The journey seemed endless.
Mariam sat in the backseat with a blindfold tightly secured over her eyes, leaving her trapped in complete darkness.
Every bump in the road, every turn, and every change in speed only added to her growing frustration.
At first, she had tried to keep track of the route.
She counted the intersections, estimated the hours that had passed by and listened carefully to the sounds outside the vehicle, hoping to gather some clue about where she was being taken.
However, after the first six hours on the road, she completely lost track.
She had no idea whether they were still in Texas.
For all she knew, they could have crossed multiple state lines already.
When the car finally came to a stop, Mikhail yanked the door open and roughly pushed Mariam out.
“You should learn to be obedient,” he said coldly.
Mariam stumbled forward, barely managing to keep her balance.
Just then, Jackson’s gruff voice rang out from behind them.
“Wait.”
Mikhail immediately halted.
“Stay back,” Jackson ordered.
“Sheikh, you take her instead.”
Without a word, Mikhail released his grip, and Mariam was abruptly shoved toward Sheikh.
She didn’t resist.
Hours of arguing with Jackson during the journey had drained her physically and emotionally.
Every protest, every insult, and every attempt to reason with him had accomplished nothing.
At this point, she knew she would only be wasting what little energy she had left.
Besides, escape was impossible.
She was exhausted, surrounded by Jackson’s men, and in a place she didn’t recognize.
For now, all she could do was follow along and wait for an opportunity that might never come.
As Sheikh led Mariam away, Mikhail remained behind.
“Boss?” he called, confused.
BAM!
The punch came without warning.
Mikhail never saw it coming.
Jackson’s fist slammed into his jaw with enough force to snap his head to the side.
Staggering backward, Mikhail nearly lost his footing.
Shock flashed across his face as he stared at his boss in disbelief.
“Boss…”
Jackson’s expression remained cold and unreadable.
“Why did you insult her?”
The question made Mikhail freeze.
Earlier, he had called Mariam a bitch.
The first time he had used the insult, Jackson had said nothing.
Naturally, Mikhail had assumed it didn’t matter.
He thought that if his boss didn’t care, then he was free to speak about the woman however he pleased.
Clearly, he had been mistaken.
Jackson took a slow step forward.
“The first time, I let it pass,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean you’ve earned the right to keep insulting her.”
A chill ran down Mikhail’s spine.
Only then did he realize he had crossed a line he was never supposed to cross.
He had worked under Jackson long enough to know that his boss rarely repeated himself.
More importantly, he should have known better than to test the Jackson’s bottom line.
Lowering his head, Mikhail immediately apologized.
“I’m sorry, Boss.”
Jackson stared at him with a piercing look for a long moment before speaking.
“Never overstep your boundaries.”
His voice wasn’t loud.
If anything, it was calm.
That made it far more frightening.
Mikhail swallowed hard and nodded.
“Understood.”
***
As Sheikh dragged Mariam away, she could still hear voices in the distance.
There was some sort of commotion behind her, but she couldn’t make out the words or understand what was happening.
Whatever it was, the sounds gradually faded as she was led farther away.
With the blindfold still covering her eyes, she stumbled forward.
Moments later, she found herself being forced up a flight of stairs.
Then another.
And another.
The climb seemed endless.
Her legs ached, and her breathing grew heavier with each step.
Eventually, she heard the sound of a key turning in a lock.
A door creaked open and Sheikh shoved her inside.
Mariam lost her balance and crashed onto the floor.
A second later, the heavy door slammed shut behind her.
For several moments, she remained still before struggling to free herself from the blindfold.
It took considerable effort, but eventually she managed to pull the fabric away from her eyes.
Blinking against the sudden light, she quickly surveyed her surroundings.
It was a large bedroom.
Even though it was luxuriously furnished, yet it felt more like a prison cell than a place meant for comfort.
The first thing she did was rush toward the window.
Peering outside, she immediately realized she was high above the ground.
She was at the fourth floor.
Her gaze dropped to the ground below.
