Fleeting as Dust, Eternal as Love novel Chapter 1

In an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, garbage was piled up everywhere, filling the air with a foul stench. Sabrina Wright had been kidnapped and held here for three days. The dull pain in her lower abdomen kept her nerves on edge, and she couldn’t stop glancing toward the door.

“Damn it, you fucking bitch! What are you looking at?”

Sabrina hadn’t expected the kidnapper to be so alert. She licked her cracked lips and weakly asked, “When can I leave…?”

In the dim light, the kidnapper sneered, but before he could respond, a phone suddenly rang. The kidnapper glanced at the caller ID and answered the call.

“Mr. Adams, have you finally realized your wife is missing?”

Hearing this, Sabrina’s pale face shot up. The call was on speakerphone, and the kidnapper, with a casual air, lit a cigarette as he sat down.

“Where is she?”

The man's voice was utterly calm, carrying its usual cold detachment. Sabrina held her breath at the sound of the familiar voice.

“Do you have what I want? Did you prepare it?”

The kidnapper didn’t answer his question but instead asked eagerly. Sabrina had no idea what terms the kidnapper was referring to, and cold sweat began to bead on her forehead.

The kidnapper was too focused on the call to notice her. Sabrina gritted her teeth, straining to listen to their conversation, her eyes filled with hope.

“Let me speak to her.”

The kidnapper clicked his tongue in annoyance, kicked aside the trash at his feet, and thrust the phone toward Sabrina.

“If you like this fucking game so much, why don’t you play it a little longer?”

Sabrina stood there, her heart sinking into a desolate wasteland. The conversation between them wasn’t going the way she had hoped. The kidnapper quickly pulled back the phone, about to speak, but the person on the other end had already hung up without any hesitation.

“Son of a bitch!”

The kidnapper exploded with rage, redialing the number, but was met with a message saying the phone had been turned off. Enraged by this unexpected turn of events, he turned around and slapped Sabrina across the face.

Still reeling from her earlier shock, Sabrina hadn’t fully recovered. Unprepared, she was knocked to the ground by the blow. The acrid smell of garbage filled her nostrils, making it difficult to breathe. The sharp pain in her throat triggered a coughing fit that only worsened.

Sabrina closed her eyes weakly, letting the tears fall as her consciousness began to fade. For a brief moment, she couldn’t tell if this was a nightmare or reality. It was only now that she realized how utterly miserable her life had become…