"Urgh!" He blinked at the sudden brightness of light that assaulted his eyes the moment his blindfold was ripped off.
He turned his neck, anxious eyes taking in the situation. He relaxed as he observed the scene, he was tied to a chair, surrounded by seven muscular men in what appeared to be a warehouse.
Having been a victim of kidnap far too many times to count, he had become used to such situations. This could not be a plan of his rivals, his company was barely hanging on so he was no longer deemed a threat, so this could only be a kidnapping with the aim of taking money from him, thankfully he had money in abundance.
"State your price." He turned towards the man he assumed to be the leader, tone steady with false calm.
"We don't want your money, Mr Qin." He snorted. "You can't afford us." A dark grin hung on his lips.
Shelton Qin frowned, had he been wrong after all? "Everyman has a price." He titled his neck, the dull throb in his head reminding him of the swift punch that knocked him unconscious.
"It depends on how much you think your life is worth." The man roared with laughter, the others joining in.
Shelton Qin felt his nerves grow taut, the laughter grating his ears. "Look, I will give you whatever you want, money..."
"I want your life." A cold voice cut him off, the men's laughter ending abruptly as the only sound that echoed in the room was the sound of heels hitting the ground.
The men parted, their heads bent low in greeting as two women walked towards him.
"How pathetic to think you could buy my men with your dirty money." She spat in disgust.
"Feng Xueqin." Shelton Qin rasped, pupils dilating in shock.
"Long time no see, Mr Shelton." Her cold smile did not reach her eyes. Dressed in a silver-colored suit that fitted nicely on her slim figure, her black hair with hints of grey tied up in a high ponytail, Feng Xueqin looked as though she should be in an office, not in the middle of an old warehouse.
"What do you want from me?" Shelton Qin felt his mouth go dry from fear. He had never had any previous interaction with Feng Xueqin, only ever seeing her from afar in business parties, but he has heard enough to know not to cross her.
"How funny?" Feng Xueqin laughed, "he's asking me what do I want from him, isn't that funny." She laughed, the men joining in.
Shelton Qin gasped, when Feng Xueqin's palm landed on his cheek with a hard slap. She gripped his hair, titling his head towards an odd angle.
"I want your bloody life, that's what I want from you." She sneered. "Do you have any idea the amount of humiliation and shame you have brought to my family, my business, when you brought those dirty things into my ship." She yelled in anger and released his hair from her grip.
With a snap of her hand a man hurried to bring her a chair, which was placed in front of Shelton Qin. Feng Xueqin sat like a queen, one leg crossed over the other.
"Don't stand so far Xue Feifei, else I will think you're scared of me." Feng Xueqin chuckled.
"I am not scared of you." Xue Feifei muttered as she stood behind her.
Placing a feet on the ground, Feng Xueqin lifted her other leg, using the tip of her heel to lift up Shelton Qin's chin. "Lift your head up, how else am I supposed to see the defeat in your eyes." She smirked coldly.
"Kill me already you damn bitch." Shelton Qin spat as he struggled to move his head away from her heel.
"Urgh!" He groaned as one of the men punched him in his stomach.
"Stop," Feng Xueqin waved her hand, "gag him."
Shelton groaned into the piece of cloth shoved into his mouth, no doubt yelling obscenities at Feng Xueqin.
Raising a palm, a man placed a knife on her palm, Xue Feifei cocked a brow in question but reamined quiet.
"So much ego." Feng Xueqin sighed. "Men and their large ego." The knife creeped up his thigh, stopping on his groin. Shelton shook his head as he groaned in fear.
Feng Xueqin smiled, her dark eyes locking with his fearful ones, a loud groan echoing in the room as she stabbed the knife into his groin.
The men winced and even Xue Feifei who was not a man shuddered in fear, her hands gripping the back of Feng Xueqin's chair tightly.
"You will shut your mouth when I speak to you, else I will cut it off." Feng Xueqin ripped out the knife as Shelton Qin panted in pain.
