Author's POV:
They were gone now, to the gold mine. You stared at the card which had Taehyung's number for some time. You were staring at it so deeply and for so long that you memorized it by now.
"There are guards here, nothing will happen." You said and sighed. A part of you really wanted to see your uncle but another part of you was scared, of him and everything which came along with him.
You trusted your uncle and it hurt you to know that he was the one behind so much. You had spent such a long time with them. Tzuyu and her parents were your families. You knew Tzuyu was innocent, as much as it hurt that her father was the one behind this, you knew your best friend had nothing to do with this. Your love for her would never fade, she'd be with you forever, you knew it. But the pain caused by the betrayal of a father figure was too deep. It was too hurtful and you didn't know what to do.
You didn't want your uncle to end up in jail. You knew that Taehyung's father might've deserved it but your uncle was a good man, he did take care of you. What could've possibly made him turn the wrong way? To the point, he'd conspire against his very best friend, your father.
"I hope... you'd be innocent." You whispered, a tear leaving your eyes. You wiped the tear and kept the card in your pocket. You were almost done packing. A few more clothes to put in and everything would be ready.
Almost half an hour later, you were sitting in the living room while fiddling with the heart locket.
"There's something in here too..." You mumbled, staring at the locket. A part of you wanted to keep it this way but another one wanted to know the truth. Your father must've gifted this to you for a reason.
You took a few pictures of the locket and sighed. Taking the hammer which was in the storage room, you smashed the locket, keeping it on the dining table.
A gasp left your lips seeing a chip. With a pounding heart, you walked inside the living room and put the chip in the laptop, turning on the video that the chip contained. You were nervous. Was it something which would help Taehyung and Jo? Or was it something unexpected? You had no idea.
With shaking hands, you pressed the 'Play' button. Soon, you saw your parents. They were sitting together in the living room. So this is where they took the video.
'Hey, sweetheart!' You saw your father grinning widely while speaking as your mother chuckled.
'We know you must be confused. Well, who knows if you ever get to see this? Tomorrow is your 5th birthday and we realized, we need a sudden surprise for you. A good wish, full of love from us for you. You can keep it for a long time... well, though this is a pretty weird way to wish you. Maybe you're old now... 18 years?'
'How about 25? 18 years is too young to figure out about the locket.' You heard the confusion in your mom's voice. Your dad chuckled as they looked at the screen. You were crying right now.
'Sweetie, we really hope you know that your parents love you a lot. We always will! We are a little different, right? That's why we decided to go with this type of surprise which you might or might never get to see. But if you do, it'll be our pleasure. Because we love you and we'll love you forever. Even if anything happens to us, we'll always watch you from the sky. We're here for you, always.' Your mom said, wiping her tears. Your father smiled and kissed the crown of her head saying, 'Hey, it's okay love.'
'We love you, happy birthday!' Your father said, smiling.
"Thank you... I love you both too... so much." You cried, smiling through the tears.
'We hope one day when you grow up, you get your dream job, good friends who are always there for you and a nice man who loves you and protects you. It's okay if you're having a bad time or a good one, these all shall pass. You'll be happy.' Your mom said. You nodded and cried out.
"Happy birthday again! We need this to end this! You're crying." You chuckled hearing your crying in the background of the video. The video ended as you held the laptop close to you, crying. This one trip to Canada brought so much truth, love, hatred, betrayal, pain and a mix of unknown feelings. You were crying it all out. Everything.
Your parents, your pain, the betrayal, your uncle and everything that happened in the house—with him.
You looked at Azure, she was sleeping soundly. Patting her on the head, you smiled a little. At least, there were some people around you right now. Though it was temporary, this presence was all you needed.
You were busy in thought but your heart dropped to your stomach and you flinched hearing a thud. Getting up, you frowned. It came from outside. Were Taehyung and Jo back?
You walked towards the front door in hopes of seeing them but as soon as you stood in front of the front door, your eyes widened. You gasped loudly and your hands fell to your sides.
It was Joel.
You backed away as he smirked, tilting his head.
"Hey, gorgeous. I didn't hope to see you here. The guards are funny, all got unconscious with just some gas. Idiots. That Taehyung must've thought that you were safe here. But... anyway, hey!"
You were staring at him in disbelief. He had a band-aid on his forehead. This must've been due to the way he got beat up half a month ago. God, he still had band-aids? How bad did he get beaten up? Deserved anyway.
Behind him, a familiar face appeared. The one you saw in the portrait. A man wearing a dark blue suit, his grey hair strands brushed back neatly. This was him—Kim Taewoo—Taehyung's father. Your heart started pounding in fear as you backed away, staring at them in disbelief.
"Oh... she's your daughter, Lee?" The old man asked as you looked to the side to see your uncle, Lee Taereul entering the frame.
"Uncle..." You breathed out, betrayal clearly evident in your voice. He looked at you with a worried expression and quickly walked towards you saying, "Y/N."
