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
"This address, we have to go there, Franklin!" Clara shouted then pulled Franklin's hand out of Steven's room. Someone had just sent a message to Clara right when Franklin was trying to kill Steven. The message received turned out to be a photo of Vina and her mother showing their condition.The woman was stunned when Vina and her mother's faces were clearly displayed on her device's screen. The number that sent the bloody message was unrecognized and Clara immediately asked the IT agent to track it. Only a few minutes and Clara managed to find the accurate location of the number's owner. "What? What address?"Clara remained silent until they got into the car. This time, Clara took over and let Franklin sit in the driver's seat. The young man had been pressing Clara, he didn't understand the situation that suddenly changed when facing Steven."Look at this." Clara threw her phone to Franklin.While the woman was busy connecting the address to the vehicle's navigation system, Frankli
In a building that large and expansive, even with many floors and rooms, there were only two enemies they had to face. Could Frans really be too poor to pay people to stop Franklin's arrival and kill him?Franklin and Clara looked around. None of the facilities were functioning because the building had been abandoned. The two walked around the ground floor which should have been the lobby. It was very quiet, Franklin tried to use his ears to detect any groaning sounds that might come from his family. However, there were none."This building is extremely large, Franklin. And of course it will be soundproof, so it will be difficult for you to hear any sound, no matter how loud," Clara commented as she watched Franklin.The young man had his back turned and was hunched over. He was holding his knife, dirtied by the blood of his enemies. Franklin cleaned the blood, wiping it carelessly with his white shirt. He also wiped away any blood that had inadvertently gotten on his face during the