When I gain consciousness, I find myself in completely unfamiliar surroundings. What the hell? Where am I? Is it still my birthday? I remember arriving at Christopher's hotel and talking to the receptionist. I remember her telling me about the black Audi waiting for me and then making my way to get in it. Fuck! Then suddenly everything that happened after that comes crashing down in my mind.

My throat seems dry and I feel sick as I try to run my eyes through the place where I am in. It looks like an old room with nothing else but a broken cupboard in a corner and a dusty window on the other side. I shift my eyes to look up and see the dark ceiling shadowing upon me. The room looks pretty bad, almost giving me nauseating vibes. What am I doing here?

I attempt to move, but then realize that my hands and legs are tied to the chair I am sitting on. What the fuck? Did this really happen? Have I been kidnapped? And that too on my fucking birthday? For a second I assume I am just dreaming, so I try to wriggle my arms again, but when I find myself unable to free them, I realize this is all real. My mind goes all into a frenzy as I try to figure out what's happening. Fuck! Is Richard behind this? I guess I was too enthralled in trying to enjoy my day that I almost forgot that we were working on taking down a mafia gang leader. I should have known better than to neglect the thought that he would be looking for us. I underestimated Richard, and now I know I am here to face its consequences. Jesus! How could I be so careless as to climb into an unknown car? What the hell was going through my mind? My excitement for my birthday just got the better of me.

There is no point in regretting now, Nicole. I've already gotten myself in a trouble and I can't do anything about it. All I could do is to focus my concentration on getting out of here. Suddenly I realize that only my hands and legs are tied but my mouth has been kept open. So, I can make use of it. When I am about to scream, I realize something else and then stop. I frown, thinking if they have kept my mouth uncovered, then it means that I am in a place where no one would probably even hear if I'd try to scream.

I guess I don't even have my phone with me. I gulp harshly, suddenly my body filling with terror. I could feel the same dread that I felt when I had been kidnapped by Christopher for the first time. But this time it feels a lot more frightening. Because I know it's not him, but Richard. And from what Richard has done with Christopher, I could say he has a total sadistic brain. Fuck! I have no idea what he is going to do now?

I need to get out of here as soon as possible. My eyes move towards the window on the other side. Maybe I can find a way out if I make up to there. I jerk my body forward, trying to take a step. Before I can move my chair, I hear footsteps approaching. I freeze and hold my breath. The door flings open and two bulky men enter, along with the other two men who got me here following them.

They come and stand beside me.

"What the hell is going on?" I scream, turning my head to look at them. But they ignore my question and keep their visions ahead of them with having their arms crossed over their chests.

And then I hear more footsteps. I gulp, waiting for Richard to get in the room. This is it. I am going to meet my fate. I am going to die. I wish I could have had a chance to talk to Christopher one last time. Now I regret not trying to call him before I left for his hotel. I keep looking at the doorway with my heart thumping hard against my chest as I wait for him. But my eyes grow wide when I see someone else walking in instead. I stare at him in shock because the face is familiar to me. What the actual fuck?

"Peter?" I question, completely stunned to find him here. What is he doing here?

He looks at me and smirks. "Good to see you after such a long time, Nicole." He is wearing a black suit as he stands in front of me. He looks similar to all those times I have seen him, yet there is something different on his face. Something that I've never seen before. Maybe a cunning side to his personality, which he had kept hidden from me all those times.

"What is this all about?" I ask him angrily, but he ignores my question and walks towards me.

"I am pretty hurt you abandoned me like that after our last meeting at my office." He shakes his head and says amusedly. "Didn't you miss me even a little?"

"What the hell, Peter? Could you just tell me what's this going on? Why am I here?"

"Have some patience, Nicole. You'll get to know everything soon." He says in an utterly cool tone. "I am just saving it for your boyfriend. He is the reason why you are dragged into this shit." He looks at me and says. "Let him get here first because I don't like repeating myself." He purses his lips and then tries to fake a smile. "By the way, how have you been lately?"

