Insta Empire

"What's wrong with you?!" Lily gasped. There was venom in his voice as Bradley complained to Lily, "Don't pretend you're so innocent. How many men have you been hooking up with? Why else wouldn't you know who gave you the necklace? " This made Lily furious, "Bradley, what have you been smoking? I was sure the necklace couldn't have been from Kevin, so I had no idea who else would have given it to me!" She really wanted to stand up and slap Bradley on the cheek, but she was still tied up. So Lily spat at him. Bradley's face turned bright red and his mouth twisted. He raised his hand like he was going to slap her. Dorothy tried to calm him down. In a stern voice, she asked him, "Bradley, how can you even think of hitting Lily? Weren't you talking about marrying her? Just let us go. We can all pretend this never happened." Bradley turned and raised his hand like he was going to give Dorothy a slap . "Do you think I'm a fool?" Bradley sneered, "I had tried to do this the right way, but Lily just had to reject my offer. So, now I'm stuck with both of you." He slowly stood up and took out a cigarette. "Bradley, how can you do this? Let us go, do you hear me?" Dorothy was so mad she was on the verge of tears. He took a long drag on his cigarette, "How can you be so dense? I really don't know how Kevin puts up with you." Bradley flicked his cigarette ashes on Dorothy's face, making her wince. Then Bradley turned his back on Dorothy, and stared at Lily with a deranged look on his face. He ran his hands through his hair as he sobbed, "I have adored you for so long. Today I can finally get what I wanted." Suddenly, the door burst open with a violent kick. Bradley spun around, but when he saw that it was only Kevin standing at the door, he relaxed a bit. Lily was the first to react and shouted, "Kevin, call the police!" . "Kevin, save me!" Dorothy added. "Shut up or I'll shut your mouths for you." Bradley said as he glared at them. Kevin saw Lily with her hands tied and he became enraged. In spite of everything, Lily was his wife. Whatever problems they had in their relationship didn't matter now. This was a matter of life and death. "Bradley, you'll never get away with this. Let Lily go. If you want revenge, take it out on me." Kevin said firmly. But Bradley wouldn't go for it. He taunted Kevin. "What can a useless piece of crap like you do to someone like me?" Then he added, "I admit I was surprised to find out that you know Mitchell Cook and Adriana Wright, but so what? They can't help you now. " "Do you really think I came alone?" Kevin asked. Right then, they heard sirens out in the street. Bradley's expression changed from anger to fear. He picked up a knife that was lying on the table and ran over to hide behind Lily and Dorothy. "Kevin, you actually called the freakin' police?" Bradley growled. "To deal with a piece of crap like you, you're damn right." Kevin said coldly, "If you release Lily now, you might get a lighter sentence." Actually, Kevin had called the police as soon as he arrived in Bradley's neighborhood. The problem was he had never been to Bradley's place before. He had to go down the block and check the houses one by one. That's what took him so long to get there. Bradley waved the knife and shouted, "No way! You're lying. As long as I have hostages, the police can't do a thing." "Bradley, if you want a hostage, let them go and take me." Lily was floored when she heard Kevin say that. Her eyes filled with tears. But instead she said, "Kevin, no. Get out of here while you can!" But Dorothy was okay with the idea. "Lily, what are you saying? If he wants to be Bradley's hostage, let him. Why should we stay here?" Then she shouted at Kevin, "What are you still standing there for? Get over here and take our place." Bradley stared at Kevin, while he figured out what to do. Meanwhile, the police outside had already told the Jones family what was happening. The officer in charge of the scene was a lieutenant named Emmett. She was wearing the typical Chicago police uniform, including the hat with the checkered band and the city flag patch, the one with the four stars. Grandma Jones showed up with the older members of the family, the ones who made most of the big decisions. "Officer Emmett, how is the situation now?" The Jones family had been sitting in the great room admiring the gifts that Cook and Adriana had given to Grandma. They were trying to recover from the horrible fight at the restaurant and hoped that maybe the