The Harrington Series Book#2: Naila's Misfortune

Chapter 16: Little girl

A few days after Mel left.
Mel's POV
Stefan's mansion is huge. I have spent the entire day exploring it. As expected some rooms are locked and some even guarded. Stefan is not only mysterious but apparently secretive. I wandered off after he went into a closed-door meeting hoping to entertain myself. I hate to admit it but I miss Naila and Bas. They have become like family to me. I would have stayed but she was keeping me from achieving my goal which is getting a comfortable life for myself. I can't be expected to live in any other way when I have grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth. Money is everything to me. It buys everything even happiness. Whoever said otherwise must not have had enough, to begin with.

Naila is not like me. She is content with the little things. She wants to work hard for what she has. I don't want to work. I just want to be handed things. Why should I work when I can be lazy and rich? I want the best of everything. Stefan is my ticket out of poverty. I knew it when I first met him at the cafe. I served him a latte and he called me beautiful. The generous tip he left me was all I needed to know he's what I want.

Naila kept telling me I should have stayed in Texas with my parents but they don't understand me. They suffocate me with all their rules. All I wanted was to be with Ash. They thought him too lowly for our stature because he was just one of the workers in the oil fields. I wonder how they would feel if they found out I am with a wealthy man. My mother will definitely approve. A stupid grin took over my face as I made a turn for a flight of stairs leading to the basement. Some time back he had forbidden me from descending down these steps but since no one us seeing me, I will do just that.

The silence down here is eerie. I kept descending down the steps until I ran out of steps. There are no guards, just a wall that makes me wonder what purpose the space serves. It's a dead end.

I was about to return upstairs but I heard a sound coming from behind the wall. I got closer. It sounds like continuous tapping from the inside.

Against my better judgement I moved closer and tapped the wall. A tap was the response from the other side. Someone is on the other side of the wall. Scared to call out in case I am heard, I started looking for some sort of opening. Whoever put that person in there must have used some sort of opening. The worst-case scenario is they sealed him in. I pushed each panel inward one by one until one finally caved.

It is dark in and smelly in here. I searched the closest wall for a light switch. Nothing. I used the flashlight from my phone to peek inside.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Mel!" A man's voice answered. "Mel is that you?"
His voice is beyond familiar. Guiding the light towards the voice, I spotted someone just as familiar. He held his hand over his face to block the light. "Mel, what are you doing here?"

"Ivan?" I called noticing he is chained to the wall.

"Where's Naila?"

"Back at the apartment. Oh no! Who did this to you?" I asked getting closer only to see how badly bruised he is, probably from being beaten repeatedly.

"Stefan... you need to get away from him."

It all suddenly makes sense...a lot makes sense.

Stefan making contact at the cafe and trying to get closer to me was all a ploy to get to Naila. I understand why he always insisted that I invite him over to the apartment. It was Stefan... Ivan was trying to warn us against Stefan.

"Oh Melanie!" I froze when I heard Stefan's voice.
"I wish you wouldn't have found this out. Now I'm going to have to kill you."

I backed away quickly getting closer to Ivan but he couldn't help me as he was chained to the wall. "Stefan, please. I won't tell."