Before I can speak, a man enters the room and informs Peter. "Sir, he is here." I feel a surge of relief in my body, knowing that he is talking about Christopher. Thank god, he is here. Now I don't have to be here alone around these shitty people. I don't know what's wrong with Peter. I never expected him to be here doing all this. I thought he had moved on from whatever misunderstanding happened between us, but now it looks like he hasn't. The way he spoke to me seconds ago gave me a hint of his undisclosed evil intentions and now I am worried thinking about what he might be up to with this. What the hell does he want from Christopher?

Peter nods at him and then turns to the man next to me. "Bring her down." He orders, walking out of the room. I watch as the men around me untie my hands and legs and force me to stand. They then drag me behind Peter as he walks down the hallway. As I look around, I notice it to be a deserted house, almost looking like a mansion with a thick coat of dust covering most of the things and ugly webs hanging around. They take me down the stairs into the main hall.

I struggle under their grip and scream. "Fucking leave me!"

As I lift my eyes to look up, I see men on the opposite side, dragging Christopher inside the house.

He looks angry as he struggles to push them. He looks up and his eyes meet mine and he whispers. "Nicole." His tone is laced with worry as he glances at me to check if I am okay. He then turns his gaze and glares at the men holding me and says. "Don't you dare fucking touch her..."

"So our hero is finally here," Peter interrupts, and Christopher's eyes shift to look at him.

"Peter?" He stares at him in disbelief. "What the hell is this?" He growls, looking as astonished as I was when I saw him.

"Calm down and take a seat, will you?" Peter says, signaling to the chairs that have been placed in the center of the room by his men now.

We both are forced to sit on chairs and our arms are tied again. I huff and turn my head to look at Christopher, who has been seated at a distance from me.

He looks at me with concern. "Are you okay?" He asks me softly and I nod.

"I always cringed watching those villains in movies...who kidnapped women, tortured hero and did all that overdramatic bullshit," Peter speaks, and we both look back at him. "But you know when you actually get to experience it, I realized it's pretty fun to do that shit." He looks at us with a sick smile on his face.

"What the fuck is going on, Peter? Why did you bring Nicole here?" Christopher barks at him. I could see that he is losing his patience.

"Okay, not in a mood for a joke? My bad." Peter shrugs as he walks towards us. "Let's get to the business then." His voice becomes cold as he stands in front of Christopher and stares at him.

I bite my lip worriedly as he leans down to look into Christopher's eyes. "Tell me one thing, Christopher. Do I look stupid to you?" He asks. "You thought you could fool me and get away with everything so easily?" His tone grows more icy and malicious as he glares at him.

Christopher doesn't seem to be intimidated by his presence as he glares back at him. "What the fuck do you mean?"

"You thought you could snatch away what's mine and slip out without me having the slightest hint about it? Like you have always been doing?" I frown, unable to understand what he is saying. I knew Christopher was working with him, but I have no freaking idea what he is talking about right now. Did Christopher do something to his business?

He walks back and then turns to look at Christopher. "Like you took Sophia away from me?" I blink and try to comprehend where did Sophia come from in all this. I shift to look at Christopher and notice that he looks just as surprised as I am. What the hell? What does Peter have to do with Sophia?

"What?" Christopher questions, looking confused.

Peter taps his chin and studies his face for a minute. "You don't remember it, do you?" He shakes his head and then starts laughing. When he stops to catch his breath, he looks back at Christopher. "Oh my god, how can I be so ridiculous to forget that you remember nothing? You fucking didn't even remember your name after that accident. How can I expect you to remember the rest? Sorry, dude. That's pretty fucked up."

"Tell me how does it feel to know that you are no longer competent in a business that you thought belonged to you." He smirks, and from the corner of my eyes, I see Christopher's jaw clenching. That's pretty low of him to make fun of Christopher's accident. How could he do that? He has no idea about what happened to him after that. He doesn't know what Richard did to him and what he has been through in all these years.

