The blowing wind grazed Vina's face, which had already turned pale from enduring the cold. Her back also felt stiff because Vina was forced to sit for hours on that dilapidated chair. The smell of dust wafted through, but Vina had managed to get used to it. However, the girl was not yet fully conscious since twelve hours ago after a man had given her a sedative. Not knowing the dosage, but the kidnapper had also grown weary of waiting for Vina to wake up.Now, the girl who had just come of age blinked. The cold state of the room forced her back to reality. Even though Vina felt a pain in her head, she immediately gasped."Mom..." Vina looked around her surroundings.But, there was no one to welcome her. Instead, Vina found a masked man sitting in front of her. Suddenly, Vina felt her heart pounding faster and irregularly."Huh? Who are you?" Vina stared intently. When she tried to point, she only then realized that her body was tied with a fairly strong rope."Hey, what are you doin
Past problems caused the Franklin family to be terrorized with Vina's kidnapping as the beginning. However, they still did not understand the situation that occurred, and even the perpetrator could not be guessed.Two days had passed, and Vina's whereabouts were still unclear. At the same time, Steven—the man who was once suspected of being the kidnapper—also disappeared. Clara had initially dismissed her suspicions, but based on the information obtained, it turned out that Steven had been missing for two days without explanation."The police also couldn't find my brother's last trace," Franklin complained.Since losing Vina, Franklin no longer worked as a drug or illegal weapons courier. His job as a package courier was also hampered, although Franklin was still in a safe position because Mr. Tio, his boss, did not reprimand him."I'll look for Steven," Clara stood up.Her statement drew Franklin's attention, and the man looked up and asked, "You said he wasn't involved. But why do y
As Vina woke up from her often uncomfortable sleep, she was unsurprised to find a woman she knew very well - her mother. While Vina might have hoped to be reunited with her mother again, she certainly didn't expect it to be in this dusty, damp, abandoned building where she was being held captive.Vina's hands had been bound for two days, the tight ropes cutting into her wrists. But upon seeing her mother also tied up, Vina tried to move closer to her. "Mom! Oh my god! Mother!" Vina cried hysterically, shaking her head as if to wake from this nightmare. "No! Mom! Why are you here?!" Her wailing seemed to rouse her mother from the effects of the sedative she had been drugged with the night before. In a confused daze, Mrs. Franklin was shocked to see her daughter Vina inching towards her."Vina, dear?!"Vina nodded, moving even closer. "Mom, why are you here?!"Her mother didn't recall the events that led to her being imprisoned with Vina either. One moment she was comfortably in bed, t
"He's...really my uncle."Clara was stunned as Franklin confirmed the information obtained by her secret agent. Clara may have been familiar with greedy sibling rivalries over inheritance, but this was happening to Franklin - a simple man who still worked as a package courier when Clara asked him to work for her for exponentially higher pay."Didn't you ever suspect him?" Franklin shook his head, he had no bad memories of Frans. However, the last time he saw Frans was when Franklin was little, and his photo matched the one the secret agent sent Clara."That was his face the last time I saw him, Clara. Now he must be older and I don't know what he looks like.""Really? So you haven't seen him in a long time?"Again, Franklin confirmed it. "Mom took me and Vina away to this city because my father passed away when we were still young kids." Clara tried to understand the situation Franklin described. From his explanation, there was nothing suspicious about Franklin. According to Clara,
Ouch!Clara winced when she saw Franklin's cheek grazed by the sharp knife of his sparring partner. Even though it was his first time, Franklin was handed over to Margareth, the woman who acted as a trainer at Clara's training center. This woman was highly skilled at wielding a knife tightly in her hand."Aren't you being too harsh, Margareth?" Although older, Clara still addressed all her subordinates by name. There were no honorifics when working with her. That was the principle Clara held in carrying out her work."Didn't he himself ask me to fight like a ferocious enemy?"Clara gave a wry smile. Perhaps she felt a little sorry for Franklin, who was overwhelmed facing Margareth. He had even gotten two gashes on his cheek and right arm while trying to parry."He's very amateurish, are you really recruiting him as a drug courier?" Clara leaned against the rack, folding her arms and crossing her legs. She focused her attention on Franklin, who was being given alcohol to clean the g
Days had passed, this was the fifth meeting since Franklin seriously trained in self-defense. After deciding to focus on finding his Sister and Mother, Franklin's days revolved around the training center, Clara's apartment, and Vina's school to search for clues.Franklin never once forgot about Vina and his Mother's existence. However, at that time Frans, who was Franklin's uncle, Franklin tried to find information about the man whose whereabouts had long been unknown."It's unusual for him to work so slowly..."Clara fiddled with her phone, bombarding the intelligence agent assigned to inform her about Frans, Franklin's uncle. However, for almost a week, the agent had never given any definite news."What's wrong, Clara?" Franklin asked, seeing the sour face of the woman who had been so kind to help him."Don't you want to go to the training center?"Franklin's focus shifted when Clara instead asked about the routine training. The man rolled up his long sleeves and showed a fresh scra
"It turns out he hasn't come home all this time."Frans crumpled the dusty white envelope that had been left hanging, consumed by the alternating day and night air. He had placed that photo since kidnapping the mother of those two children, Vina and Franklin. However, it turned out that since their mother went missing, Franklin had not returned to his home.The paper portrait showing Vina and her mother's condition was crumpled into a ball. Now Frans had to find Franklin's whereabouts instead. He had been too careless thinking his nephew would stay put at home since losing his two loved ones."Damn it!" Frans threw away the crumpled photo ball. "That brat! Just adding to my workload!"Frans hurried back to the building where he was holding Vina and her mother captive. He had tracked dozens of leads but they had all been dead ends. Yet, the portrait showing Vina's mother's dire condition—brought to show Franklin. Frans had hoped that by sending those photos, seen by Franklin, it would
"These photos...are so cruel! Even in the underworld there are rules, Franklin. Vina is still underage and shouldn't be on any hit list if this kidnapping really was human trafficking." Clara was aghast as Franklin brought the tattered paper photos showing Vina's condition. In her dire state, Vina's kidnapper had clearly tortured her and intentionally photographed it to send to Franklin."This is bait for you," Clara said. "To lure you to meet your sister's kidnapper."Franklin looked up, glaring angrily at Clara. Throughout her career in that sinful world, Clara had never involved children or teenagers. No wonder she was furious."If this was Steven's doing, I'll kill him! He should know the rules about this! That bastard!"Clara stabbed a meat carving knife into her dining table. Franklin flinched, truly seeing her enraged. Though earlier she had seemed hesitant to blame Steven for this case."I'm going to meet Steven," Franklin stated."Don't be an idiot!" Clara snapped, pointing