When Sakura came to, it was to the deafening noise of thunder echoing loudly above her, which made her gasp out in fright. Her body tensed and jerked as she fluttered her eyes open, her heart racing. Once the clamorous blast died down, she could hear the howling wind and splashing rain.
Her head felt dazed and numb, while her body felt heavy and strained. Her breathing was laborious as she tried to concentrate, to clear the fog that hung over her like a thick dark cloud, overshadowing the clarity of her mind and thoughts.
Where am I? she wondered as she blinked a few times, trying desperately to focus.
Sakura moved, trying her hardest to shift her body, but it was to no avail. She glanced down and noted her hands and feet were bound tight with ropes, as was her mouth with a cloth.
Why am I tied up? What happened?
Panic seized her and her head spun with fear. No, she needed to stop this. She shut her eyes, telling herself she needed to think clearly and calmly. Yes, she was bound, and yes, she was in a place she didn’t know, but she was still breathing. Living. And now she needed to clear her head and think.
Her eyes strayed from one spot to another, scanning her surroundings. What is this place?
She noted the wooden floor and the chic furnishing of the small, cramped room. She felt the swaying motion and heard the crushing of waves amongst the howling noise of the rainstorm. It was then she knew she was on a yacht, a small one, and she was at sea. Everything came back to her.
Tara! Ray Woods!
She swallowed hard at the realization that she had been taken against her will. She had been kidnapped!
Tears welled in her eyes as she forced herself to stay calm. And what about the Princeton brothers? Sebastian! Darcy! Did they know she had been taken?
Suddenly, she felt cold, and the thought that these might be her last moments made her head spin in terror.
No. No. She shook her head. Stop thinking about dreadful things, she told herself. These were not her last moments. She still had a whole life ahead of her. Sebastian and Darcy, her two beloved men, hadn’t yet told her of their true feelings. They hadn’t yet accepted her confession. She hadn’t yet tasted the beauty of being treasured by the two men she loved, so there was no way she’d just succumb and let these be her last moments, as Tara had so gleefully told her back in her room a few hours ago.
Or has it been a few hours at all? Can it have been more? God, she didn’t know.
She moved, trying her best to sit upright, to relieve her sore body of lying in that uncomfortable position. Plus, she wanted to survey the room, see if there was anything in here that could aid in her escape.
After a bit of a struggle, she managed to sit up. Leaning her back against the wall with exertion, she sighed with relief. Then she scanned about her surroundings once again, this time taking in every minuscule detail. She noted that she was in a living space. There was a small kitchenette as well as the dining table booth. In front of her was a small sitting area with sofas and a coffee table.
Her gaze flew back to the kitchenette. Where there was a kitchen, there was bound to be cooking utensils like knives, which she could use to cut the rope and release herself from the bindings. Now she just needed to get herself over there and find one.
She pressed her back against the wall for support as she pushed up, rising. She was nearly on her feet when the door crashed open and then shut again. This was followed by the stomping of footsteps, which grew louder. A moment later, the noise stopped, and instantly, Sakura felt the back of a slender hand smacking against her cheek, sending her face to the left.
Tears burned in her eyes as Sakura turned her gaze to Tara, who was glaring at her.
“Who the fuck told you to wake up?” the woman said in outrage as she shoved Sakura back.
Sakura fell on her side, her body hitting the hard floor. She groaned in pain, her voice muffled by the cloth between her lips.
The door opened and then shut again, and Sakura saw the legs of another woman walking toward her. A moment later, the woman came to kneel in front of her.
A plump, round face with a sharp nose, thin lips, and beady eyes greeted her, and Sakura knew without a doubt that this was Mrs. Clark, the woman who had tormented and terrorized her when she was young.
Mrs. Clark must have seen the apprehension in Sakura’s eyes and smiled with smugness. “Sakura,” she said. “It’s been a long time.” She then pulled Sakura up so that the girl was in a sitting position again.
Leaning herself against the wall, she stared at the woman, guarded.
Mrs. Clark chuckled as she made herself comfortable on the sofa in front of Sakura. Tara chose to sit in the booth across the dining table, her arms folded arrogantly as she watched. “Mom! When are we going to finish this?”
This drew Sakura’s attention to Tara. Mom? So Tara had known Mrs. Clark was her mother all along? This, of course, didn’t surprise Sakura one bit.
Shifting her gaze back to Mrs. Clark, Sakura stared at the woman long and hard.
Mrs. Clark must have understood her intense gaze because she chuckled with amusement. “I can tell from the look in your eyes that you want to understand what the hell is going on here.”
Sakura simply continued to stare.
Mrs. Clark said, “Okay, I’m going to tell you since you’re begging for it. I will tell you the whole truth. I mean, after all, you aren’t going to be alive much longer, right? Because you’re going to accidentallydie in this storm.”
Sakura tried not to flinch in reaction to the woman’s taunting words. But being in such a vulnerable position, she couldn’t control herself and shuddered in dread.
So that was their plan all along? To kill her and make her death look like an accident. It was no doubt very plausible, especially in this weather and in the middle of the sea.