"As much as I want to sympathize with your state but I won't because you fucking deserved it." Peter spits angrily and states. He then looks to the other side and a hint of sorrow flashes over his face. "Sophia has been everything to me. I had loved her since school time, but she was too blind to see it. She was too blind to chase after you. I told her how much she meant for me, but she just...she just wanted you. She wanted to marry you unworthy piece of shit."

"What the fucking bullshit you are talking about?" Christopher asks, and Peter just gives him a displeased look.

He then cocks his head and directs his gaze towards me. Christopher watches him cautiously as he speaks. "No offense Nicole. But I never was into you. I always loved Sophia and will always do. Being around you was just a part of our plan so I could get to this bastard."

"Peter?" I look at him in disbelief. All those times when I believed he was being a good friend to me, he was just planning to use me to get to Christopher.

He doesn't look at me as he goes to grab a chair from the corner. He pushes it in front of Christopher and sits, crossing his legs. Christopher curls his fists and looks up at him. "Richard knew me and my father, but he still didn't do anything. He believed in you so fucking much. And after everything, he even had the nerves to fucking send you to work with me? He was unbelievable." He states, shaking his head in disapproval. "You believed that you'd have a little secret agreement with Joseph. And I fucking wouldn't know what you were doing behind my back? Every time you thought you succeeded in fooling me, you were just riling me up more to get my revenge."

I watch him as he reaches for something from his back and my eyes grow wide when I see him take out a gun. Fuck! I look at him and then back at Christopher as he talks again. "I don't know what Sophia saw in you. But I knew you were nothing but a worthless, arrogant son of a bitch. You used her to keep Richard at your feet." Peter eyes Christopher as he trails his fingers over his gun and my breath hitches. "You never loved her. I saw the way you treated her when he wasn't around. I always wanted to take revenge on you. I wanted to get you out of my way so I could have my Sophia."

"Back when I heard about your accident, I was beyond happy. I was glad to discover about your traumatic brain injury. You fucking deserved it. Finally, I thought you were going to suffer for what you fucking did. I thought you were going to suffer for the torture you put Sophia through." Peter pauses for a moment and when he again continues, his eyes are filled with rage. "But no... later I came to realize that it just made you treat her worse. I had my men looking after her. And I got to know that you were making her life miserable by treating her like shit. She loved you with her whole heart and what you fucking gave her in return?" He sighs and looks down angrily.

"I couldn't see her suffer, so I thought it was the best time to take you down." He grits his teeth and looks at Christopher. "I wanted to make you pay for every tear that rolled down her eyes. She deserved better. She deserved me. But I knew she wouldn't be mine unless you'd be out of her life." He grips the gun in his hand tightly, making me more anxious. What the fuck is wrong with him?

Christopher doesn't say anything, and I get worried, thinking that all this revelation might have shocked him. I don't know what is going through his mind as he stares at Peter. "When you were showing the signs of impotency after your memory loss. I planned to take advantage of it. Remember the deal with the Russians you had a year ago? When the cops blew up your deal. I mediated that invasion. It was me who negotiated with their dealer and called on it."

"You did that?" Christopher asks in shock.

"And fortunately I wasn't alone in all this."

"What...what are you saying?"

Peter's lips curve into a sly smile as his eyes dart between me and Christopher before finally settling on him. "Wouldn't you want to know how I got the details of such a clandestine deal? Actually, this would be a great surprise for you." He shrugs and laughs. "To meet my friend that has been helping me with all this."

He keeps smirking, looking at Christopher, and I watch as his vision diverts to the door behind us, and his grin widens. "Ahh... I was talking about him and here he comes." He stands up and says. "You are gonna live long, buddy."

Christopher doesn't turn to look at him as he keeps glaring at Peter in front of him. Before I could catch a glimpse of his face, the man walks from my side and goes to stand next to Peter. I am almost dreaded and literally in a state of disbelief When I look at him.

I stare at his evil smile for a moment and then gasp. "Max?"