From Ashes To Billions

Chapter 18: An Eye For An Eye.

“Why?” Lucian chuckled. “You cannot do it?”

“Do you have evidence?” Layla said, panting. “There's no evidence that I had a hand in your sister's kidnap! You cannot force me to do your biddings just because you feel wronged!”

In response, Adrian brought out his phone and played the evidence of Layla's several mistreatment of Paige. At the sight, Layla winced and looked away.

“The media would celebrate over this valued piece of information, don't you think?” Adrian smiled.

“How did you get your hands on that?!” Layla screamed, frustration building up inside her. How had Adrian uncovered the secrets she had carefully hidden for years? How long had he been watching her? How much did he know?!

This jerk was driving her crazy!

“That look on your face tells me you're convinced,” Adrian tsked. “Tell the media the truth yourself. I'm giving you an easy alternative, but again, you can pick your poison. Should I release the video or you'd do the confession yourself,”

Panic clawed at Layla and she could feel the tears dropping down her eyes. ““No…no…no, please. Don't do this…!” She swallowed. “Adrian, please don't do this to me! My life would be completely ruined. I could lose everything!”

“This must be how my sister begged for your mercy, right?” Adrian said, pulling her chin forward roughly. “I want to see you ruined. I won't stop until I make you doubt your sanity. I could kill you here, but an easy death won't be enough for what you did to Paige,"

Layla shook her head in denial, breaking from his grasp. “It's not like your sister is innocent either. She's guilty of drugs trafficking as much as I am and I have all the evidence,” She chuckled maniacally. “If I go down, your sister goes down too,”

She swallowed. “You wouldn't want to expose your sister to the public by releasing the videos. They'd blame you for failing to protect her,”

“And do you think I didn't prepare a plan? You must be a fool if you think I'd let my sister suffer again,” Adrian smiled, his finger hovering around the release button. “You want to dare me? Should we wait and see who the police would end up arresting after I release this video?”

He paused, licking his lips as he feigned to be in deep thoughts. “I wonder how much I should charge you for compensation. Sixty million? Hundred? Maybe a billion?”

“I'd do it!” Layla shouted. “Please! I would confess,”

“See? It wasn't so hard to say those words,” Adrian chuckled, then he squatted before her. “I give you an hour to do so,”

“An hour?” Layla stuttered. “How would I gather the f*****g press under one hour?!"

Adrian shrugged as he lifted his device in the air. “Maybe I should save you the stress by releasing the video. That sounds nice,”

“Stop!” Layla shouted, sniffing back the tears that threatened to drop. “I'd do it!”

It was better for her to confess than for Adrian to release those bloody videos. Confessing meant she could manipulate her words to avoid looking like a monster in the eyes of the public. The videos would put her at a disadvantage.

Her eyes shifted to Adrian, but he was already looking at her with a fake sense of mercy. He was taunting her with that fake expression of his, relishing in her misery.

“I'll be tuning in to the news in one hour. Don't be late,” Adrian said before walking away.

“Who's going to untie me from these bloody ropes?!” Layla struggled as she shouted, but received no response.

******

At the dining table, Adrian watched his sister gulp down the food hurriedly. His heart broke with how terrible she looked. There were dark spots under her eyes and a greater part of her body was covered with bruises.

Although she hadn't completely opened up to him about what she went through in Layla's hand, he could tell that she was in great pain.

How long would it take before she healed from all the emotional scars?

“I'm sorry you had to see me eat like that,” Paige chuckled nervously, wiping her lips. “I…I haven't tasted good food in a while,”

Adrian shook his head with a small smile. “Would you like something else?”

“No, I'm okay,”

There was silence for a while until Paige broke it. “Yo…u didn't tell me your name?”

“Oh, my name is Adrian,”

Paige opened her mouth to speak, but her trembling lips stopped her. Her teeth suddenly clattered and her breathing became labored. She was having a panic attack.

Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Help…”

“Paige!” Adrian shouted and hurried to embrace her. He patted her hair with tender strokes. “It's okay, sis. Breath in. Breath out. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. Breath for me, please,”

Paige's body shook with tremor as she struggled to control her breathing. Her fist clenched into Adrian's shoulder and she held on tightly as if afraid he would fly away. “I'm scared…I'm scared she'd hurt me again,”

“She won't,” Adrian hurried to reply. “She won't ever hurt you again, I promise,”

“You promise?”

“I promise. I won't let anyone hurt you again,” Adrian affirmed.

Slowly, her breathing evened out and she disengaged from the embrace. “Thank you,” There was a pause, then she continued. “After I left the orphanage, Layla approached me and asked for us to be friends. I felt she was sincere, so I accepted to be her friend,”

“She always gave me gifts and plenty clothes. Until one day, she asked me to sign a million dollar job contract. The thought of having so much money got into my head that I forgot to read through the contract,”

She sniffed back tears. “As soon as I signed the contract, her attitude towards me changed and she became so cruel. Turned out that the contract I signed contained a clause that said I owe her a million dollar for giving me a job. Not only that, it said that the nature of the drug was selling drugs,”

Adrian scoffed as he clenched his fist, his anger boiling over.

“I became a drug agent overnight, supplying hard drugs to clients. She treated me so bad and with no pay too. I worked day and night with no proper food,” Her voice broke. “I tried to run away several times, but her men caught me every time and beat me into submission,”

“Each time she punished me, she'd say I was paying for the sins of my family who had offended her,”

Overwhelmed with emotions, Adrian hugged her again. “It's okay, you don't have to talk about her anymore. She's gone and won't ever torment you any longer,”

“What did you ever do to her, Big brother? What did Mum and Dad ever do to her?”

“Nothing, sweetheart. Layla is a mischievous, little psycho, and it's not your fault,”

“Thank you for finding me,”

Adrian nodded, then with a low voice, he gritted. “I'll make you pay for your sins one by one until you're exhausted, Layla. An eye for an eye; tooth for tooth.”