When I woke up, it felt like I'd been hit by a freight train.
My body was heavy, my limbs slow to respond, and my mind foggy from whatever they'd used to knock me out.
That was extreme to give for a 17 year old girl.
As my vision cleared, I realized I was in some dark, abandoned warehouse—off the radar, far away from where anyone could easily find me.
Despite the situation, I was calm. Too calm, really.
You'd think a seventeen-year-old would be panicking right now, but I was used to this. This wasn't my first time being kidnapped, and at this rate, it wouldn't be my last.
The scars running across my body, remnants of the past, were proof enough of that.
I'd lost count of how many times I'd taken bullets, knife wounds, and brutal beatings for Sophie.
I couldn't help but wonder—how many bullets would I have to take for her this time? How many knife wounds would I endure before someone would rescue me?
Yet here I was, alive.
Lucky, if you could call it that.
Partly because the Rosette family had no choice but to mobilize every SWAT team, every cop, every agent they could get their hands on to pull me out of the fire every single time.
Not because they cared about me—oh no—but because they couldn't afford the scandal. The truth. The embarrassment of losing their "
daughter
." Their puppet.
Most of the kidnappers? They weren't even professionals. Just amateurs looking to score big by targeting rich kids.
The irony?
" daughter.
And I'd survive this too. Just like I had before.
But the game was getting old, and so was I. I'd been through this enough times to know the drill, but this time—this time, it had to stop.
I promised myself, right then and there, that this would be the last time I'd be kidnapped. No more playing the victim in someone else's twisted plot. To achieved that, I would need money. More money equals more power.
A man stepped forward from the shadows, casual and unconcerned, his face fully visible. They weren't even bothering to hide who they were.
Bold. I had to give them that.
"Look, guys," I said, my voice shaky but calm, "I know how this works. I've been here before. But let me give you some advice—release me now, before things get really bad for you."
He sneered, unimpressed, and turned away like I was nothing more than an annoying fly.
As if my words were meaningless. He approached the others, his voice low but sharp, "Are they here yet?"
"They're coming," one of his accomplices replied.
The man scoffed, clearly irritated. "I don't get it. Why do we even need them? We can just dispose of her ourselves, right now."
My stomach twisted at his words—"
dispose of her
?" The casual way he said it sent a shiver down my spine, but I refused to let fear take over.
I had to stay sharp. If I didn't, I was dead.
I cleared my throat and forced my voice to stay calm, though I could feel my pulse racing. "Listen. Whoever your employer is, whatever deal he's cut with you, I can double it. Triple it, even. Let me go, and I'll pretend this never happened. You can walk away from this clean with clean money."
The man glanced back at me, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "I don't think you fully comprehend the situation you're in, right now."