Alia's body shook violently as a pistol was aimed directly at her forehead. Cold sweat streamed down her forehead, running over her cheeks and down to her pale neck.
Meanwhile, the man standing in front of her laughed when he saw his victim scared out of her mind.
“Are you scared?” The man deliberately asked the question as if mocking his victim. “Scream! Scream as loud as you can. If you have a beautiful voice, I might consider letting you go.”
Alia clenched her hands tightly. She desperately wanted to do what the man told her, but fear held her mouth shut, and she couldn't open it.
“P-please let me go,” she said softly.
“What? I can't hear you. Please speak clearly.”
“B-Boohoo.” Alia's sobs rang out clearly. How was she supposed to escape this situation? This terrifying situation that she had never imagined would happen to her.
One hour earlier.
Alia had just gotten out of the red car that had driven her home and dropped her off in front of her house. She leaned down slightly to look at her best friend, who was still inside. “You don't want to come in for a bit?”
“I'll just head straight home,” Kiana replied.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.” Alia waved as she watched her friend Kiana drive away from the area around her house.
Alia smiled, then turned around and pressed the bell beside the property gate, hoping the house guard would come quickly and open it for her. But she had already pressed it several times, and the house guard still hadn't come to open the property gate. “Where is Mr. Ujang? Why isn't he coming?” she muttered in confusion.
Alia tried to inspect the property gate. “Huh? It's not locked?” she said, confused.
She slipped her hand through the gap in the gate and opened it herself. After stepping inside and starting toward her house, Alia looked back again at the property gate. She felt strange because it was usually always locked. Why wasn't it locked today?
Pushing away all her dark thoughts, Alia continued walking into the house. Before going inside, she stopped by the security booth to look for the house guard. But there was no one there.
“Huh? Mr. Ujang isn't here. Where did he go? It's already nighttime. Why would he leave? He's supposed to be guarding the house.” Alia felt increasingly uneasy and worried about what she was seeing. “What's going on? I have such a bad feeling. I hope nothing happened.”
Uneasy, Alia continued on. She was about to knock on the front door, but stopped when she saw that it was slightly ajar.
“It’s open again? Why isn't it locked for once? The property gate wasn't locked either. What's going on? I feel more and more uneasy.” Alia grew increasingly worried about her family. Without wasting any more time, she entered her house. It was pitch-black inside, as if there wasn't a single person home. “Why is it so dark? Could there be a burglar?” she asked in a panic.
Alia moved forward slowly, afraid to turn on the lights. If there really was a burglar, her life could be in danger. She chose to sneak through the house instead and scream as loudly as she could if there really was someone inside. Her eyes then fell on one of the rooms that was lit up. It was the only room with any light.
“Why are the lights on in the family room? Is the burglar in there?” she muttered. Fearfully, Alia slowly approached the family room she had been looking at.
Her pupils widened when she saw a group of men dressed entirely in black gathered in her family room. “Wh-who are they?” she murmured. Alia's eyes widened even further when she saw that the floor of the family room was covered in blood. “Wh-what is that red stuff all over the floor?”
Alia focused her gaze on the group of men still standing in her family room. Her eyes dropped to their feet, and she was horrified to see three people lying weakly beneath them, drenched in blood. Alia covered her mouth with both hands when she realized that the blood-covered people were her parents and younger sibling.
“Dad, Mom, Arumi,” she murmured again. But one of the men dressed in black seemed to hear her.
The moment Alia realized this, she crouched down and hid behind her large sofa. She clamped both hands over her mouth because she was certain those men would hear her crying if she didn't.
“Jo, shouldn't there still be one more rat?” Zevan's cold voice, belonging to the leader of the group, startled Alia as she tried to hide and avoid them.
“That's right, sir. There should still be one more. Their eldest daughter, Alia,” replied Jonathan, his personal secretary.
“Hmm, it seems that rat is hiding right now. But it looks like the little rat isn't very good at hiding.” Zevan slowly walked toward the large sofa where Alia was hiding.
Alia trembled in terror when she heard Zevan's words. Tears streamed down her face as she continued covering her mouth to keep from making a sound. But when she heard the footsteps drawing closer and closer, she knew one of them had realized she was there.
Alia closed her eyes. She had to make a decision: stay there and hide, or run with all her might.
Her heartbeat thundered harder as she realized the footsteps were getting closer. Steeling herself, Alia opened her eyes again and immediately ran out of her family room.
“Sir, that woman. I think she’s Alia, Adinata Wijaya’s eldest daughter,” Jo said when he saw Alia running away.
Zevan smirked as he watched Alia run as fast as she could without looking back. “Run, little rat! No matter how far you run, I'll catch you,” he said with a grin.
“Listen, Jo. Chase that girl down and bring her back. I won't let a single person related by blood to Adinata Wijaya escape!”
“Yes, sir.”
Alia kept running, trying to get away from the strange men. Torrential rain battered her body until she was soaked to the skin, even causing her to fall on the slippery road.
Alia didn't give up. Even limping, she continued running, hoping she could truly get away from them.
But no matter how hard she tried, fate clearly wasn't on her side. Just as she hid behind some lush trees, the man with amber eyes and a demonic appearance found her.
Alia tried to run farther, but unexpectedly, she was discovered by the devilish man with amber eyes.
Zevan shoved Alia roughly until her back slammed against the tree behind her. Then, with a savage look in his eyes, like a wolf staring at its prey, he aimed the pistol in his hand directly at Alia's forehead.
“You think you can run from me? That will never happen—not even in your dreams.” Zevan delivered the words with absolute certainty, as if telling her that anyone who became his victim would remain in his grasp.