A tall and bulky man kneeled beside Tia and brutally grabbed her wet hair making her scalp prickle. Tia hissed at the pain while her eyes slightly squeezed to have control over herself. She was still unsure about the reason behind her abduction and the torture.

There are different types of people in the kidnap. One who demands money, Leon won't do that. One who kidnaps for their physical pleasure or to sell, Tia knew it wasn't the reason. They had kidnapped her to get answers to their questions to reveal the information. If it's about her group, she would die there but won't open her lips.

The man further clenched her hair, making her face Leon. Her face was flushed, unsure if it was the pain or for the cold water, it didn't even matter to them. The man demanded a response on behalf of Leon.

"Where is Ava Kelly?" His hoarse voice rang in the room. Then he growled, trying to threaten her, "If you don't tell us, don't even think of leaving from here." Another man took a dagger and pretended to be inspecting it in the hopes of scaring her.

Tia wasn't scared. Instead, she was shocked to realize that they kidnapped her because of Ava Kelly, aka Aarvi Evans. She wanted to laugh at them, but the pain was excruciating, and the quivering cold was making her numb.

Tia winced in pain when the man twisted her hair and applied more pressure. She stammered out, trying to wriggle out of his hold, "A-Ava K-Kelly? Ahh..." It came out painfully.

Leon lifted his finger, indicating his men to let her speak. Tia cleared their misunderstanding to get off their hands, "S-she is A-Aar-Aarvi Evans..." Even though Aarvi's parents were Evans from country S and Tia didn't get a chance to validate her real identity, Tia knew Aarvi was Ava Kelly.

Leon jerked up. He realized why he couldn't get the information of Ava Kelly with her name. After all, that Little Lamb had changed her name to a different one.

Leon's men glanced at Leon. The latter took his mobile out and displayed the screen at her face, "Is she, Aarvi Evans?"

Tia saw Aarvi's picture, in which she was younger, innocently smiling; her eyes held kindness and joy while looking at the camera in a place that looked like a beach. Tia blinked, remembering how Aarvi used to be for the past two years. Then, it hit her why Ava Kelly had to become Aarvi Evans.

Leon could guess from her reaction Tia knew Ava Kelly. He assumed their little torture affected her; hence he decisively cued his men to make her sit.

Her green dress was wet but not see-through. It hugged her body, clearly flaunting her curves. But, of course, they didn't know she had strength in muscles. All they could think was she had a good figure.

Why won't she have it when she works her ass off in the gym?

For Leon, she wasn't enticing enough. While Leon's men gulped fantasizing about themselves with Tia, Leon coldly queried, "Is she, Aarvi Evans?"

The chilly air of the room did no good to her. Leon trying to oppress her led her to continue chatter. She nodded, indicating it was a picture of Aarvi Evans as she tried to respond in words, "S-Sh-She... Aa-... Ev..."

Tia could have uttered words clear and audible, but she acted like freezing in the cold and appeared as though she was ready to report them the complete truth but so helpless. The tears, too, rolled down her pale face, but she wasn't able to speak.

Her intention took some time to reach Leon and his men as her acting skills weren't as par as Aarvi. Leon glared at his men, who chose to torture her with cold water. His men frantically looked around for something that could keep Tia warm. Finally, a man removed his jacket and covered her in the hopes of curbing Leon's anger.

Tia took her own time to gather herself while watching Leon. The latter sat opposite Tia and looked through her phone. He was excited to find pictures of Tia with Dax, Shawn, and Ava Kelly. However, a cunning smile soon crept up his face as he lifted his gaze to Tia.

Leon was thrilled he got a golden duck who knew the golden Trio well. Anyway, he first cleared his doubt. He sounded interrogative to hear the truth, "Are you Dax Grant's girlfriend?"historical

Tia didn't expect Leon to ask the stupid question. She repeatedly nodded in response as only that could be the way to kidnap her.

The man next to her suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled her face up to look at him, "You b*tch, how dare you to lie to us?"

'Pak,' Another man slapped her across the face without a hint of mercy.

Her head was thrown aside by force, her cheek turned scarlet, and started swelling. The pain brought tears to her eyes, and she let out a groan without being able to control it. She was telling them the truth to avoid the pain. Why the heck were they hitting me? She cussed them in mind.

She sucked in a sharp breath at the pain inflicted on her as she heard a man say, "Dax Grant didn't even recognize you when we showed him a video of you." The man bellowed at her.

Tia's eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn't believe Dax already knew she was kidnapped and tried to get rid of her. She gritted her teeth without noticing the man was about to hit her again.

Leon raised his hand to stop his men. He already saw Tia's picture with Dax. He shrugged off, thinking Dax must be playing around with Tia. It didn't matter to him if Dax was in the picture or not.

Once Leon noticed Tia was overwhelmed with pain, he was sure Tia would give away the truth without hiding. So he dialed the contact named 'Sister Aarvi.'

A man kept the dagger's sharp edge at her throat, and Leon ordered her, "Ask her where she is." Then the man behind her added his words, "If you try to be over smart, I will slit your throat."

Leon turned on the speaker. There was pin-drop silence. Tia clenched her fist, 'Dax Grant, how could you?.'

She shifted her focus on the ringing device and the men to find a way out. She noticed Leon's men weren't daring to breathe, whereas Leon held his breath in anticipation. Everyone heard the mobile ringing before the call was answered. A sweet mellow voice spread in the cold room, "Tia."

Tia's attention was on Leon. She was amused to see his eyes sparkle at Aarvi's voice at just one word. She hadn't expected Leon to react that way to Aarvi's tone, whereas she was sitting in front of him in a short dress that was sticking to her body yet failed to have his attention.

Leon's eyes darkened when Tia didn't speak. He shot a glance at her from the mobile. Tia was confused, without knowing what to ask. She had to think about how she could avoid alerting Aarvi.

She gave a try very carefully, "Sister Aarvi, did you have lunch? Would you like to eat with me?"

Everyone's hearts seemed to beat at the speed of a snail in hope and anxiety. Everyone was contemplating if Dax had informed Ava, aka Aarvi, or not.