Husband With Benefits

One of them was sensitive to her taunting while the other was not. Time to goad some more. So, Dora smiled and leaned in, her voice dripping with a mixture of mockery and cold resolve.

"You’re scared, aren’t you?" she said, her words sharp as a blade. "You can’t even face me. You thought tying me up and tossing me into this filthy hole would break me, that it would be enough to satisfy your twisted desire for revenge. But look at me—I’m still here, still calm, still unbroken. And that terrifies you, doesn’t it? Because deep down, you know that no matter what you do, even if you get your hands on the money, you won’t be able to enjoy a single cent. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder, haunted by the thought of me coming after you. Remember my words—once I’m free, there will be nowhere for you to hide. You’ll spend the rest of your miserable life wondering when I’ll come for you."

With that, Dora began to hum, a low tune that echoed off the walls of the place. She wasn’t just trying to unnerve them—though that was certainly part of her strategy—she was also exhausted from talking an dneeded a breather. The hum was her way of conserving energy while maintaining the psychological pressure.

If one of them had the nerve to stay silent through her taunts, then they were stronger than she’d given them credit for. But she knew the truth: her words were not empty threats. If they let her go—no, when they let her go—she would hunt them down. She would not rest, even if it meant losing her sanity in the process.

***

Unbeknownst to Dora, her tactic was working even better than she could have anticipated.

"What do you think you’re doing?" the man hissed, his eyes narrowing at the woman who had been moments away from responding to Dora’s taunting. He pushed her hand away from the microphone’s switch with a forceful shove. "She’s trying to get a reaction out of you. Don’t you see that? Haven’t you noticed the way she’s been looking around?"

The woman shot him a glare, her hand trembling slightly as she pulled it back. "What do you mean?"

"She’s not just sitting there for fun," the man continued, his voice low and tense. "She’s studying her surroundings. She’s memorizing every detail of this place so that she can find her way back when she escapes or when we let her go. I told you from the start, capturing Isidora Sterling was no small feat. You were lucky to catch her off guard, but dealing with the aftermath is going to be a nightmare. And the money—why did you insist on taking cash? Do you have any idea how difficult it’s going to be to sort through that without raising alarms? Its not as if we’ve asked for change! If they are able to put a tracker on even a single bank note, we are dead! And we cannot possibly check each and every note!"

The woman frowned, and sent her ally a frustrated look. "Of course, I’ve thought things through. We’re not going to send her back, and we’re not going to take the cash either."