She's My Sleeping Pill

"What are you focusing on?" Stefan asked when he came downstairs with Zeki in his ams who woke up first among the triplets.

He gave her a sounding kiss on the lips and sat beside her with their son.

Cayenne gave him her phone directly to show him what she was reading.

It was a post from a well-known celebrity blogger. A made up story involving Cayenne and the Hollywood actor.

As stipulated on the blog, Cayenne and Steve had a secret relationship which got exposed due to her live stream.

Who else would compete with her husband in sending expensive gifts if not her lover?

They even went to a great length of paying the well-known model, who was Steve\'s close friend to act as his girlfriend just so they could continue their secret relationship.

Along with the long post, were pictures taken on different occasions where Cayenne and Steve attended.

Cayenne who loves to do charity works had attended countless auctions and bazaar for orphans and scholars, of course, would be expected to show in the said occasions.

Being a celebrity, Steve had attended the same kind of events as well.

It was just so amazing of this blogger that he was able to gather photos of Cayenne and Steve on separate occasions, and photo shopped them.

Of course, reading until the end, many people rolled their eyes at this madness.

But there were those crack-brained who believed the blogger as well. Most of them were Steve\'s teenager fans.

"You don\'t deserve my Steve. Stay out of his life!"

"What a green-tea b*tch!"

"No matter how much you do charity works, the putrid smell of your character couldn\'t be covered!"

"If you want to be famous, go and make p*rn! Don\'t involve Steve with you!"

"You already got a great husband, at least be satisfied with one!"

Such comments were aplenty and Stefan\'s jaw clenched as he read them one after another.

Cayenne silently placed her hand on her husband\'s arm and smiled at him. "I\'m okay. I\'m not the weak Cayenne anymore. Don\'t be upset."

"How can I not be upset? They\'re defaming you."

Cayenne took a deep breath and sighed as she reached out for her phone from him. During this kind of situation, she really did the right choice to keep her emotions in check, because she knew that her husband would be more upset compared to her.

"Saying something at this point will only add fuel to the fire, but I have a great idea," Cayenne said and grinned evilly. It was the first time that Stefan saw a scheming expression on her face.

"That\'s right. Learn from the master," he said and even nodded to himself in agreement.

On the other hand, Steve was unable to give his statement on the matter.

Last night, he received hundreds of calls, texts and notifications inquiring the credibility of his woman\'s post.

Among them, one message stood out the most.

[Meet me at Calico\'s cafe right now. Do not inform Athalie.]

Steve pursed his lips and looked upstairs, directing his gaze to the particular closed door on the second floor.

Only few people know his beloved\'s origin and those who knew it spells trouble to him.

After a moment of hesitation, he went up and told her he\'d be buying some food to celebrate.

He had a feeling that the meeting wouldn\'t be a simple meet and greet yet, his current situation was far from his expectation.

With both hands and feet bound by a thin rope, Steve was lying on the ground - dizzy and weak.

"I always had a hunch that you were hiding her and I was right," said the man whose face was hidden in the shadow.

Based on the voice, Steve could tell that the man had a strong persona, around thirty years old, and one who wasn\'t afraid of bloodshed.

The man sucked on his cigarette for one last time before throwing it on the ground and stomp on it.

He walked toward his prey, and since Steve was dizzy, and the light was hanging over them, he was unable to see the man\'s face.

"You might be an international actor, but you are still nothing compared to me. Athalie is mine and I will never let anyone snatch her from me."

Hearing the last sentence, Steve had a hunch who the person was.

Athalie told him a story of her arranged marriage - the one she escaped from several years ago.

"Who are you?"

The man smirked and crouched low while tapping on Steve\'s face. His aura, sinister and with so much killing intent.

Steve knew that this man could wring his neck in a second.

"Who I am is not important to a dead body," said the man as he let out soft chuckles. "Enjoy your stay here."

There was no torture, no unprecedented violence aside from getting thrown into the dark room with a single hanging lamp, yet it was tormenting.

Steve had no idea how long he was asleep from getting drugged and kidnapped. He could not see his watch either as he was tied.

He patiently waited for his abductors to leave the room, and when they did, he slowly untied the ropes that bound him.

Thin ropes were harder to untie, especially one that was tied so tight it almost melted into his flesh.

As the rope continued to rub his wrist, he hissed and gritted his teeth in pain.

[I can\'t die here.] Steve thought as he ignored the pungent smell of his blood.

He didn\'t know how long it took him to untie the rope but when he did, he sat up and breathed in relief.

He rested for a while to gain some strength. He still needed to untie the rope around his legs.

He thought, once he untied himself, he would be able to figure out a way to escape. He had no idea that despair was just waiting for him in the corner.

***

Athalie checked her watch and frowned. It\'s been two hours since Steve left to buy food and he hasn\'t responded to her messages.

"He didn\'t give me that stupid excuse just to leave me, right?"