Georgia’s POV
The voices brought back my consciousness.
"I can’t drop you off at the next port, Nancy. Our deal is a pickup at sea," a man said.
"I know," Nancy replied. "But that woman is dangerous. She’ll jump overboard with a child if she has to."
Pain throbbed at the base of my skull, a migraine pounding behind my eyes. The back of my neck ached as if soone had hit with a baseball bat. For a dizzy second, I wondered if the world would tilt and swallow whole.
I forced my eyes open.
Nancy stood there, smug and too calm, and beside her a man in a captain’s uniform whose face was half-hidden by a mask. My body tried to move, but failed. Tight ropes bit into my wrists and ankles. I was strapped to the chair, every joint protesting.
"Katie?" I spat, panic clawing up my throat when I didn’t find her in the small cabin. "Where is she?"
Nancy and the masked captain turned as if I’d asked a polite question about the weather.
"Oh, look who woke up," Nancy said, amusent cooling her tone. "Princess Mulan. Katie’s with Amara in the other room." She flicked a glance at the captain. "Go. I need to talk to her."
The captain stepped away, and the mont he closed the door, Nancy closed the distance between us.
Her palm connected with my face like a cracking whip.
*SLAP*
Pain flared. My cheek burned.
"What the fuck! What do you want, Nancy?" I roared, fury blazing hotter than the pain.
"Easy," she purred, voice soft enough to make the words poisonous. "Open your mouth too wide and you’ll regret it. As you can see, your life and Katie’s depend on my mood. I could toss you overboard right now, tied up just like they did to David."
Heat surged through , raw and relentless. The na landed in like an acid burn, David. My brother.
"You knew," I hissed, every syllable a blade. "You knew who killed my brother. Were you one of them?"
"Oh, darling, no..." Nancy’s voice was so sure. "I wouldn’t want to dirty my hands before until you forced to. If you hadn’t fallen from Raymond’s ship, we wouldn’t be here now. All of this... is your fault."
"My fault?" I snapped, rage burning away the fear. "You pushed ! And that’s what you did to my brother, too, you murderer! You’ll rot in hell for what you’ve done!"
Nancy’s lips curled into that familiar, sickening smirk. Her heels clicked against the tal floor as she ca closer, each step echoing like a countdown.
*SLAP!*
Her palm struck my face, snapping my head to the side for the second ti. The sting radiated through my cheek, my eyes flooding with tears. But not from pain, but from fury.
"Don’t you dare accuse of sothing I didn’t do," she hissed. "If you’re looking for answers, maybe you should ask Raymond... or Reagan. But even then, you’ll never know everything. Because you’ll never see them again." She laughed, a cruel, hollow sound that made my stomach twist.
"What do you want, Nancy?!" I scread, struggling against the ropes cutting into my wrists. "You want to retract the case? Fine! Done! Just let us go, let Katie go! She’s a child; she has nothing to do with this! If you want revenge, take it out on !"
Nancy tilted her head, watching break with delight. "Oh, dear... are you crying now?" she mocked. "Too late for tears. You stained my na, ruined my career, destroyed everything I worked for. All because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. You wanted revenge yourself even after you already got your happy ending. you’re evil, Georgia."
Her smile faded into sothing darker, sothing broken. "I wanted Raymond. I’ve always wanted him. If you had just stayed quiet, if you hadn’t filed that damn case, I would’ve had him. But because of you and Nick, my career’s gone, Raymond’s gone, and my father disowned . Everything that was mine is gone!"
She paced slowly, her rage building like a storm. "But don’t worry. I won’t hurt Katie. David was good to once. I did love him at so point, it’s just that I love Raymond more... David worshipped like a goddess, in his own way. So as soon as I am safe, I’ll let Katie go. But you, Georgia—" she stopped and faced , eyes blazing— "you’re a different story. You ruined my life, and there’s no way I will not ruin yours. I will not let you be happy. You took everything from , and I will make sure you lose everything too. You’ll beg for death before I’m done, but death is too rciful for you."
"I didn’t do anything to you, Nancy!" I cried. "You destroyed your own life! It’s not too late, please! Let talk to Nick. I’ll tell him to withdraw the case. I’ll give you money, I’ll talk to your father, I’ll fix everything! You can start over. Just let us go... please."
Her expression hardened. "No. It’s far too late for that. Even if you fix everything, Raymond will never look at the sa way again—and that’s your fault. You took the one thing I can’t buy back."
Her voice dropped to a chilling calm. "So here’s how this works... stay quiet. Don’t test . Try anything stupid, and maybe I won’t be so kind to your precious niece."
She turned and started toward the door.
"No... Nancy, please, don’t go! Let’s talk this through!" I begged, the ropes biting deeper as I thrashed. "NANCY!"
The door slamd shut.
Silence swallowed the room.
My chest heaved. Tears blurred my vision. Fear. Anger. Desperation. Every emotion twisted together until it hurt to breathe.
"Nick..." I whispered into the darkness. "Please... find us. Please..."
And then, the only sound left was the hollow creak of the ship moving through the waves—and my own broken sobs.
*******
Thank you for the Golden Ticket!
KATHLEEN_COLL
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