Duncan Laurence - Arcade

Blinking, Rory cleared the sleep from the inner corners of her eyes and pushed off the soft, satin pillow where her head rested. An irritating and aching beating pulsed through body, and every muscle seemed to scream in protest as she sat upright on the blush sofa.

Her hands instantly reached for her bump, curling around it protectively. Now, at a little over 17 weeks, her bump was a lot more noticeable.

"Will I be gifted with a niece or nephew?"

Rory jumped from surprised and followed the sound of the voice.

Luci leaned against the doorframe of the living room. She had changed into a silky cream dress that fell to her ankles. Its cowl neckline complimented her square shoulders and slender arms; she appeared like the lady of the house.

"I don't want you anywhere near my baby." She replied coldly. "Not, not after what you've done."

"That," Luci said sharply, pushing off the frame. "Won't happen again. I panicked." She slide into the empty beside Rory, taking her hands. "I got scared."

"You weren't scared." Rory whispered, "You were calculated."

She didn't miss the premeditated glint in her eyes - she intended to hurt Jairo even if it was earlier than planned.

As Rory stood a powerful wave of nausea overcame her and she threw up what little was in her stomach. The liquid splattered over the porcelain floor and she fell to her knees, with a sharp pain slicing through her stomach. Rory cried, clutching her belly while tears streamed her face. Fear rose in her chest and her mind began conjuring the worst case scenarios.

What was wrong with her? What was with the smearing pain?

Luci stood over her; watching sullenly with pity in her eyes.

"I need to go home." Rory cried. "Please, please call Juan or María." She begged, tugging at the hem of Luci's dress.

To her surprise, Luci shook her head - a very evident no. Rory's mouth turned dry, the acidic bile turning sour on her lips. Meeting Luci's dark eyes - she knew that getting out of this mansion - where ever it was - wasn't going to be easy.

She won't be able just to walk out now.

"The maids have prepared a room for you." She said blankly. "You'll lucky that I let you have a warm bed so, don't disappoint me Rory." She turned to look and toss a look over her shoulder. "Go and clean up, you smell foul."

Two young maids replaced her as she strutted out the room. They dragged Rory exhausted figure up the iron wrought staircase. After her vomiting incident, it seemed all the energy was drained out of her. Thus, she put up no fight.

In quick pace they treaded through the dark and musty hallway of the mansion. The maids carried her to the bath room and ran the water. Nothing was exchanged between the three of them as they bathe her. Rory forced back a cry and let her mind wandered while she laid staring at the white ceiling.

She closed her eyes and saw Gideon's face. Her chest tightened and bubbling hiccup sobs echoed in the bathroom. Loneliness swam around her, leaving her empty and craving for his attention. When she wanted it, he had always been so good at giving it to her. He protected her, loved her and he would be beating down the door with his army right now - if she hadn't locked him up.

Once dressed, they led her towards the terrace that overlooked a green scenery with a great view of a beautiful, mossy river.

A table was set neatly on the terrace. Decorated by white lace clothes and dried flowers in a crystal vase as the centre piece. On one side of the table was a dark haired man with black eyes and tan skin - Cristian Herrera.

He donned a navy suit over a pale pink shirt and a Rolex sat on his wrist along with several golden rings on his fingers. Even sat down, she could tell he was tall, fit with heavy muscles that wanted to spill through his suit.

He lifted a glass of champagne to his lips and a black carbide ring caught her eyes. It was identical to the one Luci wore on her thumb.

"It's finally nice to meet you, Señora Torres." He smirked, scanning her with those impossibly dark eyes from head to toe. "You look like a little mouse and here I thought my old friend would've married a tiger."

"My brother prefers his women a little vulnerable and a little brain dead." Luci commented, appearing from behind her. She turned to face Rory, "Sit down." She ordered, siding into the chair next to Cristian.

Reluctantly, she sat; fisting the sides of the chair with both her hands. Anger boiled her veins as their insults continued to hit a nerve.

Weak, dumb and fragile.

"Why am I here?" She asked abruptly.

They exchanged a look. Cristian smirking as he raised the glass to his lips again.

"Because you will have what we want soon." Luci answered casually. "And, if you want leave this place still intact, I suggest you cooperate with us."

"I have nothing." Rory argued, brows furrowing in confusion.

"The moment my father died, Gideon expanded the family business over several continents. He built factories to make his weapons and put together teams of some of the smartest engineers and designers to create deadly weapons." Luci explained, "Several months later, our family tripled our wealth."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Ignoring Rory's question, Luci continued, "He bought several estates across the globe, cars, planes and yachts. Hundreds of them." She stared Rory in the eyes. There was a sparkle them as she spoke, and Cristian looked as overjoyed as she listed some of Gideon's wealth. "And, when you married him they became yours."

