Chapter 2 - LION'S DEN

~ A WEEK BEFORE SEPHY'S WEDDING ~

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Raphael sat at his desk, looking relaxed while waiting for his next appointment to arrive

Just then he got a text and when he saw the message, he let out a naughty smile.

★ COME BACK TO THE DEN SOON, I KEEP MISSING YOU EACH DAY ★ The message read.

At that particular moment. Rex, Raphael's younger brother, walks into the room.

"This is what you asked me to bring," Rex said, putting a large folder on his desk.

"Why exactly are you suddenly interested in these girls? It's been a year since you saw them?" Rex asked Raphael who was busy checking out the documents in the folder.

"Why else would I be interested in those spoiled kids? To teach them a lesson" Raphael said the last part staring at his brother.

"Violet didn't have the guts to cancel the wedding and so she made her crazy sister do it by making me look like a fool in front of everyone and you know that one thing I hate most is when am being made a fool of"

"I never forgot what they did and so it's time to pay them back," Raphael added, letting out a devilish smirk.

A smirk told Rex that his brother is up to no good once again.

"So what do you have in mind for them?" Rex asked.

"Violet doesn't interest me. It's Seraphina who I am after, she's getting married next week and that's when we put my plan into action" Raphael informed him.

****

~ PRESENT TIME ~ SEPHY'S WEDDING

"She's ready dad, why aren't you here?" Violet asked as she stood in the hotel lobby where Seraphina was getting prepared for the wedding.

"I'm almost there. The traffic is quite bad today" Luther Bradford replied on the phone.

"Okay, we will be waiting," she said, ending the call.

She turned to head back into the hotel when a valet approached her.

"Am sorry to bother you ma'am but the owner of the red Mazda who you parked behind wants to leave" The Valet informed.

"Why don't you do it?" Violet suggests wanting to give him her car keys but he refuses.

"Am sorry but I have something else to do, I just came to inform you that's all" He said walking off.

Sephy must be wondering why she's taking so long, Violet thought as she went to the hotel parking lot.

She successfully got her car out of the way for the owner of the red Mazda.

She was heading towards the parking lot lift when she heard a lady screaming a distance away.

"Shut her up!" A male voice growled out and immediately the lady's voice ceased.

Violet heard their approach and immediately hid in the car, wondering what was happening.

Did she walk right into a murder scene? She thought as she pulled out her phone wanting to call someone.

"Did anyone see us?" She heard the male from earlier ask.

"No sir and apart from her sister who left her hotel suite a while ago, no one else knows about her being taken" another male replied and it was then Violet began to feel that something is wrong.

Risking her life to take a peek, she gasps when she sees Sephy in their black van and she is unconscious.

Quickly she got out of her hiding place and walked towards them.

"Sephy!" Violet screamed but someone caught hold of her before she could get to where they were.

"You should leave. I will take care of her, Ralph" The man who held onto her said and it was then that she realized that the man who had been talking all along is none other than Raphael.

"Let my sister go!" Violet yelled at them trying to pull free but it was to no avail cause the man who held onto her wouldn't let her go.

Violet watched the black van which had her sister in it slide past her and she was unable to do anything.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Violet yelled, pushing out of Rex's hold.

"It's no use, they are gone already," Rex said obstructing her path when she moved toward her car.

"Get out of my way!" Violet yelled at him.

"My job is to keep you here and that's what I'm gonna do," Rex replied, pulling her car keys from her hand and throwing them away.

"That won't stop me from saving my sister," Violet said, pulling out her phone to call for help but Rex took it from her and threw it on the floor, smashing it in the process.

"You jerk!" Violet screamed hitting her handbag on him but he caught hold of her hand and pulled her to him.

"This wouldn't be happening if you hadn't messed with Ralph" Rex said to her holding her hand more tightly.

"So this is about what happened right? Then it should be me that's in that car and not Sephy!" Violet said.

"Sorry girl but Ralph isn't interested in you. It's your sister he is after and she will get what she deserves for making a fool out of him" Rex replied harshly.

"You won't get away with this! I will call the police and get help" Violet said.

"Do call but let me give you a piece of advice. You will only be wasting their precious time cause they won't be able to find any evidence and your words alone aren't going to convince them" He told her, wearing a sickening grin on his face.

Violet bit hard on his hand and when he let go, she turned to leave but she didn't make it far because he hit her hard on the back of her neck which caused her to lose consciousness.

"I didn't want to do this but you forced me to," Rex said, staring at her coldly.

*****

Violet opens her eyes only to find herself in an unfamiliar room.

She sat up and left her blue chiffon gown to be replaced by a hospital uniform.

"You are finally awake," Melody Bradford said moving towards her daughter in relief.

"What happened Mom?" Violet asked.

"One of the hotel staff found you unconscious in your sister's suite and brought you to the hospital and so we came here as soon as we got the call," Melody explained.

Sephy's room, but the last thing she remembered was her losing consciousness at the hotel parking lot. Did that guy take her back to Sephy's suite? She thought.

"What about Sephy mom?" Violet asked sharply.

" Once I lay my hands on her, I am going to kill her!" Luther Bradford barked out suddenly which startled Violet.

"Why would you want to kill her when she's been kidnapped!" Violet snapped at her father who gave her an angry look in return.

"I would have loved it if she was kidnapped but that's not the case," Luther Bradford said, looking very furious.

"What your father is saying is that your sister ran off with her lover ruining her wedding" Melody explained.

"What! Sephy didn't do that, Sephy was kidnapped by....."

