Playing with Mafias

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It's been days since Lyra didn't return from the party,, the Crosswell mansion had become a place of heavy silence and broken hope.

"What do you mean you can't find any trace?"

Richard Crosswell roared into his phone, his face red with fury. "Check every camera, every street, every single place she might have gone! Just look for her last whereabouts!"

He slammed the device down on his desk so hard the screen cracked. "Dammit…"

His wife Elena rushed into the study, her eyes swollen from crying. "Honey, any news?"

Richard's shoulders slumped as he looked at her.

"I… they still couldn't find her. The investigators found her bag at the hotel, her phone was inside it."

Elena broke down, sobbing into her hands.

"How could that be? It's been days, Richard! my baby, where could she be? They found her things but not her?"

"They checked her phone," Richard said gently, pulling her into his arms.

"The last call was to Anna Chen, Lyra's so called friend. We asked her, but she denied ever meeting up with Lyra that night, and said she went home alone. We don't have any solid evidence against her… but I know Elena, you've never trusted her."

Elena nodded, her voice muffled against his chest.

"When Lyra first brought her home, I saw how ambitious she was. I let her stay because Lyra seemed happy… but now I can't help but wonder if she had something to do with this."

Just then, Richard's phone rang again. He picked it up, his patience wearing thin.

"How could that be?! It's been days! why can't I get access to the hotel's CCTV footage? When I asked before, you said you needed more time, and now you're telling me it's 'confidential property'?!"

He hung up with a curse, running a hand through his graying hair. They'd used every connection they had, calling in favors from politicians, businessmen, even old friends in the police force, but every lead had hit a dead end.

The door burst open, and his secretary stumbled in, looking pale and panicked. "Sir! Sir..you need to take this call. It's urgent!"

"Didn't I tell you to handle business calls?" Richard snapped, standing up. "I'm not interested in anything that isn't about finding my daughter!"

"Sir… it's about the hotel," the secretary whispered, holding out his phone like it was a bomb about to explode.

Richard hesitated for a moment, then took the device. "This better be important, I don't have time for games."

A deep, calm voice came through the line, one that sent a chill down his spine despite its politeness.

"Mr. Crosswell? This is Damien Blackwood. I'm calling to let you know that your daughter Lyra is safe and well. She'll be home tomorrow afternoon"

Richard's blood ran cold. "Who are you… how do you have my daughter? You better not have done anything to her, or so help me God.."

But the line had already gone dead.

Elena looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear and hope. "Who was that? Did they find Lyra?"

Richard pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "She's coming home tomorrow. But this man… I don't trust him.

"Investigate everything you can about Damien Blackwood," he ordered his secretary. "I want to know every single thing about him, who he is, what he does, who he's connected to."

***

The next afternoon, Richard and Elena stood at the mansion gate, pacing back and forth anxiously. When a sleek black Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up the driveway, their faces lit up with relief.

The car door opened, and Lyra stepped out, looking pale but whole. The moment she saw her parents, tears streamed down her face as she ran into their arms.

"Mom! Dad!" she sobbed, clinging to Elena like she'd never let go.

As she held them, she thought about everything she'd been through, the transmigration, the night with Damien, the act she'd had to put on just to survive, and for a moment, the tears felt real.

She truly did feel aggrieved, even if it wasn't for the reasons her parents thought.

The driver, one of Damien's men, got out and bowed slightly.

"Mr. Blackwood sends his regards. He asked me to let you know Miss Lyra is fully recovered and needs rest." With that, he got back in the car and drove away.

They led Lyra inside, and Richard was about to ask a thousand questions when she pulled back, her eyes tired and heavy.

"Mom, Dad… I'm so tired. I just want to sleep."

"Of course, baby," Elena said softly, leading her up the stairs to her old bedroom. "Tell me if you need anything… anything at all, okay?"

***

Lyra collapsed onto her bed, her eyes scanning the room. The walls were painted in soft lavender, her favorite color, both in this life and her past one.

The bookshelf was filled with the same types of books she'd loved, and there were photos of her with her parents all over the desk.

'We have the same taste,' she thought to herself, a small smile touching her lips before exhaustion pulled her into sleep.

A few hours later, Elena crept into the room with a tray of warm chicken soup she'd made herself.

She was about to wake Lyra when she noticed something, faint purple marks on her daughter's neck and shoulders, still visible even as they faded.

She pulled back the blanket slightly and saw more marks covering her arms and torso.

Elena clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, her knees going weak. She set the tray down carefully and backed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

The moment she was in the hallway, tears poured down her face.

Richard found her sitting on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. "Elena, what's wrong honey? Is Lyra okay?"

"My baby…" she cried, throwing herself into his arms.

"My baby was violated, Richard. There are marks all over her body… someone hurt her."

Richard's face turned white with shock, then dark with rage. "I'll find out who did this," he growled, his voice low and dangerous.

"I don't care who they are or how powerful they think they are, I'll make them pay for touching my daughter."

***

Meanwhile, across the city in Silva Castellano's penthouse, his secretary stood nervously in front of his desk.

"Sir… someone has been persistently asking for the full CCTV footage from the night of the party at the hotel."

Silva didn't look up from the document he was reading, he'd known this would happen eventually. "Who is it?"

"Richard Crosswell" the secretary replied, shifting his weight anxiously. He knew what happened to those who tried to dig too deep into Silva's affairs.

Silva finally looked up, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Give him the footage, but not all of it. Edit out anything that shows Damien and Lyra together after the drug took effect. Leave only the parts where she's seen helping him to his room."

The secretary stared at him in shock.

"Sir… but you've never let anyone access the footage before, not even the police."

"Times change," Silva said, his eyes drifting to the photo on his desk, a candid shot of Lyra staring out the window, her face peaceful and innocent.

He picked it up, running his thumb over her image as he remembered the video he'd watched days before, the way her body had arched, the sounds she'd made despite her tears, the look of submission and innocence in her eyes.

A low growl escaped his throat as he felt himself growing hard just from the memory.

"She's perfect," he murmured to himself, his fingers tightening around the photo.

'So innocent, She had no idea what she's gotten herself into.'

He set the photo down and looked at his secretary. "And make sure Mr. Crosswell knows who owns the hotel. Let him think he's getting what he wants, but remind him that some secrets are better left buried."

***

The next morning, Elena knocked softly on Lyra's door before opening it.

The moment the door clicked, Lyra jolted up in bed, her eyes wide with fear as she scrambled backward against the headboard, exactly like she'd done whenever Damien had approached her too quickly.

"Shhh… baby, it's just me," Elena said gently, moving slowly so she wouldn't scare her. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

Lyra broke down, throwing herself into her mother's arms and sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't say a word, she just cried, letting all the fear, frustration, and anger she'd been holding in pour out.

'I can't tell them,' she thought, clinging to her mother.

'They'd try to take revenge like they did in the novel, and they'd lose everything. Damien is too powerful… for now, I have to protect them. Once I have a leash of that beast ill make sure to make all of who have wronged me pay”