"Boss, the thugs are here!" one of my men reported, informing me about the situation outside.
I immediately got out of the car, accompanied by several loyal men. At that moment, two men approached me with fierce expressions. They looked down on me.
"So you're the one who wanted to meet?" one of them said rudely.
"How much extra money are you offering us to make us cancel our plan to threaten the woman in this photo?" the other asked, pointing at Annisa's face in the picture.
Both my hands clenched at once. How dare they defile my wife's face so casually? Did they think I was easy to defeat?
"What did I just say?" I asked, staring sharply at them one by one.
"You clearly said you wanted to meet me!" they replied, completely unaware of the threat in my voice.
"Did I mention money?"
"So are you planning to give us money or not? You've wasted our time!" one of them snapped angrily. They even spat right in front of me.
I merely responded with a derisive smile before glancing at my men. In an instant, the two of them were seized. Even though I heard them begging for mercy, I never withdrew my order.
Five minutes later, my men returned to report to me in the car.
"Boss, the two of them have been taken care of!"
"Good. Dispose of their bodies. I'm sick of seeing them touch my wife's face so easily!" I said coldly.
The car exited the underground parking lot. Just then, I caught a glimpse of someone recording a video not far from the place where those bastards had been executed. When he saw my car, he ran away in a panic.
"Boss, should we chase him?"
"No need. They'll come to us on their own!" I replied casually. That was my principle in life. It wasn't that I couldn't chase them—I was simply giving them a chance to understand that they shouldn't mess with me.
I wasn't someone who changed his mind easily. Once I said someone would disappear, I would make sure everyone who interfered with me disappeared. Especially when Annisa was involved, I could go insane.
When I arrived at the apartment, I checked the closet in the bedroom, but Annisa's clothes still weren't there. I was shocked. She should have arrived here by now, just as we'd agreed.
I began to worry that the thugs had threatened Annisa before she could get here.
I pulled my phone from my pants pocket and dialed Annisa's number to make sure she was all right.
"Why haven't you come yet?" I asked when she answered.
"Fine. Come here right now. I won't accept any excuses. And don't forget, I've already paid all of your grandmother's hospital bills. All you have to do is keep your promise, my wife!"
Though my voice sounded cold, my heart felt warm. The romantic way of addressing her that I'd longed to use finally slipped out—my wife.
But as the night grew late, I was shocked to find that Annisa still hadn't arrived at the apartment. Not long afterward, my phone rang loudly.
"Yes, hello, Bane!" I said after answering the call from Bane.
"Annisa has been kidnapped!"
Two words that made me freeze. Time seemed to stop. I was stunned, my body suddenly rigid.
"What?!"
"I checked the CCTV cameras outside the apartment. Annisa was kidnapped before she entered your apartment!" Bane explained from the other end of the line.
"Are you sure? Who dares touch my wife?" I shouted, consumed by emotion. Suddenly, memories of the past flashed through my mind—the time I'd been forced to leave Annisa for her own safety.
No. That couldn't happen again. Five years was already long enough to bury my longing for her.
"And what's even more outrageous is that they kidnapped her right in our territory. In front of your apartment, Mr. Andrian!" Bane said, fanning the flames of my already-raging anger.
"They're asking to die!" I growled.