<b>hapter </b><b>503 </b>
Meanwhile, at Forth Bay.
It was already <bte </b>at night. At a time when he should have been resting, Alvin was still typing away at hisputer. He had installed a special program on his phone that would send him forced alerts whenever there <b>was </b>news rted to Aubree,
The special ringtone sounded. Alvin didn’t feel the least bit irritated at being interrupted”
<b>‘</b>Aubree kidnapped? Alvin <b>was </b>startled at first, but then quickly dismissed the idea.
immediately stopped what he was doing
<b>If </b>Aubree had really been kidnapped, there <b>was </b>no way Bowen wouldn’t have made a move. Knowing his uncle’s personality, he would have stirred up a storm. He wouldn’t have found out about something like this through a news notification.
This matter…
Alvin chuckled. He wanted to <b>see </b>what exactly Aubree was nning.
<b>“</b>Get a car ready. I’m heading out.” He then called Kelvin to ask about Bowen’s whereabouts.
Kelvin wasn’t on guard against Alvin and, hearing that he just wanted to check on Aubree, revealed Bowen’s location without hesitation.
Kelvin even “kindly reminded” Alvin.
“Mr. Turner, don’t <b>worry</b>. Miss Miller is fine. The person who was kidnapped wasn’t her. It was a mistake. The kidnappers grabbed Nina, the one protecting her<b>, </b>by ident.”
Alvin frowned. “Got it. Thanks<b>, </b>Mr. Malone. I just want to make sure everything’s okay. With my uncle around, nothing serious will happen.”
A vi in the outskirts of the capital.
From the outside, it didn’t look like anyone lived there. Overgrown weeds nearly as tall as a person filled the yard. The bronze gates of the vi <b>were </b>worn and scarred, making people wonder whether they would copse just from being pushed.
But inside the building, <b>it </b><b>was </b>a different story.
Compared to the outside, the interior was at least tidy and lived–in.
A middle–aged woman with a vicious look sat on the central sofa, her expression insincerely ttering. “Yes. You’ve spoken. We absolutely won’t touch that woman. New supplies will be delivered tomorrow morning. We appreciate you thinking of us. So this means we’re staying put for now?”
Marina continued, “Need to keep an eye on her? Okay… alright. Mrs., you know we’ve done plenty for you. You can’t just abandon us. You’re working on our visas? Good, good. I won’t hold you up then.”
Marina respectfully hung up the phone. On the side, Timothy had already run out of patience. He had been on edge all night, terrified that armed cops would burst in at any moment.
Marian said, “We still have to wait. But they’re working on the visas. Once this is over, they’ll send us abroad right away.”
Timothy was suspicious. “Hey, you don’t think that client is lying to us, do you? Someone has to take the fall. What if…”
Marina interrupted. “Don’t forget what happened over a decade ago? We helped kidnap her biological daughter and caused two people to die. You think she won’t protect us? If we’re caught, she’s screwed too!”
She added, “If it weren’t for those two dead people having such powerful backgrounds, would we have ended up listening to her all these years?”
Thinking about it made Marina furious. She had no idea that the people they targeted, just driving an ordinary car and wearing non–branded clothes, turned out to have such high status.
She said, “Enough. There’s still some food in the kitchen. Put some drugs in and take them up. She needs to behave.”
Timothy agreed. After all, with such a major secret in their hands, the client wouldn’t dare to silence them easily.
Nina <b>was </b>locked in a guest room on the second floor, tied up. She leaned close to the floor, listening carefully to the sounds downstairs.
The house seemed old and in disrepair. Despite the luxurious decoration, it was mostly rotting wood, with terrible soundproofing.
Even upstairs, she could clearly hear the two talking below.
She thought. Biological daughter? Kidnapping? <b>Two </b>people died!
Nina’s breathing hitched. She couldn’t believe what she <b>was </b>hearing. If the kidnapped “biological daughter” they mentioned was Aubree, then it <b>meant </b>Alice <b>was </b>behind the Wilson family’s old case.
And the two who died…
Nina didn’t dare continue the thought. At that moment, she heard footsteps. Timothy <b>was </b>probablying to deliver food.
She sat upright at once.
The food had drugs in it, likely sleeping pills to prevent her from escaping.
Timothy said, “Eat it.”
Nina knew not cating would cause more trouble.
She Nina sniffed the food. As a top bodyguard of the Turner family, she had undergone professional drug resistance training. Her body had built <i>a </i>tolerance against most tranquilizers.
No noticeable smell. She guessed it was probably just a standard dose<b>. </b>
If she ate it, the couple would drop their guard. She would wake earlier <i>and </i>be better able to act.
Under Timothy’s watch. Nina ate half a bowl. “I’m full.”
Timothy hesitated. A girl escaping from here? Ridiculous.
He took the bowl <b>away</b>. “Behave and you’ll have good food. Try escaping, and I’ll break your legs!”
Nina silently nodded.
Early the next morning, Alice had more supplies delivered.
“No breakfast for her. Starving a couple of meals won’t kill her. Just makes her too weak to run.” Marina tapped her spoon on her bowl with a sinister look.
One night passed. Theizens were discussing the story of Aubree’s kidnapping.
[Who was kidnapped? For real? This isn’t a joke?]
[Terrifying. Aubree has aplished so much at such a young age. Clearly, she’s stepped on the wrong toes.]
“It’s been a whole night, and there’s no updates. Did something happen to her?
If something happened to Aubree, then what about Bree Technology?”
The rumor that Aubree had been kidnapped spread like wildfire. By the time the stock market opened. Bree Technology’s stock price plunged like a bungee jump.
There were widespread whispers that without Aubree, Bree Technology was nothing but a pile of sand.
The Wilson family didn’t expect that Aubree didn’t do anything at all. But they didn’t overthink it, assuming she was too focused on Nina’s disappearance to deal with the rest.
The bigger the chaos, the better.
When Ronald saw Bree Technology’s stock falling fast that morning, he grinned so hard he couldn’t close his mouth.
He said, “Aubree really thinks she’s all grown up. She doesn’t even take us seriously anymore. We caused all this mess, and she doesn’t even bother to release a single statement? How arrogant!”
He continued, “Young people are too proud. Fall hard enough, and they’ll be shattered. Tell the team in Südlichen Strand to hurry up.”
Aubree’s “kidnapping caused a huge stir. Whether it was people wanting to see her fall or genuinely worried, everyone was waiting for Bree Technology’s official response.
But what no one expected was that instead of hearing from Aubree, they were greeted with another bombshell headline.
[Shocking Billion–dorpany GrabCheap used of leaking user data!]
[Is this a public service tform, or something more sinister?]
[Internal leak ident or premeditated?]
One eye–catching headline after another exploded onto the front page of every news feed