Joshua stared at his phone, even though his call to Ivy had been disconnected. He wanted to know why Ivy was interested in knowing about the journalists who were involved in covering the case. It had been closed a long time ago.

"Does she know anyone among the people who went missing?" He wondered leaning back on his chair. "I guess I'll find out when I meet her."

A smile automatically made its way on his face when he realized he was going to meet the interesting woman again.

The door to his office knocked and one of Noah's bodyguards walked in. He was carrying a paper bag with him.

"Mr. Martin. This is the food we have ordered for the captives. Do I give them now?" Joshua groaned. He wanted to get out of the Underworld Base as soon as possible and hand over Noah's culprits to him. But that idiot had run off to London as soon as he was discharged from the hospital. Not only did he not leave for London alone, he even took Ronnie with him. Now he was getting bored of staying in the Base.

"Give them the portion sufficient for only one person. Let's see how strong their bonding is." Joshua smiled. He then turned to look at the three people who had scrunched down at the corner of the room. They looked quite haggard and pitiable.

"Okay Mr. Martin." The guard walked out with the paper bag. He then opened the small gap on the door, threw a box and closed the gap immediately.

The sudden noise woke the three people. They had not gotten even an ounce of sleep the entire night due to the darkness and the creepy noises. They could only relax a little when Joshua turned off the speakers during dawn. As they were too tired to even speak, they had drifted off to sleep in the silent room. They were hungry, tired and sleep-deprived. Their eyes had gone red and puffy and there were eye bags beneath them. They looked horrible.

Since there were no windows, the room was still dark. They could not see what had made the noise.

"Not again," Beth shouted. She had been exhausted by this game. Although she knew that the noises were all fake and there were no strange creatures in the room, she couldn't help but shudder in the darkroom. Moreover, her coward son had stuck onto her like an octopus the entire night and had made her ears go deaf by shouting right next to them.

Caroline's state was no less different. She had been scared out of her wits. Her beautiful face looked horrid due to all the tears she had shed. Her voice had gone hoarse due to her constantly shouting the entire night.

"Mom, what was that sound?" Eddie asked scared. He was tightly clutching onto Beth's hands lest she should leave him alone with these monsters.

"I don't know. And for God's sake, will you please get off me. His hands and neck are aching."

"But Mom I am scared." Eddie wailed, making Beth sigh.

"I don't know to whom I had sold my brain when I gave birth to such a coward son."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Mom."

Joshua laughed hearing the mother and the son banter. He switched on the lights to their room making the occupants go blind momentarily.

Caroline blinked a few times, gradually adjusting to the bright light while Eddie and Beth shielded their eyes immediately. After a few seconds, the trio looked around and found a box at the door.

"Mom, what is that?" Eddie asked, pointing towards the box.

"I don't know. Let me take a look." Beth tried to stand up. But Eddie pulled her down at once.

"Mom. Please don't go I am scared." Beth sighed.

Joshua looked at Eddie's scared face on the screen and wondered. "Beth wanted to make this idiot the King of the Business World. She must be a bigger idiot than him."

Caroline ignored the two people next to her and walked towards the box. It looked quite ordinary, nothing weird about it. She took the box in her hands and opened it. It contained a sandwich and this time it smelt great. But the problem was there was only one sandwich and there were three people.

Although Eddie was a scaredy-cat, he had the nose of a bloodhound. As soon as Caroline opened the box, he smelt the delicious food and immediately sprung to his feet. Beth too got up and stared at the box.

"It's a sandwich and it is not even enough for one person," Eddie said looking in the box.

"Grab the box from her hand." Beth shrieked. Eddie tried to grab the box, but Caroline was quite fast for him. She immediately dodged him and ran to the farthest end of the room. Eddie stamped his foot and made a run towards her. His hunger had made him go berserk. This time he successfully managed to snatch the sandwich when Caroline was trying to devour it. However a part of it fell to the floor.

"Caroline," Beth shouted in rage. But by then, Caroline had eaten the remaining part of the sandwich in her hand. She gave a triumphant look and sat down slowly. Eddie picked up the fallen part and gave half of it to his mother before gobbling up his part. Beth stared at the sandwich in her hand and frowned. It had some specs of dirt on it, yet she had no choice. She had not eaten anything since yesterday and her stomach was revolting.

After eating, she stared at the door and spoke loudly. I don't know who you are and what you want. If you have the guts, show us your face. Let's talk face to face."

Joshua had watched how the trio had fought like dogs for food. He found it more entertaining than the biggest gossip news. He knew people disregarded all forms of relations when it came to greed and there was nothing that would match the power of hunger.

Joshua would have definitely entertained Beth when she dared him to meet her. But he had an appointment to keep and it was quite important than those brainless idiots. So, he shook his head and left the Underground Base after giving some orders to the guards. He drove towards his company while he hummed his favorite song.

After driving for around forty minutes, he reached his office. Joshua was a video game designer. He owned a gaming company, called JM Video Games. The Martins were well known in the fields of military and politics. Although his father and grandfather held high status in the military, Joshua had chosen to open a gaming company of his own. Joshua's father had understood him and had fully supported him.

Joshua parked his Maserati in front of the building and walked towards his office. All the employees greeted him and the women employees fawned over him. He threw them a flying kiss and sauntered towards his office.

As soon as he had settled himself in his chair, he called his secretary, Lucia Frances, inside. His secretary was a tall, blonde, Italian brunette. She had light blue eyes. Ever since she had joined the company, she had been giving hints to Joshua that she was interested in him. Though he had caught on her hints, he had still flirted with her with no intention of taking it any further.

"Did you call for me, Mr Martin?" Lucia asked with her professional voice as soon as she entered his office. Though her voice sounded professional, her face was alluding to something else. Joshua smiled at her and gave her a wink. This small gesture made the woman's heart flutter.

"I want you to clear my entire schedule after 3 p.m. for today."

"Why sir?"

"I have an important appointment to keep."