I had just left my doctor's appointment. I felt ecstatic. "Your daddy is going to be so excited for you," I whispered to my stomach. I climbed into my suv and began my drive to Alex's work.
I stopped at a small truck stop to get some gas and my stomach growled. I slowly walked inside, looking for a snack. As I walked through the aisles, I grabbed a box of protein bars, some beef jerky, some water, and a few other snacks. As I turned down the next aisle, I saw a little pair of black and white tennis shoes.
I grabbed them and a little gift bag, getting ready to put my plan in place. I paid for my things and rushed to the car. I carefully wrapped the shoes and drove off.
I ate my protein bar as I wondered how Alex would react. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a white van. I shook off the odd feeling I had and rushed to his work.
I parked in the parking garage, and when I looked up, I thought I saw the white van from before, but when I blinked it was gone. I grabbed the little gift and rushed upstairs.
"Good morning Ms. Laventis, Mr. Laventis and his father are meeting, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined them," Allison, his assistant spoke.
I smiled and thanked her as I approached the door. I could hear them yelling from the other side.
"When this deal was made, father, I had no say in it. I have done everything you asked, made the proper arrangements, taken care if the family. But this, adding so much to the deal, forcing something which causes so much sacrifice is wrong," Alex yelled.
"Are you not happy with our arrangement? It seemed you were handling things so well," his father replied.
"How can you say that? You claim to be doing what is best and yet still you force these things on me. This deal should have never happened. None of this should have. I'm beginning to think taking this on was one of the worst decisions of my life," he yelled back.
Did he regret marrying me? I looked down at my shaking hands, my stomach sank. He was forced into this.
"Son."
"Let me finish! My whole adult life is defined by your decisions, and spent cleaning up your mistakes, I need you to step back and let me do what I need to do," he bellowed.
I couldn't listen anymore. Tears poured from my eyes. The small bag fell from my hands as I turned and ran to the elevator. I pressed the button but it wasn't coming fast enough.
The doors finally opened and a strange man stood there. I tried to turn, to run, something felt wrong. He gripped my arm and pulled me inside. I could feel a gun jammed against my back.
"Shut up and you'll be fine," he growled. I wanted to scream and run, but where would I go?
I felt a small pinch at my side, and the world began to grow blurry. The elevator doors opened again and I was thrown into the back of a van. I fought to stay awake as my phone rang. I heard a click of a gun "answer it!" A menacing voice yelled.