Romance

Chapter 31
She’s Back
Lila
Both Olivia and I decided it was best to sleep. Whenever Anna was coming back we would meet her as sane parents instead of sleep drunken ones. Both of us had eye bags due to lack of sleep for so long and even I knew I needed the rest.
We woke up the next day a little too late that I was grateful I had called the nanny because James was already on his way to school, I met him at the dining as he ate his breakfast, already ready to leave.
When he saw both of us, he smiled at us, “Mommy, aunt Oli” he called us closer and then to my surprise, pinched us. I made a small sound, “Ouch, what was that for?” I asked him in shock.
He shrugged, “You always warn me not to sleep late but you did, so that was my punishment.” Both Oli and I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.
“Well sorry my ling, I will make sure not to sleep in again” Olivia said, bowing down in mock respe

Chapter 32 

Home 
 
Lila

Anna, Olivia and I spent as much fun time as we could together before James came back. She was excited to see him as well. “I missed James mommy” she had said after a few hours had gone by.

I smiled, I knew she had, “He missed you too darling. Don’t worry, he’ll be home soon and you both can play as much as you want to. I’ll even let you stay up past bed time” I promised her, knowing they would have a lot to catch up on. 

Soon time passed by and James was home. We had decided to surprise him with Anna so she wasn’t waiting for him at the door. Instead she was inside his sheets, lying as still as she could without giggling while we took him inside.

He didn’t noticed her right away, he wanted to go to his toys immediately but I scolded him. instead he went to his bed and it was then he noticed the big bump. He lifted his sheets up and beamed when he saw Anna.


Chapter 30

 

Threat

 

 

Lila

Immediately I told Olivia the news, unable to hold it in really long. I wasn’t sure what else we were supposed to do while we got them back but I felt completely helpless as if I was just as kidnapped as Anna.

 

I sat down on the bed, a dazed feeling has run over me, I wasn’t sure what was happening or anything. It felt as if I had been cornered. “What are we going to do now Olivia? How are we going to know anything” I lamented.

 

She looked at me from her laptop, her face was hard but I could see the support in her eyes. “I don’t want you to start to despair. If you start that now then we’re not going to make any progress and unless you plan on letting your daughter be with them, I don’t advice you to just give up” she said, making sure I heard her.

 

This time not even her voice gave me hope, I was feeling a hopelessness I had never felt before, not even when Lucien had rejected me. “But-”

 

She stopped me immediately, “There are no buts of if, all we have to do now is what I say. There must be a way to bid for Anna if someone else can buy them off, then why haven’t we tried that?” she asked an intelligent question that I should have thought of.

 

“Why didn’t we think of that but then how are we going to find how the bids are made? What if it needs special entry or data that we do not know?” I countered as I realized that it would never be as easy as she had made it sound.

 

She laid back on her chair, her mind running with different ideas and so did mine.  “Maybe we could ask Dante?” I said, the best plan jumping out on me.

 

She looked at me before she shook her head, “No, I don’t trust him as much as you do. I’m not sure he will tell us the truth without somehow alerting them. There has to be someway” she continued thinking.

 

I stared at her, trying my best to crack my brain but no new ideas were making it. It seemed as if there really was no way until her face brightened.

 

“The messages they sent that day. They must have sent it somehow, if I found out a clue about the device used then maybe I could find out something about them. It would be even better If there was a location” she rapped out to me.

 

Half of her words seemed like magic but I understood the basic. She was about to do some type of hacking that would help with something except I still couldn’t see how it lead to getting contact with them as a bidder.

 

“Before she began, I rushed out. “What if they know your server? If you try to contact them with that then they’ll see it coming and who knows what will happen then?”

 

She stared at me then nodded, “You are right. Get me your laptop then”

 

It was night by then and I felt a little tiredness, I wanted to close my eyes for a minute but I couldn’t do that, not with Anna’s life at stake. Maybe a minute of sleep could cost her life and I would regret it forever.

 

I got my laptop like she had asked before handing them to her.

 

“I’m going to clone those messages to your laptop so it becomes easier” she said even though she didn’t need to as I didn’t understand a word or anything.

 

“Okay” I answered, not sure what else to say.

 

I watched her work, my legs constantly moving up and down involuntarily – I couldn’t sit still at all, not with this news that tore me apart.

 

She worked for a long period, it was almost dawn by the time she had made a small break. “Wait” she said, more to herself than me.

 

On the screen there was a small countdown and I watched as the minutes turned into seconds before a blank screen showed. “Scan QR code” was written on the screen and we looked from each other back to the screen.

