Chapter 109


    Reckless


    I stood in front of the door of some conference room. My hand froze in the knocking gesture, an inch


    away from the door’s surface. I could just act like an idiot and open the door just to see that guy’s face,


    but all of my instincts were telling me to run the hell away from there. My heart thundered as I wondered


    if I should take a gamble and face the person who wanted Aren and me dead. Finally, instead of barging


    inside, I leaned against the wall right by the door crack and tried to hear more…


    “I cannot guarantee that this method will work in this specific situation.” I heard another voiceing


    from that room. The voice seemed calm and much softer than the voice of my kidnapper. “What we can


    be certain of is that the suggestion will stay engraved inside that man’s mind, and he will react to the


    keywords in a certain way.”


    “What way?!” my kidnapper roared. “The whole mission is useless if we cannot even lead him the way


    we want to!”


    Whatever it was that they were nning, it couldn’t be anything good. They mentioned keywords and


    suggestions like they were nning to manipte or brainwash someone… But who, and what for?


    Suddenly, I heard the heavy footsteps of several people walking through the corridor. I had no idea who


    they might be, but my brain screamed danger. I started running further along the long and spacious


    corridor, hearing the footsteps getting closer. It sounded like those people were just around the corner,


    leaving me a few seconds at most to hide.


    “‘Think, Cora! Think!” I tried to motivate my brain to fight against the increasing panic. All of a sudden, I


    noticed a closet room a little further away, on the opposite side of the room


    per was. I lurched at the door, praying that it would be open. I jerked the door handle but with no effect.


    The sound of the footsteps was getting more and more vivid; it was my only chance. As I rammed the


    door with all the strength that I had, I somehow forced it open. Thankful for the instant rush of adrenalin, I


    jumped inside the tiny space between the brooms and mops and closed the door, leaving only a small


    gap to glimpse through.


    A secondter, I saw five men in ck suits walking through the corridor. They resembled bodyguards.


    Was I acting like a lunatic? There could be many people at this party who had brought their own security.


    Perhaps assuming that they were dangerous was a bit too farfetched. Then I started to think how idiotic


    a girl with a fifty-million dor diamond on her neck hiding in a broom closet looked… While I inwardly


    mocked myself, those five men walked closer and then stopped in front of the door where my kidnapper


    was. I gulped as I discovered that my assumptions were rather correct. One man from the group stepped


    forward. He was shorter than the rest but had the most intimidating aura. He had short ck hair, and his


    posture was terrifyingly familiar. I didn’t have to see his face to recognize him.


    “Max…” I mumbled under my breath.


    I was certain that it was him. The man who had almost killed me and who had caused Aren to fall into a


    coma was alive. The rest of the men stepped aside as if they feared him. Max gave a single knock on the


    door and walked into the room almost right away; the rest of the men followed him, closing the door


    behind them.


    I stayed inside the closet, trying to steady my breath and prevent myself from having a panic


    attack. My whole body trembled as I was afraid to make a single step out into the corridor, terrified to get


    caught by someone from Max’s men.


    I took a series of deep breaths, calming my mind enough to think about what I had just witnessed. It


    became clear that Max was either working for my kidnapper or working with him. It meant that the man


    who kidnapped me and Mr. C. could be the same person. I found myself in the perfect ce and time to


    find all the proofs we were looking for, but instead of eavesdropping on their conversation, I was sitting in


    the damn broom closet!


    “No, Cora. You shouldn’t act recklessly. You are no superwoman, and you should use your brain instead


    of muscles…. which you don’t possess,” I voiced out my rational arguments.


    Nheless, I couldn’t just sit there and waste this opportunity. I took the phone out of my purse and


    called Aren, marking that as an act of wisdom, but his phone was out of reach.


    “Seriously?!” I muttered angrily, staring at the phone, which kept losing reception. It looked like I was out


    of cautious ideas. I took another deep breath, leaned my head out into the corridor, and walked out after I


    found it empty. I took a few quiet steps closer to the room where Max and my kidnapper were and leaned


    my ear against the door. It wasn’t long before I heard the harsh sound of the kidnapper’s voice…


    “Listen to me, you little shithead. I’m seriously tired of hearing about this fucking great n when it would


    be so much easier to just kill him.”


    “May I remind you that thest time you tried that, you not only failed miserably, but we had to clean up


    the mess you left behind,” Max hissed. “You are lucky that the old Winton is wise enough not to talk;


    otherwise, you’d be in deep shit already.”


    I mped my mouth with my hand, preventing myself from making a sound. They were talking about


    Aren and the situation with my kidnapping. But what about the old Winton that Max mentioned? Was he


    talking about James or Augustus? Did the Wintons know about this man who kidnapped me, or Max, or


    Mr. C.? Did the Wintons know from the beginning that those people wanted to kill me and Aren?!


    “I did my part. I’m not taking orders from him anymore. You can tell him that, shithead.” It sounded like


    the one who wanted Aren dead could barely contain his rage.


    Max giggled, “Do you have a death wish, Haskett? y nice or you will end up just like that dumb Winton


    did.”Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Haskett? Was that my kidnapper’s name? I knew that standing by that door was reckless, but we needed


    to at least find out who our enemies were.


    “Are you threatening me, shithead?! If this n of yours doesn’t work, we are done!” my kidnapper


    snapped. “And what about that bitch? Does she even know what to do?” he asked in a mocking tone.


    “You need to worry only about your part of the deal, Haskett. We’ve sent you our best specialists. Make


    use of them and bring that fucker’s little kingdom down,” Max replied curtly.


    “That’s not enough for me. He needs to pay for what he has done to my sister. I want him dead.


    “Haskett’s low growl sent shivers down my spine.


    Who were they talking about?! What kind of specialists?! What did Aren have to do with Haskett’s


    sister?! My heart almost burst out of my chest while I listened to those men inside nning to hurt my


    husband and destroy his business. I felt helpless and terrified. My


    instincts kept telling me that I needed to get out of there, but the pieces of information I’d just heard


    weren’t telling me anything about their n.


    “You will do what Mr. C. wants. Got that? Now, go out there and socialize. We put too much money into


    yourpany. You need to make it worth it,” Max chuckled, his steps sounding louder as if he was


    walking toward the door.


    “Shit,” I muttered under my breath and started running back to the ballroom.


    I had barely run around the corner when I heard the sound of the opening door behind me. I prayed that


    no one would notice me. I kept running until I found myself among the crowd of people. “Aren!” I called


    out, my eyes desperately looking for my husband.


    About a hundred people stood thereughing and drinking champagne. I ran to the middle of the


    ballroom but couldn’t see Aren anywhere. I couldn’t see stair and his wife either. I started running


    from side to side without any luck. I ran out in front of the hotel, wondering if he hadn’t gone outside to


    grab some air, but there was no one there. Shivering in anxiety, I pulled out my phone and tried my luck


    calling my husband. As the waiting signal beeped, I heard the phone’s buzzing sound at the same time.


    Was Aren somewhere near me? I turned around, followed the source of the sound, and then looked


    down at the ground to find Aren’s phone. I picked it up with my trembling hand.


    “Aren?!” I called out before covering my mouth with my hand to silence my weeping. “Oh, my God…


    Have those bastards done something to him?!”