A jump from the fourth floor probably wouldn’t kill her.
She would obviously break a few bones, but survival seemed likely.
The bigger problem was what came afterward.
She had already spotted guards patrolling the property below.
Even if she managed to climb down or survive the jump, she would be caught before making it past the gates.
Beyond the window stretched a landscape of mountains and dense forests.
The air that drifted inside was sharp and icy, carrying the unmistakable bite of winter.
Was she in Colorado?
Or North Dakota?
Or somewhere else entirely?
There was no way to tell from the scenery alone.
A shiver ran through her and she quickly closed the window against the freezing wind.
Mariam heard the sound of the lock turning.
Her head snapped toward the door as the handle slowly twisted and the door swung open.
Jackson walked in, his dark eyes sweeping across the room before finally settling on her.
A faint smirk played at the corners of his lips as he took in her guarded expression.
“Does this place feel homely to you, Marie?”
The question immediately irritated her.
Folding her arms across her chest, she fixed him with a cold glare.
“As homely as a prison cell can be, Mr. Walsh.”
The sarcasm in her voice was impossible to miss.
“You must be hungry after such a long journey,” Jackson said.
“I’ll assign a personal maid to look after you. She’ll bring your dinner shortly.”
Mariam barely heard the offer.
There was only one question on her mind.
“Is Ronan okay?” she asked carefully.
“Or did you kill him for standing up to you?…Are you taking revenge on him for bullying you when we were kids?”
Back then, Ronan and Minghao had not been kind to Jackson.
When they first met him, they had been openly hostile.
They mocked him, picked fights with him, and made it clear they didn’t want him around.
Jackson had every reason to hold a grudge.
Yet during the years he had dated Mariam, he had never shown any desire for revenge against her friends.
Now, however, she wasn’t so sure.
Jackson’s expression darkened slightly.
“Why?” he asked.
“Are you worried about your little lover?”
Mariam bit the inside of her cheek.
Ronan wasn’t her lover.
He never had been.
He was her friend and she practically considered him as family.
But years ago, on the night before she left to study abroad, she had deliberately told Jackson otherwise.
After discovering he had cheated on her, she had wanted to hurt him the way he had hurt her.
So she had claimed that Ronan was the man she truly loved—the man she wanted to marry.
At the time, she had hoped it would make Jackson leave her alone forever.
She never imagined it would lead to this.
Never imagined he would come back into her life and corner her so completely.
“Is he alive or not?” she demanded, refusing to correct Jackson’s misunderstanding.
“He’s alive. I allowed him to leave safely.”
The knot in her chest loosened slightly and relief washed over her for all of two seconds.
“But if you continue to misbehave,” Jackson continued calmly, “I’ll find him again…And next time, I’ll put a bullet through his forehead.”
Mariam felt the blood drain from her face.
Jackson took another step closer.
“And while I’m at it, I’ll hunt down Minghao. It doesn’t matter where he’s hiding.”
“No!” The cry tore from her throat before she could stop it.
She rushed forward and grabbed the front of his shirt with trembling hands.
“Please don’t…”
Thankfully, Jackson didn’t know that Minghao was currently in China.
At least for now, he was safe.
But Ronan wasn’t.
Ronan was within Jackson’s reach, and the thought of her friend suffering because of her made her chest tighten with guilt and fear.
She couldn’t allow him to become entangled in this nightmare any further.
Slowly, Mariam lowered her head.
The tears she had been desperately holding back finally spilled over, sliding down her cheeks one after another.
She felt trapped, helpless, and exhausted.
For a brief moment, Jackson simply looked at her.
Then, without a hint of emotion crossing his face, he carefully pried her fingers from his shirt.
“Get some rest.”
His tone was almost gentle, which somehow made it worse.
Without another word, he turned and walked toward the door.
The lock clicked shut behind him.
Left alone in the room, Mariam sank to the floor as silent sobs shook her body.
Tears streamed endlessly down her face while the sound of his departing footsteps gradually faded into the distance.