I had just been reunited with the biological parents who lost me twenty years ago. Before I could feel a single shred of their love, I was tricked into leaving the country by Maya, the "fake daughter" they’d raised. She didn't just tell my parents I’d run away; she tore up my passport. She sold me to a human trafficking compound, her jealous, twisted face smiling as she said: "A piece of trash like you belongs in the gutter!" As a group of men closed in on me, I stared at the uniforms they were wearing and froze. That wasn't just a random logo. It was the logo of Donovan Holdings—the company belonging to the adoptive parents who had raised me for twenty years. 1 "I swear to God, if you look at me with those filthy eyes again, I'll dig them out and feed them to the dogs!" Maya Kensington's plain face was terrifying when it contorted with rage. "Maya, you're insane! If Mom and Dad find out you did this, they'll kill you!" I was struggling against three massive guards, but I was like a baby bird in their grip. My helplessness only made Maya smile wider, so much so that she was trembling. "I'll tell them you're just loving life abroad. Having so much fun you've decided not to come home." Maya and I were switched at birth. She’d lived as the Kensington heiress for twenty years before the truth came out. Then I showed up. On the surface, she was all smiles and sisterly kindness. In private, she was a venomous snake. It got worse when our biological parents, Richard and Eleanor, announced my engagement to Cole Hartman. She’d been obsessed with Cole for years. I told her, and them, a dozen times that I had no intention of marrying a stranger. Nobody believed me. They all thought I was just being "shy." Lately, she’d been so nice. I actually thought she'd finally accepted the truth. So when she suggested a "sisters' trip" abroad to bond, I agreed. And now, here I was, in a remote compound, my passport shredded. "Maya, if you let me go right now, I can pretend this never happened. But if you don't—" SLAP! Her hand cracked across my face so hard my lip split. She dug her long nails into my cheeks, drawing blood. "You're in my world now, Stella," she hissed, using the name the Kensingtons had given me. "You dare threaten me?" "You planned this," I spat. "Choosing a remote location, far from the city. It was to make the kidnapping easier." "You're not as stupid as you look," she laughed. "You walked right into the trap. So, you're going to stay here and earn me some money." She got back in the car and left. The men threw a deck of cards at my feet. "You've got one week to learn how to be a dealer." I saw the logo on the cards. "This is an illegal casino! I won't do it! This is a crime!" The leader kicked me in the stomach. Pain exploded, and I collapsed, unable to breathe. He grabbed my hair and hauled me back up. "I wasn't asking," he growled. "You'll do it. But since you're not the cooperative type, let's start with a lesson." A wooden baton slammed into my back. "Ah!" Two hits, and I was already covered in a cold sweat. It was the middle of the night, dead silent. This was not a fight I could win. "How much?" I gasped, tasting blood. "How much money to let me go?" They all burst out laughing. "Money? Do we look like we need money?" The leader sneered. "We're just following Miss Kensington's orders. This is just bad luck for you, sweetheart." They closed in, grinning. "And if you don't want to deal cards, we've got... other jobs. Lots of work for a pretty face." I was pinned. As I thrashed, I ripped open one of the men's jackets. My eyes locked on the tattoo on his left shoulder. It was a stylized "D" over a globe. The logo for Donovan Holdings. My adoptive family. Mom, Dad, and my brother Ryan had raised me like a princess since they found me. They'd always sworn to me they were out of "the business." They didn't even have a branch in this country. "You're... you're Donovan Holdings?" The men glanced at each other. "Huh. She knows the name. Smart." "I'm Cara!" I screamed, using my real name. "I'm Cara Donovan! The boss's daughter! You have to let me go! My brother... Ryan... he'll kill you!" They laughed again. "The boss's daughter? Nice try. We've only got one 'daughter,' and that's Miss Cara. You're not her." "I AM CARA!" I was about to tell them to check my ID, but Maya had burned it with my passport. "Call Ryan! Call Ryan Donovan! He'll know my voice!" My desperation gave them a second's pause. The leader, "Vince," pulled out his phone... and called Maya. "Hey, what's the name of the girl you dropped off?" "Stella Kensington," Maya's voice tin-canned from the phone. "Stella is the name my biological family gave me!" I shrieked. "My real name is Cara Donovan!" Ptooey! Vince spit in my face. "You fucking liar! I almost fell for it!" He was furious. He kicked me, again and again, right in the stomach. I threw up, and it was dark with blood. "Please... just call Ryan... he'll save me..." "Save you? You're not the 'daughter,' you're the 'entertainment'!" He dragged me by my hair into a filthy shack. The floor was mud and smelled of mold and human waste. He chained me to a post. The baton came down again, this time with a purpose. He was careful, though. He never hit my face. He was saving my face. For what? The phone rang. Vince answered, "Yes, boss." He hung up. "Change of plans. She's not going to the tables. She's too... recognizable. Put her on the back line." "Boss, a face like that? It's a waste." "Are you questioning me? Her face is the problem. If someone recognizes her, we're all dead!" "Please!" I grabbed his pants leg. "Call Ryan. You'll regret this. He'll kill you all. He loves me." "Then her face is useless," Vince muttered, pulling out a knife. He brought the cold steel to my cheek. "Since she's not dealing..." I bit him. I bit down on his hand, tasting the iron and copper of his skin, and screamed for help. The other men jumped on me. The door was kicked open. "What the hell is taking so long? Get this woman processed!" "Right away!" Vince wiped his bleeding hand on his pants and stepped on my throat. "You bitch! You bit me? I'm going to pull every single