Selena POV

Rough hands grabbed my arms and hair. I kicked and thrashed, but a heavy hand clamped over my mouth.

They shoved me hard into the dark, suffocating back of the van. The doors slammed shut. The tires squealed, and everything went black.

My head throbbed.

I blinked against the harsh, flickering light of a single bulb. I was tied to a wooden chair.

The thick rope bit painfully into my wrists and ankles. The air smelled of motor oil and stale beer. An abandoned garage.

A heavy, scarred man loomed over me. He wore a dirty leather jacket and a cruel sneer. He tapped a hunting knife against his palm.

"Wake up, princess," the Kidnapper growled. "Time to call your Mafia husband. Tell Ellis Winston to pay one million dollars, or we start mailing him pieces of you."

I kept my spine straight. I forced my voice to stay dead flat. "He won't pay a dime for me. Let me go right now. When my uncle arrives, I will give you double."

The Kidnapper scoffed loudly. He raised his heavy hand and slapped me hard across the face.

My head snapped to the side. The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth. My lower lip split open.

"Liar!" he spat, wiping his hand on his jeans. "You don't have a rich uncle. You don't have shit. That Jenny bitch told us everything. She said the Lancaster family is completely bankrupt. You and her are the only ones left, and you don't even own the cheap clothes on your back."

My eyes widened.

"Jennifer?" I gasped, the shock freezing my blood. "Jennifer told you to kidnap me?"

The Kidnapper let out a cold, ugly laugh. "She wanted you dead. Plain and simple. But once the boys found out you were actually the Mafia Don Ellis Winston's wife, I figured you were worth way more alive."

He stepped closer. The smell of cheap liquor rolled off his breath. He lowered the hunting knife. He pressed the cold, flat edge of the blade directly against my swollen pregnant belly.

My breath caught in my throat. Terror finally broke through my calm facade.

"Please," I whispered, my voice trembling violently. "Please... don't hurt my baby."

The Kidnapper narrowed his dark eyes. He leaned in, his voice menacing. "Then call him. Now."

He reached into my cardigan pocket and ripped out my phone. He grabbed my hair, pulling my head back, and pressed the cold blade right against the pulsing vein in my neck.

With his other hand, he dialed Ellis's number and held the phone to my ear.

It rang. And rang.

Pick up. Please, Ellis, pick up. Then, the line went dead. The screen flashed CALL REJECTED.

My heart completely stopped. The line went dead. He hung up on me.

Little did I know, in the hospital suite miles away, Jennifer smiled sweetly and handed the ringing phone back to Ellis as he stepped out of the bathroom. "You should head back to work, Ellis. I'll be fine here on my own."

Ellis took the phone. He glanced at the screen. He noticed a missed call from me.

He stared at it for a second. "Alright. Call me if you need anything." He walked out without a second backward glance.

Jennifer smirked. She must believe her dear half-sister and the baby in my belly should be gone by now.

But she would be disappointed.

In the dirty garage, the Kidnapper stared at the CALL FAILED screen in pure disbelief. He pulled off his ski mask, his face twisting in agitation.

"No fucking way!" he yelled, pacing heavily in front of me. "Why didn't he answer his own wife's call? You're carrying his kid!"

I took a deep, shaky breath. The tears I refused to shed finally dried up. The last agonizing shred of hope I had for Ellis Winston completely vanished.

"Because he doesn't love me," I said. My voice was eerily calm. "I told you. He wants me dead just as much as Jennifer does. Let me go. I will wire you twenty grand right now. My uncle is tracking my phone's GPS. He is coming, and he won't be as nice as I am."

The Kidnapper stopped pacing. He looked at my calm face, then down at his knife. He hesitated.

Suddenly, the dead phone in his hand lit up.

A sharp, loud ringtone pierced the damp, silent air of the garage. It made both of us jump. The Kidnapper stared at the glowing screen.

The caller ID flashed in bold letters: Ellis Winston.

The Kidnapper's eyes widened with sudden greed. He quickly hit the answer button, turned on the speaker, and shoved the phone right next to my face.

Selena POV

"Ellis!" I screamed. My voice tore through my raw throat.

"Ellis, help me! I was kidnapped! They have a knife to my stomach! They are going to kill our baby if you don't pay them!"

