N0 B0DY, N0 CRIM3 | Bang Chan

Free fall

After Kiera dropped Chan's hand, her shoulders slumped in defeat. It was clear that she wouldn't be getting out of here anytime soon. Getting along with Chan and doing what he wanted was far easier than being screamed at and tortured. 

"If you want to know about my father, I think it's only fair that I know about your group." She glanced up to meet his eyes. "What exactly do you do? From what I've heard, you're not the friendliest bunch." 

"We take down criminals that are disguised as society's best attributes. You'd be shocked by how many big names in Hollywood and the political world have orchestrated things like hidden sex rings, drug trafficking, child pornography, covered up murders, etc. Our biggest obstruction right now is your father. We have a wide variety of people on our side, but your father is offering everyone money to have our own people turn against us."  

"So all those people that my father has said you set up..." 

"We haven't set them up, we've just exposed their crimes to the world. If they happen to get arrested or killed because of it," Chan shrugs, "that's on them. If it's bad enough, we take things into our own hands and kill them ourselves." 

"So you're like a group of vigilantes?" 

"With a lot of intel on a wide variety of people and a lot of connections? Yeah." Chan leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. "So back to your fath-" 

"Why did you kidnap me?" Kiera blurted out. "I mean you must have a reason for it. Is it really just to gather information about my father? Do you think he's going to ask for ransom or something?" She shook her head, "I think you're wasting your time." 

"Only time will tell." 

She let her gaze linger down to the table. Her teeth nibbled on the inside of her cheek. She was clueless about her father. She was positive he'd attempt to rescue her, but now she wasn't so sure. Her father hadn't even bothered to check up on her after her mother had been shot in front of her. The metallic taste of blood hit her tongue and she stopped chewing on the inside of her cheek. 

Chan's head tilted sideways, "are you afraid of your father?" 

Kiera's breath seemed to be ripped away from her lungs. How was she supposed to tell him everything about her father? Exposing her parents was like exposing herself. Growing up in an environment without love either turns you away from it or you begin to crave it. You resent it or you fantasize about being enamored. 

"It's okay to be scared." 

"But I shouldn't have to be." Tears began to prickle, but she blinked them away. She wouldn't dare let him see her tears fall. She didn't want to be the pitied girl with parental issues in his eyes. 

She wanted to be tough, but it was hard to be tough when it felt like the world was against you from the beginning. The world doesn't take too kindly to the broken, battered, and bruised. Sometimes you're left licking your own wounds. No matter how much you want someone to be there, sometimes all you have is yourself. 

Chan studied her as she played with her fingers. When she first arrived, she had long nails. Hyunjin had mentioned it to Chan and muttered something about them being potential weapons. Since she had been locked in a room, she had chewed them down to nubs. 

"I grew up with two average parents, but before I became a teenager, my dad entered the cut-throat world of politics. After that point, my image was decided for me. For a while, it made sense because I was a kid." She shrugged, "I didn't know a lot at the time, but then it kept going as I got older." 

"As my dad's audience grew, the control got worse. If I did something that pissed him off, he was sure to let me know. If I didn't want to do something or if I attempted to fight against his wishes, I was screamed at, and threatened. My mom went along with it all the way until she was killed last week." 

"I wasn't allowed on social media. They installed a GPS in my car, so they always knew where I was going. I didn't," she paused, "I don't have friends. All those charity places I volunteered at, my mom made me do that. Don't get me wrong, I liked helping out, but sometimes I just wish I could have done things I liked." 

"Obviously, I live in the white house, but the image you have of me is far from the truth. I don't have staff that wait on me. I'm perfectly capable of making my own meals and cleaning up after myself.  As for my father, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to tell you because outside of his demands, we don't have a relationship as far as I'm concerned."

Chan paused while taking in all her words. So he had gotten her whole life story wrong. Judged a book by its cover and it was a shame. He stared at Kiera waiting for her to look at him, but she didn't move. Her gaze continued looking down at the table. 

Kiera Campbell wasn't a bad person, she was just a victim of her father.