My CEO Boss Is A Masked Internet Sensation-Chapter 228: Multiple Decisions

(Karsten)

With fingers trembling and dread gnawing at me, I clicked open the video. Never had I experienced such emotions. They were shredding my body as my eyes focused on my screen.

And there she was, pure and innocent, tied to a chair, blindfolded and gagged.

"Ara–taaa!" Her name left me in a fractured gasp...my fingers went taut against the cellphone until they hurt.

I watched her, my fingers shaking, crawling towards her face.

My blood boiled over, and my pulse thundered in my ears, hot with my wrath.

This was the kind of torture which I had never been subjected to, the emotional torture where I had been rendered utterly helpless.

That control I craved like a lifeline had been snatched, leaving me completely powerless.

At the mercy of fate. I always thought I could control it, but the universe worked in its own way, and it had brought me to my knees.

Someone like me, who never bent, was on the floor watching the woman he loved with every inch of his heart, shackled somewhere... at the mercy of a lunatic.

My eyes wouldn’t waver from her face.

What must she have felt at that moment?

Scared?

Petrified?

Terror-stricken?

The helplessness coiled like a noose around my neck, strangling me.

The video had no sound, just a simple text underneath.

{If you don’t want to receive pieces of her, quit looking.}

How could I? The simple thought that someone was going to hurt her and my unborn child had left me broken in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

There was only one option left...the option I regretted the most. It would take away whatever sanity I had left, but I couldn’t wait any longer.

I had to take my position as the Mafia Lord of Sparia. I needed the power and control; most importantly, I needed the resources and submission of the people that came with it.

That’s what we did, to lock away and end people who hurt innocents. We were the bullet justice, which came way before the police.

Quick and swift, didn’t need years to hunt down people, go through long and tedious trials. We gave instant sentences.

Our methods were quick and ruthless. We didn’t spare the culprits so they wouldn’t go on to disrupt the lives of anyone else.

I never wanted this, but for her, I would go to any length, if it meant killing the last of warmth left in my heart.

For her, I would sacrifice everything.

The Elder Council had been on my heels while an army of trained men was waiting for me to step up and win their devotion. Ready to carry out any order I would pass without blinking or asking a single question.

Our world was dangerous, where people lurked in corners just to bring us down and we did the same.

Finally, caging these emotions and thoughts, I typed a reply with my fingers brutally shaking.

{What do you want? Why have you taken her?}

I sent it to the unknown number. Knowing it was another burner. I tried not to add any pleas, because that’s what he was looking for , to rile me up.

I needed to contact him shrewdly.

After texting him, I forwarded his number to my IT guy, who was working to crack and find out the person who had hacked into our system. Hoping we would find some clue.

Then I called both Olphi and Caysir to go around the 2-mile radius of the building and speak to any eyewitnesses who might have seen her. Any clue of where she was seen last or with whom could help us track her.

Any surveillance footage from the cameras in the vicinity needed to be checked, too.

Knowing the Police would be seeking out the footage, I hoped they would find something on it.

The police arrived shortly, both detectives seemed cooperative as I invited them inside.

"I am Detective Pimber, and that’s my partner, Hastian." They introduced themselves and we shook hands.

"I appreciate you arriving so quickly."

"So tell us everything." Detective Pimber, who was almost the same age as me and appeared to be a man who took his job very seriously, had his notepad out and his sharp eyes fixed on me.

I began by telling them everything I knew, from her real identity to the stalker situation we had been facing. The death threats and what happened today.

Showing them the video I had just received. They noted down the number and closely inspected the video.

"We will be needing this. Immediately inform us if you receive any more messages. Don’t engage with him without one of us present. We will try and track this number down," Hastian said as he forwarded the information.

I left out my earlier visit to Arata, though. That was not going to reflect well, and I could only hope they wouldn’t take me as a suspect, which was highly likely.

They quietly noted every point down.

"Mr Karsten, the police should have been notified earlier about someone stalking Miss Arata."

I nodded.

"I know, but I had hired a bodyguard for her, and she was living with me. We thought we had it under control. But clearly we were wrong."

They began to take a look around the apartment and noticed her packed luggage.

"Was Miss Arata headed somewhere?" Hastian raised a brow at me.

"Yes, she was going to visit her family in Angel City. She couldn’t visit them during the Christmas holidays because she twisted her ankle, and then the storm hit."

"We will take a full sweep of the apartment just to check who else was here and if the culprit arrived at the apartment or if Miss Arata went to him," Pimber said, while sweeping under the lounger cushions with his gloved hands.

"You will have my full cooperation." But his words did get me thinking.

According to the guards, Arata went downstairs willingly. It meant either she was going somewhere or meeting someone. And if she was meeting someone, that meant she knew the person.

Detectives were now checking her bags, and I was glad I had taken out the pregnancy testing strip. For some reason, I didn’t want to share that information with anyone.

"You will need to come down to the precinct with us, Mr Karsten. Our team will need this apartment empty to inspect it for any clues and fingerprints."

I thanked the detectives and left the apartment with them.

The heaviness of my heart intensified as I thought about informing Ma of what had happened, as well as preparing myself to feel the wrath of Arata’s family, plus survive the guilt that was trying to suffocate me.