The sun was up by the time Sophie woke up. The morning rays had sneaked through the opening in her window, casting light on the walls.

She gently woke Nathan and they both brushed their teeth and took a warm bath. She ordered room service and they both had their breakfast of pancakes with syrup.

Then they got ready and checked out of the hotel. Sophie walked to the car park, ready to continue her journey but she was met with a shocking sight.

Standing a few feet away and leaning against her car was Gabriel. Sophie could see that he was pissed. His car was parked right across from hers and the door opened and Olivia came out.

“You crazy bitch” Gabriel said, charging towards her. “How dare you?”

Sophie felt Nathan’s hand grip hers tighter. He was scared. He had never seen his father like this and was probably confused as to what was going on. This was definitely not the road trip the kid imagined.

Gabriel was now so close to her face that Sophie’s heart pounded fearfully in her chest.

“You really thought you could steal from me and kidnap my son. I could have you arrested for this ?” He said, his fist clenched.

Sophie shivered

“Get in the car” Gabriel ordered without hesitation

.

Sophie knew better than to disobey him. Gabriel was powerful, he could have her thrown in prison for what she did and no one would ever look for her.

She tried to get into her car with Nathan still gripping her hand but Gabriel went to her and yanked Nathan’s hand away from hers

“You get in alone," he said, his eyes shooting fire.

Gabriel bent down so he was face to face with Nathan whose eyes were now filled with tears. Sophie’s heart broke seeing how sad her son looked.

“Hey buddy, you’re gonna go with Aunt Olivia, okay? Daddy will go with Mommy” he said, smiling

Nathan looked down at his hands

“Okay” he said, his sadness palpable

Olivia walked to him and led him to the back of the car, he got in and she took the drivers seat while Gabriel took the car Sophie had driven to the hotel.

The ride back home was quiet but Sophie could tell that Gabriel was very pissed with the way his hand clutched the steering wheel and the way his shoulders heaved up and down. She knew he wasn’t going to let this slide and wondered what he had in store for her. Was he going to get her arrested? Maybe he had already reported it to the police. Or maybe not.

It took 48 hours to declare a missing person and they were gone for less than that. But this wasn’t a missing person situation, this was kidnapping. Her stuff was packed and she had taken Nathan.

As soon as they arrived at the house, Gabriel stormed in without a word. Sophie was scared and she picked her steps slowly as she walked in. She could see Gabriel’s car parked outside which told her that Olivia was already home with Nathan.

She saw them watching TV when she walked in.

“You really are so dumb” Gabriel said to her as soon as she entered.

“So you really thought I’ll let you have a car without a tracker in it “

Shit! The car had a tracker? No wonder he was able to trace her so fast. Why did she not think of that ? Of course the car had a tracker.

“Where is the money?” Gabriel demanded.

“What money?” Sophie asked, feigning ignorance.

“The one you stole from me, you stupid bitch” Gabriel whispered aggressively

It was obvious he didn’t want Nathan to hear them. He must have gone to check his account when he came home and saw that she had disappeared.

That money was her only hope of escape and so she said nothing, just kept quiet. Gabriel stormed out and came back shortly after with the briefcase. Sophie felt like smashing her head on the wall. There was her hope of ever escaping dashed against the wall.

“I promise you’re going to regret pulling this stunt with me” Gabriel said

Sophie stood still and said nothing. What was he going to do to her? The worst he could do was throw her in jail but she felt numb to all his threats already.

Olivia came into the kitchen just then eyeing Sophie with contempt

“You’re such a desperate loser” she said to her

“Kidnapping your own child, stealing and running away? That’s pathetic”

Sophie felt like strangling her. How dare she?

“Really, is it more pathetic than stealing your bed friend's husband because you could not get a man of your own?” Sophie asked her. She didn’t know where she got the courage from but she knew she was done taking Olivia’s bullshit.

Olivia was speechless and Sophie felt a small sense of victory for being able to shut her up. But she was not done.

“Tell me, who is the desperate loser?”

Olivia made to slap her but Sophie gripped her hand

“Let her go now” Gabriel said, stepping closer to the two women

“You’re going to pay for this” Olivia said to her and stalked away.

Suddenly, Sophie started hearing the sound of sirens. Her heartbeat immediately increased. Gabriel did call the cops on her.

“Olive. Take Nathan upstairs” Gabriel said to Olivia who immediately disappeared with Nathan. He probably did not want Nathan to see her getting handcuffed, because he cared about Nathan and not because he cared about her.

Sophie immediately started pleading. If she gets arrested, she won’t be able to see her son again. She threw her pride out the window and pleaded with Gabriel

“Please, don’t do this” she fell on her knees and gripped his leg. Gabriel shoved her off

“I’m your wife Gabriel, don’t do this please”

There was a knock on the door then and Gabriel moved towards the door to open it. Sophie tried to hide behind the kitchen counter but before she could do so, she saw two smartly dressed men step in. Except they were not cops, they were paramedics. The siren she heard was from the ambulance

“Where is she?” One of them asked and Gabriel pointed towards the kitchen counter.

Sophie wondered what was happening. Why was the ambulance here? She stood up

“Ma’am you need to come with us” one of the paramedics said and stepped towards her.

“Be careful, she’s violent” Gabriel said

“Come with you to where? Why?”

“We just need to take you to the hospital so you can get checked”

“Checked for what?” Sophie asked, as the pieces began to fit in her mind. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Olivia standing on the stairs looking at her with mock pity. Had Gabriel told them she was insane?

Sophie tried to run off but one of the paramedics quickly caught her

She struggled, trying to free herself from his grip but that only made things worse. Before she knew what was happening, she felt the sharp prick of a needle on her arm and then everything went dark.