“I heard that the Presgraves have been trying to repay your mother’s noble sacrifice all these years. I’m
sure Old Madam Presgrave sorely regrets threatening the mayor back then; if she hadn’t done that,
your mother would have been spared. The young master’s life is worth more than gold, but that doesn’t
mean your mother deserved to have hers taken away. Sadly, this world will never be fair; the rich
simply buy their way out of death, and common folk like your mother would simply have to surrender to
fate.”
Anastasia wanted to make Riley shut up and get him to stop talking about all these. She didn’t want to
hear about them at all.
However, Riley was a twisted man who thought his gloriously wicked deeds demanded an audience,
and Anastasia made for an excellent listener. More to the point, the sadistic side of him would never
allow him to let slip the chance to torture someone. The sight of Anastasia’s obvious anguish and
discomfort filled him with satisfaction that he thought he had long forgotten.
“If I were your mother, I would hate that I’d given birth to an ingrate and a traitorous daughter like you.
You could have had any man you wished, but you chose to love Young Master Elliot, who lived only
because your mother died so gruesomely!”
Stop it! Shut up! Anastasia wanted to scream at him. She knew what Riley was trying to do; he wanted
her to hate the Presgraves.
“Boss, we’re running out of time. Let’s send her on her merry way,” one of Riley’s subordinates piped
up from somewhere.
“I’m sorry, Miss Tillman, but I suppose you share your mother’s ill fortune and will have to die by my
hands. Don’t worry, though. You’ll be reunited with her soon!” Riley chuckled.
OT
Fear and rage coursed through Anastasia like a potent cocktail as she realized that he was planning to
kill her, though she didn’t know why. What good will my death do for him? Is this his way of getting back
at the Presgraves and challenging them? Or does this have something to do with my relationship with
Elliot? Does he want to take my life so that he can break Elliot’s heart and destroy him emotionally?
While this was happening, half a dozen vehicles manned by bodyguards were speeding over to the
location, driving through the muddy and mountainous terrain as they appeared like ghouls.
Riley’s henchman who was stationed outside the abandoned house as a lookout couldn’t respond in
time, and he quickly cried out, “Boss!” However, when the leading car drove forward and made to
knock him down, he quickly dodged and leaped into the drain that ran along the side of the house. In
the next second, a loud bang filled the air as the car rammed into the front door of the house, causing
the entire wall to cave and topple down.
The man in the driver’s seat was immediately greeted by a scene that made his blood boil.
Anastasia was curled up on the ground with a sack pulled over her head and her wrists bound.
At the sight of the car and the fallen wall, Riley jumped in shock. He knew that Elliot had sent people to
keep tabs on him, but he didn’t think they would arrive so soon. With lightning speed, he grabbed hold
of Anastasia and hauled her up from the ground, pressing a blade to her neck as
he sneered. “My darling nephew, have you come for a visit?” he said.
“Let her go.” Elliot thundered with the rage of a hellish creature, his gaze obsidian and mutinous.
“Tsk, tsk. Do you truly love the girl so much? You’ve gone soft, Elliot. I didn’t think the Presgraves were
capable of producing a romantic like you. There goes our family honor,” Riley mocked. insouciantly.
Without warning, he ran the blade along the alabaster skin of Anastasia’s neck, drawing a thin line of
blood.
“Let her go, Riley!” Elliot yelled, his voice quivering with rage and panic.
Riley found that this situation was turning out very much in his favor. He scoffed and said, “I’ll let her
go, but on the condition that you immediately transfer fifty percent of the shares in Presgrave
Corporation to me. Otherwise, if I’m going down, then I’m taking her with me.”
Just then, he pulled the sack off Anastasia’s head to reveal her pale and anguished expression.
There was a rag stuffed in her mouth to muffle her cries, but her eyes glistened with tears as she
stared at the man in front of her—the man who would do anything to save her.
“Fine. I’ll give you whatever you want, but let her go first,” Elliot announced firmly with a nod of his
head.
“Have a copy of the agreement sent to me, and I want it to be legally enforceable,” Riley demanded,
seizing this chance to take the portion of the company that was rightfully his.
Meanwhile, Anastasia was not afraid of death, even now. She hated her mother’s killer with a passion,
and she wanted him to pay for Amelia’s death in blood. Not only that, she didn’t want Elliot to give up
half the ownership of Presgrave Corporation to this devil just to save her.
As such, she stared at him unrelentingly and shook her head ever so slightly, indicating for him to
refuse the bargain.
“I’ll let her go only after I’ve seen the agreement,” replied Riley. With his henchmen surrounding him
and Anastasia, there was no way for any of the bodyguards to advance to save the hostage. Worse still
was that Riley had a blade pressed against Anastasia’s neck, and any movement on her part could
mean her certain death by his hand.
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