Henry arrived back at the event area as fast as he could. Shen Mao and Shen Milli rushed to him right away when they say him back.
"How was the situation out there?" Shen Mao asked.
"I think something happened to Lena." Henry replied. "Have you got in contact with her yet?"
"No. I have called her and both of the guards with her. No answer."
"What about the third one?"
"That's right! I have forgotten about Noah."
Shen Mao urgently dialed Noah. Noah was enjoying a quiet family dinner when he received the call.
"CEO Shen." Noah answered.
"Noah. Have you heard anything from James or Kye?"
"I have not, sir. Did something happen?"
"We don't know for sure."
"If can access the security reports and check their locations."
"Yes, please!"
"Please wait a moment." Noah excused himself from dinner and went to his office. He opened up his laptop and quickly pulled up the app locator.
Lena's signal was out of service, James was still active, but Kye's… 'This is bad.'
"Sir, James signal is still on and moving. I can connect the call."
Noah dialed up James' number. I rang a few times and it was finally answered.
"Is Lena there with you?" Shen Mao quickly asked as soon as the call was connected.
Noah was just carefully listening. 'There was no sound of struggling or shooting, so it must be a good sign right?'
"James?!" He yelled through the phone when he didn't get a response.
An unsteady and deep voice could be heard through the phone. "I am sorry CEO Shen, Miss has been taken again."
Shen Mao was suddenly shorter of breath. 'Not again, not his precious little daughter.' Shen Milli was close to breaking down in tears but she held strongly next to her husband.
"Husband, breathe. Take deep breaths. Lena will be fine, she's a smart girl." Shen Milli tried to console her husband.
"Where's Kye?" Noah asked through the phone.
"We chased after the car but got ambushed along the way. We lost her. There were some crossfires and… He didn't make it."
"Stay there. We will come to you." Noah replied.
"Noah... " James was about to say something more but stopped knowing that it might scare more of CEO Shen and Madam Shen. "Be here quick."
-----------
"Ugh…" Lena groaned as she regained consciousness. She tried to touch the spot where she was hit on the back but her hands were tied. She wiggled around a bit on the hard floor, trying to get comfortable. The room was dark except for a flickering light bulb that was hanging from the center of the ceiling. She heard a woman who kept whimpering and sniffling on the corner opposite of her.
"Lena?" Gary called out to her.
"Gary?" Lena blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness. "Where are we?" She finally recalled the situation she was in.
"I don't know… God dammit would you stop crying!"
It was the first time that Lena saw Gary spoke so loud. Their mouths were not shut closed, and considering there are no windows, they must be deep underground somewhere. This may be bad news because her tracker may not have any signal down here.
The woman started crying louder instead. Gary ignored the cries and looked back at Lena who seemed pretty calm. How could he forget, this was not the first time she was in a situation like this.
"Eva?" Lena got a good look at the girl across her. She remembered that Eva was wearing a simple white dress just as the woman across her. Along with her sweet and high cries, it was definitely Eva.
"I…. I…" Eva kept crying loudly and could not finish her sentence.
"She's been like that since they brought her in." Gary sounded very irritated at the situation.
"Why is she here? Why are you here?" Lena asked.
"Sorry, Lena. I did not think you would get involved in my mess. I--"
The door that locks them in fiercely opened. Two men strode in. A bright light entered their dark room from the hallway. Lena looked up to see her captors.
Eva hurriedly went down and started begging. She held onto the man's leg. "Please.... Please let me go. I.. I won't do it again, I promise! Wahhh… Tell her I won't do it again!"
"Stupid peasant." The man shook his leg off Eva's begging hands. He stared straight to Lena. "And here I thought we were going to have another crying b*tch."
Lena stared gently at this man. She knew that if James and Kye were not here by now, her captors were professionals. And whatever they wanted with Gary and Eva, she was just a bystander, who could easily be discarded.
She knew she could not play the strong card here. She lowered her head and look down on the floor, making herself look weak.
"Please... Please don't hurt me." She pretended to stutter. "I am Lena Shen, my family is rich. They will surely pay for me." Her bright eyes looked up at the man.
The man slapped Lena right across her face. She did not expect that.
"Lena! Don't you F*cken touch her!" Gary yelled and struggled but he was tied up really good. Unlike Eva and Lena, Gary's hands were tied to some pipes.
The man laughed and grabbed Lena's hair and pulled it back so she was staring right at his face. Lena saw that he had a scar under his eyes.
"Is that the trick you played last time, hmm? Is that how you got away? Won't work here missy." He snickered.
Lena did not reply. At this point, she knew why Eva was here. Eva was just a tool and someone bigger was behind this all. Eva was involved in her last kidnapping, not as the mastermind, but to be the scapegoat. This was her unsolved piece of the puzzle.
The big question now is, 'Who is "her."' Lena could only think of one person who was strong enough to be the one pulling the strings. With the proof of Eva and this man, whom Lena know exactly who he was, that "her" could not be anyone else but Madam Yang.
"Pity, because I will make sure you die today, along with your boyfriend too." The man spoke. The man pushed Lena down on the floor. He straightened up his stance, pulled out his gun and licked it.
"Now, who should go first? The fiance," He pointed the gun to Eva."ex-fiance," This time toward Lena. "or half-brother."
"What?" Lena spoke without a thought. The man was pointing the gun at Gary.