She swallowed. He was worth billionaires - she was aware but, why was Luci telling her this?

"I knew that my brother would never sign those divorce papers." She stated, meet Rory's startled gaze.

"But, you told me - you gave me those papers."

"Did I get your hopes up?" She teased. "I'm sorry, Rory but I had to get you on my side."

In the corner of her eyes, Rory saw Cristian chuckled. Probably thinking she was an idiotic and gullible child. She blinked away the burning tears in an attempt to put on a brave face. But, really, all she wanted was to crawl under the covers and cry from shame and embarrassment.

"Now," Luci began again. She slide a folded paper towards Rory which she recognised as the photo of Alvaro she had folded.

The maids from earlier must've given it to her.

"What did my brother tell you about this?"

"He didn't kill him."

"Do you believe him?"

She kept her gaze fixated on the lace cloth like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Searching for anything to keep her mind occupied so that she won't face the truth. Eventually when she blinked, her tears dropped onto the white sheet, staining it wet.

I would never lie to you.

Rory's bottom lip trembled and she nodded - she believed him.

"You killed Alvaro didn't you?" She choked out. The look Luci gave her - a sympathetic look; not one for killing Alvaro but for tricking her, for turning her against her husband and her stupidly believing every word she said.

Rory clenched her jaw, hating that pitiful look.

"It was the only way you would turn against him." She said. "But looking at you now, you didn't even want to even when you thought he killed someone innocent." She leaned against her chair, a scowl plastered on her face. "You're pathetic for loving him."

"Shut up!" Rory snarled all of a sudden. "Don't call me pathetic when you're still in love with a man who's began parading around several young girls every other day."

Her focus darted between the two. Both of them wore a rather surprised expression - never expecting her to raise her voice at them.

"That was just some fun to mess with Gideon." Cristian argued. "Those girls meant nothing to me."

Rory turned to Luci and that expression on her face said it all - she didn't believe Cristian when he said those girls meant nothing.

"Don't try to get in between us." He snapped at her. "Too many people have tried to keep us apart and you won't be one of them, mark my words."

"What are you going to do?" She bravely tested, narrowing her eyes at him. "You need me to give you my shares of my husband's wealth. Honestly, I think you two should show me some hospitality."

His brows shot up and a moment of silence passed them by. Then, a deep laughter vibrated off his chest and he howled with amusement.

"Woah, maybe you aren't the little mouse I thought you were." He smiled, flashing his straight, white teeth.

He looked young and gorgeous when he smiled, she definitely saw the appeal. He gnawed on his bottom lip while he eyed her up and down; his stare making her shift uncomfortably in her seat. Any other woman would have fallen for his sex appeal but to Rory, he seemed a little too desperate.

Besides, what did he find attractive about her? She was pregnant - surely he couldn't find that appealing.

"That's enough!" Luci screamed, standing up and slamming her hands against the table.

Rory jumped and the fearlessness scattered from her soul. There goes her momentarily bravery.

"Get her out of my sight!"

At her command, maids dashed onto the terrace and grabbed Rory by the forearms. They dragged her from her chair and pulled her back into the mansion. Rory tossed a look over her shoulder and saw Luci face Cristian with her hands clamped tightly around his neck.

He didn't seemed one bit terrified. Instead, a delighted smile was plastered on his face. It was like he wanted Luci to hurt him.

"You stay away from her!" She ordered, "I don't want to kill her this early on."

Rory gulped and terror pulsed in her veins. She was screwed. And, she only had her gullible self to blame.

~*~

8 days, Rory counted. 8 days since she was kept in Luci's mansion god knows where. And each day, she expected Gideon to walk through the door and announced he was here to save her. To take her home. But, no he didn't come because she locked him up.

And, her meals appeared when woke the next day. Clearly, they were trying to deprive her of human contact.

Rory walked towards the bay window - one that was sealed and unbreakable like it was meant to keep someone inside. She glanced at the shattered lamp she attempted to break the glass with and the broken wooden chair. She curled her arms around herself and winced. In the mirror, she inspected the purple bruise on her forearm; attained when she slammed her body against the glass.

The bedroom door twisted open and she spun to face the person stepping into her room. Her first human contact since she was thrown in her.

Luci stepped into the room dressed in a navy tailored trouser and a light pink blouse. Her dark hair flowed in waves down her back.

"Had enough?" She asked, eyeing the mess that was the bedroom. When Rory didn't answer, she stepped further into the room. Luci handed her a large brown envelope. "Hand over my brother's assets and you can leave."

She flickered her eyes to Luci and held her gaze. Rory tore the documents in half and let the paper fluttered to the floor meaninglessly. Luci merely nodded before huffing in annoyance. She gripped Rory by the arm and urged her out of the room.

