1. I got a ten-thousand-dollar year-end bonus, and my boyfriend insisted I treat him to a fancy dinner. The bill came. Eighty thousand dollars. Stunned and realizing I’d been scammed, I refused to pay. The restaurant owner had me tied up, snarling that if I didn’t cough up the money, he’d make sure I disappeared. I took a closer look at him, and my blood boiled. Wasn’t this my father’s man, Hugh “The Panther” Pane? My dad, Lucas Thorne, is a mob boss. He’s also completely obsessed with his daughter. When my mom divorced him, I couldn’t stand his life of constant violence and refused to see him. He stood before me with tears in his eyes and swore he’d go straight. But all these years later, it looked like his men were still up to their old tricks! And they had the audacity to tie me up! … “Trying to dine and dash? You got another thing coming, sweetheart. Don’t you know whose turf you’re on?” “Pay up, or you’re leaving an arm behind!” A group of menacing thugs surrounded me. One of them held a heavy meat cleaver, tapping it against my shoulder as if measuring his cut. My heart leaped into my throat. Was this place a front? No wonder four dishes and a bottle of wine cost eighty grand. This wasn't a dinner; it was a shakedown. I took a deep breath, forcing my voice to stay calm. “Where’s my boyfriend? Where’s Jim?” If it wasn’t for Jim insisting we come to this place, I never would have set foot in this godforsaken corner of the city. The decor was opulent, screaming expensive, but I figured my ten-thousand-dollar bonus would more than cover it. I never imagined the bill would be eighty thousand. This had to be a setup. They could have just mugged me, but no, they served me a full meal first. At the mention of Jim, one of the thugs sneered. “Looking for him won’t do you any good. He’s the one who told us to grab you.” “Said you were a real cash cow. Said eighty grand was nothing, that you could pull out eight hundred if you had to! Looks like he misjudged. Our lucky day, huh?” “If you can’t pay, we’ll just break your legs and toss you into the Gilded Cage. You’ll earn back that eighty grand soon enough.” The Gilded Cage did not sound like a finishing school. I yelled, “I’m not going! This is kidnapping and extortion! It’s illegal! Let me go!” The man holding the cleaver laughed as if I’d told the funniest joke in the world. “Illegal? Honey, around here, I am the law.” “You don’t want to go to the Gilded Cage? Fine. Pay the bill. Otherwise, I’ve got plenty of ways to make you suffer.” With a cruel twist of his lips, he grabbed me by the neck and plunged my head into a nearby fish tank. The suffocating pressure was blinding. I struggled, my lungs burning, until he finally pulled me up. I gasped for air, water streaming down my face. It was time to negotiate. “I’ll pay,” I choked out. “But I don’t have that much on me right now. Let me make a phone call. I can have someone bring the money.” It was true. My mother managed all my earnings. The ten-thousand-dollar bonus was the only money in my personal account. They could drown me, but I couldn’t produce eighty grand. The words had barely left my mouth when a man with a thick, bushy beard slapped me across the face. “Dressed head to toe in designer clothes and you don’t have eighty grand? Who are you kidding?” “Make a phone call? You think we’re stupid? You call the cops, and you’re dead.” Just then, one of the younger goons spoke up impatiently. “Hugh, let’s just cut the crap and send her to the Gilded Cage already. A face like that? She’ll probably earn way more than eighty grand.” I looked closer at the man they called Hugh, the one with the beard. He seemed… familiar. Wait a minute. Wasn’t that Hugh Pane? Hugh “The Panther” Pane. My father’s right-hand man. My dad, Lucas Thorne, was a notorious mob boss, but he was even more notorious for being a doting father. My mother had been swept up in his whirlwind romance, a classic case of forceful charm leading to marriage and then to me. But she eventually grew tired of his domineering ways and decided to leave. I chose not to go with him, unable to stomach his world of violence. Lucas had stood before me, his eyes red, and swore on his life he would clean up his act. And now, all these years later, here was his top lieutenant, still running the same old rackets. And he had tied me up. If I hadn’t been studying abroad for so long, and if my eyesight wasn’t so bad, I would have recognized him sooner. My shock turned to fury. “Hugh Pane, you’ve got a death wish! How dare you tie me up!” The younger goon who had spoken earlier froze, then slapped me again. “You’re the one with a death wish! You think you can just use our boss’s name like that?” He raised his fist to strike me again. Hugh stopped him, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How do you know my name?” I thought he’d finally recognized me. “Because I’m Lucas Thorne’s daughter!” I yelled. “Let me go, right now! If my dad finds out about this, he’ll have your head!” The suspicion on Hugh’s face immediately morphed into derision. “You? Posing as the boss’s daughter? You got a lot of nerve, lady!” I was speechless. “I really am his daughter! I’m Tiffany Thorne!” Hugh grabbed me by the collar of my dress and sneered. “Your boyfriend was calling you Jessica Thorne all through dinner. You think we’re all deaf?” “I am Tiffany!” I explained desperately. “I go by Jessica now because my parents divorced! I took my mom’s last name!” “If you don’t believe me, look at my phone’s lock screen! It’s a picture of me and my dad!” Hugh was my father’s most trusted man. He had to know my mother’s name. But the next thing I knew, a sharp pain shot through my shin as Hugh struck me with a wooden bat. “The boss and the missus are as happy as can be! How dare you say they’re divorced!” “You spread another rumor like that, and I’ll rip your mouth off!” I gasped, a cold dread washing over me. I’d forgotten. My father had kept the divorce a secret, afraid of the gossip it would cause my mother. I never thought his attempt to protect her would end up damning me. Just then, another goon handed my phone to Hugh. A flicker of hope ignited within me. Once he saw the lock screen, he’d know. But Hugh held the phone, squinting at the screen and then back at my face for a long moment. Then he spat on the floor. “I can’t believe I almost fell for your act. You’ve been playing me this whole time!” “You think I’m gonna believe a photoshopped picture of you with the boss?” “Tiffany is a sweet, chubby girl, a real picture of good fortune. You, with your plastic-surgery V-line face, you dare to impersonate her?” He raised the bat again, ready to strike. I was horrified. It was true, I used to be chubby. But after high school, my mom sent me to a weight-loss camp. I lost fifty pounds. That, combined with makeup and filters… I used to love it when people told me how thin and beautiful I looked. Now, the irony was just crushing. Just as the bat was about to come down on my head, a woman with heavy makeup stepped in and stopped him. “Hugh, what if this little tramp is the boss’s mistress?” “If you hurt her and he comes looking for you, what then?” Hugh shot her a furious glare. “You looking to die too? The boss and the missus are solid. He’d never have a mistress!” “Now, she’s not getting out of here even if she pays! There’s nothing I hate more than a homewrecker!” With that, he ordered his men to cut my face. My hands and feet were bound. I couldn’t move an inch. I screamed in terror, “I really am Lucas Thorne’s daughter! If you touch me, he’ll kill you all!” But a moment later, I heard the sound of fabric ripping as they tore my dress. “You dare to disrespect the missus? Not even God himself can save you now!” A wave of despair washed over me. Just then, a knock came at the door. “Hugh, the boss is here! He wants to book a private room for a birthday party! He’s looking for you!” Hugh’s face lit up. “Really? If the boss is putting in this much effort, it must be for the missus!” He pointed a disgusted finger at me. “Get rid of this trash. I don’t want the boss to see her. She’ll ruin the mood.” With that, he and his men hurried out of the room. The only person Hugh called “boss” was my father, Lucas Thorne. Could it be? Was he here? Tears welled in my eyes, but I knew I had to hold them back. If I was going to escape, this was my only chance. As they threw a bag over my head and dragged me out the door, I lashed out with a powerful kick, aiming for the groin of the man beside me. He grunted in pain and let go. I stumbled forward, running blindly. Unfamiliar with the layout, I tumbled down a flight of stairs. The fall left me dazed. Before I could recover, the man I’d kicked caught up and slammed something hard against the back of my head. “You little bitch! You dare kick me? I’ll beat you to death!” The world spun. Through the haze, I thought I saw my father’s silhouette at the end of the hallway. Then I was dragged away, and everything went black. When I woke up, I was tied up in a storage closet. My mouth was taped shut. My clothes were still on; I hadn’t been assaulted. Had they all rushed off to greet my father? That meant he was still here. As long as he was here, I still had a chance. I scooted over to the corner and began desperately rubbing the ropes against a sharp edge. Just then, I heard hushed voices outside the door. I pressed my ear against the wood and listened. It was Jim.
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