Chapter 79 - 78

Chapter 79: Chapter 78

"Ms. Eli, did I do something wrong? Why have you suddenly gone cold on me?" Steve looked genuinely puzzled. I didn’t respond, just checked the time on my phone. It was already 12 at night. The streets were noticeably less crowded and deserted. Damon’s call came through again. As I was about to answer, my hand was seized tightly. Steve, usually smooth as silk, was suddenly seething, "Come with me!" "Let go of me!" I jumped, shocked at Steve’s sudden change. He was strong, almost dragging me towards his car. Occasional passersby didn’t dare to intervene. I had never encountered such a situation before, and my mind was a whirl. Remembering the call I had answered, I yelled out for help. Steve roughly shoved me into his car and grabbed my phone, "Behave yourself!" In the driver’s seat, Ian was smoking. He glanced back at me, his smile cruel, "Eliana, surprise or not?" "Ian, what are you up to?" I tried my best to stay calm. "You bitch, you cost me my job and my fiancee. You left me with nothing. How could I let you off the hook? Tonight, you’ll pay the price." Ian flicked his cigarette away and drove off. After who knows how long, we ended up at a dock. Ian and Steve dragged me into a container warehouse. Before I could steady myself, a slap landed hard on my face. I felt a burning pain on my cheek, and everything went a bit dark. Steve brought over a chair. Ian tied me to it tightly, hurling obscene insults at me. "You have two choices." Ian held up two fingers, "First, give me twenty million dollars as compensation. Second, we rape you, kill you, then dump your body into the ocea."

How did I never notice how ruthless Ian was? "Ian, you were with Sofia for so long, and she was so good to you. You wronged her. Don’t you think she deserved freedom? You screwed up, why blame me?" I stared at Ian. "What I do is none of your business!" Ian seemed provoked by my words. He suddenly kicked me to the ground. My head hit the floor hard, everything went blurry. Steve had no grudge against me. He was probably in this just for the money, so he stopped Ian from hitting me again, "Easy. Her money is better than her life." They helped me up again. Ian aimed my phone at me, unlocked it with a face ID, opened the banking app, did some operations, set the amount, then asked for my password. "There’s a transfer limit. Can’t send twenty million at once." I gritted my teeth against the headache, trying to buy time, "I can only send hundred thousand each time. It would take multiple transfers." I was lying to Ian. He didn’t know the real limit of my bank account. Ian’s financial situation was modest and probably hadn’t made any large transfers, so he might take my word for it. Sure enough, he changed the transfer amount to hundred thousand. He would have to do this a hundred times. "Transfer some to me too." Steve said to Ian. They began to concentrate on the transfers. When they accidentally locked the screen, they had to ask me to unlock it again. Every second they wasted was a glimmer of hope for me. I fixed my eyes on the warehouse door, my heart pounding, repeating a name silently: Damon. That last call I had with him was my only hope. Ian had lost his mind. Even if he got the money, he might still hurt me. Suddenly, Ariel’s voice could be heard from outside, "Eliana? Eliana?" She spoke quietly, as if she was deliberately lowering her voice. "I’m here!!" I seized the opportunity and shouted back with all my strength. Ian and Steve, startled by the sudden turn of events, rushed to cover my mouth. The footsteps outside got closer, stopping right at the door. I couldn’t control my tears, hoping someone would kick open the door. But after a two-second pause, the footsteps hurriedly retreated. I heard Ariel’s voice, "Mr. Coleman, Dr. Jones, there’s no one here."

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