The corner of Abe’s mouth lifted into an arrogant smirk. “It seems like you don’t really like talking to me, Mr. Featherstone. It’s fine. Time is on our side. We have many more opportunities for a good chat!”
Without waiting for a response, he walked away.
I sighed in relief and quickly said, “Let’s go, Anthony.”
Anthony nodded, then cast a glance at Holden, signaling that we were leaving. With that, he looked at me and said, “Let’s go.”
I followed after him and inadvertently peeked at Abe, who was supposed to leave. Instead, he stopped to stare unblinkingly at Anthony and me as though plotting some sort of conspiracy.
Terror gripped my heart, and I subconsciously grabbed Anthony’s arm tightly. Noticing my reaction, he put his arm around my waist and lowered his voice to say, “Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
I nodded meekly and continued walking alongside Anthony with my heart in my throat.
After we got into the car, my nerves finally relaxed. I watched as he started the car and asked, “When will we return to K City?”
He put the car in drive and calmly focused on the road ahead. “Tomorrow,” he replied, then looked sideways at me. “What did Abe do to you in Venria?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. After we were taken away, he didn’t hurt me because of my relationship with Armond, but he was very cruel to Nora and the other women. Abe treated their bodies as carriers for transporting kyanine to Western Europe.”
He took my hand and gazed at me earnestly. “Don’t ever leave without a word again, okay? No matter what happens, we’ll face it together. Don’t decide things all by yourself, alright?”
I nodded. Realizing that he was still driving, I exclaimed, “Eyes on the road!”
He smiled and shifted his gaze back to the road.
After a moment of silence, he handed me a box. Slightly bewildered, I turned to him and queried, “What’s this?”
“It’s from Holden. He wanted me to tell you that he’s sorry,” he clarified and placed the box on my lap.
I started opening the box, but when I thought about that insufferably arrogant man, I couldn’t help but grumble, “It’s hard to believe that an egoistic man like him is actually capable of saying sorry. But what exactly can he offer me? It’s not some kind of explosive, is it?”
Anthony chuckled deeply and observed, “You don’t have a very good impression of Holden, do you?”
I pursed my lips. “Oh, please. That’s putting it nicely. My impression of him is simply terrible. I…” I paused abruptly when my gaze landed on the phone inside the box. After hesitating momentarily, I remarked, “I’m surprised he had the courtesy to get me a phone. Scratch that, I’m shell-shocked.”
Rummaging through my bag, I found the memory card I retrieved from my old phone the previous day and inserted it into the new phone. Gripping the phone, I found that I quite liked how it felt in my hand. “What brand is this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”
Anthony shot me a sideways glance and answered, “It’s a new brand called Rino. It seems to have just been released in Moranta and is probably considered high-end. It’s also AI-based.”
Nodding in realization, I began to study it but didn’t find anything special. It just looked like it could be used as a projector to watch movies, which seemed rather cool to me.
After logging into my WhatsApp, a succession of messages flooded my phone within a short amount of time. They were all from Anthony when he was searching for me the previous day. Looking at the hundred or so unanswered messages, I was dumbfounded and suddenly understood why he was so angry the previous night. He must have been worried sick during the one hour of being unable to reach me.
I turned to look at him and laughed softly. “Anthony, next time, just stop calling if you can’t get through my phone. I could’ve just left my phone on silent mode or simply didn’t look at it. If I’m ever in danger, I’ll be sure to call you right away.”
He gave me a sidelong glance and scoffed childishly. Then, he sighed and cast me a helpless look. “No matter what happens, don’t just turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode. I’ll be very worried when I can’t reach you.”
I giggled while watching him. Honestly speaking, I really enjoyed his care and attention. Looking at the messages on my phone again, I noticed that some were from Nora, which were sent not too long ago.
Nora: Sienna, are you in Moranta? Armond went there too, yesterday. Help me keep an eye on him. If he has the guts to look for other women there, tell me immediately, and I’ll fly right over to kill him myself!
I burst out laughing and typed back a reply: Ok. I’ll definitely keep an eye on him for you.
Anthony raised a brow at me when he heard me laugh. “What’s gotten you in such a good mood?”
