"I had warned you...."

A child's voice echoed from the void I was in.

Lying on the hot gravel, the sharp edges pressing against my skin felt as though they would either slit or burn it.

The world was ablaze around me. All I could see were the flames reaching up to the sky, darker than my soul. Flecks of burning embers floated in the air, and the sound of screams echoed everywhere—my own scream, Little Kaya's scream.

Little Kaya's head hovered above me, gently stroking my sweat-drenched hair with her tiny, bruised fingers. Memories of my mother punishing me by putting a pencil between my fingers and twisting them hard resurfaced. I almost  broke a few fingers as a child due to these tortures.

"Sameer lied to me..." I cried my heart out to her.

"Sameer was never there to begin with...." Little me spoke in my mind. I could not believe my ears.

"You, Kaya – a 30-year-old Doctor, trainee surgeon, worked your ass off to work in NHS, you left Bangladesh, you left your hell- you never dated because you were afraid of men misunderstanding you. Now you fell in love with a man within just 4 days because he had a pretty face and he saved you from kidnapping? Are you insane? Are you living in fantasy? Are you a fucking Cinderella?"

Her baby voice was raging with anger, fear, and disappointment.

"How would I know?" I tried to explain.

"You let this heartbreak happen to you. You are the idiot here. Rhys Volkner spread the trap, you gracefully stepped into it. I have warned you. Many times! All the signs were there. Every single sign was there.... You were the fucking blind, bitch!"

Little Kaya's screeches reverberated in the distance.

Her cries melded with the screams echoing all around me. Everything seemed to be screaming in my ears, causing my head to pound with pain and my body to ache—as if the hot gravel beneath me was threatening to engulf me, dragging me down to hell...

Then I woke up.

I found myself lying on the living room carpet, in front of the TV. I had fainted at the moment when every piece of the puzzle clicked in my brain, finally solving the mystery that had haunted me for the past four agonizing months.

The TV was still on, and the two experts continued to babble like two buffoons on the screen.

I realized I hadn't fainted; it was a vasovagal syncopal attack. The Vagus nerve, responsible for the parasympathetic nerve supply to the heart, had malfunctioned for a few seconds due to my extreme agitation.

My eyes were fixed on the TV screen. There was a clock above the TV, indicating it was almost 1 pm in the afternoon. I must have been in syncope for less than a minute.

My phone continued to ring in the kitchen, its faint ringing reaching my ears. I slowly walked over to it and saw that I had received voice messages. I opened them.

"Hey, Kay, darling...... I am sorry I will be entering another important meeting; I may not be able to text you, but don't worry I'll call you the moment I come out.... I love you... wish you were here with me......"

Sameer or Rhys Fucking Volkner's soft, velvety purr traveled from the phone and burned my ears with disgust.

The voice memo started to repeat.

"Hey, Kay darling...... I am sorry I will be entering another important meeting; I may not be able to text you, but don't worry I'll call you the moment I come out.... I love you......."

Enough was ENOUGH!

ENOUGH!

ENOUGH!!!!

I began to screech like a demon at his bloody, repulsive fucking lie of an "....I love you....", grabbing a pot that hovered over the kitchen island and started to slam my phone with it. With all the energy in my body, I slammed that piece of shit as hard as possible.

After 20 or more slams, the new iPhone crumbled beneath the crooked steel pot, and glass shards scattered all over the floors, the kitchen islands... everywhere.

My whole body burned with anger, pain, disgust, shame...

He lied to me!

Sameer was never there to begin with.

He FUCKING LIED TO MY FACE!

The world beneath my feet started to shake, as if I had lost something, as if something I so deserved had been taken away from me...

"He will hurt you...."

I saw little Kaya speaking to me.

I knew he could hurt me. I saw how he killed those men in front of me, how he broke his familial protocols of staying hidden from mass media.

I saw how merciless he could be.

His eyes kept flashing before me, the eyes of a killer. There was no tinge of mercy in his eyes when he opened the car door that night when he shot three men dead. He was so fast, so sharp.

Of course, he would be,

because he was Rhys FUCKING Volkner! 

He was the son of the most powerful man on earth, everyone feared his stepmother more than they had feared God, and he was the sole heir of the empire that was equivalent to ruling the British empire in the 18th century.

I loved him! loved Sameer! 

I loved the man he pretended to be!

How could he do this to me?

How could he hurt me like this?

What harm I did do to him?

Then I saw the mess in front of me.

I broke the phone,

I had the face of a woman who had just seen a ghost.

He would look at my face once, and he would read me like a fucking open book.

And then, if I did not obey his demands... he would hurt me.

Like the men hurt me when I was little.

I would become his slave, his prisoner... his toy to play with.

