LAURA'S POV
Cars.
So, so many cars parked around the mansion.
"What the fuck is going on here?" I asked, looking around in utter shock. There was 3 buff men wearing suits standing by the entrance door holding clip boards. As a couple wearing elegant clothes approached, they exchanged some words, looked through the clip boards, then let them pass.
"Some sort of party." Jimin said, sounding just as pissed as me. "You gotta be shitting me..."
"Probably business related." Namjoon spat, looking focused like he was thinking of what to do. "Shit, we're going to have to postpone the mission till this is over."
"Wait, don't make a decision so quickly..." V said, looking thoughtful as well. "Maybe this can work to our advantage."
"Explain." Namjoon said monotonously.
"Think about it- for one, since there's a lot of people still entering it won't be hard to sneak inside without even looking suspicious. Second, maybe we'll be able to kill William and escape more... Quietly."
"How? There's so many people who are potential wittnesses."
"Usually at parties like this people aren't allowed on a certain floor, maybe in this case the third since it's the last. Maybe we could get Laura to bring her father to a floor with no people and get rid of him there, while a few of us are eliminating security cameras and keeping the lookout. At the same time 2 people could be spreading the gasoline on the same floor with no one. When we light the place on fire, we can run away with the rest of the crowd and not even be noticed. This actually could work better than the original plan."
We all stayed silent and thought it over for a few moments. Finally, Jin spoke. "There's just one problem with that."
"What?"
"Staying quiet means no guns."
Taehyung looked me in the eye. "We brought knives. They work just the same."
"I-I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off..." I stuttered nervously. My dad could take that out of my hands more easily, and it takes longer to kill someone with it. I haven't even been training with them.
"How hard can it be to stab something? Do it in the face, the heart, or repetitively on the stomach and you'll be fine."
I almost gagged at that sentence.
"Tae, you're being irrational here." Hoseok said. "If we risk this now we might end up screwing everything."
"But there's a chance that it'll end so much better. In all, this seems easier than what we first had in mind." V seemed very confident in his plan. I took a deep breath.
"Well, Taehyung might be right, this is lowering the risks of getting caught if we can get out easily like he said..." I muttered, my mind being drawn to the horrible thought of prison.
There was a long pause.
"How are we supposed to fit in with everyone? This place is fancy."
V had the nerve to smile. "Don't forget about the suits in the back."
Exactly 9. We got lucky.
Namjoon gave everyone a suit. "Change in the car." He said to me and Nicole first. We went inside and started undressing. I tried to cover myself up since there was windows but no one was even looking. Till I saw from the corner of my eye a smirking Jimin staring at me.
I let out a tiny gasp and slammed my hand on the window over his eyes. He easily just tilted his head to the side and laughed as he kept staring. My cheeks flushed as I buttoned up the shirt. Namjoon came over, grabbed Jimin by the shoulders and turned him around before sneaking a glance himself and laughing. Pervs.
Me and Nicole finished dressing, then all the guys changed at once. Once everyone was ready, we were all standing outside the car. Jungkook started laughing.
"You two look horrible in those!" He giggled. I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. We were handed hair ties.
"Put your hair up. Maybe if you pull it back people will think you're guys as you pass them by. It's not as weird as seeing a female in a men's suit." V said.
We did as we were told and cringed at how unfeminine we looked. Then, Namjoon passed around the earpieces.
"We're going to all spread out in pairs so we don't look suspicious. Use these to communicate with the rest of us. If you see William, Veronica, or a security guard coming towards Laura and William's area, alert us."
I was handed 2 knives. I hid them in my coat. Then, Jimin placed a gun in my hand. I looked up at him.
"If it comes to death or survival, use it." He said seriously.
I nodded and put that in the waist of my pants, covering it up with the coat. I felt like potential energy, something at its limit just waiting to be put into motion. I felt a sensation of adrenaline.
We walked a block away from the house to be out of sight, then headed in the direction of the back of the house. Going through a small wood of trees, we reached the clearance. From there we could see the back of the house, which was guarded by a tall, clean wooden fence. Not many people were in the back and it was already dark, so we took the risk and climbed over it. We hadn't been seen.
When we were officially in the property's backyard, we split up. Everyone left in pairs to have someone to talk to. It would look suspicious if there was just a person wandering around alone with no business partner to converse with. I went alone however. I wanted to be noticed.
By William himself.
I entered first through the back door, which was unlocked for the party-goers to be able to step out for fresh air. There was a few people who eyed me a bit, but I walked right in without acknowledging them.
I did recognize the interior, but it was now full of rich, professional adults who all had an expensive glass of wine or champagne in hand. This was definitely a business related party, I just felt that vibe. I received some glances so I tried to make my way past them quickly enough so they hopefully didn't notice that I'm a female. It didn't really matter though, all I was here for was to find my dad.
I wandered into the house, pretending to have some destination. Really, I was just waiting for everyone to confirm that they entered the house and were on the lookout for William so I could find him.
Just then, I heard Suga's voice tune in. "I'm in, working my way up to the security room on the third floor. Remember, don't put anything into action till I turn off the cameras. There can't be any evidence left."
"Alright. Be careful." I replied under my breath. Next, Hoseok spoke, then Jungkook... 2 minutes later everyone was inside and positioned about the area like they belonged here. Just act natural and no one will know why we're really here.
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NICOLE'S POV
Trying to play along, I grabbed a glass of wine off the tray of a passing caterer. I was about to take a sip but Taehyung, my partner, took it out of my hand.
"You don't drink on the job." He said as he took a gulp of it himself. I scoffed and took the cup back.
"We're at a party, not work." I said with an obvious wink.
He rolled his eyes. "You're gonna be the one to blow our cover."
I smiled playfully as I took a sip, then almost spit it all out when I saw someone familiar in the corner of my eye.
"Over there! In the far left corner of the room, I think it's William. The guy talking to the two old men." I said, lowering my voice. Taehyung's eyes followed my directions and landed on the man that I suspected to be our target. His eyes widened a tiny bit and a smile crept to his lips.
"I haven't seen that bastard for a long time, yet I could recognize him anywhere. That's him." He said as he pressed a button on the small earpiece and spoke again. "We located Almanza. First floor, main living room in the center of the house, far left corner talking to two senior men."
"Oh wow, I'm not far from there. Yoongi, are you finished? I could find him and talk to him now." Laura replied.
Suga tuned in and spoke, he sounded very focused. "Sorry, it was a little hard to actually enter this place. I had to pick an unexpected lock and the security system on the computers is more advanced than I thought. It's going to take a little while longer."
"Take your time and stay focused." She said before tuning out.
"Let's keep an eye on him." I said to Taehyung. He just kept staring at me. "What?" I asked.
He giggled softly. "You look pretty."
I scoffed. "In a men's suit? I look like a guy. You're so gay." I joked.
He straightened up (hehe pun intended) and made his face serious. "How could you joke at a time like this? Look, the target is moving. Walking down the left hall now. Officially out of sight."
"Do we follow?" I asked.
"Very discretely." V said, looking serious and a bit intimidating all of a sudden. We slowly made our way toward the hallway. When we got there he was gone. We travelled down it and made a right, just Taehyung's intuition. He was correct, because we saw William's figure emerging into another living room type of area with more guests. How big was this place? He went to a group of women and shook hands with all of them with a broad, shiny smile. They started conversing.
We entered the room as well and made our way to the opposite side as William. We stayed hidden behind bigger groups of people to avoid getting his attention.
Taehyung tuned back in to the earpiece and filled everyone in on his position.
"Wait, what?" Laura said, sounding worried. "What room did you say he was- shit!"
I looked around briefly and standing only around 15 feet away from us was Laura, who was staring at her father with a terrified look on her face. She turned her head and saw us, sending a panicked look. She needed to leave the room before he saw her, but there was only one entrance, where William was standing.
Obviously luck wasn't on our side, because just then William looked away from his group of admirers and met Laura's eyes. She instantaneously turned around and began to walk to other groups of people, pretending to be another average guest. Yoongi wasn't ready to put the plan into action yet, we needed to stall. William furrowed his eyebrows. He excused himself and began making his way toward her to see if he actually saw who he thought he did.
We needed to distract him. Without thinking, I "accidentally" bumped into someone very hard, causing them to drop their glass. It crashed to the ground, momentarily getting William's attention. That bought Laura just enough time to jog out the exit of the room. William got a glimpse of her running out, and he power walked to some security guards in a corner. He muttered a few things to them, they nodded, and headed down the hall.
We already fucked up and it was only the beginning.
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LAURA'S POV
I jogged down the hallway and made a left, quickly getting to the hall on the other side of the large room. I went down that one, made a right. Who knows where I was going, I just needed to get away.
When I assumed I was safe, I tuned in on the ear piece. "Yoongi," I said through gritted teeth. "My dad saw me. We need to start, are we ready?"
"Trust me, I'm so close. I only have one camera left to disconnect."
"Please hurry, I think he's following me."
"Go ahead and start talking to him, by the time you two are in private I'll be done."
I tuned out and took a deep breath.
"He's headed your way. Two security guards are with him, so be careful." J-Hope said.
Just merely seconds later, I felt a hand gently place itself on my shoulder. "Excuse me, may I-"
I turned around to face him. He stopped talking when he saw my face, and his entire expression changed. He looked shocked and terrified at once. "L-laura!"
I smiled lightly. "Hi Dad." I replied quietly. We stared at each other for a few moments. He furrowed his eye brows, suddenly looking very pale, very worried.
"How did you..." He remembered the guards were there and shakily gestured for them to leave. Once we were alone again, he looked to me in utter shock. People started noticing the host of the party talking to a suspicious young woman in a suit, and William tensed up. Then, he faked a sweet smile and pulled me into a hug. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. He was always keeping up appearances. "It's good to see you." He said cheerfully as he pulled away, holding me at shoulders length, visibly shaking. "You've grown." He said. I cringed at how fake this was. I noticed that a few people were smiling warmly as they watched the small reunion.
I plastered a tight grin on my face. "Thank you. We should talk."
"O-of course." He said, putting his arm on my back and beginning to lead me out of the room. He kept looking around like he was searching for something. He looked afraid.
"Privately." I said to him quickly. I knew I was being tense and nervous, and I needed to stop. After all the con lessons with J-Hope, I can't put everything I learned to waste. This needed to go perfectly.
"Yes, we do. I... You need to answer so many questions." He said, his breathing uneasy. He seemed to be too surprised and terrified, I wondered why he was acting this way.
He led me to an elevator that I hadn't realized existed. We stepped inside and the second the door closed he looked me dead in the eye. His eye brows were furrowed and his eyes were teary.
I gasped softly. "Oh my god, why are you-"
"How are you here?!" He yelled.
I stepped back a tiny bit. "I... I snuck in through the back. I'm sorry for trespassing but-"
"How did you escape?!"
The door opened and he grabbed my wrist, leading me into an office and shutting the door behind him. I quickly tuned into the earpiece so everyone could hear what was going on.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Calm down, please!" I exclaimed. He was shaking so much as he ran his hands through his hair and squeezed his eyes tightly, tears falling down. I suddenly had a terrible, horrible feeling.
"You know damn well!!" He yelled, staring back at me again. I was suddenly a bit afraid, but I knew I had no reason to be. I'm the one with the weapons.
"Security is down. Don't be afraid to use the knife." Yoongi said quickly. I knew they were all listening. Testing me. I felt pressured.
"You know what I just recently found out?!" He yelled, getting louder. "I can't believe I didn't figure out earlier!! This whole case, your kidnapping, and those, those b-bastards!!"
I inhaled sharply.
How.
The fuck,
Was I supposed to lie my way out of this??
I couldn't even speak. He harshly grabbed my arms, causing me to let out a yell. "You came to me weeks after you were kidnapped. After. But when I recently called your mother she said you hadn't ever returned. The case was never closed."
"You talked to mom??!!!" I screamed. My breathing quickened. He contacted her, and spoke to her. For the first time in so long... How did that conversation even go?!?
"Yes! Of course I did!! Did you expect me not to worry when I found out?! Why didn't you return home? Why did you lie to me?!" He yelled. He looked crazy, fired up.
I slapped him hard across the face.
"Who are you to ask me about lying?!?" I yelled, roughly getting out of his grasp. His eyes widened but he seemed to snap out of his fury. We spent a few moments in silence. "Sit down." I demanded. He obeyed.
I stood before him, feeling powerful. "What did you say to mom?"
"I never told her that I saw you, I didn't want her to know that I was in the same state as her. I didn't want the word to get out and cause a scandal. I kept that to myself. I... I called and when I was connected to the other line, Lucas was the one who picked up. I told him who I was and why I was calling and I just heard him sobbing on the line. He said nothing, not one word to me. Just gave the phone to Grace. When I spoke to her, she started panicking. I was frightened. I heard Lucas yelling and trying to take the phone back after she started freaking out, but I'm pretty sure she locked herself in a room because I heard a door slam.
"She wasn't speaking rationally. She started spitting out a bunch of nonsense about needed me and regretting everything and being sorry. She said she felt guilty for everything, she was crying so much, asking me so many questions. She wouldn't stop speaking. I waited for her to quiet down before asking about you. Then she went on rambling on and on again about how it was her fault and that the world was better off without her. That's when I knew she needed help. When she told me that you hadn't ever returned, I just told her to try harder for Lucas, and then told her to pass him the phone.
"When I got the chance to talk to him, I.... I apologized for everything. I didn't ramble like your mother, but I apologized and told him to hang in there, that I was going to send money and that things were going to get better. He barely said anything, just thanked me. He was crying a lot. I said goodbye and hung up at the exact second that he said 'Dad, wait-'."
We were silent.
"Did you call back to see what he had to say?" I asked hopefully.
He sighed and looked to the ground. His voice was barely audible when he whispered "I decided it was better not to."
"I can't believe this." I said quietly.