"I don't understand why you want his wealth!" She snapped, digging her heels into the floor. But, Luci was surprisingly strong and continued to tug Rory down the hallway towards the staircase.

"It's not his wealth that I want." Luci said, pausing in the middle of the stairs. "It's just a bonus and besides, his wealth his something Cristian wants not me."

"What is that you want then?" She snapped in exasperation. God, everything was so confusing. She wanted revenge, then his wealth and now it wasn't what she wanted.

Luci glanced over her shoulder at Rory. She pursed her lips as if she was contemplating whether to tell Rory or not. Eventually, she did.

"My rights." Luci swallowed. "I want my rights."

"I'm not following."

"I was hospitalised over 4 years ago." She explained, continuing down the stairs. "I lost everything. I wasn't allowed to make my own medical decisions or anything really. I lost Cristian and I lost Cielo." She inhaled sharply, "My family took Cielo away from me because they thought I wasn't well enough to care for her. And, if you sign my brother's assets over to me, Cielo will also be under my custody again."

"I don't think that's how it's going to work."

"What do you know?"

Luci slammed the passenger door of a SUV shut and climbed into the driver seat. The garage door lifted open and they drove out of the mansion ground. Rory took in all her surroundings, making sure to remember the route they were taking.

"Cielo will be mine again and I will have avenged my family." Luci gritted out. "My brother will paid for his mistakes. I'll make sure he'll regret ever taking my father from me and my daughter."

"You didn't have to hurt others to do it, you know."

Luci eyeballed her and ignored her for the rest of the journey.

They drove for hours and only stopped for gas and toilet breaks. With a baby pressing down on her bladder, Rory had to go often much to Luci's displeasure.

Usually they were in the middle of nowhere and she had no desire to mauled alive by some wild animals. At some point, Rory fell asleep because when she woke her eyes fell on a familiar building - the precinct.

Her hands reached for the door handle however, it was locked and she was unable to open it - on her side anyways.

"Let me out." She demanded, "Let me out!"

"No." Luci sighed, "you're going to watch."

She lifted her chin at the commotion on the steps of the precinct. A heavy guarded van was parked below and group of reporters where swarming the area carrying big, thick cameras. The door of the precinct opened and officer Esmeralda stepped out followed by two figures with their wrists cuffed and a brown bag thrown over their heads.

They wore a navy jumpsuit that seemed to swallow their figures and it made hard for Rory to believe that they were meant to be Gideon and Sebastian. Because, who else could they be?

"Rory, let me asked you one last time." Luci said nonchalantly. "Hand over my brother's assets."

"That's not a question," Rory snorted, "And no, I'll never hand over his assets."

"You don't care that Cielo has no mother or father?"

"You're always be her mother." Rory said, "But Cristian will never be her father."

She recalled Cielo's tiny voice exclaiming that she wanted Sebastian and how good he was to her. Rory didn't quite understand what went on between Sebastian and Luci but, it seemed he loved her and Cielo. To her, they appeared like one little family. Perhaps, they could've been if Luci wasn't so hang up on Cristian.

"He is her father."

"Sebastian is her father, he has always been there for her, hasn't her?"

"Shut up, Rory." She snarled, averting her gaze. "So, is that your answer? No."

"I won't divorce Gideon nor will I ever hand over what is ours. And what will be our son's."

"Fine."

Their attention turned back to the commotion at the foot of the precinct. No matter her attempts, she still couldn't get the door to open. It was clear Luci wanted to keep her inside. She growled in annoyance as she stared at her redden palms - even the windows of the SUV refused to break. Was it bulletproof or something?

Rory watched Gideon and Sebastian climb into the van as the reporters circled the the vehicle; snapping pictures and videos. It didn't look like them - they were thinner and looked so small in the jumpsuit. God, aren't they being fed?

The van roared to life and carefully drove through the reporters. Officers created a barrier to keep them back. As she watched the van drove off, Rory felt a sob bubbled up her throat. The desperation and the need for one more touch from him was so overwhelming, she wanted to hurl over.

What had she done?

"Maybe," Luci said, "this will make you reconsider."

As those words left her lips, the van exploded into gigantic, fiery flames. The vibration off the explosion shook the buildings and the cars around them, setting their alarms off.

What filled her ear was a heart wrenching scream; a scream that erupted from her. Rory threw herself at the door. She slammed her fist against the glass but it refused to shatter. Her cries were so loud, she felt her ears ring and her throat tearing apart. Rory clutched her chest as tears flooded her cheeks.

Her fists feebly hit against the glass and her forehead pressed against the cold glass.

"Fuck, no!" She screamed helplessly. "I didn't want him to died, I didn't want this!"

Smoke rose into the air and heat could be seen emitting from the burnt vehicle. It would be a miracle if someone survived. And right, Rory prayed - begged - for one. Just please, someone walk out of those flames.

No one did.

🥲