He knew how independent I was, a powerful man like him enjoys putting shackles on the ankles of women like me.

I had to escape.

I needed to escape from this hell anyhow.

----------------------------------------------------

I waited until 7:30 p.m. The sun was about to set within an hour. I needed to start acting out my plans; otherwise, my life would be doomed.

My heart was beating so fast; I could feel all the thunder booming inside my head. My vision started to pulsate with all this treacherous feeling of being trapped.

I have been deceived.

Rhys Volkner played The Deception Game with me.

I needed to escape; I needed to get out immediately.

Now, how would I do this?

I looked at my clothes, and I realized that I had to abandon everything.

If I somehow returned to London, he was going to find me.

But London is my home; how could I abandon the only city that had sheltered me?

I took a tote bag and put all my valuables in them. Took my passport, money, and jewelry as well. And a set of jeans and a shirt- black, of course. The night was falling, I needed to get out of the hotel anyway, with the fact that I was just going shopping. Without John and Ju or any Volkner guard noticing me.

I opened my drawer beside Rhys's bed and saw a lot of Diazepam, mood stabilizers. I took enough doses that would not doze off or intoxicate me but would calm me down for a moment.

I sat down for 20 minutes to let the medicine start working.

----------------------------------------------

"Where are you going?"

Ju came to me with such enthusiasm; his face made my heart jump in fear. I had my sunglasses on so that he could not see how much I had cried.

"Shopping," I tried to reply gleefully.

"What do you want to buy?" "Clothes." "Let's go," Ju asked me to grab his arm. My heart started to beat fast, so fast that I feared it would pop out of my mouth.

"I would like some privacy," I tried so hard to fake my enthusiasm. Thank God, Sameer... Rhys MOTHERFUCKING Volkner was not here. He would look into my eyes and see all the lies.

Ju smiled wickedly and winked at me a bit,

"Seems like someone wanted to surprise Mr. Sameer."

At first, I did not understand what he meant, then my whole body started to curl up in abysmal hatred and disgust when I understood that Ju thought I was going for some sexy lingerie shopping! This thought made me hate myself so much that I felt like I was going to vomit.

Yes, it was my fault! I had fallen so hard for him. My whole body was screaming to everyone around me how much I wanted to get fucked by Rhys FUCKING Volkner.

I decided to play the game, I smiled back at him.

"I'll be back, promise. Just leave me alone for 30 minutes."

Ju winked at me again.

I started to walk, got out of the entrance, passed the valet parking, and saw all the Volkner guards looking in my direction.

Then it hit me.

There will be Volkner security out of the hotel premises. I just needed to keep my eyes open to see who was following me.

I walked to the shops that were nearby. Not a single clothing shop anywhere. There were a few malls just a 10-minute walkaway distance, so I started to walk slowly. Occasionally I looked back and saw a few men kept looking at me like hawks. I pretended I did not see them.

I entered the mall and wasted some money on some stupid Lingerie.

Then I aimlessly went to shop after shop to pretend I was looking for dresses or bags.

When it was 8.30 p.m., I entered the women's washrooms pretending I needed to use them. I entered the stall and sat on the commode, brought out a paper and pen, and wrote something in purest Bengali. Then I folded the paper kept it in my totes and flushed the toilet. I knew Volkner women security was with me in that loo. I came out of the stall and washed my hands.

Then I shopped for more than an hour. I could not waste the remaining cash with me, I could not risk using credit cards as I knew the bank, I was using for my cards belonged to the FUCKING Volkners.

When it was 9.30, I walked out of the mall and slowly started to walk towards the super shop that I shopped at that day for groceries.

I saw a few men follow me up to the groceries, but nobody entered the shop. They all scattered around everywhere to cage me.

Shit.

There were few people in the shop, thank God mostly looked like they were Bangladeshi, everyone speaking in Bengali and kept looking at me- thinking whether I belonged to them or not.

I took some shrimp, some coconut milk, and some random things with me, pretending that I wanted to cook for my beloved Sameer. I could not risk getting caught. Then I slowly walked to the queue and assessed the situation.

Maybe God was on my side and saw all of my desi people.

I had no idea in billion fucking years that view of Bangladeshi men and women would have calmed me so down. I always hated the people from my own country.

When it was my time to put my groceries on the tab, I asked the supervisor in perfect Bengali,

"Brother, can you give me these items? I could not find them."

Then I handed him the paper I wrote in the bathroom and slowly lifted my sunglasses and revealed to him a set of eyes that was red, lids were heavier for crying profusely.