I panted heavily. I waited for the frantic concern of a husband. I waited for the ruthless Mafia Don to threaten the men who dared touch his pregnant wife.

Instead, the line was dead quiet for two seconds.

Then, a soft, familiar cough echoed through the speaker. It was Jennifer. She was right next to him.

"Selena, your acting is getting worse," Ellis's voice finally came through. It was ice-cold, dripping with absolute disgust. "Did you really think hiring a few street thugs to stage a fake kidnapping would get you out of the surgery?"

My blood froze. "Ellis, I swear to God, it's real! He's going to cut me open..."

"Enough," Ellis snapped. The absolute, terrifying authority in his voice made even the Kidnapper flinch.

"You are wasting my time. Tell your cheap actors to drop the act and go home. If you are not prepped on the operating table by eight o'clock tomorrow morning, I will drag you there myself. Do you understand me?"

"Ellis, please! They are going to kill..."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He hung up.

The silence in the garage was deafening. The dial tone echoed in the cold air. Ellis had just signed my death warrant.

The Kidnapper slowly lowered the phone.

The hesitation in his eyes was replaced by a dark, ugly grin. He looked at my stomach, gripping the hilt of his hunting knife tightly.

"Well, well," the Kidnapper chuckled. He stepped closer. I could smell the stale beer and cheap smoke on his breath. "Looks like your rich Mafia Don really doesn't give a damn if I carve you up."

He raised the knife high above my belly. The rusted blade caught the dim, flickering light of the garage.

"Let's see what's inside, shall we?"

The kidnapper laughed. The rusted blade swung down toward my belly.

My hand slipped into the sleeve of my cardigan. My fingers wrapped around the sharp piece of glass I hid earlier when they tied me up. It cut my palm, but the pain grounded me. It kept me awake.

I didn't cry. My eyes locked onto his. I was a mother protecting her cub. There was no fear left, only a cold survival instinct.

"You want my life?" I hissed, raising the bloody glass. "Then let's die together!"

I lunged forward.

Before the kidnapper could react, a deafening roar shook the concrete floor.

CRASH.

The heavy metal roll-up doors of the garage exploded inward. A massive, black military SUV smashed through the barrier, crushing everything in its path. Dust, smoke, and metal shards filled the damp air.

The kidnapper stumbled back. He dropped his knife in shock.

For a split second, my heart jumped. Ellis. Did he realize he was wrong? Did he come for me?

The SUV doors flew open. A dozen men in full tactical gear poured out. They didn't wear the Winston Gang suits.

They carried assault rifles and moved with lethal precision. They wore the elite crest of the Merrick family.

My uncle Kingsley's private overseas bodyguards.

Gunfire erupted. It was a one-sided slaughter.

The kidnappers didn't stand a chance against trained killers.

Within ten seconds, every thug in the warehouse was dead on the concrete floor. The man who threatened my baby fell with a bullet right between his eyes. He didn't even have time to scream.

The gunfire stopped. The sudden silence ringing in my ears was heavy.

A tall man in a dark trench coat stepped over the bodies. He was Uncle Kingsley's right-hand man, Victor.

He walked straight to me and dropped to one knee. He pulled out a combat knife and cut the thick ropes binding my wrists and ankles.

"Miss Merrick," Victor said. His voice was steady and respectful. "I apologize for the delay. The boss sent us. We tracked your phone."

Merrick. Hearing my mother's maiden name, my true family name, made the tears finally spill down my cheeks.

I wasn't a nobody. I wasn't the bankrupt Lancaster orphan Jennifer claimed I was. I had backing.

Victor took off his coat and wrapped it around my shivering shoulders. He scooped me up in his strong arms.

"We have a medical helicopter waiting outside," he said, carrying me toward the exit. "You and the baby are safe now. Your uncle is waiting for you."

The adrenaline leaving my body made the pain in my stomach flare up like fire. The world started to spin. Warm blood dripped down my legs. I was losing consciousness.

I grabbed Victor's collar. My fingers stained his white shirt red.

"Wait," I breathed out.

"Miss?"

"Fake the scene," I whispered. My vision went dark. "Use my blood. Leave my wedding ring. Do not let Ellis find me. Make him think I am dead. I don't want him anymore."

Victor nodded once. "Consider it done."

I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me.