One Night Stand With Alexander Blackwood-Chapter 56 — Fifty-six

Jessica’s eyes flashed. Her mind raced. She knew that if Alexander caught her, then it would be over for her. But she was unwilling. She didn’t want to give Serena an easy time.

"You!" She pointed to the man who was still panicking. "Untie her. If she’s with us, then there’s still a possibility that we can escape."

Jessica had already calculated her plans. It was obvious Alexander cared about Serena. If she could use Serena as a hostage, there was a hundred percent chance that she could escape. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Serena didn’t utter a word as she watched the man untie her. He was fidgeting, but he was still able to untie her.

She was pushed to Jessica who held her by her arms.

"What are you trying to do?" Serena whispered.

Jessica scoffed. "Isn’t it clear enough?" Her voice then dropped lower. "I want to keep you hostage. You’ll be my ticket to freedom."

Serena pursed her lips slightly. It appears that Jessica had totally lost her mind.

She didn’t utter a word as Jessica pushed her outside.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot sound. Jessica stiffened as she stopped in her tracks.

The man behind her cried out. "Miss, you told me that this won’t cost my life. But now, I’ve lost half of my teammates. I don’t know if the rest are even alive."

The man’s constant complaints caused irritation to build up in Jessica. "Shut up!" She snapped, and the man promptly kept quiet, but if one looked closer, they’d notice that he was trembling.

Jessica bit her lips. Would all her plans prove to be futile?

They stood still on a corridor. While Jessica contemplated what to do, footsteps were heard.

Jessica’s eyes widened, but before she could take another step, Alexander approached them with a gun in his hand.

Serena’s eyes sparkled, her eyes brightening with Alexander’s presence. She knew he would come for her.

Their eyes met and his expression softened when he saw that she wasn’t hurt.

Jessica tried to run, but there was gunshot sound prompting her to stay in place.

"I suggest you stay right where you are. It won’t be right if I accidentally shot you on your leg." His voice was cold, and he intentionally stretched the word, ’accidentally’.

Jessica froze as she looked at Alexander who didn’t seem to be joking.

"It is illegal to shoot someone." She forced out.

"You didn’t think about that when you kidnapped someone, didn’t you? The law didn’t cross your mind then, did it?" He fired back.

Jessica opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t. He was right. But she was unwilling.

"Hand her over and I might just let you go." He instructed, taking slow steps.

Jessica shook her head decisively. Her eyes darted around before it landed on the knife which was strapped around her subordinate’s waist.

Before anyone could register what she was doing, she snatched the knife and placed the tip against Serena’s neck, putting her in a precarious situation..

Serena stared at the knife which was already boring into her neck, and her heartbeat quickened.

Any slight mistake from Jessica, and she could end up in the hospital, or worse... dead.

Alexander was aware of that. The men behind him all had their guns aimed at Jessica.

Seeing this, Jessica laughed, not out of amusement. Rather, she laughed manically..

"Why does Serena have the good things? Why do you have to like her? Why can’t it be me?" She screamed.

Serena rolled her eyes internally.

"This is because Serena has something you don’t have. Want to know what that is?" Alexander inched closer. He made contact with Serena, and something unspoken passed between them.

"She has a pure heart. Something which you can never have." He stated with a smile. Jessica clearly became distracted with his words. Her grip on Serena loosened.

His eyes met with Serena, and he shouted. "Duck."

Serena instantly lowered her her head. Before Jessica could understand what was going on, she felt a sharp pain in her wrist, and she screamed, her grip on Serena loosing completely.

Serena didn’t waste anytime. She rushed towards Alexander, and relief washed over him with her by his side.

"I’m glad you are okay." He murmured, using one hand to pull her into an embrace, surprising her.

Serena struggled to leave his embrace. But the more he struggled, the tighter he held her. She could only huge up and let him hug her as he wished.

Jessica, on the other hand, wasn’t having it easy. She was shot on her wrist. The man beside her tried to flee, but before he could, he was caught by Alexander’s bodyguards.

They rounded both of them, and pushed them away.

"You won’t get away with this!" Jessica screamed as they pushed her out. "My boss isn’t someone to be trifled with. Serena, do you think you can live a good life?"

"Dream on!" She shouted. "You are not fit for Alexander! You can’t marry him. You are just a plaything."