"Please help me, I am being held hostage against my wish by the Volkner group in their hotel, they can kill me if you don't help me. Help me to escape for the sake of God. You are the only person who can help now. I am being followed by their man, they are everywhere, Please pretend that you are taking me to your back store to give me some special items and help me to escape from the back route. Better if you could arrange a car for me and drop me at the airport. Please brother help your desi sister. I am a doctor, I work in England."

It was written in Bengali.

He read the paper a few times, his eyes widened as if he saw a ghost. He looked at all the men behind me and told me in Bengali,

'Sister, follow me. I have them in back." He lied to me to play my game. Then he asked another guy at the counter to help others with the tab.

He escorted me to the back and locked the door between the main groceries and the storage space.

'What! But you told me you were not Bangali that day!" He yelled at me in Bengali.

"I am so sorry!" He might have yelled at me, but there were genuine concerns in his voice. The tsunami of tears burst out from my eyes, and I could not hold on to my emotions anymore.

"Sister, tell me what to do."

"Put me in a car, or cargo... Or anything. Just let me cross the immigration." I tried to speak while sobbing like a child. He brushed my head with his gentle palms.

"You have your brother with you, no one will harm you."
Then he looked everywhere for a minute straight, while I cried and cried.

"I will load my empty vegetable containers on a cargo, it will go back to the main depot. You can go inside one if you want. Nobody will see you leaving the store. I will put you inside a large container. That's the only solution in my head." He spoke.

"Will it drop me off at the airport? Volkner dogs will go crazy if they don't see me coming out of the store."

He looked at his wristwatch,

"I can send the cargo now. Though the scheduled leave was at 10 I will load all the containers now."

It was not a bad idea, I thought. So, I followed his order, he hid me inside a tall container and called someone, told him to take the cargo to the depot unload every container except mine, and stop at Charles De Gaulle airport for 5 minutes. When he stopped at the airport he would make 3 tapping sounds at the body of that cargo, that would be the queue for me to come out. After the tapping, he must open the cargo doors. Why? He did not explain to the driver. He just told him to follow his orders.

Though I did not see the guy, I knew for sure he was a young Bengali man. My savior paid him extra money to do the job. But this made the driver suspicious,

"Why stop at the airport?"
"Don't you understand? Follow my orders!" He yelled at the driver in Bengali.

The driver obliged without further protest and pushed my container's trolley on the cargo.

I had forgotten to thank my unknown brother who tried to save my life.

_____________

I was counting the time when the cargo stopped at the depot.

The workers emptied all other containers, but when they tried to touch mine, the Bengali driver warned them to get it out. I was panting inside that thing; the air inside was running out of oxygen. Then after a long 15 minutes, he closed the doors of the cargo. And after two minutes I heard that the engine started to rumble.

I pushed away the container's cover and sat up. I was almost breathless. I took a few breaths filled with oxygen, it calmed me down a bit. Then I searched my totes, brought up those black clothes and a 100 euro note to bribe the driver.

The moment I wanted to change my dress inside the cargo, it halted.

Did I reach the airport? If so, I should not change anymore, I needed to run.

I waited for the queue to tap in, but it did not happen. I heard the guy talking in French with a few men and they were laughing. All I could understand was s'il vous plaît and merci.

Then I heard the car engine start again after almost 20 minutes.

What the Fuck!

To my horror, I heard that the driver who started to drive the car was French and was talking to someone who was sitting with him in the front.

What the fuck happened?

Why the drivers changed??

I saw my watch, it was almost 10.30 p.m. If I was not wrong, they already had discovered the broken phone and those two love letters from Rhys Fucking Volkner on the table, side by side; maybe they now have realized that I fled away.

How far was the Airport? Where was this depot? Why did it take so long to drive there? Did the Bengali driver tell them to follow the rule of dropping me off at the airport?

What was happening?

My heart started to ache in pain with so much tension, and so much drama. I could not bear it anymore. I discovered that I needed to be evaluated by a cardiologist to treat me- everything was so out of hand.

This whole thing either would kill me or drive me mad, so much so I may attempt to kill myself.

I could not hold the anticipation any longer, the wail started to rip apart my throat, and I had to cover my mouth to prevent making any noises.

Then I heard it, the cargo was maybe on the main road, it was driving very fast with few cars. Then it made a screech and halted. A few men came closer to the car and opened the driver's door and the other door and might have pulled them out.

What was happening?

https://youtu.be/7BJ3ZXpserc

I heard people fighting in French, they were screaming, and shouting at each other. I was already standing in the inner corner; my ears were pressed with the walls of the cargo.

Then everything became quiet.

Then I heard it.

BANG!

BANG!

I pressed my mouth tightly to prevent myself from screaming as gunshot vibrations still lingered in the air. My legs could not take it anymore, I sat down, facing towards the wall, behind the container. If anybody opened the door, they would not see me if I did not come out.

