However, a car passed in front of him at that moment and almost hit him. Luckily, he was athletic and
crossed over the car with one hand on the bonnet.
The silver van on the other side had already gone off into traffic, and it was impossible to catch up by
his legs.
Looking around, he saw a taxi and rushed over to stop it. He got in and pointed at the van, "Catch up
with that silver van."
The taxi driver turned his head to look at him. He was less willing to help, seeing that he was a
foreigner, "Tell me, where are you going…"
Joan gave him all the cash he had, "Help me catch up that van, and I'll give you as much as you want."
Seeing that he had more than two hundred dollars in cash in his hand, the taxi driver was impressed.
After all, he had only earned sixty dollars for working a whole day.
"You said it." The driver grabbed the money, hit the gas and followed the van. He asked, "Why are you
chasing that car?"
"… My friend is on it," Joan said.
The driver said, "Oh."
Joan just kept his eyes on the van, urging now and then, "Keep up."
"Don't worry, I won't lose it." The taxi driver said with great confidence. He had been driving a taxi for
twenty years and was very skilled at driving.
He had developed a notable skill in overtaking for often being urged on by customers in a hurry.
Driving through the rowdy downtown area, they reached the outer ring.
Not knowing when this was going to end, the taxi driver looked at the anxious Joan and said, "If I catch
up with that van, you'll have to pay me two thousand dollars."
Joan agreed without even thinking, "Okay."
"You won't break your word, right?" The taxi driver was afraid that he wouldn't keep his word even if he
caught up with the van.
Joan looked at him, took off the watch on his wrist and placed it on the compartment, "As long as you
don't lose it, this one hundred thousand dollars watch is yours."
"One hundred… thousand?" The taxi driver glanced at it, "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
"I never lied." Joan looked solemn as he said. The driver gritted his teeth, "Okay."
He would do it for the money.
The car was getting closer to the van, but they were also getting far from the city and heading out into
the countryside.
The van stopped in front of an abandoned, dilapidated building. The people inside pulled Amanda and
Jessica out and dragged them into the building.
One of them was making a call, telling Hilary, "We have caught her."
"Well, just do as we agreed." Hilary stood at the window while Atwood was there too, coming over to
her and asking, "It's done, right?"
"Yes." Hilary nodded.
Atwood excused himself and said, "I'm off to use the toilet."
"Go ahead." Hilary turned around and sat on the sofa, waiting for the good news.
The idea Atwood had given her was to get rid of Amanda to have no one to compete with her for
Stanford.
But that was only a part of Atwood's plan.
When he reached the bathroom, he called Stanford's number instead of using the toilet, which was the
key to his plan.
Hilary had harmed Amanda while Stanford came to the rescue, and Amanda would then change her
mind about Stanford.
However, he couldn't get through no matter how he called.
At this moment, Stanford didn't tell Atwood that he had gone to the hospital for an operation, and his
mobile phone was switched off too. So naturally, he couldn't receive his call when he was in the
operating theatre.
Atwood was anxious and continued to call, but Stanford's phone was switched off and could not be
connected.
If Stanford couldn't get there, it meant that Amanda would really be in danger. After all, he hadn't told
Hilary about this part of the plan, and she wouldn't be merciful.
He used Hilary as a trap, just to make this look real.
Oh no!
He left and drove his car, rushing to the location.
At that moment, Amanda was tied to a concrete pillar. They just targeted Amanda, and so they didn't
do anything to Jessica. Plus, she was old and had difficulty moving. They just threw her to the ground
and left her alone.
Jessica's head hit the brick, and she passed out.
They got some flammable materials, wood and cement bags, threw them on the ground and poured a
barrel of diesel fuel on them.
They turned on the lighter and threw it on the ground before leaving. The fire flared up in a flash with
the flammability of the diesel fuel.
"Grandma!" Amanda shouted in anxiety, "Grandma, wake up."
She was tied up and couldn't move, nor she could go to save Jessica. She could only try to wake her
up, as Jessica was not tied up and could leave.
At the moment, her mind was in turmoil, sweating, feeling desperate and terrified. It didn't matter if she
was on her own, but now she had dragged her grandmother into it…
"It's my fault for not protecting you…"
Her vision turned blurry, and the fire was getting hotter.
The smell of the smoke running up her nose was so strong that it choked her and made her cough!
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