**Avenged His Mother**
“Your daughters with us. Bring a hundred thousand pounds, and she lives. Ill send the meeting point later,” came the distorted male voice.
“You reckon you can just lay down terms for me?!” Michael snapped, but the caller had already hung up.
Michael was a man known for being thorough, cautious, and ruthlessexcept when it came to his beloved wife, Claire, and his adored daughter, Emily. Even then, his patience had limits.
If things didnt go his way, he put everyone in their place: “Im the man of this house! I pay for everything!”
And it was true. Hed bought the house in a gated estate, his wife only worked to show off her dresses, and his daughter drove a brand-new car to universityall thanks to him.
But sometimes, his family forgot that.
He had to “remind them who was in charge” again when he found out Emily was seeing an up-and-coming violinist named Oliver.
“Hes not good enough for you! You wont see him again!” Michael barked. “What kind of man makes a living scraping a fiddle?”
And he was scrawny, too. Some “intellectual”!
“Im going to marry him! Thats my choice!” Emily had inherited his stubbornness.
“I raised youI decide!”
“Im eighteen, Dad. Or did you forget? Im an adult, and”
“Enough! My house, my rules.”
Emily stormed off in tears. Claire barely spoke to him for days, but Michael didnt carehed made his point.
Besides, he had real problems, unlike his daughters tantrums.
His childhood friend, Davethe one hed built the concrete supply business withwas pushing for changes again.
Theyd only just paid off their loans and settled into steady profits. But no, Dave couldnt leave well enough alonealways whining about expansion.
Their usual arguments were short, but this time, Dave dug his heels in, threatening to split the business if Michael refused.
As if Daves ideas werent enoughMichael was the one who handled the messes!
A couple of weeks passed. Dave stopped nagging, Emily went to her lectures and stayed home most eveningsno mention of Oliver.
Then Michael spotted her arm-in-arm with some scrawny lad.
“Emily! What are you doing out this late?” he roared, slamming the brakes beside them. “Whos this?”
In the dim light, it took him a second to recognize the boy. When he did, his blood boiled.
“You traded down from the violinist to this scrap of a lad? Trying to spite me? Get in the carnow!”
Emily scowled, about to protest, but her date spoke first.
“Who gave you the right to talk to people like that?” The boy squared his shoulders. “Just because youve got money, you think”
“Youve got it spot on, you little runt. I *do* have money, and you wont have a job tomorrow,” Michael cut in, turning to Emily. “Nowmove!”
His daughter flicked a glance at the boy, shook her head slightly*dont*then slipped into the car.
Thats more like it. Who did these people think they were, lecturing him?
And this whelphe remembered now, the kid worked in the warehousehad the nerve to mouth off? Hed dealt with worse.
Just when he thought hed set things straightwith Dave, with his familyhe spotted Emily with that ex-warehouse boy, Jake, a week later.
They vanished before he could confront them, but at home, Emily got an earful.
To his shock, Claire sided with her. They called him a tyrant, said living with him was unbearable.
“Then leave! No ones stopping you!” he snapped.
So they did. Bags in hand, faces a mix of grief and disdain. Fine. Lets see how long they lasted without him.
Michael was sure theyd come crawling back. So when Claire called a week later, he barely flinched.
“Michael Emilys missing!” she gasped. “Two days gone, phone off. I dont know what to doshould we call the police?”
Ah, so they were staying with her friend Lucy.
“No police. Get back homeIll handle it.”
He didnt know how, but hed find her himself.
As he weighed options, his phone rang again.
“Your daughters with us. A hundred thousand pounds, and she lives. Location coming soon,” the same distorted voice said.
“You!” Michael snarled, but the line went dead.
Then came a video link: Emily, dishevelled, tear-streaked, hands boundbut alive. She stared into the camera, unblinking, for just seconds.
*Damn it.* Hed bury them alive. But he needed help. Dave, despite their feud, agreed to join the drop.
“Maybe we *should* call the police,” Dave muttered. “Thats a lot of cash”
“No. Ill deal with this rat myself. And dont worrywell keep the money.”
Michael was confidentuntil they reached the abandoned factory and out stepped Jake.
“You little!” He lunged, but Dave yanked him back. “Stop! We dont know where Emily is.”
Jake stood on a ledge, smirking. “Drop the bag there.” He nodded at a half-open sewer grate.
Michael glared but obeyed.
“Brilliant,” Jake snorted, turning to leave.
“You think youll get away with this?! Wheres Emily?!”
“Shes fine. Shell call you soonif she wants to.”
“Youre *stupid*,” Michael spat, baffled by his calm. “Ill find you”
“I dont care.” Jakes voice cracked. “I did what I had toavenged my mum.”
“Your *what*?”
“Sarah. Worked as your cleaner for seven years,” Jake said, jaw tight. “She caught your wife in bed with another man. Your Claire sacked her on the spotsaid she stole.”
“Oh, *please*.”
“No proof but her word. Would you have believed her?” Jake swallowed hard. “Mum had a weak heart. Raised me alone, slaved for pennies Next day, she collapsed in the street. No one helped. Heart attack.”
His hands shook.
“If not for your lot, shed be alive. I wouldnt have ended up in care.”
“Youll end up in prison now,” Michael said flatly. “And Emilyshed never let this happen.”
Jake laughed humourlessly. “She didnt. We planned this together. Bet shes already moved the money. Youll have to arrest your own daughter.”
“*Liar!*” Michael roared. “Where is she?!”
“Shouldve stayed out of her life,” Jake said, swinging onto a hidden motorbike. “She loves Oliver. But whatd you know about love?”
“Brat!”
“Ask your *mate* about love!” Jake revved the engine. “Your wife was cheating with *him*!” Then he sped off.
Michael punched Dave. For the betrayal, for everything. Dave didnt fight back.
He divorced Claire, leaving her only a flat. The business stayed hished paid enough for her lies. She begged him not to report Emily.
He wasnt *that* much of a tyrantno police. But Emily never came back, dropped out of uni.
Rumour said she and Oliver moved abroad. Maybe theyd return someday. Who knew?
