The third point of view

Lily struggled against the bond all to no avail. She had been kept this way for days and her hands were already sore and did she forget to mention she needed to stretch a bit; she was an athletic person.

How was she kidnapped?

Prepared to leave for a party she was invited to, Lily had just stepped into her car in the underground parking lot only to discover she wasn't alone.

There wasn't just one, but two strange men in the backseat of her car.

Lily wanted to scream and run out of her car however, she couldn't move a muscle before a gun, no, scratch that, two guns were pointed at her head.

"Move an inch and these bullets would quickly blast through your brain before you can even say Jack Robinson," was the deadly command.

She couldn't see their faces but the intensity of their words told her they weren't joking at all. They wouldn't hesitate to end her life If she dares to make a risky move.

"What do you want from me?" She asked with a panic-stricken voice, "Is it money? I have enough. Just name your price," she implored of them.

Lily loved her life, she was twenty-seven; just at the prime of her youth, and cannot die like that.

"Drive" was his command as if her words were nothing but air.

"Is not money?" Her brows were furrowed as she thought hard while driving - she wouldn't dare to disobey the order.

She gulped," If you don't want my money, is it my nude then? I'll give it to you freely and without hassle, if that's all it takes to let me go," Lily offered this tempting proposal.

Lily was no model nor actress but she had a beach-perfect body which she maintained with the right exercise and diet.

Thanks to that, she had been compared to a lot of other celebrities in terms of body proportion hence paparazzi wanted nudes pictures of her or even better, a sex tape.

The beautiful television presenter was one of the rare celebrities with zero scandal and a clean record which was quite unbelievable to some paparazzo or made some actresses mad with jealousy that they would pay to just smear her reputation.

Again, her abductor glared at her which made her realize that they wanted nothing from her, and the real fear set in. Were they really intent on murdering her?

Lily continued to drive in the direction they instructed her and when they came to a police checkpoint, her abductors began to converse with her like friends that she would have fallen for the trick if not for the remainder of the gun pointed at her back.

The threat was apparent, "say a word and you're dead". So she played it off cool with the cops who regarded them suspiciously.

It was odd seeing two suspicious men in dark clothing sitting in a car and been driven by a stunning woman.

"Are you sure you're okay, ma'am?" The police pressed and Lily saw him wink tactically at her.

Did he know? She was relieved.

Absent-minded, she was about to spill the beans when one of the men leaned towards her seat and tactically pressed the cold metal against her side.

Lily was wearing an evening gown since she was off to a party, hence felt the gun right away.

"A-hem," she cleared her throat, cutting eye contact with the officer," Officer, I'm really good. These are my cousins and I'm driving them to their gig tonight hence their inauspicious appearance,"

The officer had a hard time believing her but Lily had dealt with people like him. So with a few words, she bought him over completely - thankfully, he didn't ask for the ID's

"Have a nice journey, ma'am," he even wished her.

As soon as the police were out of sight, her abductors took over the car while she ended up gagged and restrained in the backseat.

Yep, that was how she ended up here - she had no idea where she was. Lily had been blindfolded her entire stay.

And God! She ached all over, especially her back, and was so hungry she could finish a cow right now if allowed to. The only thing closest to a word called "food" she received from her abductors was rationed plain bread with water- which was an abomination.

Yes, she was constantly on a diet to keep fit especially with her line of work but she ate healthily - and deliciously, if she might add.

That bread was just like plain flour mixed with water and baked. Wasn't kidnapers supposed to treat their captive better so they don't die? The way she saw things, they gave no damn to her comfort nor well-being, but one thing they haven't done was assault her sexually - which she was grateful for.

But the irritating thing was the silence. Lily could surmise that she had been here for over four days or so and sometimes it could get so silent she thought she was in a graveyard.

The silence was nerve-wracking and emotional draining that she would scream her lungs out just to make some sort of noise and assure herself that she was still in human territory and not a forest where the wild beasts would ravage her body.

Lily was scared, so scared that she had urinated on herself twice after hearing a gun go off. What the hell does this mysterious captor want from her?

Once, Lily had grasped on the sleeve of one of her abductors who fed her the usual barbaric meal of bread and water. She had been blindfolded since day one of being brought here that it wouldn't surprise her if she had gone blind.

