After a week of resting at home, Eliana drove herself to work. Today was her first shift since the hospital, and she was nervous. Rafael would be back home from his conference this evening.

It was around noon when the police officer entered the store. Yes, the same officer that came to take her testimony after Ethan's assault.

"How can I help you, officer?" Eliana asked dryly.

"Good morning. It's Mrs. Vincenti now, right?" he stated politely.

Eliana nodded to confirm and he continued.

"I believe we've found some relevant information about Ethan Snow's misconduct and your testimony will be necessary to confirm it"

Eliana's brows furrowed, she was irritated. "Mr. White, I am working at the moment. I can speak with you after my shift"

"I'm sorry ma'am but this is urgent and I must insist on questioning you now. We should also move this to the police station"

Okay, now she really didn't like it.

"Am I under arrest? If not then this conversation is over"

"Eli, If you need to leave early you can," My coworker asked concerned the moment she saw me with a police officer.

"Really? That won't be a problem?"

"Of course not"

"Let's go then" Eliana sighed, already feeling tired. Why the hell would he want to take her to the police station all of sudden? It was so annoying.

Just in case she tried to call Rafael to let him know about what's going on but he didn't pick up and she automatically sent an SMS to let Giovanni know she's leaving earlier. Just in case.

🔆🔆🔆

Eliana realized something is very wrong when she was already sitting in the car. She didn't receive any confirmation from Giovanni that he got her text message. Usually, he would answer with a simple "ok" right away. Not this time.

She tried to call him, he wasn't picking up. She looked at the rear windshield to see if the black car that Giovanni uses was following them. It didn't.

"Officer?" Eliana asked trying to hide her nervousness.

"What is it?" He asked gruffly.

"Um sorry, isn't the police station in the opposite direction?" Eliana asked.

"The case has been transferred elsewhere" he responded.

So why is he leading his case? Was he transferred as well? Something was wrong.

She took the phone out of her pocket, and it was instantly snatched away from her. With a shock, she watched how he throws her phone out of the window.

"What the hell?" Eliana whispered in shock.

She tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Stop the car. Stop the fucking car" Eliana said firmly.

"Shut up"

She tried to stop the car by pressing on the brake. And the car indeed stopped. She opened the door and sprung on the road, but he was quicker than she was. He got to her in no time and dragged her towards the car.

She ended up with her wrists tied and mouth gagged with a cloth.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Fuck.

❤️❤️❤️

They arrived at her old family house. She was pulled out of the car and forcefully dragged by her arm towards the main entrance of the mansion.

When she arrived in the dining room uncle, uncle Harvey, was waiting for her.

He was sitting at the top of the table like he owned the place. A pleased smile appeared on his lips as soon as he saw her.

"Why is she gagged, Aaron? For fuck's sake, look at her cheek. She's going to have a nasty bruise"

"Sorry boss I couldn't calm her down" Aaron apologized.

"No, I understand she can be handful. Isn't that right, dear niece?" Harvey mocked.

After the gag was pulled out of Eliana's mouth she decided to give him the piece of her mind "Fuck you, Harvey. Let me out, or you're going to regret it" she warned.

"Eliana, where are your manners?" he scolded, with a smirk on his lips.

"You kidnapped me," she said as if it was self-explanatory.

"Ah yes, I suppose. Wine?" He lifted his glass in the air but halted and looked like he just was reminded of something. "Oh wait. No wine for you. I guess that wouldn't be too good for the baby"

"H-how do you?"

"How do I know? Well, I've made one attempt to drag you to the meeting already. It was a week ago but I've made a big faux pas, I forgot to get rid of your bodyguard first. What? Don't look at me like that. He's going to be fine. Anyway, going back to the topic at hand: I was quite surprised when one of my people told me you pulled out at the abortion clinic. Did Rafael know about the pregnancy? Ah, no. Of course, he didn't. Personally, I would execute the bitch who tried to murder my child behind my back but hey, maybe Rafael still has such a plan. After all, he has more than one reason to kill you"

"What are you talking about?" Eliana asked.

"Well, now you're in a quite vulnerable state. Naturally, you don't know some things. You're carrying a future head of the Vincenti clan. But I wonder what he will do to you after you give birth"

Kill her? No. Rafael wouldn't do such a thing.

