h4Chapter 824: 824-Say My Name./h4

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    It had been an awkward ride. For the first few hours, whenever I spoke to him, he would only grunt and answer harshly. After that, he stopped talking to me altogether.

    I could tell part of the reason was that Kesha was speaking in his ear and had probably forbidden him from responding.

    Eventually, I noticed he had taken the earpiece out and was checking his phone. There was no reception, probably because she had told him to take a road where no one would notice us.

    But I also realized this might be my only chance to reach him. When he set his phone on the dashboard, I shifted in my seat as best I could.

    My hands were tied now in front of my body to not move far, so I could only touch my face, adjust my clothes, or scratch if I itched.

    "You need to stop the car," I said.

    He grunted, and since he had stopped doing that for a while, I knew Kesha must be frustrated that she wasn’t in his ear anymore.

    "Please," I urged.

    He finally nced at me, then turned back to the road. We were driving on a narrow road between two towering mountains.

    "I need to pee," I said, making it clear this wasn’t an excuse to escape. It was an emergency.

    "Can’t you hold it for a little while?" he muttered.

    I shook my head firmly. "No, I’m pregnant. I can’t hold it."

    I grimaced at him, confused myself. Why was I showing suchte pregnancy signs? Looking down, my belly seemed even more swollen than when I first got in the car. He stared at it too, then finally pulled over.

    "You’lle with me and not leave my side," he hissed as he got out, walked around the car, and stopped by my door.

    As he opened it, I pouted and folded my arms.

    "I’m not peeing in front of you, Mr. Kaye," I snapped.

    "Then I’m not letting you out. I’m not in the mood to chase you again," he growled, mming the door shut.

    But he lingered outside, probably expecting me to ask again. When I didn’t, he reopened the door and leaned down with a grimace. His eyes looked normal, but I knew he wasn’t.

    "Fine, I will, but I’m tying you to a rope. The minute I feel like you’re trying to run, I’ll yank it, and you’d better believe I will," he hissed, giving me a sharp look.

    "I know you will. You won’t even care if it hurts your baby." As soon as I said that, I saw his jaw tighten.

    "It’s not my baby. We never slept together, Kesha," he growled.

    The more he called me Kesha, the angrier I became, but at this point there was no use arguing about it again.

    "Well, you keep telling yourself that," I muttered before starting to get out. But the moment I moved, he untied the ropes around me and fastened one to my ankle.

    I noticed the swelling in my feet, and I was sure he saw it too. He groaned and stepped back.

    It was hard for me to climb out, and after a while he just grabbed my arm to help me.

    "What is it? How did you get so pregnant so fast?" he asked.

    I guessed even he was struggling to understand how I had gone from one month along to looking like I was inte pregnancy in the time he had abducted me.

    "Well, all thanks to you. If you hadn’t abducted me, I could have called my doctor and asked what was wrong with me." By now I was genuinely angry with Kaye. I muttered the words and saw him nce at me without much reaction.

    Then I walked toward the big rock, while he stayed farther out to give me some privacy.

    After I peed with much difficulty and straightened my back, I realized something wasn’t right. I had been pregnant before, and this wasn’t how a belly grew.

    Fear crept in as I wondered what was wrong with me. I just wished someone would rescue me soon, because I didn’t want to lose another baby.

    When I came back from the rock and started toward the road, he warned, "You’re heading back to the car."

    I waved my hand to tell him no.

    "I’m not getting back in that car for at least half an hour," I warned, giving him a sharp look.

    He wound the rope around his wrist as he stepped closer, then rested his hand on his waist, making me roll my eyes.

    "I need to take a walk, stretch my legs, my arms, because you’re so fucking insensitive. You’ve watched me sit in that seat, ufortable as hell. Just look at me—my back hurts. Do you not care at all?" Suddenly I was overwhelmed with emotion, even though I knew it wasn’t really his fault.

    He was under her spell. My voice cracked as Iined, and he looked almost lost, confused even.

    "Fine, stretch a little," he mumbled, shocking me.

    I thought he hated Kesha. But then it hit me. Without her in his ear, he was acting differently. I nodded, still giving him a side-eye, and started strolling with my hands on my back.

    He suddenly came closer, and I stopped. Without a word, he knelt and untied the rope from my ankle.

    "Why? You’re not afraid I’ll run away?" I asked, trying to get inside his head.

    "I don’t think you can," he said. And he probably wasn’t lying.

    After a while I noticed him bring out a water from the car. I didn’t question him because I was just letting hime closer to me on his own.

    "Thank you." I epted the water and drank from it.

    All the while he was just watching me in silence, almost like inspecting my face.

    "If you want, you can lie down in the back seat," he suggested.

    "No, I want to sit right next to you." I shook my head, and I noticed him raise an eyebrow.

    "Why?" he mumbled.

    "Why do you think?" I tilted my head. "Tell me again, Kaye. Who do you think I am?" I asked before he could change the subject. He looked a little confused.

    "Come on, say my name," I insisted.

    This time he didn’t look very confident, and I was right when he started speaking.

    "I don’t know," he admitted.

    Those were the words I wanted to hear. At least he wasn’t calling me Kesha anymore. All I needed now was for him to call me Hnie now.