71
-Eri Jones-
The sharp smell of cigarettes burned my nose, making me gag. My head throbbed like someone had smashed a brick against it, and my neck felt like it had been twisted the wrong way.
I tried to move, but—nothing.
My hands were stuck.
That’s when it hit me.
I was tied up.
Hands pulled behind my back. Feet bound together.
What the hell was going on?
Just then, flashes of what happened before ran through my head.
Getting hit, Hane running toward me—
Hane.
Oh God.
Where was she? Was she okay?
Kate… did she go through with the wedding? Or was she out looking for Hane?
I forced my eyes open, but everything was blurry. The air was thick with smoke, making my throat itch.
A cough escaped my throat as I struggled to breathe.
The whole place was foggy, like someone had been puffing cigarettes nonstop, which didn't help with the fact the place was obviously too small for that.
But that wasn't my concern at the moment. Where was Hane and was she alright?
My gaze caught sight of a figure moving through the haze, two more following behind.
Just the thought of my kidnapper nearing me made my heart pound furiously.
I squinted, trying to see who it was.
Then…
"Who are y—?" The words got stuck in my throat as the person stepped closer, and my stomach dropped.
"June?"
No.
No, no, no.
This was bad.
This was really bad.
June was a psycho, and if she was here, it most certainly meant she wasn't in Dubai and the cops were not searching for her.
Hane was probably in…
That thought was left hanging when I sighted the figure behind June.
It was her.
It was Hane with June's personal maid beside her, but that wasn't who I cared about.
My chest squeezed.
Yes, it was Hane, but…
Something was wrong.
She looked different.
Too different.
She was wearing a tight orange dress, barely covering anything. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun.
That wasn’t even what made my blood run cold.
It was the cigarette between her fingers.
Hane.
Smoking?
What the actual fuck?
My mind refused to believe it.
This wasn’t real.
It couldn’t be.
But no matter how many times I blinked, she was still standing there, cigarette in hand.
"Hane?" My voice shook. "What the— what are you doing here?"
She walked toward me, taking a long drag before exhaling smoke into the air.
The scent choked a cough out of me. "Shit."
She tilted her head, looking at me like I was some lost puppy.
"Listen, Eri," she started, voice smooth, almost too smooth. "I don’t even know where to start."
A sick feeling settled in my stomach.
I already knew what she was going to say.
My breathing picked up.
My heart was racing so fast it hurt.
Tears burned the back of my eyes.
I had trusted her. I had treated her like a sister.
And she had betrayed me.
The words came out broken. "Is June your sister?"
She raised an eyebrow, then let out a small laugh. "Nah. I don’t have a sister. In fact, my name ain’t even Hane."
The words made me feel like I’d been punched in the gut.
She smirked, looking me dead in the eyes. "This is the business I deal in."
I let out a breathless, humorless laugh. "So you betrayed me."
Hearing it out loud made it worse.
And the way she laughed —actually laughed— made my chest ache even more.
"As I said, that’s my business," she said, shrugging. "June paid me triple what you gave me every month. This is what I do."
The casual way she said it… like it was nothing.
Like I was nothing.
"And you never felt anything?" My voice cracked. "Not even once? With the way I treated you?"
She stopped in front of me, leaning down so our faces were inches apart.
"I’ve been doing this for almost ten years, Eri," her eyes were cold. "I pretend to be people’s maid. Their best friend. Girlfriends. Wives. Whatever they need me to be."
She took another long drag, exhaling in my face.
Again, I coughed, but it wasn’t the smoke that hurt.
It was her words.
"Some people are nice. Some are assholes," she continued. "But I don’t give a fuck about any of them."
A part of me wanted to scream.
Another part wanted to cry harder.
Before I could say anything, June let out an annoyed groan.
"For fuck’s sake, can I kill her already?"
Every muscle in my body tensed.
"You said you wanted to let her know she got played," June continued, crossing her arms. "Now can we get this over with?"
Die?
I was actually going to die?
I wanted to laugh.
What a joke.
I would’ve rather not known Hane had betrayed me before dying.
"Are you sure we should do this?" Jenny, June’s maid, asked nervously.
June turned to her, smiling like a damn psychopath. "Don’t worry, Jenny. Everything will be fine."
Then she looked at me.
I shook my head violently, tears spilling down my face.
"No," I sobbed. "Please. Please don’t do this."
Yanking against the ropes, I tried releasing myself. All the adrenaline popping in me.
But if was useless as I'd been tied extremely tight.
No!
Was I seriously going to die?
I stared at Hebe who was heading back to June, still puffing on the cigarette.
No!
This couldn't be.
Not only had she betrayed me, but she didn't care.
This was her business, which meant many more people had been killed because of her.
The thought made me shiver.
I couldn't be part of those people. I had to not be.
Then—
A wailing siren.
The whole room went dead silent.
June’s face twisted in pure rage.
"Fuck. Shit, damn, gosh, fuck this," Hane cursed, face immediately pailing.
June grabbed Jenny’s wrist. "Let’s go. Now."
The two bolted toward the back.
But Jenny tripped, letting out a loud scream as she hit the floor.
She grabbed her ankle like it hurt, unable to move.
And June?
She kept running.
Didn’t even look back.
Coward.
Hane, on the other hand, stood frozen, cigarette slipping from her fingers onto the dusty ground.
Just then, the door slammed open.
Relief flooded my body so fast I felt dizzy, as police officers swarmed in.
Right beside them was…
Don. "Eri!"
His eyes were wild with panic as he ran toward me.
The second he reached me, his hands were everywhere—checking my arms, my face, my hair, like he needed to make sure I was really here.
"Don." My voice cracked. "Don."
I threw myself into him, my sobs muffled against his chest as his arms tightened around me.
His hand ran over my hair.
"It’s okay," he whispered. "I’m here now."
The cops pulled Hane’s arms behind her back, cuffing on her wrists as she started screaming.
"I was just doing my job!" she shrieked. "It was just a fucking job!"
The officers didn’t care.
They dragged her away, while the rest went after June.
Don pulled back slightly, cupping my face.
"Let me get you out of these ropes," he murmured.
I barely even felt the ropes anymore.
All I felt was him.
And the fact that I was safe.