"Anybody here?"
Anne called out nervously. Her racing heart calmed down a bit when no one responded at first. A
couple of seconds later, however, a man's voice rang in her ears.
"Boss, she's awake!"
'Is that the kidnapper?' Anne gulped, her palms getting sweaty.
"Okay," another man replied with a grunt. "Take off her blindfold."
"Yes, sir!"
All of a sudden, her eyes were flooded with light. Squinting, she slowly opened her lids until her pupils
grew accustomed to the sudden brightness. A man with a peaked cap was standing in front of her. With
his head lowered and his face hidden in the shadows, it was difficult for her to see what he looked like.
Around him stood a group of men. They were all stocky, ugly men. What was more, they all had a scar
right across their faces.
Despite this, they were dressed in black, formal suits, matched with newly polished leather shoes.
"Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?"
Facing the group of fierce men, Anne was not afraid. On the contrary, she was calmer than she was a
little while back.
"Aren't you afraid?" the man with the cap asked bemusedly. In his entire lifetime, he had kidnapped so
many women. This was the first time he had encountered someone who boldly spoke up after
regaining consciousness.
There was no doubt in his mind now that she was indeed Kevin's woman, who had exceeded others in
both bravery and wisdom.
Anne smiled. "Why should I be afraid?"
"Well... You got kidnapped. Can't you see that?"
Of course, she could feel the ties around her wrists and ankles wrapped around the arms and legs of
the sturdy chair. Aside from the light hanging overhead, everything else was so dark and desolate. It
was difficult to figure out where this place was or if they were still even in the city at all.
It was the kind of scene you would see happen in a TV show. Anne knew well that she had gotten into
trouble.
Even so, there was not an ounce of fear in her heart.
"I know." Anne raised her head and looked around, almost arrogantly. "I just don't understand why you
need to have so many people to kidnap one woman. It's such a waste of time, don't you think?"
"She has a point, boss. Two people can easily handle her. There's really no point for you to come and
personally handle this, is there?"
The man standing next to her said to the man in the middle. "I mean, with all due respect, you said that
the job was to render her disabled using a car. It just doesn't make sense why we still had to kidnap
her, boss."
"Disabled?" Anne frowned as she looked at the man in front of her. However, the man kept his head
down and low. "Someone asked you to hurt me?" she asked incredulously.
"That's right," one of the other men answered. "Eighty million dollars to cripple you, to be exact."
"Eighty million?" Anne chuckled. "I didn't expect that I would be so valuable! Then why haven't you
crippled me yet?"
"Well..." One of the men scratched his head. "We don't understand either. Boss, what are your orders?"
At last, the man in the middle finally raised his head slowly. It was at that moment Anne saw his face
clearly.
'Oh my god... Is this guy for real? How are there so many cuts on his face?' Despite thinking this, Anne
maintained her calm demeanor.
"I'll give you some credit... You're the first woman to look at my face without any sort of reaction." There
were scars scattered all across the man's face. Menacing as he looked, however, his eyes were bright
and animated.
Deep inside, Anne was not as composed as she looked. Without a doubt, this man truly looked sinister
and terrifying! Her intuition was telling her that this man was not an ordinary gangster.
Squaring her shoulders, she looked straight into his eyes. "Why would I react?" she asked after a while.
"Do you think I'm scared of someone like you?"
"I did my homework on you, you know. You're pregnant, aren't you?" The way the man said these
words were more like a statement rather than a question.
"So you didn't hurt me because you knew I was pregnant?" With a smile in her eyes, Anne looked at
the man's face with a sly inquisitiveness. "Alan was the one who ordered you to hurt me, wasn't it?
Now it all makes sense. When he hired you, I bet he didn't tell you that I was pregnant with Kevin's
baby."
"Yes." With a deep breath, the man stood up and walked over to Anne, his step echoing into the
darkness. Slowly, he bent down until his face was directly in front of hers. "He didn't tell me you were
pregnant," he said, almost matter-of-factly, his breath grazing over her cheek.
"Well, at least you were smart enough to do a bit of investigation on your own."
Even though his wretched face was only a few centimeters away from her, Anne didn't blink nor flinch
even once. With confidence, she looked directly into his eyes, and couldn't help but think that she had
seen this person before.
Perhaps there was a stubbornness in his gaze that mirrored her own.
"Lucky for you, we would never dare to hurt Kevin's woman, especially a woman as smart as you." With
a small smirk, the man stood straight up. Now that it was clear that this woman was not as ordinary as
she looked, he felt that the situation had gotten a lot more interesting.
"If you weren't going to hurt me, what was the point of kidnapping me?" Anne asked.
Looking carefully at the woman in front of him, the man kept silent for a long time, his hands clasped
behind him. Finally, he grinned and shrugged. "I want to know how much money Kevin is willing to
spend to get you back."
"Ha-ha." Anne sneered, "How much do you think he will spend?"
"One hundred million. He just agreed to that amount, in fact."
The man turned around and sat back in his seat. With his legs crossed, he looked carefully at Anne.
She was beautiful, with her big, beautiful eyes framed with delicately arched brows. 'Pity,' he thought.
'Kevin doesn't know how to appreciate this woman.'