"You are going to make a sucide video confessing that the drugs belongs to you and that Feng Corporations is innocent of all allegations, then you are going to say that you feel guilty of your crimes and ashamed of your deeds, then you're going to shoot yourself in the head." Feng Xueqin stated coldly. "Take off his gag."
Shelton Qin gapsed once his mouth was free, pain still coursing through his body. "Why on earth would I do that?". He rasped.
"Because of this." Feng Xueqin laughed as one of the men handed her a laptop.
A man's face was enlarged in front of the video call, he grinned at Shelton Qin. "Say hi to Daddy." He moved out of the frame to reveal a little boy of about five tied to a chair.
"Daddy." The boy cried. "Daddy please help me."
"Don't touch him." Shelton Qin yelled as he watched the man place a gun on his son's head. "Please I am begging you." Desperate eyes turned to Feng Xueqin.
"I will spare his life if you do as I told you." Feng Xueqin replied coldly.
"I will, I will do it." He cried.
******
The sweat on his face was wiped off, his crumpled suit straightened up and while his eyes were still red from crying, it wouldn't affect the video.
"Here." A man shoved a phone at Shelton Qin, who collected the device with shaky hands.
The rope was loosened from his body and a man handed him a gun wrapped with an handkerchief.
Standing a few distance from him, was Feng Xueqin and her gang, her hand holding the laptop that displayed his son.
Swallowing a defeated sigh, he placed the phone on video recording.
"Dear citizens, I am making this video because of my wrong deeds, I have destroyed innocent lives with the drugs I sold." He paused the weight of the words heavy on him. "I have done horrible things and destroyed multiple lives all for my ambition, I ask that the public do not blame Feng Corporations, they are victims of my crimes. The guilt of my actions and shame have plagued me for days, I can no longer live with myself and ask for your forgiveness." He lifted the gun to his temple, the phone clattering to the floor as a gunshot rang through the air.
Picking up the phone with an handkerchief, Feng Xueqin saved the video recording.
"It's not perfect, but it will do, have it edited and posted." She handed the phone to one of her men.
"What about the kid boss?" A voice rang from the laptop.
"Kill him." She ordered coldly.
"Wait, what?" Xue Feifei had never felt so shaken. "He's just a child, killing him isn't necessary." She kept her gaze strictly fixed on Feng Xueqin struggling not to look at Shelton Qin's corpse.
"Oh my! Sweet innocent Xue Feifei." She smiled as she tapped her cheek. "He might just be a child now, but what will he be ten years, twenty years from now? A man."
"But..."
The muffled sound of a gunshot cut her shot.
Xue Feifei was only dressed in a cotton blouse and a knee-high skirt, yet she felt cold.
"I understand your feelings, but he will grow to be a man someday and he will come for revenge, better to cut a tree from it's roots, you will learn this soon Xue Feifei." Feng Xueqin placed a hand on Xue Feifei's shoulder, cold eyes taking in the woman's frightened state.
"People have done crueler things than this, Shelton Qin is no innocent man." She tilted her head towards the corpse on the floor.
Xue Feifei allowed herself to look at the corpse, brain matter and blood was splashed on the wall, the head barely recognizable as blood soaked the lifeless corpse on the floor.
"Pity is a useless emotion in this line of work, all business people have their hands covered with their fair share of blood, you will be crushed in a day if you're weak, emotions make us weak, get rid of them." Feng Xueqin's gaze was unreadable.
"I understand." Xue Feifei's voice sounded hallow as though it was coming out from outside her.
"I will have the driver take you home, a warm shower and a good sleep, should help you out, you need to look your best for the press conference tomorrow." Xue Feifei nodded, though she didn't think that she could sleep anytime soon, today's scene would haunt her for a long time.
"Boss, I have posted it."
"Good, let's leave before the police arrive." Feng Xueqin walked past Xue Feifei.
"Remember Xue Feifei, power comes at a price."
Xue Feifei trailed after her. If the price of power was losing her humanity and becoming a monster, was she willing to pay?