day would get a little better. That's when they got a call from Officer Emmett. Grandma's party was definitely over for this year! Emmett answered directly, in typical police style,"There is a man named Kevin Williams currently speaking with the kidnapper, identified as one Bradley Smith. We will give you an update as soon as one is available, ma'am." Grandma Jones was completely overwhelmed by the situation. She pressed for more information. "Officer Emmett, are you sure you didn't make a mistake? Bradley is a fine young man. I can't believe he would do such a thing." Emmett kept an eye on the house while she replied, "Whether you believe it or not, that's the situation" Suddenly, another officer ran up to Officer Emmett. In a very serious tone, he reported to her, "Ma'am, the sniper in position on the roof across the street radioed in that Mr. Williams seems to be discussing something with the kidnapper. It appears that they are discussing a hostage exchange. " "Exchange? Yes! Let them make an exchange." Grandma Jones blurted out. Emmett definitely didn't like this idea and she shook her head as she considered their options. Seeing the police officer's hesitation, Grandma Jones spoke again, "Officer Emmett, you might not know this but, even though our family isn't well known, we do have some influence in this city. Dorothy and Lily are very important to us and this can't go on much longer." She continued, "But Mr. Williams is different. He has been pretty useless to us for the past few years. If he can get Lily and Dorothy back, then let him do it. He can make himself useful for once in his life." Officer Emmett clearly thought that this was a terrible idea. She had dealt with countless families in her career, but she didn't understand what Grandma was thinking. No matter what she thought of Kevin, he was still a human life and it was the police's duty to protect him. * Meanwhile, in the house, Bradley was deep in thought. Kevin smiled slightly and asked, "Bradley, what are you waiting for? I'm your only chance to get out of this. If you let Lily and Dorothy go now, the Jones family may forgive you. Don't risk losing everything and spending decades in prison. I know you don't really want to hurt Lily. " Bradley didn't buy it. "Shut up! How the hell do you know what's right for me?" Kevin broke into a big grin. "I know because I'm Lily's husband, not you. You want her, but you can't have her." When Lily heard Kevin say this, she broke into tears again. Of course, she knew what Kevin was thinking. He wanted to get Bradley so pissed off that he'd be willing to exchange hostages. A second later, Bradley pointed his knife at Kevin. "You want to be a hero and save this damsel in distress? Okay, you get your wish. Put your hands over your head and slowly walk over here." "Not so fast," Kevin shot back. "I wasn't born yesterday. If I come over, what is there to keep you from changing your mind?" He paused for a moment and said, "We'll count to three. When we get to three, I'll walk over to you and you'll let Lily and her mom go." Bradley agreed. "Okay. But no tricks." At the count of three, Kevin slowly walked over. As he brushed past Lily, he whispered, "Lily, don't be afraid. You're safe now. Don't wait for me." When Lily heard him, she trembled. As she walked toward the door, she turned her head and saw Bradley grab Kevin and put the knife to his neck. Kevin didn't resist at all. He just looked at Lily calmly. Dorothy grabbed Lily's wrist and pulled her out of the room. "Lily, let's get out of here." When they got outside the house, their family quickly surrounded them and made sure they hadn't been harmed. "Little Dorothy, Lily, are you alright?" Grandma Jones rushed over and gave them a hug. "Grandma, we're fine." Lily replied softly. "Thank goodness. Now let's go. It's too dangerous here." Grandma Jones turned around to head back to their car. "But Grandma, Kevin is still inside." Lily shouted. When Dorothy heard her daughter say this she couldn't believe her ears. "But honey, we're out now. Why do you still care about that good-for-nothing?" Grandma Jones kept walking. When she got to Officer Emmett she said to her, "We're ready to leave now." The seasoned officer looked at her in surprise, "Isn't that person inside a member of your family?" "No, we have nothing to do with him." Dorothy replied coldly. Ignoring Lily's resistance, she pulled her daughter by the arm and left. Dorothy didn't care what would happen to Kevin. But what about Lily?