Ryan saw Annabelle's call and ignored it. She had called him an hour ago and he had hung up on her. Now she was calling again.
He didn't care why she was calling. He rejected her call again.
He thought she would give up, but she called a third time. He groaned in frustration and answered.
"What do you want?" he snapped at her over the phone.
"I'm at your gate. The guards won't let me in," Annabelle said.
"So?" 
"Tell them to let me in. We need to talk," Annabelle said.
"About what?" 
"Not on the phone. It's urgent," she said.
"Urgent? Let me guess. Your boyfriend hit you again?" he taunted her.
"Ha ha. Very funny," she replied sarcastically.
Ryan ended the call abruptly and sent a message to the guards at the gate to let Annabelle in.
He went to his living room, waiting for her to show up.
"Wow, he spared you today. You don't have a bruise on your face," Ryan smirked at her when she walked in through the hallway.
"Are you here to beg?" he sneered.
"I'm here to ask you a question," Annabelle said, sitting on the plush couch.
"Get out. Text me next time," Ryan said, turning his back to her and heading for the door.
She got up quickly and asked,
"Have you ever violated a woman?" 
Ryan stopped in his tracks. His heart started pounding in his chest and he took a deep breath before turning to face her again.
"Violated a woman? Do I look like your boyfriend?" Ryan scoffed.
"It's a simple question. Yes or no?" Annabelle demanded.
"Is he filling your head with nonsense? What are you making up in your mind?" Ryan asked, sliding his hands into his pockets.
"You are avoiding my question," Annabelle said.
"The answer is no. Are you happy now?" 
Annabelle scoffed and sat back down on the couch, looking away from him.
"What happened? Why did you come all the way here just to ask me that?" he asked her.
"I was just curious, whether you are a psychopath like your father and brother," Annabelle snapped.
Ryan gave her a hard glare.
Something about her words struck fear and panic in him.
"Did you reconsider the therapy?" he asked softly.
"I'm not going for any stupid therapy. And don't act nice all of a sudden. We both know you are a monster deep inside," Annabelle said.
Ryan locked eyes with Annabelle.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, but hey, people deserve second chances, don't they? We should let people turn over new leaves, right?" Ryan smiled at her.
"God, I just want to rip your lips apart right now," Annabelle seethed.
"Tch! Use the door," he said, turning to leave.
"I'll send you the divorce papers. I've signed my part and I'm giving up my ninety-five percent rights to the hotel. Think of it as a settlement and I'll wire a few millions to you.
My suggestion is, start a new life in a different country on a different continent, start therapy to help with your stupid sexual fantasies, and go for your master's degree. Trust me, you'll find a good guy in school," Ryan said.
"Why are you trying to be nice?" Annabelle asked.
"Think of it as me doing a favor for Brian. If he was here with us, I'm sure he wouldn't like it if I left you stranded," Ryan said.
"I don't fall for those kinds of words anymore. I know what this is about and trust me, you won't be able to shut me up," she said firmly.
He turned to face her, but she was already at the hallway, making her way out.
"What are you blabbing on about?" he asked, but she just ignored him and left.
"Dang it!" He clenched his fists.
***
He scanned the club, looking for Linc. The place was packed, loud, and flashy. He felt like he didn't belong, which was strange, because he used to enjoy clubs.
"How could they be so carefree, when there's so much evil in this world?" he wondered as he watched people dance, drink, and flirt.
"Who am I to judge them anyway?" he sneered at himself.
He checked his phone for the tenth time, hoping for a text from Linc. Nothing. He felt a wave of anger and fear.
"Stupid Juliette! She should've never gotten involved with Linc," he swore.
He saw a man walking towards him, wearing a suit and sunglasses, and Richard instantly thought he was one of Linc's goons. But the man just sat down with another man.
Richard sighed.
He called Linc again, but it went straight to voicemail.
"He won't kill Juliette. He wants money and he wouldn't risk losing it," Richard muttered.
A waiter came by with drinks and handed them to everyone. Richard took one gratefully. He needed something to cool off while he waited for Linc.
The man who had passed by earlier came back and stopped in front of Richard. 
"Are you Richard?" he asked, in a low voice.
Richard nodded.
"Follow me," the man said, and turned around. He walked to the back of the club, where a door was guarded by two more men. Richard followed him closely, but then he felt a sudden dizziness as he trailed behind the man. 
He tried to shake it off, thinking it was just the loud music and the flashing lights. He reached for his phone, hoping to see a message from Linc. But his vision blurred and he dropped his phone on the floor.
"Hey, are you okay?" the man asked, turning around and grabbing Richard's arm.
Richard realized he had just walked into a trap. 
"Let me go, you bastard!" he yelled, drawing the attention of the other clubbers.
"Shut up, you fool!" the man snapped, dragging Richard to the door.
Richard felt his consciousness slipping away and he cursed himself for his stupidity. His eyes closed and he blacked out.
***
Adrienne sat in her usual meditation pose. This was the first time in months she had her regular forty-five minutes of meditation and it felt so good to just sit and meditate.
A lot had happened in the last few months and this morning, she felt grateful. Grateful for the life growing inside her and also grateful for...
"Richard! He still hasn't called since yesterday," she said, snapping out of her thoughts and reaching for her phone. 
Yep. No missed call or text from him.
"What has he been up to?" Adrienne wondered.
She decided to put everything behind her and just focus on what she had to do today. 
"I'll text him if he doesn't call by noon," she said and got up from her mat.
She showered and dressed up for where she was going. Then she called Lisa to her room to help her with her makeup.
"This is my first time applying makeup in months," Adrienne said as she sat in front of the mirror.
"You wore makeup to Brian's birthday, so it hasn't been a month," Lisa said and Adrienne rolled her eyes at her.
"Sorry," Lisa said, chuckling lightly.
Suddenly, Adrienne gasped.
"What is it?" Lisa asked, a bit startled.
"Look at that," Adrienne pointed.
"I swear I can't see anything," Lisa said.
"Are you blind? Look at it!"