A Debt (2)

Lillian was shocked to the core, unable to believe what she heard. Her father was kidnapped?

"What is it, Lillian?" Natasha asked.

"Nothing!" she assured her mother. "I'm...I'm talking to dad right now. He'll be late. Let me see what happened."

Before Natasha could ask anything else, Lillian rushed to her room. She locked the door behind her, panicking. Her father was kidnapped by a loan shark? It was too much to process for her.

"What happened, uncle?" she whispered. "Where's dad?"

"Your dad took out a loan of two million dollars from a loan shark named Toby Yan!" Jonathan said in an urgent tone. "Toby works for the infamous mafia leader, Lucas Hao! He gave your dad the ultimatum to return the money by tonight but Howard failed to amas the amount! Toby took him away in a van just a few minutes ago."

Lillian was now scared. Her hands were shaking in fear and she was unsure of what to do. Tw million dollars? How was she going to get that much money in such a short time?

"U-uncle, where's dad?" she sobbed. "W-where d-d-did they take him?"

"I don't know," Jonathan said ruefully. "But I know that Lucas Hao will be at Club Colaba tonight. I think he's there already!"

"I'll go there!" Lillian said at once. "I'll try to talk to him and ask for more time. Uncle, please keep looking for dad! If you find anything, call me, okay?"

Jonathan was hesitant to let her go alone but there was no time. What if Toby tried to kill Howard?

"Be careful," he warned. "Lucas Hao is not a good person. He's the Demon of the Underworld. No one can escape his grasp."

Lillian bit her lip, anxious over what to do. She could not tell her mother because Natasha would probably break down from the shock. No, I must do it alone, she decided.

She picked up her bag and hurried out of her room. Natasha was surprised to see Lillian was going out this late at night.

"Where are you going?" she frowned.

"To pick up dad," Lillian lied, trying to hide her anxiousness. "He left his wallet at the office and now has no money to pay for a cab. He's drunk so I'll go and pick him up."

Natasha was about to ask her something but Lillian hurried out of the house. She hailed a taxi and got in.

"Club Colaba!" she exclaimed. "Step on it!"

The taxi sped off. Lillian took out her phone and searched the web for Lucas Hao's picture. She scrolled through the articles until a familiar face popped up on screen. She zoomed in on the picture and was shocked.

This is the guy from the mall! She realized. Her heart was racing in fear as the realization that she had encountered a criminal dawned on her. No wonder he was ignoring her! He did not want to be seen in public.

She stared at the clothes she was wearing, the same ones which Lucas Hao had paid for. Her hands were shaking and she felt goosebumps. The fact that the man who bought her these clothes had her dad hostage was perplexing to her.

What's he gonna do to my dad? She thought in dismay.

….

The club was in full swing that night with loud music resonating throughout the whole place. People were dancing wildly because a famous DJ was there, mixing different music. A lone figure casually entered the club, his eyes on the lookout and instincts on alert.

Lucas was wearing a grey t-shirt with dark pants, blending in with the crowd. He was wearing a bulletproof vest inside the shirt, hiding it from plain view. His men were scattered throughout the club, searching for Alex Wang. He was illegally poaching Lucas' clients from the latter's territory and must be stopped.

He sat at the bar, looking for any sign of Alex when he noticed a tall, lanky man in his mid thirties was coming out of a washroom near the stairs. The dirty blonde hair was unmistakable and despite the shades Alex wore over his eyes, it was impossible not to recognize him.

Lucas motioned one of his men near the stairs to follow him. The guard nodded and stealthily followed Alex. Lucas sat at the bar for exactly five minutes before heading towards the stairs. The rest of his men saw their boss ascending to the upper floors and would be following him after five more minutes.

Unbeknownst to Lucas, Lillian had also entered the club and caught a glimpse of him just in time.

"There he is!" she whispered and quickly followed him, keeping a good distance. She would have to talk to him in private somehow.

Lucas, unaware of the girl following him, stepped on the third floor of the club. Unlike the mad atmosphere downstairs, the third floor was quieter. It was the VIP section for private parties or meetings but most of those 'meetings' were illegal deals conducted by several gangs. He saw Alex's figure disappearing behind one of the doors. The guard he had sent earlier was also standing ahead, hiding behind a wall.

He took out his gun and slowly approached the door which Alex had entered. Signaling his guard to lead the others here, Lucas slowly knocked on the door.

"Sir, your drinks are here," he said out loud and waited. To his surprise, there was no movement behind the door. He slightly frowned and raised his hand to push the door open…

Empty. The room was empty. Lucas did not lower his gun but entered the room, frowning in suspicion. There was no one in the room and it looked unused. He checked behind the couch but there was no one hiding there. It was completely empty.

"Ummm...L-Lucas H-Hao?"

Lucas froze in shock, not daring to turn around. It was that voice again. Her voice. Why was she there?

He turned around to find Lillian standing at the door, looking scared but right at him. She was fidgeting nervously as if wondering how to address him.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed. "Get out of here. Now!"

"But I have to talk to you-" Lillian tried to say but he cut through her words.

"GET OUT OF HERE, LILLIAN!" he yelled at her.

His eyes were burning with inexplicable emotions which only scared Lillian further. He was looking at her with such intensity that she felt as if she was going to be set on fire any moment. But she must save her father.

And only Lucas could help her.

"But I need your help!" she squeaked. "I-"

But Lucas was not listening because a lanky shadow crept up behind Lillian and grabbed her.

"AHHH!" she screamed when a hand grabbed her by the neck, almost throttling her. She coughed and wheezed, scared of what was happening. Something cold was pressing against her temple and to her horror, it was a gun.

G-gun?

Alex was flashing his despicable smile at Lucas. He had heard their exchange and by the looks of it, he deduced that this girl was important to Lucas.

Lucas pointed his gun at Alex but uncharacteristically did not shoot him right away.

"You're not shooting at me," Alex grinned. "Is it because of her?"

He jabbed the gun harder at Lillian's head, making her whimper. When Lucas did not reply, Alex's grin grew wider.

"So…" he began. He taunted his rival by nuzzling his nose against Lillian's hair and sniffed it, making her skin crawl in disgust. Lucas was impassive, not backing off from his stance.

"I found your Achilles Heel," Alex declared. "Tell your men to let me go. Otherwise, say goodbye to your sweetheart!"