Best believe, it had been the detective's first move to tell the police about the senator's plans. He was going to tell his partner first. How was he supposed to get his captain to listen, he did not know yet. But he had to get this message out to put all the stops in the senator's plans.
He trudged out of the bas.e.m.e.nt only to come face-to-face with the senator's personal guards.
"Get out of my way," he said and made a sweeping motion in front of him. The men did not move so he pushed past them, only to be held back by an arm around his head. He tried to put up a fight, but his knees were kicked and he dropped to the floor.
A foot booted his back and he fell facedown. He was just about to get up, but something sweet already entered his nose and he immediately lost consciousness.
**
Feng Xuan didn't know at what point she fell asleep but she was sure she had because there was no way she was not dreaming at this point.
"Dreams," she whispered to herself. "Yet again."
Feng Xuan was standing in an empty room. Light was coming from an unidentified source above and was heating her up—enough that she was sweating. "All right," her mind thought. "A nightmare then."
Feng Xuan tried to move but found that her hands and feet refused to. Oh great. Add paralysis on that too. She had been having these kinds of nightmares recently and the trick that had helped her most of the time to prevent it from continuing was moving her fingers.
But now, she could not.
Suddenly, there was a force on her back and she dropped to the floor. The ground was red and thick. When she looked at her palms, they were wet with blood.
Blood had been a normal occurence nowadays but she still couldn't shake the fear that came with it. Her spine tingled and every part of her body shook in panic. Her heart started to beat faster and louder. Her thoughts went out of control.
"Is it mine? Am I bleeding somewhere? Why do I feel like I am dying?!" These thoughts come rushing to her as she felt life slipping away from her veins.
At some dreams, the blood wasn't hers. But this time, she was pretty sure it was. The metallic smell of it made her dizzy as the blood slowly pooled around her.
"No, no, no," she said when she felt it on her knees, lifting the garment off her skin. It was coming out faster from somewhere. Soon enough it was up to her neck. She strained to get to her feet but her legs were frozen.
Before she knew it, she was crying—crying for whoever's blood it was, crying for her life that was ending. Her heartbeats went slow, her eyelids grew heavy. She was dying yet again in her dreams.
The blood had just reached her nose when she jolted awake in her seat. She was breathing in quick lungfuls. When her vision cleared she saw the man in the car. His face wrinkled at some corners, his hair thinning, and his hairline receding.
She had heard Qing Chen calling out to her before she was thrown inside a van, a gun pointed at her even before she got to sit down. As they speed through the highways, the man introduced himself as a senator that would expose her husband's wrongdoings.
"What do you mean?" she had asked.
"Just about his association with the recent killings and a certain poisoning of water."
"What are you talking about? Both nights those men had been killed, Qing Chen was with me. And what is this about poisoning water?"
The gun in the man's hand shook at the same time as his head. "You'll know soon enough when your husband admits them."
When the calm had taken its effect in the car, Feng Xuan elbowed both men that sat beside her, her foot immediately went to the man in front's crotch. The last thing she remembered were his groans of pain before they pressed something on her nose.
"I see you've bound my feet as well," she said now to the senator who was grinning at her. "You've learned your lesson."
��Sure did."
"I'm surprised you weren't wearing a diaper while your men killed those people to get to me. You're a baby. A coward."
"Heh," he said and examined the underneath of his fingernails. "My life was more valuable than theirs. They were made for brawn. I was born with brains. You, on the other hand," his eyes raked her body and Feng Xuan wanted to claw his eyes out. "You're not a brawn—not a brain either—just a beauty then. A typical trophy wife. I ought to know. I also have one. Her father had great influence with politicians. I did my best to win her hand."
Feng Xuan scoffed. "What a sad life you have."
"You're no different. Qing Chen married you for business ties."
She laughed. "He sure did. No point denying that. But don't forget: I married him for the same reason. He was also a prized commodity," she winked.
The man crouched in front of her. "Do you think he'd come save you? Or just let you die here?"
"Is that even a goddamn question?" she sighed irritably. "Sad that you have to think that. If you had gotten kidnapped, your wife wouldn't even think of saving you."
The man glared at her. What a sore loser, she thought. "I'm going to call your husband and we'll see."
"Sure, embarrass yourself. Be my guest." She added a sweet smile. "Make it fast. My cupcakes are waiting for me in my kitchen."
The man took a phone out of his pocket and put in way too much force on his screen as he thumbed the number. She should feel fear but unusually it was not there. She was pretty sure these men had no intention of killing her. At least not yet. They wanted something out of Qing Chen and she will leave as long as he wouldn't give it to them.
The call connected and she felt her heart dropped to her ankles when she heard Qing Chen's calm voice. It was great that he was calm. It only meant she had nothing to worry about and everything was under control.
She was laughing herself when he answered some of the senator's questions—who seemed to be getting more and more agitated every passing minute. His face contorting, making more lines in his stressed face.
When the call was over, he grinned at her like he had just won the world.
"Do you really have any intention of releasing me?" she asked.
"Oh yes," he laughed. "I will release you. Your husband will hold you… as you take your last dying breaths," he said and pressed the end of the gun at the side of her cheek.
Feng Xuan bared her teeth half a smirk and half in rage. "We'll see about that."