I realized what happened.

To stop my uncontrollable weeping, I pressed my mouth tighter with my hands. Kneeled almost in fetal position, closing my eyes tightly. My body was shaking with every howl I was making. I had never cried like this in my whole life.

I was trapped, again. God knows which monster had trapped me!

What did I do to deserve this life?

The back doors of the cargo opened. The dark cargo was filled with yellow headlamps from various cars. I could feel a tall, muscular shadow in front of the car.

I was begging God, that I would do anything. I was in so much stomach-churning fear I knew that if God did not send help right then and there, I would vomit out everything, including my guts.

A footstep echoed in that cargo. Slow, gentle, feline-like footsteps.

He kneeled behind me; the smell of his oud made me more nauseated.

"Kay...." Sameers'... sorry Rhys Volkner's soft, low-pitched purr echoed everywhere and made my ears.

My sob lost all its limits. I knew I was running out of tears.

"......Why do you manage every 7th day to almost get killed?"

He gently stroked my spine with his calloused knuckles. It made me flinch with so much fear that I thought I would soil my clothes.

".......let's go home." He ordered gently.

I shook my head slightly. He started to pat down my hair with both his palms.

"Be my good girl........ let's go home." His voice started to change. I could not respond to anything anymore.

He grabbed my shoulder and turned me back to him; I kept my eyes closed. He cupped my right cheek with his left palm and said,

"Open your eyes, look at me."
I could not open them; I was too scared. I was too scared to see the devil's face.

"LOOK. AT. ME." 

He growled in his low pitch, between his teeth, like a lion lurking in the dark.

I had to open my eyes, and I saw his face.

I used to read that Satan was very beautiful very handsome. I would not believe it until I saw Rhys Fucking Volkner.

His Prussian blue eyes were burning like blue embers, white of these were blood red. He looked like he came from hell, to devour my soul.

But the moment I opened my eyes, his expression started to change slowly. It started to turn into sadness from sheer anger and madness. His hands reached my back, and he pulled me closer to him, making my head rest on his shoulders.

His touch made my body burn like hell. Little Kaya started to scream so loudly it felt like her screams would come out of my mouth. I begged her to calm down, but she would not.

Rhys started to gently stroke my back.

"Why are you so scared of me?" he asked me. My body curled up with unfathomable disgust.

"I am sorry," I whispered while I was sobbing, my breath started to get caught with it.

He slid his right arm under my both knees, left arm around my back, and gently lifted me, I tried to protest, and little Kaya tried to protest, she screamed at him,

"Please don't touch me, you are hurting me."

But Rhys Volkner was so deaf, he could not listen to Little Kaya's wails.

He lifted me in his arms, I grabbed his neck with the fear of falling and hurting myself.

"Why did you disobey me every time?" 

He hissed at me. There was so much anger, so much anger in that line.

"I am sorry." 

I tried to speak; I was begging his mercy. I wanted him to spare me from his traps and lies.

He brought me down from the cargo, I saw John and Ju standing there- having very different expressions. John looked like he was about to cry at my fate, Ju was in disbelief. There were other Volkner security around.

I saw Marco there; he looked like he had never seen such a view.

"She is trembling in fear, Rhys!" Marco begged him.

Rhys took me in the Phantom Rolls Royce, sat me down in his lap, opened his coat, and wrapped me with it. Then he hugged me as if he was swaddling me like a baby. Marco sat in front of us at the cabin.

The atrocious smell of oud and gunpowder filled the cabin already.

The car started; Rhys kept looking at my face as if nothing mattered on this earth. I was so tired of crying, there was so much smell that I realized I was going to vomit. I tried a lot to stop it. My stomach could not hold the contents anymore.

I vomited in his arms. There was nothing left in my stomach, so all that came was acid juices. Rhys did not break eye contact with me, he forwarded an arm to Marco. There was so much hatred, anger, disbelief, so much pain....... so much love in those eyes that it made me realize how much of a Satan this human could be. 

Marco gave him a tissue, Rhys wiped my mouth, my neck, and everywhere I had barfed; so gently as if I was made of thin sheet of glasses.

He kept wiping me for 10 minutes, every time he touched me, my body flinched.

When he was satisfied wiping me off, he threw the tissue at Marco's lap. Marco did not flinch a bit.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Rhys?"

He asked with such disbelief, with such astonishment. It did not make a single change of expression in Rhys Volkner's face.

But he broke eye contact with me and looked at Marco. He hugged me tightly now, pressing my forehead around his neck. I could feel the pulsation of his jugular vein.

His chest started to move up and down with every breath he was taking. He kept pressing me harder and replied to Marco with his devilishly beautiful voice,

"Everything."