While he fed her - her hands were tied to the arms of the chairs - she had offered to pay him a huge sum of money if he helped her escape this hell hole. But his response had been a huge slap on her face.

"It's not about the money, madam. It's retribution," he said to her with a mocking snort, "You reap what you sow," he had whispered into her ears, abruptly cutting off her feeding that day.

Ever since that day she had been apprehensive, what had she done to deserve such cruel retribution? Heck, this was not retribution but a psycho taking the law into his own hands.

She, Lily, had worked hard to get to the position she's in today and yes, her work required stepping on some people's toe - it was entertainment, baby- but she had never gone as far as taking people's life.

And what the hell was taking the damned police so long to find her? Lily was not a billionaire but she was quite influential, having connection and fame, hence her bizarre disappearance was supposed to have been noticed.

"I'm pressed!" Lily currently screamed, feeling the urge to urinate.

Whenever she does this, a few minutes later, a female attendant would see to her but today, the woman was taking damn long.

"Are you going to ignore me like this?!" She roared.

Lily could endure the fact that she stunk like a skunk having not bathe for days. But urinating was a must!

She had opened her mouth to protest this unfair maltreatment when she heard footsteps coming her way. Oh, finally.

But the footstep came to a stop before her and pulled off the blindfold to her utmost surprise. Lily squeezed her eyes shut, adjusting her sight slowly to the sudden brightness.

"You look well," said a voice so cold that it sent goosebumps down her spine.

Lily gulped, slowly lifting her head to view the identity of her captor, and "shocked" was an understatement of how she felt.

"N- Niklaus?" She asked unsure.

"Nice to see you ..." His piercing gaze roved over her in a way that made her heart jump in her throat," Lily,"

How was this possible? Lily thought. And of course, she knew him because he was quite active with public appearances and had appeared on her show once.

"Are you the one who brought me here? Why am I?" If she could remember, she had never offended him.

"How do you feel knowing that Maya's gone?"

"Wait- what? She's really gone?" She asked Niklaus, a trace of shock with a mix of guilt flashing across her face.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry but I don't understand why this is concerns -"

"You pushed her to her death," Niklaus said through gritted teeth.

Lily scowled at him, "Excuse me but I'm not the one who pushed her off that bridge," she defended.

"If you haven't forced her to a tight corner with that news, she wouldn't have sought the bridge as a solace in the first place!" He growled at her. He was having a head time controlling his anger.

"You blame me for that but I'm not the one who went around sleeping for roles. Moreover, if I hadn't interviewed her, another reporter would have done the same. This is show business, a dog eat dog world where only the strongest survive and I don't even understand why you're so worked up over that slut -"

A slap met her face and her neck whipped around from the impact. Lily saw stars and just when she thought she would be left to recover from that assault, her hair was pulled so tight she screamed bloody Mary.

"Take a look at this," Niklaus pulled out his phone and brought it to her face. The image alone made Lily screech so loud it sounded animalistic.

"That is what remains of her," Niklaus showed her the same disturbing sight he had seen at the morgue.

"You're sick in the head," Lily cried, trying to look away.

However, Niklaus steadied her head, making sure her eyes feasted on the picture.

"You're such a hypocrite," Niklaus smiled creepily," She slept around for a role, how sure are you? Did you validate the news? You say she's a slut? What about you? You think I don't know how you got to that position you are in today?"

Lily turned pale before retching, Niklaus let go of her and she threw up on herself instead.

"I thought about how to end you but I just realized, killing you is giving you an easy escape, " he declared, "So I'll going to render the same judgment you gave to Maya"

"No," Lily began to shake her head, she didn't like where this was heading, "You can't do this to me, it was all Kim's idea! She was the one who gave me the news" she confessed.

"Birds of a feather flock together," Niklaus mumbled under his breath. He scowled at the mess she made on herself.

"By the time you return to the city tomorrow, all of your skeletons in the wardrobe would be exposed-both minor and major - to the world. I assure you, your own destruction would be worse than Maya's. Have a nice day."

Niklaus took his leave without looking back. He gave no attention to Lily's hysterical screams nor her grievous fit.