The Carnival Betrayal

By the time the ringing in my ears subsided, the car had already returned to the carnival.

The Ferris wheel was still broken, its gondolas suspended in mid-air. Nelson snatched my daughter from my arms.

"Tell me where Ella is, or I swear you will regret this!"

He held my daughter in a vice grip, taking her onto a private helicopter. It ascended, higher and higher, until he could lock her back inside that broken gondola.

Rosie was already traumatized by the Ferris wheel. Now, she was crying and struggling uncontrollably.

Each of her cries was a knife twisting in my gut. Watching the gondola sway precariously on Nelson's command, I could barely breathe.

"I don't know anything about it! Nelson, I don't care who kidnapped Ella, just get our daughter down from there!" I screamed, verging on hysteria.

This was a far cry from the doting father he'd once pretended to be. He emotionlessly ordered his men to shake the gondola.

"I'm giving you ten seconds. Then they'll slowly increase the intensity."

As he spoke, he ordered his men to increase the force of the shaking.

I watched my daughter inside, who was crying so hard she was about to pass out, and dug my nails into my palms.

Nelson had no mercy. The agony was so sharp I thought my heart would give out.

Watching my daughter, who was nearly convulsing from her sobs, I finally broke.

"Nelson, I really don't know. I have no idea where Ella is. Please, let our daughter down, please? She can't take it anymore."

My pleas didn't move Nelson in the slightest. He continued his countdown, his face an emotionless mask.

"Eight."

Just a short while ago at the manor, Nelson was apologizing for us being trapped. But now, for Ella, he had become the executioner, turning his own cruel hands against us.

I couldn't help but scream, "Nelson, investigate! Check the surveillance! I didn't kidnap Ella! Please, let Rosie go—she's your own flesh and blood! She can't hold on, I'm begging you, I'll get on my knees!"

Nelson didn't even look at me as his cold countdown continued.

I couldn't bear it. I scrambled up from the ground and started climbing the Ferris wheel's support structure.

Nelson watched me coldly. With the countdown nearly finished, I was just about to reach the gondola.

A flicker of hope ignited in my eyes. Disregarding my own safety, I reached out, desperate to save my daughter.

Just then, Nelson violently yanked me onto the helicopter and slapped me viciously.

"Are you insane?! Climbing that high, what if you fell?"

A flicker of what looked like concern sparked in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

But I couldn't bring myself to believe him anymore.

I clutched his sleeve, my voice choked with sobs. "I'm begging you, Nelson. Do whatever you want to me. Say I kidnapped Ella. Just let Rosie go. I'll take her place."

Nelson gripped me tightly and roared, "You'd risk your life for that bastard you had with Killian Donovan? Then why the hell did you marry me in the first place!"

He shoved me toward the bodyguards behind him.

"I won't let that little bastard go. You'd better tell me where Ella is right now, or I'll make the brat pay with her life!"

I struggled with all my might, tears streaming down my face.

"I really don't know! Rosie and I went straight back to the manor from the carnival! We didn't have a chance to kidnap anyone! Rosie is your child! You can do a paternity test, but please, just let her go for now, please?"

I wailed, my dignity shattering on the pavement at his feet.

But even so, he refused to believe me.