Her voice continued to echo as she was pushed out of the warehouse.

Seeing that they had left, Serena instantly disengaged from his embrace..

"Thank you, Mr. Blackwood for saving me." She thanked him sincerely with a light bow.

Alexander’s brows creased. Seeing her attitude, he sighed. "Are you thinking about what she said?"

Serena shook her head. That was a lie. Although she knew she shouldn’t care about Jessica’s words, it hit a part of her and she was... hurt.

"I didn’t know Mr. Blackwood could wield a gun." She joked. It was an attempt to change the topic.

Alexander knew what she was trying to do, and he decided to humour her.

"I’m a Blackwood." He chuckled. "I should be able to handle a gun or my enemies might kill me."

Although his tone had a trace of humour, Serena widened her eyes.

"Are you being hunted?" She inquired curiously while her eyes searched her eyes.

Alexander burst out in laughter. "You are so cute."

Serena blinked. She had only asked a question. How did she become cute?

"My family has a lot of enemies. No one wants me to be the heir. There have been lots of assassination attempts on me." He paused for a while. "I can only learn how to protect myself."

Serena gasped. She didn’t expect the situation to be this way.

"Have you ever been hurt before?" She knew she shouldn’t care, but she couldn’t control herself so she probed.

Something flickered in Alexander’s eyes as he stared at the girl who was seriously staring at him.

"Let’s leave this place. Mama and Maya are worried about you." He said. It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.

Serena didn’t insist. She was clear that if he wanted to tell her, he’d have told her.

"Alright." She nodded, and they both walked out of the now deserted warehouse.

---------------------

Rhea’s room>

Rhea was comfortably seated in her room, an apple in her hand while she scrolled through her phone.

Her eyes sparkled as she read through the news.

Suddenly, her attention was divided when a call came in. Her smile widened when she saw the caller ID.

"Ma’am, I did as you instructed me. I kept an eye on Jessica and watched her moves." He paused, wondering how he should deliver this news.

Rhea, on the other hand, was eager to hear what he had to say. "Come on, spill it. Is that b*tch dead?"

The man hesitated before he revealed the truth. "Unfortunately... she was rescued by Alexander. Jessica was caught, she also suffered a gunshot injury to her wrist. The plan failed, Miss."

Rhea froze. "What did you just say?" She took a deep breath as she demanded slowly..

The man could feel her anger through the phone. He swallowed before repeating his earlier words.

"Darn it!" She shot to her feet, exclaiming in shock. "How could she survive?"

"She was saved by Alexander Blackwood." The man reported..

Rhea’s fingers tightened around the apple until her nails bit into the skin.

"Saved... by Alexander?" she repeated slowly, as if tasting the words.

"Yes, Miss," the man replied cautiously. "He personally led the rescue. His men secured the warehouse within minutes."

Silence fell on the line.

Then—there was a crack.

The apple split in half in Rhea’s hand, juice dripping onto the marble floor.

"So," she murmured, her voice eerily calm, "Jessica failed." It felt like she knew this would happen.

"Yes. She’s been taken into custody. From what I gathered, she won’t be getting out anytime soon. She was taken to his personal prison."

Rhea laughed softly.

It wasn’t anger, but amusement.

"That idiot was never meant to succeed," she said lazily. "She was reckless, emotional and too... predictable."

The man frowned. "Then why—"

"I needed to see how far Alexander would go for Serena," Rhea cut in. "And now I have my answer."

Her eyes darkened as she walked toward the window, gazing out at the city below.

"He broke rule he had set personally. Alexander drew a gun and exposed himself," she said quietly. "All for her."

That was dangerous. Very dangerous. He never did it... even for her.

"Keep monitoring Serena Wilson," Rhea instructed. "Every move and contacts. I want to know her weaknesses and her habits. I need everything."

"Yes, Miss."

"And send someone to check on Jessica. I don’t care how you want to do it." she added after a pause. "She may be useless now, but broken people talk. I don’t want surprises."

The call ended.

Rhea tossed the apple halves into the trash and wiped her hands slowly, her smile returned. This time, it was sharp and cold.

"Serena Wilson," she murmured. "You survived once because Alexander was there."

Her reflection stared back at her from the glass.

"Let’s see how you fare when he isn’t.""