"Rafael would never hurt me," Eliana responded with full certainty.

"You're so naive" Harvey chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.

"Maybe I am. I prefer that over being a cynical sociopath" she responded with disgust.

"How rude. Just like your mother you never know when to keep your mouth shut. But I can't wait any longer for you to change your mind and do what I ask. And I'm not asking for much. Just your signature under the right paper"

He pointed to the papers in front of him. Eliana wasn't going to sign anything.

"What are you going to do if I won't sign up for that stupid papers? Kill me? Even if you kill me now, Rafael has the right to the inheritance"

"I feel almost insulted. You think I want to kill you?" Harvey asked in a mock-hurt voice.

"Ethan said-"

"Ethan likes to exaggerate," Harvey waved his hand in dismissal, "You die I become the main suspect. Not ideal, isn't it?

"What did you mean by saying that Rafael has more than one reason to kill me? Cut the crap and get to the point" Eliana needed to know.

"Actually, I was waiting for you to get married, so I thought that then the information I was hoping that would be more of a lesson to you if I wait. Our family was never getting along with Vincentis. We were... let's say a competition"

"What?" Eliana's anger turned into confusion.

"Well, how to explain it to you in the simplest terms? We have a gun manufacturing company and we distribute it both legally and illegally"

"That can't be true. You're lying"

"Oliver would never let his princess find out about the nature of the business but now that you want to get the company for yourself you will also inherit the role of the family head. Can you bear it? Women are never seen holding power in our world. You will get assassinated before you blink an eye. No one will listen to you or respect you. Eventually, someone will take the throne after they will get rid of you. You see, Eliana, you were never meant to inherit the fortune. Oliver planned to marry you off to someone like Rafael. But he didn't feel it would be right to force his daughter into a wedding at the tender age of 18 years old. He wanted to give you time. He didn't suspect someone will get rid of him in the meantime"

I was still trying to process.

"I don't understand"

"Patience. As I mentioned we considered Vincentis as competition and enemies. Both families wanted to grab as much power and influence as they could. But the rivalry between us became more and more brutal and at the point. It ended with your parents' death, Vincentis won"

"No. This can't be true. What are you saying?"

He ignored her and continued, some sort of sick satisfaction was visible in his eyes.

"I will grant them that, they were provoked. People don't just kill each other for no reason. This one started because of my horrible miscalculation. Our family, well, to be more precise, I kidnapped 15-year-old Sofia Vincenti. Poor kiddo died while trying to escape my little arrangement. Nothing would happen to her if she cooperated. If she never tried to escape"

"She's dead because of you!"

"Accidents happen. Your father was pretty pissed off about it too. He wanted to kick me out of the family and the company, so naturally, I had to get rid of him too"

"Jesus" Eliana's head was spinning. He just admitted to murdering her parents.

"If you must know, those boys thought the world of her. I had full right to believe that kidnapping her will weaken them, make them vulnerable, and easy to crush. But they have become stronger, crueler as a result of this tragedy. After Vincenti senior's death, he was replaced by his eldest son. He was lobbying against our company for quite a while. It was difficult to keep business afloat with him constantly breathing down my neck. He was patient, and suddenly you appeared in his life asking him for a favor. How amusing. I'm sure he was having fun hate-fucking you"

"Shut up," Eliana said angrily.

"Let's remain civil" he scolded gently "Eliana, you must be pretty confused right now so let me add it all up for you darling. Rafael is not your ally. The fortune you're about to inherit is full of dirty money, and you would have exactly zero ideas how to manage all that. Your only option now is to count on your uncle, meaning give up your rights to inheritance. That way, you and Casey can live. I will get you a nice ticket to UK or Australia if you don't want to stay here, deal?"

"Kill me then. Because I won't sign these papers" Eliana said in a hollow voice. She couldn't even bring herself to cry.

Harvey sighed. "Not the answer I was looking for. I know you're in shock and because I'm generous I will give you one last chance to change your mind. Take the papers with you tomorrow someone will visit you at work to fetch them. If he comes back with empty hands, I will assume you're ready for the consequences. You can leave"

She could leave? Just like that, he allowed her to go.

But his words have brought irreparable harm.