**Avenged His Mother**
“Your daughters with us. Bring £100,000, and she lives. Ill send the meeting point later,” said a heavily distorted male voice.
“Youhow dare you make demands of me!” Michael snapped, but the caller had already hung up.
Michael was known as a methodical, cautious, and ruthless manexcept when it came to his beloved wife, Charlotte, and their adored daughter, Emily. Even then, his kindness had limits.
If things didnt go his way, hed remind everyone who was in charge: *”Im the head of this house! I provide for all of you!”*
And it was true. Hed bought their house in a gated community, Charlotte only worked to show off her dresses, and Emily drove to university in a brand-new car hed gifted her. Still, his family sometimes forgot their place.
He had to lay down the law again when he found out Emily was dating a promising violinist named Oliver.
“Hes not good enough for you, and you wont see him again!” Michael barked. “What kind of man makes a living scraping a violin?”
Besides, the boy was scrawny. Some intellectual!
“Im going to marry him! Thats my choice!” Emily had a temper of her own.
“I raised youI decide!”
“Im 18, Dad, in case you forgot. Im an adult, and”
“Enough! My house, my rules.”
Emily stormed off in tears. Charlotte sulked for days, refusing to speak to him, but Michael didnt carehed made his point.
Besides, he had real problems, unlike his daughters tantrums. His childhood friend, Jack, with whom hed built a concrete block business ten years ago, was up to his usual nonsense.
Theyd just paid off their loans, assembled a solid team, greased the right palms, and started turning a decent profit. Life was good!
But noJack kept pushing for expansion, whining about innovation. This time, hed dug in his heels, demanding they split the business if Michael refused.
*”I wont rot in stagnation!”* Typical. Jack had all the ideas while Michael did the dirty work.
A few weeks later, things seemed to settle. Jack dropped his schemes, Emily attended university and stayed home most eveningsno mention of Oliver.
Then Michael spotted Emily arm-in-arm with some bloke.
“Emily! What are you doing out so late?” he roared, slamming on the brakes beside them. “Whos this?”
In the dim light, it took him a moment to recognize the ladsome scrawny warehouse worker from his business.
“You downgraded from a violinist to this? Trying to spite me? Get in the car!”
Emily scowled, about to argue, but the boy cut in.
“Who gave you the right to talk to people like that?” he sneered. “Think money makes you”
“Exactly rightI *can* talk how I want, and I *have* money,” Michael snapped. “Youre fired. Emily, *now*.”
She glanced at the boy, shook her head slightly (*dont*), and slipped into the car.
*Thats more like it.* Who did these people think they were?
And this ladThomas, wasnt it?had the nerve to mouth off. Well, hed learn. Men like him always did.
Just when Michael thought hed restored orderwith Jack, with his familyhe caught Emily with Thomas again a week later. They vanished before he could confront them, but at home, Emily faced a storm.
To his shock, Charlotte sided with her. They called him a tyrant, said living with him was unbearable.
“Nobodys keeping you here!” he snarled. “The doors right there!”
So they left, suitcases in hand, faces a mix of grief and disdain. Fine. Lets see how long they lasted without him.
Michael was certain theyd come crawling back, so when Charlotte called a week later, he wasnt surprised.
“Mike, Emilys gone!” she gasped. “Two days, no wordher phones off. Lucy and I dont know what to do! Should we call the police?”
Ah, so they were staying with her friend.
“No police! Come home. *Ill* find her.”
He had no idea how, but he sure as hell wasnt involving the authorities.
While he weighed options, the phone rang again.
“Your daughters with us. Bring £100,000, and she lives. Coordinates later,” said the distorted voice.
“Youbastarddont you *dare*” But the line went dead.
A video link followed: Emily, disheveled, tear-streaked, hands boundbut alive. She stared blankly at the camera for a few seconds.
*Bloody hell.* Hed bury them all alive. But he needed help. Despite their feud, Jack agreed to assist with the drop.
“Shouldnt we call the police?” Jack hesitated. “And thats a lot of”
“No. *Ill* deal with this. And the money stays with us.”
Michael was confidentuntil they arrived at the abandoned factory and Thomas stepped out.
“You little *rat*!” Michael lunged, but Jack yanked him back. “Stop! We dont know where Emily is.”
Thomas smirked from a ledge ten feet away. “Drop the bag there.” He nodded at a half-open sewer grate.
Michael glared but obeyed.
“Good,” Thomas scoffed, turning to leave.
“You think youll get away with this? Wheres Emily?”
“Shes fine. Shell contact you soonif she wants to.”
“Youre *mental*.” Michael was stunned by his calm. “Ill hunt you”
“I dont care,” Thomas cut in. “I did what I had toavenge my mum.”
“Your *what*?”
“Sarah. She worked as your housekeeper for seven years,” Thomas said, jaw tight. “Thats when she caught your wife in bed with another man. Aunt Charlotte sacked her on the spotaccused her of stealing.”
“Of course she didjust to cover her tracks. Mum had no proof. Would you have believed her?”
He didnt wait for an answer.
“She had a weak heartraised me alone, slaved for pennies at your place. Next day, she collapsed in the street. No one helped. The doctors called it a heart attack.”
His voice cracked.
“If not for your family, shed be alive. I wouldnt have ended up in care.”
“Now youll end up in prison,” Michael said coldly. “Howd you even rope Emily into this? Shed never let herself”
“She didnt.” Thomas wiped his eyes, smirking. “She *chose* to. We planned it together. By now, shes secured the cash. Youll have to arrest your own daughter.”
“*What?!*” Michael roared. “Emily would *never*”
“If you hadnt meddled, shed have told me to sod off. None of this wouldve happened,” Thomas said, mounting a hidden motorbike. “She loves Oliver. But you wouldnt know about loveask your *mate* Jack. Hes the one shagging your wife!”
With that, he sped off.
Michael punched Jackfor the betrayal, for everything. Jack didnt fight back.
He divorced Charlotte, leaving her only a flat. He refused to split the businessshed taken enough. She begged him not to press charges against Emily.
But he wasnt *that* much of a tyrant. He never went to the police, though Emily never showed her face againdropped out of university.
Rumor had it she and Oliver moved abroad. Maybe one day theyd return. Who knew?
