Chapter 79

Angela POV

The warehouse door swung open, and Jennifer's slim figure appeared in the doorway.

Her eyes scanned the space until they found me-bound and disheveled on the concrete floor. Her lips curved into a smile of pure satisfaction, one that made my skin crawl.

"Angela Wilson," she said, drawing out each syllable with malicious pleasure. "Look at you now."

The cold of the concrete floor seeped through my clothes, but I focused on remaining calm. My baby needed me to stay strong.

"What are you doing here?"Mike closed the door behind Jennifer, his expression darkening.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? If I hadn't come, were you planning to let Christina's attacker go free?"Jennifer turned to him, perfect eyebrows arched in surprise.

Mike's jaw tightened visibly. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Nothing to do with me?" Jennifer laughed. "I'm Christina's best friend. If you're avenging her, why shouldn't I be part of it?"

"If you want to avenge her, do it yourself," Mike snapped. "Don't use me as your tool. Now get out."

"Get out?" Jennifer's voice rose in pitch. "That's not happening."

Before either Mike or I could react, Jennifer strode over and delivered a sharp kick to my legs.

Pain shot through my body, and though I bit my lip to keep from crying out, tears sprang to my eyes involuntarily.

I wasn't concerned about the pain in my leg-my only thought was for my baby. Please be okay, please be okay, I repeated silently, curling protectively as much as my restraints would allow.

"Are you insane?" Mike shouted, lunging forward to grab Jennifer before she could strike again. He yanked her backward with enough force to make her stumble. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What's wrong with you?" Jennifer spat, struggling against his grip. "You've gone soft, haven't you? She's right here-the woman who scarred Christina for life-and you're just standing around doing nothing!"

"This isn't what I agreed to," Mike growled, maintaining his hold on her.

Jennifer's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. You're not actually developing feelings for her, are you? Is that it? You think she's pretty, so you're having second thoughts?"

She turned toward me, her face twisted with hatred. "You're just a natural-born slut, aren't you? Always seducing men wherever you go! Maybe I should call a few guys over right now to satisfy you!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Mike said, releasing her with disgust. "I'm doing this for Christina. Only for her."

"Prove it," Jennifer challenged, straightening her designer clothes with quick, angry movements. "You always said you'd make anyone who hurt Christina pay tenfold. Well, here's your chance. She's right in front of you. What are you waiting for?"

Mike fell silent, his gaze shifting to me. I could see the conflict on his face-the desire to please Christina warring with his own moral compass.

I saw my opportunity.

"Mike, please...don't..."

"Shut up!" Jennifer snapped at me.

" Do you think the Shaw family will let you walk away if anything happens to me? " I replied, fighting to keep my voice steady despite the fear churning in my stomach.

Something flickered in Jennifer's eyes-a moment of uncertainty quickly replaced by malicious calculation.

"You're right," she smelled, "I'm not going to seriously harm you. That was never the plan. We have plenty of time ahead of us, Angela. Why don't we play a little game?"

Jennifer moved closer and crouched in front of me. "Do you have your phone on you?" she asked with false sweetness. "Don't look at me like that. It's just for a little test."

Before I could respond, Jennifer roughly flipped me onto my side, searching through my pockets.

I winced as the movement put pressure on my abdomen, fear for my unborn child escalating. I had no idea what she was planning, but her erratic behavior was increasingly concerning.

"Stop moving!" Jennifer hissed as I tried to shift away from her searching hands. "Keep fighting me, and I might accidentally hurt something... or someone... important."

Her words ignited something fierce and protective inside me. Without thinking, I slammed my head forward, connecting with Jennifer's face with a sickening crack.

Jennifer fell backward, screaming in pain and clutching her nose. "You bitch!"

"Don't you dare talk about my child like that," I snarled.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Mike pulled Jennifer to her feet

Wiping blood from her nose, Jennifer glared at us both. "Where's her phone? She must have had it with her when you grabbed her. What did you do with it?"

"Why do you care?" Mike asked warily.

"I need it to make a call," Jennifer insisted. "Give it to me now, or I'm calling Christina to tell her you've completely failed her."

Reluctantly, Mike reached into his pocket and produced my phone. Jennifer snatched it from his hand, a triumphant smile spreading across her face despite her bleeding nose.

She crouched near me again, though this time maintaining a safer distance.

"Let's play a game, Angela. If I call Sean from your phone right now, do you think he'll answer?"

I met her gaze with cold indifference, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing my uncertainty.

Of course I'd wondered the same thing myself-would Sean even care that I was missing?

Or was he too preoccupied with Christina to notice?

"Still playing the dignified Mrs. Shaw?" Jennifer taunted. "We both know you're just using this pregnancy to trap Sean. You can drop the act."

"Whether I'm using this pregnancy or not," I replied evenly, "it's none of your business. Or is it that you wish you were in my position? Jealous that you'll never be Mrs. Shaw yourself?"

Jennifer's face flushed crimson, her composure cracking. "Y-you're talking nonsense!"

"Am I?" I pressed, seeing I'd struck a nerve. "Strange how defensive you are about that idea."

With hands shaking from rage, Jennifer pulled up Sean's contact on my phone.

"Let's see how important you really are to your husband, shall we? We both know exactly who he's with right now, don't we? I wonder if he'll even bother to answer when his beloved wife calls."

Mike stepped forward, alarmed. "What are you doing? You're trying to bring other people here now? Are you out of your mind?"

"Relax," Jennifer said with poisonous confidence.

Jennifer held the phone to her ear, the call on speaker. It rang once, twice, three times.

After six rings, the call went to voicemail. "Hello, you've reached Sean Shaw. I'm unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message, and I'll return your call as soon as possible."

Jennifer's laughter filled the warehouse. "See, Angela? He won't even answer your calls! You mean absolutely nothing to him."

I remained silent, my face betraying nothing, though Jennifer's words echoed painful doubts I'd harbored myself. Sean was probably holding Christina right now, comforting her. Of course he wouldn't answer my call.

"Why won't you react?" Jennifer demanded, increasingly frustrated by my composed facade. "Don't you care at all?"

When I still said nothing, Jennifer hurled my phone against the nearest wall with a scream of frustration. "I refuse to believe you're this emotionless!"

She lunged toward me, hands outstretched like claws.

"Jennifer, what the hell are you-" Mike started to intervene.

The warehouse door crashed open with explosive force, the metal hinges screaming in protest as it slammed against the wall.

All three of us froze, turning toward the sudden intrusion and the silhouette now framed in the doorway.