Novel Payback 253
Chapter 253
NICK
It had been three days since Olivia disappeared, the longest, most agonizing three days of our lives. Every day felt like a never–ending loop of despair. We woke up, checked the rooms, scoured the island, hoping to find some trace of her. But no matter how much we searched, it was as if she had vanished into thin air. There was no sign of a struggle, no indication that she had left the room, and absolutely no lead to follow. It was like she was swallowed up by the earth itself.
The island wasn’t that large, and it seemed impossible that someone could just disappear like that. But here we were, endlessly combing through every corner, every inch of the place, but we kept coming up empty. It felt like we were chasing ghosts. The stress, the exhaustion, the hunger, none of it was helping our situation. It wasn’t that we didn’t have food. We had plenty of food. But none of us could bring ourselves to eat.
The nanny we had hired to take care of the kids, a kind woman, had been cooking every day, trying to keep some semblance of normalcy. But the truth was, no one could stomach the thought of eating while Olivia was still missing. We all felt like we were suffocating, like nothing mattered anymore.
Samuel, poor boy, had been asking about his mother constantly. It broke my heart every time he did. I never knew how to answer him. Each time he asked, I would tell the nanny to call Marcus if I wasn’t around, hoping that Marcus could provide some kind of explanation. But I couldn’t help feeling like I was failing Olivia all over again, failing Samuel by not having any answers to give him.
I felt utterly helpless. We had just returned from another round of searching, and once again, we had nothing. We were sitting in the lounge, the TV droning on in the background, but I knew none of us were truly watching it. We were all lost in our thoughts, the silence oppressive, the tension thick.
Then, there was a knock on the door. At first, no one moved. We were too worn out, too defeated to care about anything at that moment. But the nanny got up to answer the door, and when she returned, she held a box in her hands.
“Mr. Luke, it’s for you,” she said, her voice trembling slightly.
The mention of Luke’s name snapped us all to attention. We had posted a reward, a significant one, hoping that someone would have seen something or heard something. Maybe, just maybe, this was the lead we had been waiting for. A small glimmer of hope flickered in my chest, and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation. Luke ripped open the box without hesitation, his movements impatient, desperate. Inside, there was another box, small, about the size of a watch box. The way he paused, holding the box in his hands, made me anxious. We were all silently watching, all of us holding our breath. What was inside? Was this it? Had someone actually sent us something useful?
Luke finally opened the small box, and when we saw what was inside, I thought my heart might stop. My entire body went cold, my blood turning to ice.
It was her toenails.
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A small collection of toenails, neatly placed inside the box like some sort of grim trophy. My throat constricted. I couldn’t breathe. My hands trembled, and I could feel a wave of nausea rising up in me,
Luke’s hands were shaking as he held the box, his face draining of colour. I looked at Ethan, and I could see the raw pain in his eyes, the anger, the despair. His face was red with emotion, and I knew that beneath the surface, he was ready to lash out.
Olivia was being tortured. There was no question about it. The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. The cruelty, the sadism of it, it was too much to bear. My mind aced, but all I could think of was one thing: Please,
God, let her be alive.
Luke’s voice, hoarse and filled with barely contained rage, broke the silence. “He’s torturing her,” he muttered under his breath. “This… this is what he’s doing to her.” noveldrama
The room was silent, heavy with the weight of the revelation. The box of toenails sat there like a sickening reminder of how far Xander was willing to go. And as much as I wanted to break down, to give in to the horror of it all, I knew one thing: we couldn’t stop now. We couldn’t give up. Olivia needed us more than ever, and this, this twisted gesture, was a message we couldn’t ignore.
“He’s sending a message,” Luke finally said, his voice cold and filled with rage. “But it’s not just to me. It’s to all of us.”
I could feel the anger building inside me, the urge to do something, anything, to make sure Olivia was found and freed. We had to get to her. We had to stop Xander before he did worse. There was no time to waste.
“Where is she?” I whispered, the question echoing in my mind, a desperate prayer. “Where the hell is she?”
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