The man maniacally laughed. "Didn't your boyfriend tell yah? He shares the same mommy as your ex-fiance."
Lena suddenly looked at Gary with an unknown feeling. She does not know how to react to this. Gary avoided her stare and Lena felt like had been lied to this whole time.
"You knew!" Lena spoke to Gary. "How long now?!"
The man let them talk out their emotions. He enjoyed this drama.
"Just a few years ago. It was after I met you though."
"Were you ever going to tell me? Does Andy know?!"
"You think I wanted to have a mother like that?! To know that she abandoned me for money? That I am a bastard son from her affair?! I don't want a single breath of me involved in that family!" Gary shouted angrily back at Lena.
"Ok, ok children." The man interrupted them. "Should I let you guys rock, paper scissors for who goes first?"
"No.. No no no no. They both hate me, it's unfair!" Eva protested. "Take me to her. She can't do this. I.. I am pregnant with Andy's child!"
"Tsk…" The man was angry. "Drag her out."
The other man did as he was commanded. He dragged Eva out as she continued to scream.
"You can't touch me! I swear I am pregnant! Madam Yang!!!!! You can't kill your own grandchild! AH!"
The door shut tight with a thud and Lena jumped a bit from the noise. She closed her eyes.
'Everything is going to be okay…' Lena tried to convince herself. She opened her eyes and looked at Gary, then at the man holding the gun at him. 'You are a blessed child.' She repeated that, hoping to calm her down.
"Tsk… Your mother gave her one simple task, get rid of Lena Shen or get away from her son's life."
"Why would Madam Yang want to harm me?" Lena asked.
"If you had married into the Yang family, it would just mean more wealth. Andy would easily take over the Shen company. But that dumb piece of crap has to come in and ruin the plan."
He walked closer to Lena. "Madam Yang was hoping you would fight away that pest, but you stopped. Got weak. And then you got yourself too close to her enemies. But…"
The man looked towards Gary. "She remembered that she still had a son she could use. He was already chasing you like a dog… If he would pop a child in you, she would officially let him enter the Yang Family. Too bad, he refused. You both could be alive right now."
Lena looked at Gary. Gary met her eyes and looked down. "I'm sorry that I did not tell you about it earlier."
The man tapped his gun against Lena's cheek and force her to stare at him only. "If Madam Yang cannot have your family's wealth, then she would just steal it."
"I am not even the next person to take over the Shen business."
"You talkin' bout that secretary? He'll be next on my list, don't you worry. Your papa gonna be so sad, he won't even know what to do when the wife dies next. The Yang family will step in and help him in crisis."
"Crazy dogs!" Lena shouted and spit at the man. He just wiped off the spit and continued to laugh.
"For that, I'll start with your boyfriend."
He aimed the gun at Gary, tilted his head a bit. He raised the run to level with Gary's head and took his shot.
"NOO!!" Before she could think, she had already reacted. She quickly stood up in front of Gary and took the bullet.
Lena let out a small breath of air and looked down here she got hit. All she could feel was the intense pain and the loud ringing in her ears. She could not hear the screams of Gary behind her.
"Stupid woman." The man spoke and tossed Lena down on the floor. She curled onto the cold damp floors.
Her mind went blank again, like that state she was in the first time she was kidnapped. She could hear more speaking but not make out any of the words. Lena could only hear three more shots before the man walked out the door. She closed her eyes. Her brain blacked out for some time.
When she woke up again, she did not know how much time has passed. She could still feel the pain on her stomach.
"G..Gary?" Lena tried to call out to him. Her back was facing him, so she could not see him.
"AHHHHHH." Lena tried to change her position. Her hands being tied up at the back was restraining her. "F**CK!"
After another try, she was able to sit up. She turned around and saw Gary down on the floor. His hands were loose but he wasn't talking. She could tell that he was alive because she could hear him breathing.
She cried but stop a bit. "No use crying right now…" She told herself.
Lena lay on her back. She took another pause for some quick air and embraced herself for the pain that she will experience. She brought her legs up and forced her hands to loop around the front.
Lena screamed at the excruciating pain, but she made it through. She took another small break before untying herself with her teeth. After releasing her hands, she ripped off the bottom of her skirt and put pressure on her wound. She scooted her body next to Gary. Standing up now would be too much energy for her.
"Gary…" Lena whispered his name. He opened his eyes. He was going to say something but Lena stopped him.
Lena inspected his wounds. He was shot on the left shoulder, right leg and chest area. He was bleeding a lot. Lena don't know why he was even still alive.
She took the pressure off her own wound. There was too much blood, all of their clothes are soaked already. She tossed away the piece of clothing she had before on her and use her hands instead. Lena placed it on top of Gary's chest.
"Stay with me, Gary. You are not gonna die here." Lena cried. "You can't leave me… you promised."
Lena could feel that his heart rate was dropping. She was not feeling well herself. Her body was getting weak from her own blood loss. "I'm sorry. Please… just hold on. Help is coming."
Gary moved his hands and brought it over Lena's small hands that was over his wounded chest. He smiled at her. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his cheeks. He wanted to smell her sweet scent one last time.
"Shen Qian…" Gary spoke.
"Huh..?" Lena stopped crying. "What did you call me?" Lena stared at Gary but he closed his eyes. "Gary! Ahh.."
Lena's body went lumped and she fell back. Her mind went dark again. She tried to open her eyes again, but they won't budge. Her hands were still holding Gary's.
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