one of your goddamn teeth!" They pinned me down. It was hopeless. I was too weak. But I thrashed, kicking, fighting. "Jesus, she's strong for a little thing!" "Hurry up! The Head is here! He can't stand this kind of filth!" The Head? Jia-zhu? That's what they called Ryan. I found a new surge of strength. I bit down on one man's arm, ripping a piece of flesh free, and at the same time, I kneed another in the face, feeling his nose crunch. As they howled, I scrambled free and ran. There, in the clearing, was a black Bugatti. Ryan's Bugatti. The one I’d given him for his birthday. The one I’d put stupid, giant eyelashes on the headlights of, as a joke. He'd kept them on. "RYAN!" I sobbed. "RYAN!" He looked over. I saw his head turn. A hand clamped around my throat and yanked me back, dragging me through the mud. "You fucking animal! I'll teach you!" I broke free one last time, but they were ready. A baton slammed into the side of my head. The world went white, then black. I came to, choking. My mouth was full of sweat and grime. They’d shoved a filthy rag in my mouth. They were holding my hands down. One of them had a pair of pliers. He was aiming for my fingernails. I screamed into the gag, bucking and twisting, but I couldn't move. He tore one out. The pain was absolute. He tore out another. I passed out. When I woke, I was alone. The pain in my hands was a dull, throbbing fire. My tongue was swollen, my head splitting. I looked at my raw, bloody fingers and a despair so total, so crushing, washed over me. But I wasn't dead. Not yet. Through a crack in the door, I saw them. Ryan. He was with his security team, and they were leaving. I crawled. The chain around my neck pulled taut. "R-y-a-n!" It was a choked, pathetic noise. I bit my own lip, hard. I needed the pain. "RYAN! BROTHER! HELP ME!" He stopped. "Who was that?" Vince, the man who’d pulled my nails, ran up, bowing and scraping. "Just a new girl, Boss. Being... difficult. We're handling it." Ryan frowned. "Who?" "Ah... my wife, Boss. She's... not happy I'm working for you. Thinks the money's not as good. Always making a scene." Ryan's eyes fell on the bloody trail I’d left. "Boss, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't see this. She... uh... she fell. Broke her leg. Tried to run. We..." Ryan hated this. He hated this entire side of the business. He was here to clean it up. He was about to leave. This was my last chance. I put all my weight against the chain, yanked, and felt the rotten wood splinter. I threw the door open and fell out, grabbing onto his leg. He kicked me. Instinct. He hated being dirty. He kicked me so hard I flew backward. He looked at the blood on his thousand-dollar pants with disgust. But he was looking at me. Vince was faster. He pounced, one hand covering my mouth, the other twisting my hair. I bit him until his hand was a bloody mess, but he didn't let go. "She's crazy, Boss! Mental problems! I'll take care of her!" "Just don't kill anyone," Ryan said, his voice cold. "Of course not, Boss. We're a legitimate operation." I thrashed, trying to show him my face. But he'd already looked away. "Get it done." "Yes, Boss. Right away." Vince dragged me back inside. He looked... impressed. "Twenty years, and you're the first one who almost got away. You like to scream, huh?" He pulled his knife. "I'll cut your tongue out. Let's see you scream then!" "Hold her down!" Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't stop them. This only made them laugh. They had me. They held my head, pried open my jaws. The cold steel touched my tongue. Just then, Maya walked in. She looked absurd in her designer dress, but she held her nose like she owned the place. She walked over, looked down at me, and then hooked a finger in Vince's belt loop. "What's taking so long? Get her processed." Vince grinned, kissing her, his hands disappearing under her dress as I watched. "What's the rush?" he said, finally coming up for air. "She's not important. But I heard the Head was here? Ryan Donovan?" Her eyes were greedy. "Heh. Got your sights set on the big boss, huh? You'll have to get in line. Everyone knows the Head only has eyes for one girl. His sister. Miss Cara. Whatever she says, goes." "Cara Donovan?" Maya frowned. "I thought no one had ever seen her." Vince laughed, jabbing a thumb at me. "This psycho claimed she was Cara Donovan." "Her?" Maya spit on me. "She's not fit to kiss Cara's boots!" She took out her phone and snapped a few pictures of me, half-naked and bloody. "This is perfect. Cole will love this. Should I send it to him now, or wait until after my men have had their turn with you?" I couldn't speak, so I just stared. "Don't look at me like that." She was so angry, she grabbed the knife from Vince. "I'll cut her tongue out myself." The door flew open again. It was Ryan. He was holding a small, hand-carved silver charm on a broken chain. "Where did this come from?" I started making animal noises, choking, trying to get his attention. Vince's men gagged me again. "No idea, Boss," Vince lied. "Someone must have dropped it." Ryan kicked him in the face, grinding his heel into his cheek. "I'll ask again. Where?" "I... I don't know!" Vince screamed as Ryan pulled a knife and drove it straight through his hand, pinning him to the table. "I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW! A car... a car passed by! It must have fallen!" Ryan stared at him for a full minute, then slowly turned his gaze to me. "Who. Is. She." Vince, bleeding and terrified, stammered that I was just a girl who'd been "dropped off." Ryan walked toward me. Each step was a hammer blow to my heart. He tilted my chin up with his boot. I gagged, trying to spit the rag out, trying to make him see me. Then he kicked me away. "Filthy." He turned to leave. I lunged. I grabbed his leg, bit down on his knee, and as he roared and looked down, I spat the gag out. My jaw was locked, I couldn't speak. So I held up my hand. I held up my right hand, my index finger pointing at his face. He froze.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "385994", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel