He Sold Me, I Came Back Deadlier

EMMA LINCON

5 YEARS EARLIER

"Emma…" Marco whispers after kissing me.

I open my eyes and frown when I see the serious look on his face.

"What is it?"

"Forgive me," he murmurs, closing his eyes.

My smile disappears.

"For what?"

"Marco…?"

"I didn’t have a choice."

"What are you talking about?"

The door to the place he brought me to opens, and two men dressed in black and armed walk in.

"Marco, what place is this?" I ask nervously, but he can’t even look at me anymore.

I barely have time to react before the men grab me while my fiancé does nothing to stop them.

"Hey!" I scream, trying to break free. "What is this?! LET ME GO!"

I struggle, but it’s useless. They are much stronger and trained.

"Marco!" My eyes fly to him desperately. "Who are these men?!"

"Forgive me…" he repeats.

I blink, feeling tears filling my eyes.

"What did you do? Marco, what did you do?!"

"Emma..." he tries, but an older man walks into the room.

He carries a black briefcase in his hand and a satisfied smile on his face.

"Impressive," he says, looking directly at Marco. "I admit I didn’t think you could do it."

My stomach twists.

"What is he talking about?" I ask, my voice trembling. "Marco…"

The older man places the briefcase on the table and opens it.

A lot of money.

"Congratulations," the man says. "You delivered exactly what you promised."

"What is this?" My voice comes out in a broken whisper.

Tears start falling before I can stop them.

The older man slowly approaches me.

I try to move away, but the men hold me tighter.

He grabs my face, squeezing my cheeks with his cold fingers.

I shrink away in disgust.

"Finally," he murmurs, studying every detail of me. "I’ve searched for you for so long, hybrid."

"Why?" I ask, crying. "Why am I here?"

He smiles.

Then points at Marco.

"He sold you to us. We have hunted creatures like you for centuries."

"…what?"

"Marco’s plan was always to find you and bring you to us, Emma. And he did exactly that."

I look at Marco.

"Tell me this is a lie. Marco… tell me this is a lie."

"What he’s saying is true..." he murmurs.

And in that moment, I understand.

All three years together were a lie. He is a lying traitor and never truly loved me.

I can’t take my eyes off him.

"You lied this whole time..."

"Take her."

"NO! NO!"

They drag me out of the room.

"MARCO! I TRUSTED YOU!"

"Look at me!" I scream, trying to reach him, but I groan when a needle pierces my neck.

Everything spins, and I fall to my knees in tears.

"No…"

The men carry me while I’m weak, but I can still see everything around me.

I see many white rooms with doctors, like some kind of laboratory.

I shiver when I hear countless screams of pain.

I don’t know where I am or what might happen to me.

My eyes meet those of a long-haired man inside one of the white rooms. He is tied down and suffering while someone injects something into him.

I squeeze my eyes shut, crying when I hear him screaming.

I’m taken into one of the white rooms.

They throw me into a metal chair and strap my arms and legs down with restraints.

I can barely move.

"Please… let me go…"

I watch as doctors walk in and prepare things.

I lift my head and see Marco standing by the door, holding the briefcase of money while looking at me.

"Please, don’t leave me here. Please, please..." I beg.

Marco takes a step forward, but then steps back and looks at me one last time.

"Goodbye, Emma."

"No! No! Look at me, look at me!" I scream angrily, clenching my fists tightly, my face soaked with tears.

Marco turns his head away.

I sob.

"Look at my face, memorize every detail of my face because it will be the last thing you ever see. I swear you’ll pay for what you’re doing... I swear..."

I hear him telling someone:

"Make sure she doesn’t stay alive anymore..."

I shut my eyes tightly.

"I’ll come back..."

PRESENT DAY

He married another woman.

I stare at the pictures hanging on the wall of his bedroom.

I raise my hand and touch the photo where he is smiling and kissing his wife at their wedding.

I blink, feeling the pain in my chest returning.

I spent five years trapped in that place while he kept living happily. That’s not fair.

Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t want to cry.

My hand slides to the next picture.

And then everything inside me freezes.

He is kneeling.

His forehead pressed against her stomach.

Pregnant.

For a few seconds, I can’t breathe while staring at the photo.

Everything explodes inside me at once. Rage, disgust, and sadness.

Five years being tortured…

while he was building a family.

While he was living everything he stole from me.

I wipe away my tears quickly and walk through his luxurious bedroom.

I turn and walk toward the armchair in the corner of the room, sitting down and crossing my legs as I wait for him.

I hear him opening the door and walking into the bedroom.

Marco stops and freezes, his eyes widening when he sees me.

I waited so long for this moment.

He doesn’t move as if he’s seeing a ghost.

"You... Emma…" he whispers in shock.

I smile at him.

"Surprise, darling."

He takes a step back.

"This is impossible... you… you were supposed to be dead."

I tilt my head and nod.

"Apparently, you tried. But you failed."

He runs a nervous hand through his hair.

"Emma, I can explain..."

"No. You’re going to stay quiet. Now you’re going to listen to everything I have to say."

He swallows hard.

I notice him glancing at the door, and I know he’s thinking about running away. Coward.

"If you try to run… it’ll be much worse."

I slowly stand and walk toward the bedroom window.

"You have a beautiful house here. I’m sure all of this was paid for with the money you got for handing me over to the hunters that day, wasn’t it?" I ask.

"Stop these games and tell me why you came back," he murmurs.

I sigh and turn, taking a few steps toward him.

"You sold me…"

He shakes his head.

"Emma, it wasn’t like that..."

"Do you know what happened to me in that place?"

He doesn’t answer.

"I was broken."

I move closer and closer to him.

"I was imprisoned."

"I was used."

I look at him more carefully now.

"I was tortured… while you lived happily."

Now I’m standing right in front of him.

So close I can smell his expensive cologne.

"Imagine my surprise when I come back and find out the man I loved got married… and is going to have a child," I whisper.

Marco becomes completely tense.

"Stay away from her. You’re not getting near my wife."

I laugh.

"Ironic, don’t you think?"

"You destroy my life… and now you want to protect hers."

"What do you want?" he asks angrily.

"I want you," I say simply.

His eyes widen slightly.

"I want to make you pay."

I take another step.

Now we are almost touching.

"You have no idea what I lost," I whisper. "What I went through… because of you."

He closes his eyes for a second.

"Forgive me…" he says.

I smile.

"Do you really think it’s going to be that easy? You ordered them to kill me..."

I grab the gun and hold it tightly in my hand.

Tears fill my eyes again.

And this time…I let them fall.

"I lost something that day…"

"More than my freedom."

He frowns in confusion.

Then I say it.

"I lost our child."

His eyes widen in a way I’ve never seen before.

Pure shock.

"What…? No… you’re lying."

"I was pregnant with our child…"

He takes a step back.

As if I had physically hit him.

"I didn’t know…" he says desperately. "Emma, I swear, I didn’t know..."

I raise the gun.

Pointing it directly at his chest.

"Please…" he whispers.

"I said those same words to you five years ago, remember?" I ask.

Marco raises his hands.

"You’re right, and I understand why you’re angry. I betrayed you, I deceived you, all for money, but I changed, I swear I changed..." he says desperately.

"Will you do the same thing to her too?" I ask, and he frowns.

"What?"

"Sell your pregnant wife like you sold me."

"Emma, please."

"You destroyed me..."

"Yes, and I’m sorry for that, but don’t shoot. I’m going to have a child, that baby needs a father."

I turn my head and look at that picture again.

I close my eyes for a few seconds. I would never cause another woman the same pain he caused me.

"Emma..."

I open my eyes and slowly lower the gun.

"No," I say coldly.

"It’s not going to be that easy."

I move closer and stop beside him.

So close that my lips almost touch his ear.

"You’re going to beg for never having sold me… when my revenge begins," I whisper.

"I’m going to destroy you from the inside just like you destroyed me."

I leave that place and drive home as fast as I can.

When I open the door, I see Aiden staring at me with a phone pressed to his ear.

"Emma, thank the gods, where were you?" he rushes toward me.

I blink, trembling, tears filling my eyes.

He knows what’s going to happen.

I cry when Aiden wraps his arms tightly around me.

I close my eyes, hiding my face against his chest.

"It’s okay, my love. I’m here with you..." he whispers, kissing my head.

"I saw him, Aiden. I saw him..." I whisper shakily.

Aiden became everything to me when we escaped that place together.

"He’s still going to get what he deserves, Emma," Aiden murmurs, kissing me.

I slowly open my eyes and pick up the small teddy bear resting on the couch, hugging it tightly.

"He’s going to pay, Aiden. He’s going to pay for taking my child away from me..."

EMMA LINCON

"You should be sleeping," Aiden says, massaging my shoulders.

I blink, typing faster on the notebook while searching for everything I can use against Marco.

I sigh when I feel Aiden’s lips against my neck.

I love him.

"Come to bed, Emma..." he whispers, and I open my eyes.

I turn my head and look at him. Aiden is beautiful, with short hair that was once long and silver eyes.

"I can’t stop now. I’m too close."

He nods and sits beside me on the bed.

"What did you find?"

I turn the notebook slightly toward him.

"In the last five years… three women involved with Marco disappeared."

"Involved how?"

"Relationships. Affairs. One of them worked directly with him."

I click one of the open tabs.

"This one. She was found dead in a car accident."

Aiden leans closer, his eyes analyzing every detail.

"It’s very strange because nobody ever saw her body," I whisp