Twisted Ties of Love

"You're claiming that superstar is your sister. Show us her birth certificate, her employment details, or even childhood pictures."

Fredric, taken aback, stammered, "I don't have those, but she really is my blood sister. There were some issues years ago and she chose to cut ties with us. She changed her name and everything. If you don't believe me, wait till I find her. We can take a DNA test."

"Even if what you said is true, why on earth would you think that a woman who severed ties with her family would shell out five hundred thousand dollars to save you?"

Fredric replied earnestly, "Why wouldn't she? She's my sister. Blood is thicker than water. Emotions may fade away, but blood ties won't."

Gazing at how pathetic Fredric looked, the man, who was the head of the group, cursed and thought he must be a lunatic running away from some madhouse.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Tired of Fredric's rambling, he signaled his henchmen to teach him a lesson.

Fredric, sensing danger, pleaded, "Wait, don't hit me! I have a witness. The guy who brought me here is lan."

The man asked, "Did you see him come in with anyone?"

"No."

"You see? No one saw."

Fredric cast his eyes around the room, "That's impossible. It is a guy whose name is lan brought me here. You can check the security footage."

"Cut the crap. You're the gambler; you're the one who lost all the money. Why are you dragging other people into this? I think you're asking for a beating. Either cough up the money or we'll take your kidneys and eyes."

After that, the man spat at him.

After a severe beating, Fredric never saw lan again. Seething with fury, he realized he had been conned.

Since lan had had bad intention at the first place, why would he offer them accommodation? Soon, Fredric figured out the answer.

The men in the gambling den chopped off one of his fingers as a warning, made him sign an IOU and told him he had one month to pay up or lose his hand. There was no way to hide. They declared that there were hundreds of ways to locate him.

They dumped him in an empty alley. With his hand bleeding, he even was attacked by stray dogs who bit his leg. He flung the stone to finally drive the dogs away. Limping and bloodied, he made his way back to the rundown apartment.

Upon returning, he found there were more men with perms and tattoos, standing in the apartment, all with intimidating appearances. Panicked, Fredric tried to flee, but was stopped by Myra.

"We're telling the truth. There's a

man called lan who took us here. He

said it's for free and also gave us some money. Trust me. We don't have his number, but my son must

have it. They are close.velo

explained anxiously. Her

looking around in trepidation,

suddenly she noticed Fredric behind, exclaiming, "My son is back. He's

there."

Fredric cursed secretly. Being surrounded and stared by those men, unable to run faster for the dog bite, he found the chance of escaping was slim.

"Fredric, say something. It's lan who

brought us here. They claimed that we broke into this place and stole their money. I don't see there's an valuable stuff here." Myra defended for themselves. Although she had a habit of pilfering at village, she didn't steal their money. Instead, her own money was stolen by someone.

After finishing, Myra noticed Fredric's wound, "What happened? Why so much blood? Did you hurt somewhere? Where is lan? Why is he not with you? Call him over now to explain this for us. These people said they don't know any lan."

"Mom, we've been conned, since we

got off the train." They thought he was a nice person, but actually he was a con artist. First lan tricked him into gambling which caused him lose 500 thousand, and now this. From the beginning, they had been in a trap, but they thought complacently that they would get much more once finding Bell.

Myra was a bit smart by comparison when at the small village. However, at this big city with crowded citizens, she got lost. After hearing Fredric's words, she understood, collapsing on the ground just like before, whining.

"God damn it. The bastard tricked us; we believed him. How dare him? Fredric, tell them about your sister. We're about to come into a lot of money, and we don't need to steal their petty cash."

But Fredric had learned his lesson while being chopped off the finger at the gambling den. No one was going to believe that the glamorous star Izabella was their kin.

Their lowly status was a stark contrast to Bell's glittering fame. If only they had treated her better and hadn't severed ties with her, if only they had taken a few pictures with her, then perhaps, someone might have believed that she was his sister.