"There's no use defending her, look at the darn letter she left in her suite before eloping with her lover," He said, throwing a piece of paper at the confused Violet.

★ IF YOU ARE READING THIS THEN YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT I WILL BE LONG GONE. I DIDN'T HAVE THE GUTS TO TELL IT TO YOUR FACE AND THAT'S WHY I DECIDED TO WRITE IT DOWN IN WORDS, I CAN'T GET MARRIED AND THAT'S BECAUSE I FOUND THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND WE ARE BOTH LEAVING THIS PLACE FOR GOOD, SO TRY NOT TO LOOK FOR US. AM SORRY FOR EVERY ★

As soon as Violet finished reading the letter, she squeezed It into a ball.

Not only did they kidnap her, but they also prepared this fake letter claiming it to be hers.

"This isn't true Father, Sephy didn't go off with her lover. She was taken by Raphael, she's been kidnapped" Violet said trying to make them see reason but they were convinced about Sephy running off with her lover.

"I know you love your sister and always want the best for her but there's no use lying and you shouldn't bring Raphael into this. Ever since what happened a year ago, he has never come anywhere close to us" Luther replied.

"But he did Dad! He did, he took Sephy and one of his men hit me making me lose consciousness, I swear that I fainted at the hotel parking lot and not in Sephy's suite" Violet said.

"You are..."

"Let's just confirm what she says! The hotel has CCTV cameras, we should check it out" Melody said, cutting her husband off.

"Fine then! I will go check it myself and you had better be telling the truth about her being kidnapped" Luther Bradford said before storming out of the room.

"It's the truth mom, Sephy has been kidnapped," Violet said with tears in her eyes as her mom hugged her.

******

~ LION DEN ~

The jingling of the car woke Sephy up and when she opened her eyes, she found herself in the back of a van.

She was about to hit the van when it slid to a halt and she heard people's footsteps.

This is your chance to escape Sephy! Don't waste it, she thought to herself as she patiently waited for them to open the door.

As soon as the door was open, she kicked the man standing in front of it and got out of the van only to be seized by another man who bit on the hand.

He let her go to clutch onto his hand and when she turned to leave, she ran into Raphael's arms who managed to block all of her attempts to free herself from his hold.

"Let go of me you freak!" She yelled wanting to bite him but Raphael lifted her over his shoulders in one swift mood.

"Tell the others that are here and call Rex to know what's going on back in the city," he said to the guard which Sephy had kicked earlier.

"And you! Follow me, it will be hard to get this witch under control" Raphael said referring to Sephy who kept hitting his back, screaming at him to put her down.

"Quiet it down or am going to spank your @ss real hard," He said to Sephy before walking off with her while one of his men followed.

A distance away, a guy who was dressed in black and had witnessed the whole thing let out a slow smile before dashing off to the training room where the others were.

In the training room, three girls coupled with a guy were busy working out when the guy who had witnessed the whole scene a while ago came running into the room.

"Guess what guys, Stone is back!" he said, referring to Raphael since it's the nickname they call him in the Lion Den.

"Really?" Ginger, the girl with the most beautiful look in the group asked in excitement.

"Don't believe a thing that Wacko says! He is only lying" Miranda, Ginger's best friend, said as she eyed the guy who was standing by the doorway.

"Am not lying! I saw him outside a while ago '' Justin, the guy Miranda had referred to as a wacko replied.

"It's been a while since Stone showed up at the Den, what could have brought him back?" Louis, the only guy amongst the girls, asked as he got off the running machine to stretch, showing off his biceps.

"Maybe he misses Ginger" Bluey, the third girl said while she stared lustfully at Louis' bicep.

"Whatever, I am going to see him!" Ginger said wanting to leave the training room but Justin stopped her.

"Stone must be very busy trying to tame the wild animal he brought with him, so I suggest you leave him alone," Justin told her with a smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" Ginger asked.

"Well Stone didn't come back alone, he came with a girl who kept screaming at him and she was in a wedding gown. Do you think Stone got married without....."

"Don't ever say that again, not even as a joke!" Ginger yelled looking very scared and that got Justin to back away from her.

"I'm only saying what I saw," Justin said.

"Then say the things you know and don't speculate" Miranda yelled at him.

"Don't yell at me, you witch!" Justin yelled back at Miranda who threw him a towel which he caught easily.

"Instead of listening to Justin, let's go check it out ourselves " Louis suggested.

"That sounds better. You always come up with the sweetest solution, that's why you are the team leader" Bluey said to Louis praising him while ignoring the looks the others sent her.

The door opens revealing one of Raphael's men.

"The boss is back and he wants you to gather in the meeting room. Asap!" He said before leaving the training room.

****

~ HOSPITAL ~

Violet and her mom were patiently waiting for her dad to arrive which he did a while later.

"So, Did you find anything?" Violet asked.

"I suggest you watch this yourself and tell me if you are still going to lie for your sister's sake," Luther said, giving her his phone.

Violet and her mom watch a video of a girl who was surprisingly dressed in aeraphina'sa wedding dress and beside her was a guy.

The camera didn't capture their face but to those who believe Seraphina eloped, this is the perfect video they can use in implicating her.

"This isn't Sephy dad, she....."

"That's enough Violet! Enough of covering up for your sister's misdeeds, she eloped with a guy and that's the truth!" Luther snapped at her, making it hard for her to say a thing.

No one believes that Sephy has been kidnapped and that's due to Raphael… had planned everything perfectly.

How will Sephy get out of their hands...