You just stared in front of you in disbelief as the man said, "Why didn't you try to contact us?! Whatever those b*stards fed you, they're all false! Don't trust them. We're here to save you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, you felt a pang in your heart. No 'Are you okay?' or 'How have you been?' but clarifying something you didn't want to listen to. It kind of made everything obvious. You heard the old man behind your uncle sigh as Joel walked into the house.
"We're here to take you back. Let's go! Do you know where the evidence is? The b*stards left for the evidence. We need to get our hands on them before they do! Or they'll kill you and us!" Your uncle was sounding rushed. He was hurrying. You let out a soft sigh, a tear leaving your eyes. Wiping it, you said, "I've missed you, uncle."
"I did too! But... we need to hurry." He said. You nodded and said, "The evidence... is gone."
"What?" He asked. Kim Taewoo rolled his eyes saying, "Do you think that she'll know where it is? She's a hostage. She's useless. God, just start searching!"
Some men rushed in and they went around the house as you gasped.
"Uncle!" You called. He sighed and said, "Trust us. Those b*stards will pay. I'll kill them myself. You're safe now, Y/N."
His words weren't convincing. You felt unsafe now. The same person who you considered a father figure was now feeling like a threat to your life. It was funny how people's faces changed in minutes, how a simple truth could change your entire perspective of someone and their life.
Suddenly, you heard Azure's loud meow. Shit, Joel was in the living room. You ran there as your uncle followed you. He was holding Azure upside down while frowning.
"Whose cat is this?!" He asked.
"Leave her!" You said, your voice getting loud. You ran towards them but Joel frowned saying, "Aeh? No."
"Leave that cat, Joel. Stick to the main plan. We can finish off them later." Kim's cold voice echoed in the room. You looked at him, frowning.
"You should know me. I'm your kidnapper's father, well, also his biggest enemy. You should work with us, we'll kill your kidnapper and get the righteous justice."
You couldn't believe him right now. You were getting angry. You stared at them. Only if they didn't have so many men and weapons, you would've slapped this man. How could he say that about his own son? Yes, they were indeed mafias. The worst of all. But, as a father, he should've had the least bit of shame while saying this about his son. It made you angry, you had no idea why but you wanted to defend your kidnapper right now. Yes—you wanted to do exactly that.
"Y/N, sit here, okay? We'll search for the evidence. Is there any CC camera or voice recorder?" Your uncle asked. You shook your head. He nodded as Joel eyed you with a sly smirk. You were hugging Azure, patting her back with tears in your eyes. You hated what happened to her.
"Once we're done, we'll meet in my special bedroom, okay? You're gorgeous." You looked at him, gulping. You felt disgusted.
"Joel." Your uncle's stern voice made him roll his eyes as he walked away. Kim was already somewhere else. Your uncle stared at the luggage and said, "So they're fleeing today? They probably wanted to abandon you here after getting the papers. B*stards."
You frowned. What was he saying? Abandon you?
"Weak guards... leaving you here... gosh. Now that they got the information, they do this?! They somehow figured that we didn't have any information but leaving you alone would give us a chance to attack them. They used you as a shield." Your uncle spoke. You stared at him blankly. A part of you believed him.
He made sense. They gathered the information by themselves. Your uncle didn't help them in anything then what was the point of keeping you? They were using you as a human shield so your uncle couldn't attack them. But another part of you wanted to believe that even though they did—they weren't being as bad as your uncle made it seem.
You wouldn't want another betrayal. You gulped, shaking your head. Your uncle went upstairs to join Joel and Kim. You gulped, your hands shivering. 3 mafias in the house.
You've never felt this scared before. If they were lying, you weren't safe here. If Taehyung was the one lying, you haven't been safe all along. But you were. It didn't make sense.
You took out the card from your pocket, gulping. The number was written there. Reading it in your mind one last time, you kept it back. You looked at Azure and then at your phone.
A voice from inside of you was telling you to type in the numbers and call him. You had to. You looked at the door upstairs which was half open. They were there.
Some men were searching in the kitchen. You had to be quick. But, did they finish finding evidence yet?
You typed in the numbers in your phone with shaky hands but before you could press the 'call' button, you heard footsteps coming down. Shit. You quickly pressed call and hid the phone behind you.
It was your uncle.
"Y/N, are you sure you don't know where the evidence is?" Your uncle asked. You shook your head saying, "I really... don't. The house has nothing... they took it already. I don't know where they went... but they're not in here."
You felt bad for lying, you were shaking. But you couldn't let your dad's plan go to fail, you needed justice. And you couldn't put them in danger, those who were fighting for justice.
"I found something!" You heard Joel's voice. Your uncle went in his direction as they stared inside the dustbin. The photoframe's shattered glasses were there. You gulped took the chance to see your phone. He picked up, yes. He was hearing everything.
But would he come? Another thought asked in you. You sort of started regretting calling him. What if your uncle was right? What if you were being used?