It was said that Kevin's wife was a vicious woman, but she didn't look like one.
"He already knows that I'm here?" Anne's eyes widened in surprise before she looked away from the
man's gaze. "Of course he'd pay that much. That's because I'm carrying his child. Nothing more,
nothing less."
Undoubtedly, if Anne wasn't carrying his baby inside of her, there was a large chance he really wouldn't
care about her at all.
"By the way," the man said casually. "I know you didn't push Ruth down the stairs."
"How?" Anne looked back at him again with shock.
"In this silly world, there's nothing I don't know. As long as I want to know something, I'll do eventually."
Behind the arrogance in his voice, Anne detected a certain and unusual elegance.
This man must have been a very powerful person in the past. What happened to him that drove him to
this kind of life was beyond her knowledge and imagination.
"Don't try to see through me, Anne,"
he sneered when he saw Anne trying to analyze him. Seeing through a person like him, however, was
a challenge in itself.
"I was just wondering what kind of person you are."
It was the first time that Anne had been so interested in a stranger. For a moment, she had forgotten
the situation she was in and that she was being held captive by these men.
"You're a curious little thing, aren't you?" In a single, swift movement, the man reached into his suit and
glanced at his pocket watch. "Kevin will be here in about five minutes," he said with a smile. "Mrs.
Anne, what do you think about co-starring with me in a show?"
"A show?" Her heart skipped a nervous beat.
"Precisely." The man closed the watch with a snap. "Don't you want to know whether Kevin loves you
or not?"
"I already know the answer to that," she answered, a sarcastic smile playing on her lips. "He never
loved me."
After everything that had happened, how was it possible that she didn't know who she was to him?
There was no need to confirm it through an act. That was ridiculous.
"Is that so? For what it's worth, I believe that is false."
As if on cue, another man came in. "Boss, Kevin is here."
"Invite him in."
Not long after, another pair of footsteps echoed in the room. "Long time no see, Cole."
Kevin's figure slowly appeared at the door, and Anne's heart suddenly trembled. 'He really came.'
Warmth flooded her chest.
"Yeah, long time no see."
The man, Cole Song, stood up, not bothering to hide his face from Kevin's view.
With their faces side by side, Cole' Song's face looked really terrible and gruesome. What surprised
Anne was how warm their greetings were!
"You know each other?"
How was it possible that Kevin knew her captor? 'Is this some kind of sick joke?'
"We have been friends for many years, haven't we?" Cole Song smiled and put his arm over Kevin's
shoulder.
On the other hand, Kevin was a bit more reserved. When he looked at Anne, there was a discomfort in
his eyes. "Was it really necessary for you to tie up my wife like this?"
Even though Kevin's voice was low, there was an intimidating air to it. The other men in the room knew
that it was best not to offend a man like Kevin.
Seeing the confrontation between the two, they unconsciously held their breath.
"Somebody untie Mrs. Anne," Cole Song said dismissively.
At once, two of his men quickly went over to untie Anne. After releasing her from her bounds, they
stood beside her attentively, waiting for further orders.
"Here's the money!"
With a bit of force, Kevin threw a large bag in front of Cole Song. In a heartbeat, one of Cole' Songs
men swooped in and took the bag away.
"One hundred million?"
Clicking his tongue, Cole Song frowned and shook his head. "Kevin, you're really willing to spend one
hundred million to save your wife."
"I'm not saving her. I'm saving my unborn child." Stepping away, Kevin glared at Cole Song with a
piercing look in his eyes. "You should start setting some boundaries, Cole. Know what you should and
shouldn't do."
"Oh, I know what my boundaries are." Cole Song smiled, "If I didn't, you and I wouldn't have made such
a lovely deal."
"Anne, come here,"
Kevin ordered. He didn't want to be entangled with Cole Song a second longer. Looking over at her, he
wondered why this woman had been so calm this entire time. 'What on earth is she thinking about right
now?'
"As much as I want to go there, can't you see these two men standing guard behind me?"
Anne replied, her face still void of any expression. It was clear that Kevin was getting angrier, but this
was exactly the reaction she wanted from him. He had treated her badly in the past.
Now was her chance to get back at him.
"Cole, what are you playing at?"
At this point, Kevin was getting really infuriated. Even though Cole Song had taken the money, he still
wouldn't let Anne go.
This was exactly what Cole Song wanted Anne to do. It was just beyond his expectation that Anne
easily and willingly slipped into the role.
"I don't think I made it clear," Cole Song stated, pursing his lips in thought. "You see, the one hundred
million only means that you could redeem you child. For your wife? That would cost you an extra two
hundred million."
Two hundred million! The words rang so crisply in the air that it almost scared Anne to death. 'Two
hundred million... There's no way...'
In her heart, she knew that she was not as valuable to Kevin as compared to the baby inside of her.
"Cole, do you know what you are talking about?"
Kevin sneered, his hands clenched in anger. No one had ever dared to fool him like this. Despite his
fury, Cole Song only seemed to get even cockier.
"Oh, don't be silly! I'm sure two hundred million is nothing to you." Cole Song smiled as he lightly
dusted his sleeves. "You know, it's not easy for me to explain everything to Alan."
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