parents? It's been around six years since they've passed away...

"Then there is no mistake. We've finally found you," the man continued in a leveled voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Take a look at this," the man said as he held out a few sheets of paper towards me.

Hesitantly, I took the papers from him while noticing that my hands were shaking badly. What could these papers be?

Before I had the opportunity to read the content of the paper, the man began speaking again as if answering my unasked question.

"This is a loan contract that your parents made with our boss when they took out a five-hundred-million-dollar loan," the man stated factually.

"...What?!" I exclaimed in shock.

Five hundred million dollars?!

--To be continued...

That's impossible. My parents never mentioned taking out any debt from the mafia and definitely not five hundred million dollars. What would they even need that much money for anyways? We lived a normal life. We didn't have any crazy money to spend like that.

I turned to look behind me at my sobbing grandmother who had a look of absolute shock on her face. I knew it, this is probably also my grandmother's first-time hearing about all this. I was worried about my grandmother. She looked so pale like she could pass out at any moment and her silent sobbing cries had gotten louder as the situation worsened around us.

"It's just as the contract states. Your parents borrowed five hundred million dollars from our boss and we're here to get it back. Simple," the man continued in a passionless voice.

Simple. My foot.

I looked down at the contract that I clutched tightly in my trembling hand. Scanning it, I could see the words and figures of five hundred million dollars. The signature of both of my parents were on the document. Did they really take out this ridiculous loan? Why?

"But...my parents passed away many years ago..." I whispered, still unable to come to terms with this.

I was in no position to pay off any debt. We could barely afford to get by. We had no money to spare, let alone the five hundred million dollars that the man was talking about.

"Exactly. That's why we've been looking high and low for you, their only daughter. Since your parents are dead, you'll have to pay the boss back," the man said while nodding his head.

"But...I don't have any money..." I said, completely at a loss.

"Well, that's not exactly my problem. However, the boss wants his money back. So, you're coming with us," the man said.

Before I could react, the man's hand had reached forward in astonishing speed and was gripping my wrist tightly in his large hand. He didn't hold me too tightly and it didn't hurt but no matter how much I struggled against him, his grip wouldn't loosen.

"Let go! What do you think you're doing?" I cried out loudly as I continued to struggle vainly against his grip.

"Stop struggling. You're making this unnecessarily hard for both of us. My boss has ordered me to bring you to him if you don't have any money to pay him back with," the man said as he dealt with my struggling effortlessly.

"No! I refuse!" I shouted.

"Well, I'm just doing my job. Hurting women and old grannies isn't my thing. I suggest you stop struggling now and come with me willingly," the man said sternly.

"Lisa!" I heard my grandmother call out my name repeated in a strained and broken voice when she witnessed the physical struggle between the man and I.

However, soon after my grandmother was silent. I turned around to see that she had fainted. Oh...what do I do now?

"Let go! Can't you see my grandma has fainted! This is all because of you..." I shouted at the man, tears stinging my eyes. This is the worst; I can't start crying now. I need to help grandma first...

"Yo...you stay behind. Call the ambulance and get dear granny there to the closest hospital. Girl, you're coming with me," the man instructed one of his teammates while pointing a finger at my grandma.

The next thing I knew, my body was being lifted off the floor. The man carries me up and threw me across his shoulder effortlessly. I cried out in surprise at what was going on before I started beating my firsts on his shoulders and kicking my legs wildly.

"Grandma! Grandma!" I called out as loudly as I could as I continued to struggle.

I watched my grandmother's unresponsive form as she laid on the floor and I felt tears running down my face. Is she going to be, ok? I don't have anybody left...I can't lose her too.

...

Everything that happened once I entered the black limousine was like a scene from the movies where the young woman was kidnaped by the mafia, stuffed into a car with her hands and feet bounded and a black bag placed over her head to stop her from struggling and to make sure that she didn't know where she was being taken.

Just like in a movie, once I was inside the car I wouldn't stop struggling and yelling at the top of my lungs. The men restrained me to the seat at first with their hands before they looked at each other and decided that more needed to be done to restrain me.

"Listen, Miss. I've been ordered to treat you kindly and with respect. I'm not allowed to use violence but if I deem that you will do less damage to yourself if you were restrained then I will restrain you. Do you get it?" the same man from before explained with a tired sigh.

"I don't care!" I shouted in his face.

Seeing that I wouldn't cease screaming and struggling, the man nodded to his men and one man started bounding my hands together while the other bounded my feet. I screamed at the top of my lungs and cursed at them all the way until they taped my mouth shut, literally.

"This is for your own good, miss. I can't let you arrive in front of the boss in a damaged condition. Bear with us for a while..." the man said with a chuckle as he took out his mobile phone.

"Yes...you can tell the boss that we're on the way. Yes, the girl is with us," the man reported to whoever was on the other end of the line.

The phone call was short and succinct unlike the journey that I was on. Since they didn't blindfold me, probably because they thought that it was unnecessary, I was still able to see the scenery outside of the car's windows. I couldn't tell where they were taking me, but it was clear from the direction that we were going that we were headed to the capital city.

I haven't been back to the buzzling and busy city since I moved to the countryside to live with my grandmother. I wondered if that place has changed at all?

"Wake up, little miss. We've arrived,"

--To be continued...