**A Mothers Revenge**
“Your daughter is with us. Bring ten million pounds, and shell stay alive. Ill send the meeting point later,” said a heavily distorted male voice.
“You dont you dare dictate terms to me!” Michael snapped, but the caller had already hung up.
Michael was known as a deliberate, cautious, and ruthless man. Only his beloved wife, Elizabeth, and adored daughter, Emily, saw his softer sideand even then, not always. If anything displeased him, he made sure everyone knew their place:
“Im the head of this house! I provide for all of you!”
And it was true. Hed bought their home in an upscale village, ensured his wife only worked to show off her dresses, and gifted Emily a brand-new car for university. Yet, his family sometimes forgot who was in charge.
Hed had to “remind” them recently when he discovered Emily was seeing a promising young 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 violin? And hes scrawnysome intellectual!”
“Im going to marry him! Thats my choice!” Emily had her fathers stubbornness.
“I raised youI decide!”
“Im eighteen, Dad. Grown enough to!”
“Enough! My word is final.”
Emily stormed off in tears, and Elizabeth sulked for days, but Michael didnt carehed spoken.
Besides, he had bigger problems than his daughters whims. His childhood friend, Jack, with whom hed built a successful concrete business, kept pushing reckless expansions. After years of debts, theyd finally turned a profitwhy ruin it? But Jack insisted, even threatening to dissolve their partnership.
Then, just as things settledJack quieted, Emily stayed homeMichael spotted her arm-in-arm with some scruffy lad.
“Emily! What are you doing out so late?” he roared, slamming the car brakes. “And whos this?”
In the dim light, he barely recognised the boy. When he did, his blood boiled.
“You traded down from that violinist? Defying me? Get home!”
Emilys companion squared his shoulders. “Who gave you the right to talk to people like that? Just because youre rich”
“Youre damn right I can,” Michael cut in. “And youre fired. Emilynow!”
She shot the boy a warning glance*dont*then slipped into the car.
Good. No one lectured *him*.
The boynow Michael rememberedwas a labourer at his factory. Cheeky sod. Hed be dealt with.
A week later, he saw Emily with him again. They vanished before he could intervene, but at home, a blazing row erupted. To his shock, Elizabeth sided with Emily. They called him a tyrant, unbearable.
“Then leave!” he spat. “The doors open!”
And they didbags in hand, faces cold. Fine. Let them struggle without him.
Sure enough, a week later, Elizabeth called.
“Michael, Emilys missing! Two days, no wordher phones off! Should we call the police?”
So, theyd moved in with a friend.
“No police. Come home. *Ill* find her.”
As he strategised, his phone rang again.
“Your daughter is with us. Bring ten million pounds, or she dies. Location to follow.”
“You” But the line went dead.
A video link arrivedEmily, dishevelled, bound, but alive. Silent. Staring.
*Hell.* Hed bury them all. But he needed help. Jack, despite their feud, agreed to assist with the drop.
“Shouldnt we involve the police?” Jack hesitated.
“No. Ill handle this.”
At the derelict factory, their kidnapper emerged*the labourer, Ryan.*
“You little!” Michael lunged, but Jack held him back.
Ryan smirked. “Drop the bag in the sewer.”
Gritting his teeth, Michael obeyed.
“Good,” Ryan said, turning.
“You think youll walk away? Wheres Emily?”
“Shes fine. Shell contact youif she wants.”
Michael scoffed. “Youre delusional. I *will* find you.”
“I dont care,” Ryan shot back. “I did what I had toavenged my mum.”
“*What?*”
“Olivia. She worked as your housekeeper for seven years. Until she caught your wife in bed with another man. Your wife fired her, accused her of stealing.”
Ryans jaw clenched. “No proofjust her word. Mum had a weak heart, worked herself to the bone for scraps. Next day, she collapsed in the street. No one helped. The doctors called it a heart attack.”
He wiped his eyes. “If not for your family I wouldnt have lost her. Ended up in care.”
“Youll lose your freedom next,” Michael said coldly.
Ryan laughed. “Emily wont let that happen. *She* planned this. By now, shes moved the money. Youd have to arrest your own daughter.”
Michaels rage flared. “*Liar!*”
“Ask Jack about love,” Ryan called, revving his motorbike. “Hes the one who slept with your wife!”
He sped off.
Michael punched Jackonce for the betrayal, again for everything. Jack didnt fight back.
He divorced Elizabeth, leaving her only a flat. The business stayed hished paid enough for her deceit. She begged him not to report Emily, and though he was no tyrant, he complied. Emily vanished, dropped out of university. Rumor said shed fled abroad with Oliver. Maybe shed return someday.
Or maybe not.
**Lesson:** Control is an illusion. Those you dominate will slip through your fingerssometimes with a plan of their own.
