Chapter 108 - Red Cake

Feng Xuan had been at Gretel's all day. She met with a website designer as she thought it would give him the idea on how she wanted the site to look like. It was already closing time and she was doing the final count from the register. Business had been doing really well the past few days.

While it was as if she was at the peak of joy in her life, it had been tiring. It had been endless baking over the past few days as she kept on insisting that she did not want her crew to be doing all the work.

She heard the ding! of an oven inside and packed up the money. Only one of her crew stayed for the closing and she was still mopping the floor. "I just have to check some cupcakes at the kitchen. Stay here," she said to her bodyguard.

"But, ma'am—"

"Please," she said with a pout. "I need some time to myself." She did not even wait for an answer and got into the other room. "Thank you!" she shouted before the door fully closed.

She pulled on mittens and an apron. The sweet aromatic smell of the cupcakes filled her nose the moment she pulled the oven open. It was a watermelon base. It had bright green liners and a red cake. It was for Qing Chen—her always willing first taster. She had just finished squeezing the frosting on the tops when she heard a knock on the backdoor.

She turned to the clock and wondered who it was at this hour. She decided to ignore, maybe they had gotten the wrong door. But then she heard it again. Feng Xuan was about to open it herself when her bodyguard came in the kitchen, pressing a finger against his lips.

Feng Xuan's heart quickly picked up pace and was hammering against her chest in a span of a few seconds.

"Who's there?" asked the bodyguard at the door, his pistol poised in front of him.

"Delivery for Mrs. Feng Xuan?" said a muffled voice.

The bodyguard glanced at her and she shook her head. She was not waiting for anything. The bodyguard pressed his earpiece and quickly spoke words that she didn't catch.

"It's from Mr. Qing."

That was when Feng Xuan made her way to the door. But before she could reach it, the backdoor burst open and she heard the silent shots of a gun. Five men came in, all in dark suits. A body toppled to the floor and she felt a sudden searing pain on her leg.

Feng Xuan slid, clutching the kitchen counter to hold herself up. Blood dotted her tiled floor and she found that there was a huge gash on her limb where the shot grazed it. The doors swung open again and one of her bodyguards was immediately shot—taken by surprise. The other one had managed to roll to the side, fumbling with his gun.

Feng Xuan covered her ears as gunshots filled her ears—both loud and the ones with silencers—and broken glass showered from above. The shots stopped and the body of her other bodyguard fell down, his eyes wide open, the blood already soaking his white shirt.

A scream wanted to tear from her throat, which she swallowed as the rest of her body coiled away. She swore under her breath and was reaching for her knife drawer when she felt fingers clutched on her ankles and pulled.

She let out a yelp of pain as the skin of the wound stretched. She tried to kick the man dressed in all black, his face covered with a mask, and he backed away. Feng Xuan crawled away to the door and shouted to her employee but before she could scream, a hand closed upon her mouth and she suddenly couldn't move her lips.

A thick tape covered her mouth and she was flipped over and she struggled, punching, kicking—anything—just to get these hands off her. But her wrists were easily caught and was messily bounded with thick rope. Before she could scream for help, she was already hauled on top of the person's shoulder to the hallway.

She tried moving, swinging her legs for something to hit--but there was nothing. She screamed in frustration. Who were this people? Why were they taking her? What?! Was this the murderer Qing Chen had always been wanting to protect her from?!

Then she heard the backdoor open.

**

Qing Chen was already finishing things up in his office when the emergency reached him. It was a panic call from one of Feng Xuan's guards and him and his men were already out the door even before the message ended. He sent half on the fire exit, ordering the others to man every car that would get out of the property.

They had one of the fastest elevators known to man but it felt like the ten seconds took more than just that. He was running the moment the doors opened. Feng Xuan's guards were no longer stationed outside of Gretel's and he immediately knew something was really up.

Then the gunshots echoed from the cake shop. When they finally reached it, it was already empty, the door to the kitchen half-way open, held by an unmoving body.

One of the guards tossed Qing Chen a gun and went inside the kitchen. "She's not here!"

Qing Chen got inside and his eyes darted to the blood and the bodies of Feng Xuan's guards on the floor. His hands almost tore the backdoor open. "Feng Xuan!"

He almost didn't hear it—her muffled scream. Qing Chen darted on the narrow hallway, taking huge leaps on the corners, the footsteps of his men behind him. He pushed his legs to run faster when he heard a car engine start—but no matter how fast he went, the car had already sped up. 

They rained fire on the back of the car, trying to hit its wheels but alas, it was already too far. Qing Chen threw the empty gun aside, his breath seething. Bodies of men in delivery outfits littered the floor of the room, blood oozing out of them.

He pulled out his phone when it started vibrating. An unknown number on the screen. "How much do you want?"

"It's not money that I want, Mr. Qing," laughed the voice. "I have your precious little wife. Aside from a wound, she's very much alive and glaring at me as we speak."

"I want to hear her talk." He put the speaker on and activated an app that would track down the number's location.

He almost dropped it when he heard her voice. "Qing Chen."

"Feng Xuan?!"

"Aw," a man cooed. "She's gagged already. I'll give you a call in a while. No harm would come to your wife if you'd do everything I'd tell you. Okay?"

"Make sure you're already dead before I find you, because if not, you're going to wish you had never been born in the first place."

The man laughed. "Looking forward to do business with you, Mr. Qing."

The line went dead.