Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ
Chapter 61

Surviving Tears started to wet my blindfold and flow down my cheeks, tears of fear and helplessness. I had never been so lost in my entire life. I shifted my weight from one frozen foot to another without even fully knowing what the place that I was locked in looked like. "Focus, Cora! Focus! You need to think!" I shouted at myself, forcing out the last ounce of my strength.

I could still hear those vicious men laughing outside my door, but I knew that they were getting ready to evacuate, and they would leave me here as soon as all the explosives were set. I heard one of them saying that the trigger would be placed on the door handle, and as soon as someone opened the door from the outside, the whole building would blow up. I knew that Aren wasn't stupid enough to walk in without checking the whole place, but what if he acted irrational and hasty? I was on the edge of a panic attack, but I couldn't allow myself to lose my senses.

Breathing deeply, I took cautious steps toward the wall and then started rubbing one of my cheeks up to my temple against it, trying to take my blindfold off. The wall was rough, and it kept scratching my skin each time I touched it, but I kept going, trying different angles until I got rid of the fabric that covered my eyes.

I wanted to scream in joy when I could finally see, but that was nearly the first step to freeing myself. I turned around and looked at the place. It was some kind of storage with tall metal shelves and tons of old paper documents. The floor and walls were raw and covered with dirt. I kept looking for something sharp to cut the rope around my wrists, but I couldn't see anything useful. Suddenly, I noticed that one of the edges of the metal bars, forming the shelves, seemed sharp. I turned my back toward the shelf and pressed the knot between my wrists against the metal bar. With careful movements, I slowly cut the rope, trying not to make too much noise and alarm my guards, still present behind the door.

"Hey! How long is it gonna take?! I heard that this guy is already on the way here!" one of the men outside the door shouted.

"Fuck you, Dave! If you want it faster, come here and help!" I heard another voice yelling further in the corridor.

"No thanks!" He responded and chuckled coldly. "I think I'll go and play with our princess in the meantime..."

I swallowed and froze, staring at the door. "Hey, man... You're not really planning to go inside there, are you?" someone standing close to the door asked.

"Why not?" Dave asked. "You can join if you like, Matt. The bitch will die here anyway, so why don't we have some fun?"

I shook my head, terrified. I prayed that someone would stop them, but I only heard them laughing eagerly at that bastard's idea. I started rubbing the rope against the metal bar again, faster this time. My hands were almost free when I heard someone typing tonal digits to

unlock the door. "No." I made a barely audible sound as my instincts forced me to cower in fear.

The door handle went down... but the door didn't open.

"What the fuck, Matt?!" Dave snapped. "I thought you knew the code!"

"Hey! Don't blame me! I was told that it was a universal code for every door in that building! Try it again!" Matt growled.

My breath was shallow and hectic. My tears kept flowing down while I cut the rope, despite wounding my hands in the process. I heard the tones of the code again. I clenched my teeth and rubbed the rope harder until the final string was cut. The door handle went down a bit...

"Oy! We're done! Let's go!" Someone's voice sounded loudly across the corridor.

"Fuck!" Dave roared and kicked my door. "Sorry, princess! We're leaving!" I heard their heavy footsteps become quieter as they were getting further away from my door. When it turned to silence, I collapsed onto the floor and wept. I was tired, drained physically and emotionally, but some inner voice told me to stand up. I had to get out of that room, and I had to do it now!

I took a deep breath, forcing my exhausted brain to function. I looked at the door lock. There was a number pad by the door. If only I had my phone with me, I could easily analyze the system and figure out the code or bypass it in no time, but at that moment I felt lost. I once heard about a way to open a magnetic lock using a magnet, but I would have to build a magnet first...

I looked at the shelves filled with documents, hoping for any office supplies like metal paperclips. It would be amazing if I could replace a battery and a copper wire, but what were my chances of replaceing those in the place I was locked?

I couldn't replace anything. It turned out that there was nothing but endless tons of printed paper on those shelves. I looked behind it and under it but still found nothing. A huff soaked with frustration escaped my throat while my eyes shifted to the door handle.

"They wouldn't leave the door open... would they?" I asked myself as I stared at the number

Pad.

I chuckled nervously, thinking that I would be the luckiest prisoner on Earth if that had happened. I stepped closer to the door and placed my trembling hand on the door handle. "Here goes nothing," I muttered before yanking the door open. I burst out in hysteric laughter, looking back at my way into the corridor. My heart pounded erratically. I only prayed that there was still time and that I could warn Aren that he shouldn't go inside. I stepped out of the room and walked toward the stairs, recalling the route I had been led. There were long meters of wires stuck to every wall with small packages that looked like explosive materials. Shivers ran down my spine just by looking at them. I had no knowledge of what could trigger them to blow off, so I decided to step cautiously and try not to touch anything

Suddenly, I heard a commotion coming from outside. It was getting louder-filled with

furious shouts, the sounds of a fight, and gunshots. I turned my head to the source and looked outside the window. It looked like two military-like groups were fighting each other...or had fought each other. One of the groups, wearing all black, surrounded the area, and the other group was forced to surrender. None of those people tried entering the building; they must have known about the bombs inside, but who were they? I prayed that they were the "good guys." I stood by that window, desperate to see any signs of hope...

"Aren..." My heart fluttered at the sight of him as the leader of the all-black team.

He didn't see me. He was standing there, one floor below me, wearing a pair of combat pants and a black fitted shirt. Was I crazy to admire how sexy he looked at that moment? He was giving his people orders while looking at something that looked like the building plans. I had to let him know that I was there. I stepped away from the window and carefully examined its frame and everything around it. It didn't seem like the window was connected to the explosives, but still, I was trembling in terror as I was opening it.

"Aren!" I shouted as tears flooded my face again.

He ran closer to my window. "Cora!" He smiled, relieved before calling out, "We cannot go inside to get you! You will have to jump down, sunshine!" I swallowed, looking at the ground over 20 feet below me. “J- jump down?"

He nodded. "This is the only way! We had already checked; every single door was wired!"

I took a deep breath, processing my surroundings. There were more than five wires going right below the windowsill. It was possible that touching any one of them could cause the explosion. I needed to move carefully and swiftly lift my sore and numb body to sit on the window frame. The fitted mermaid dress wasn't exactly helpful... My heart ached as I grabbed the silk trim of the dress and tore it, making a long slit so that I could move my legs more freely. I grabbed the long back of the dress and put my first leg up, standing on the windowsill.

"That's it, sunshine! You can do it!" Aren encouraged me.

His voice made my heart pound faster. I looked down and saw his men, stretching a jumping sheet for me while he was reaching out his hands as if he was ready to catch me. I couldn't wait until I found myself in his strong arms. Going beyond the limits of my strength, I finally managed to sit on the frame without touching any wires.

"Sunshine, come down and I will catch you... I will always catch you," he said softly, but I could hear him as if he stood right beside me.

As terrified as I was, he made me calm. I pushed myself against the frame and jumped down. I remembered that my dress resembled a pair of beautiful wings, making me float in the air before I fell on the sheet. I barely registered how I found myself in Aren's arms less than a second later.

"I told you that I would catch you," he said, nuzzling against my cheek and leaving sweet little kisses.

I corrected, "You didn't catch me. They did." I pointed at a group of his men, folding the jumping sheet. He leaned closer and gently bit my earlobe. "Don't argue with me, wife."

I wasn't going to. I smiled at him, put my arms tightly around his neck, and closed my eyes.