 

She shrugged, taking her phone out to do just that. When she scanned it, on the screen a link appeared and she opened it. It led us to a small site that needed a username to get into.

 

“What if there are specific usernames for everybody who should have access?” I asked, worried that this would break our cover.

 

She shrugged, “Well, better to give that a chance than do nothing” she took a deep breath and typed in a name, “Leo Marcili”

 

There was another small countdown with a “verifying username” text underneath it. We waited patiently, I could feel the tension in the air, my heart skipping beats for either the worst or the best to happen.

 

Suddenly, the countdown turned green and it changed into, “username verified” and we both let out audible gasps of relief, our breathing going back to normal. “We’re in” Olivia said as we ventured into a world that was very different from ours.

 

The site was built like an online bidding platform except instead of bidding for artworks people were bidding for lives like it was play time. Bile rose up in my throat at disgust of the world they lived in.

 

My phone buzzed in my pocket and absent mindedly, I opened it to check. I was just about to read it when Oli let out a gasp, my head turned sharply to see the cause of it.

 

There on the screen was a huge message written in bold red, “GET OUT OF THE PLATFORM OLIVIA RODRIGUEZ”

 

Suddenly everything disappeared and the screen was blank. Somehow, they had known we were in there and had booted us out once again diminishing the little hope I had left.

 

It was as I was about to shut my phone to lament on this fail that I saw that the message I had received was a picture of Anna. She lay on a bed, eyes closed as if she was asleep, she looked just like she had the day she had been taken with the exception of a few stains. A message came underneath it, “If you do not give us what we want instead of trying to sneak into our world, we’ll get rid of her and then take James. Your choice”

 

I had frozen, unable to say anything. It was when Olivia noticed that she came to me and took the phone. Instead of the pause I had experienced, her anger and determination rose up. “I didn’t want to do this but now I have to”

 

“Do what?” I managed to ask.

 

“Call my uncle” she said.

 

My head swung up to hers in shock. She hardly ever spoke to her uncle. She said there was something shady about him and she didn’t want to get into any issues including the fact that he had abandoned his sister – her mother and left them like trash.

 

“Oli, are you sure?” I asked.

 

She looked at me, rage burning in her eyes, “Of course I am. I cant risk losing both of them under any circumstances. I don’t care what I have to do” she was indeed determined.

 

She dialed his number and on her screen, I saw his name. “Leo Marcili” I whispered, turning to look at her in surprise, “You used his name for that. No wonder you were a little too sure” I shook my head.

 

She shrugged, a small smile on her face. “Well, what could I do? There was no other name I was so sure would make it”

 

The number rang for minute but there was no response. She didn’t stop calling and by the third dial, he had picked. His deep voice rang through the speaker like a bass drum, “My lovely niece calls me, must have not gotten her goddaughter back” he said.

 

Both of us looked at each other in surprise. “You knew” Oli said when the shock had worn off.

 

“Of course I did, nothing happens without my knowledge, didn’t you know that?” he told her, he sounded pleased with himself and I immediately disliked him.

 

“Well you didn’t know when my stepfather kept on beating mom and I to a pulp” I could hear the pain in her voice and I wanted to go over and hold her but Oli hated distractions.

 

“Come on, I’ve tried my best to make up for that” he said.

 

“If you help me get her back then maybe I’ll think harder about it” her voice was cold and I knew she was lying. She wouldn’t think about anything.

 

He sighed, “Alright, expect her soon” he didn’t say anything else, he ended the call and Olivia let a breath out.

 

“She’ll be back” this time there wasn’t just hope in her voice, there was assurance and it slowly infused into me, she would be back.

Chapter 31
She’s Back
Lila
Both Olivia and I decided it was best to sleep. Whenever Anna was coming back we would meet her as sane parents instead of sleep drunken ones. Both of us had eye bags due to lack of sleep for so long and even I knew I needed the rest.
We woke up the next day a little too late that I was grateful I had called the nanny because James was already on his way to school, I met him at the dining as he ate his breakfast, already ready to leave.
When he saw both of us, he smiled at us, “Mommy, aunt Oli” he called us closer and then to my surprise, pinched us. I made a small sound, “Ouch, what was that for?” I asked him in shock.
He shrugged, “You always warn me not to sleep late but you did, so that was my punishment.” Both Oli and I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.
“Well sorry my ling, I will make sure not to sleep in again” Olivia said, bowing down in mock respect. We all shared that laugh before everything moved forward and life became serious again.
Once he 

SHE'S BACK