"It's your turn to explain. Why didn't you go back home? Where have you been living?"
I scoffed lightly and avoided his gaze. "Why would I go back? There was nothing there for me. I already told you how things were for us once you left, I didn't want to go back to that. I saw this whole thing as an opportunity.
"What did they do to you?!" He exclaimed.
"It's a little late for you to act like a worried father." I said. He just stared back at me. "They told me about you. I fully understand now."
He looked so weak. "I know it's my fault they took you. I'm so sorry. But, how did you... How did you escape them?"
I grinned faintly and leaned closer to him. In a voice barely above a whisper, I said
"They let me go."
His eyes widened.
I tried to explain further, even though I was risking so much by making this up on the way. "They wanted to use me to get information. They thought that I knew where you were- which I did. But I didn't tell them that. I was really disappointed after I saved your ass yet I was greeted by a fake embrace. Maybe I should've told them..."
He let out a sigh of relief and regret in one. "Why... why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want my choice to change how you would act towards me. I wanted to see your true reaction, and I definitely got it." I said, actually loving his pained reaction. "I lied to you about living with mom because I didn't want you to call her or anything and tell her I was fine. I want her to think I'm dead so she doesn't expect me to come back."
I continued. "The real reason I came here today wasn't to spend more false bonding time with you, it was to collect my money."
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember? Last time I was here you said you would pay me to keep my mouth shut. Well, now that I'm on my own I need something to live on. And you owe me for not telling those men where you are. You're gonna give me access to a bank account and I'll take the money I need."
He scoffed. "I've never seen you so demanding before."
"Like you said. I've grown, I've changed."
"I'm almost proud. How much do you want?" He asked, lowering his voice.
I recalled the amount the guys told me to ask for. "1.5 million."
He exhaled sharply. "You're insane, just like your mother."
I clenched my jaw. "I'm being reasonable. You would be dead already if it weren't for me. And considering that you owed the guys half a million dollars just for the mission, and it's almost been 7 years since then, 1.5M is less than what you would've owed them at this point. I don't have a job or a house. I need this. After you hand it over, I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life. You'll never hear of me or your enemies again."
He looked into the distance in silence, thinking it over. He looked so troubled, it was rather satisfying.
"It's not a bad price considering how much I'm offering."
He looked to me with a hateful glint in his eyes a father should never have towards his daughter. "Do you honestly mean what you're saying? How can I make sure that you'll never show up again?"
"Don't forget you have blackmail on me too." I said with an innocent smile. "You could tell my mother and the cops everything at any given moment and screw up the new life I'm going to lead. I won't break my promise if you don't break yours."
"Which is to stay quiet,"
"Exactly." I replied. This was so much easier than I thought it would be.
After almost 30 seconds of silence, he sighed aggressively.
"Deal."
~~~~~~~~
A small piece of note paper.
That's where the key to 1 and a half million dollars lay. The password to the account, the correct names...
My dad folded it in half and handed it to me, where I stuffed it into my coat pocket. "alright, we're done here. It's time for you to leave." He said.
"Wait..." I said quietly, still having things in my mind. "I just need to know... How you do it."
"Do what?"
I looked him in the eye. "How can you live with yourself? Do you feel any guilt at all?"
He had the nerve to grin bitterly.
"Let this be the last lesson I teach you as a father. You're going to be faced with challenges in life, lots of big decisions to make. There is always a right choice and a wrong choice, or a choice in between. We all have a strong feeling in us that practically forces you to do what's right. It's natural for lots of people. But doing the right thing doesn't always end up the best for you.
"If I hadn't left, me and your mother would've ended up getting divorced. We would all live the average life of a broken family, and both sides wouldn't be left with much money since I'd need to pay my debt. And even though it was terribly wrong to abandon my children and leave them in pain, I'm now thriving as a businessman with a better wife, better reputation, better salary. Even though life isn't so great for you, I'm living like a king.
"You can't think about anyone else. You do whatever the hell you want. Think about what you will benefit out of. What's gonna make you happy. If it's wrong in everyone else's eyes, well that sucks for them. But if it all works out in yours, then just do it. It's selfish, it's greedy, but that's all this world is. It's made up of the 7 deadly sins, so if there's no sinners around then there's no world to live in."
He walked closer to me, still staring so deep into my watery eyes. "The most important part, Laura..."
He caressed my face, lowering his voice.
"Is that you can't feel bad about it afterward."
I processed his words and made sense of them. I finally understood what I had to do. I finally made a decision that was right in my own eyes.
"Then... Dad..." I said with a sigh as I pulled the knife out of my pocket and dug it deep into his stomach.
"I'm truly not sorry."
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A/N: thanks for getting Deceived up to 1k views :D ❤️