After sending the message, I explained, “It’s Nora. She said Armond is in Moranta, and she wants me to keep an eye on him. She said that she’d fly right over and kill him herself if he messes around with other women.”
Anthony abruptly hit the brakes, causing the car to screech to a halt. Then, he snapped his head toward me. “Armond is in Moranta? Since when?”
Seeing the grave expression on his face, a sense of foreboding filled me. “Nora messaged me last night, so he probably arrived yesterday.”
Anthony’s brows drew together. Then, he put the car in drive and was about to turn the car around.
Having no idea about what was going on, I peered at him with concern lining my features. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Boom! Suddenly, there was a muffled noise. Before I could understand what was happening, Anthony’s expression turned grim. He was initially going to make a U-turn, but the car lurched forward right then.
“Anthony…” I barely got one word out when the car swerved violently, making me feel like I was about to be thrown out at any second.
Glimpsing the solemn and anxious look on Anthony’s face, I suddenly realized that the situation might be more serious than I thought.
Anthony kept ramming the brakes, but the car went out of control and abruptly veered off course.
Realizing that the car was about to crash into an obstruction ahead, Anthony turned the steering wheel with all his might in an attempt to avoid it, but it turned out to be useless as the car still collided into the concrete wall.
The impact was so strong that I nearly flew out of my seat. When the ringing in my ears finally stopped and I regained my bearings, I looked at Anthony and saw blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Half of his body was hit by slabs of concrete, and he was injured.
“Anthony! Anthony!” I twisted my body and leaned toward him, reaching out to touch him as I called out his name several times. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at me. In a weak voice, he urged, “Go, quick. Find Holden. He can save me.”
Soon, I realized that there were several black off-road vehicles approaching not far behind. Anthony’s frantic voice sounded again. “Go now. Otherwise, both of us won’t be able to leave.”
The cars behind were closing in. I knew that if I didn’t run, not only would I fail to save Anthony, both of us would end up in trouble.
Within a few seconds, I twisted the other way and crawled out of the car. Then, I stumbled toward a wall not far away and hid behind it.
The black vehicles pulled to a stop and a few hulking men in black got down.
I watched as they pulled Anthony out of the car. To shield me, Anthony’s entire body was pinned down by the car and sustained heavy injuries. The men completely disregarded that as they roughly dragged him into a black car that was parked behind. Then, one of the men stepped forward. With a glacial expression, he took out a cigarette and drew a few puffs before flicking the cigarette butt next to Anthony’s G Wagon. I didn’t realize it earlier, but the collision had damaged the car’s fuel tank. Upon closer inspection, I also noticed that the car tires were completely flat. Thus, the reason Anthony suddenly lost control of the car was because someone had shot the tires.
As soon as the cigarette butt came in contact with the gasoline on the ground, flames sparked to life and spread toward the car. As though carried by a strong wind, the flames quickly engulfed the whole car.
It was going to explode soon. I glanced at the car that cost millions with pursed lips. Drawing in a deep breath, I turned and left in the other direction.
However, I didn’t go very far, only putting distance between the explosion and myself. Once I confirmed my safety, I directly called the police. Originally, I wanted to call Holden, but I didn’t have his number, so I could only try the numbers Zachary had given me. The call was picked up after only several rings. “Ms. Stanhope!”
It was someone Zachary had arranged for me in Moranta. Breathing a sigh of relief, I explained, “Anthony and I were hunted down. He’s injured and was just taken away. The car has been burned down. Can you find Anthony as soon as possible?”
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. Then, he answered, “Okay, but we’ll probably come over to ensure your safety first.”
I nodded and agreed.
Because I didn’t have Holden’s contact, I could only wait until the person arranged by my father to come over. A middle-aged man arrived after a while and made sure I wasn’t injured before informing me, “The police will be here soon, and they might bring you to the station to take your statement. I’ve sent someone to search for Mr. Featherstone, but it seems like the other party made careful plans in advance. I’m afraid we’ll have to regroup and strategize our next move.”
I nodded and tried my best to stay calm. “Okay. Anthony told me to look for Holden at the Taylor residence. Maybe he knows how to save Anthony.”
“Understood.”
The person my father sent to protect was called Boris Irwin, the subordinate he entrusted in managing the assets in Moranta. Over the years, everything here was basically handled by him.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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