Kidnapped
As I was in the midst of pondering over the call, Coraline took the initiative and told me about it.
One of her relatives had called her. However, an accident had occurred, so they were occupied for the
time being. Hence, they wouldn’t be able to come over.
The news caused me to frown. They won’t be able to come over? Isn’t she supposed to be discharged
tomorrow? Does this mean that she intends to ask me to continue helping her?
Following that, Coraline added that she had plans to return to her hometown and tend to herself. She
claimed that there was beautiful scenery and people to keep her company. Finally, she asked if I could
send her there.
I let out a sigh of relief. It seems like she won’t bother me anymore.
Although I’ve never visited Julius’ childhood home, he once mentioned that it was not very far away. I
can send her there and make it back on the same day. Besides, I’ve done countless things for her. I’ll
consider this as my last favor!
After Coraline was made aware that she would be discharged tomorrow, she decided to return home
tomorrow morning.
As she wanted to leave earlier, I was more than happy to comply with her plans.
The next day, I arrived at the hospital at the break of dawn. After filling in the paperwork to discharge
Coraline, I headed to the bus station.
Since it wasn’t a special holiday, I managed to purchase the tickets with ease.
Our journey to Coraline’s hometown went by smoothly.
There weren’t many bus stops in the small county. Thus, we got off the bus at the side of the road.
After we got down from the bus, I noticed many motorcycles around the area that were there to fetch
tourists. I prepared to hail one for Coraline and made plans to return home after she was sent off.
All of a sudden, Coraline announced that she wanted to use the restroom and asked me to follow her
there. As we weren’t in a rush, I trailed after her without any complaint.
Yet, even after walking for a while, I didn’t see a restroom anywhere. In fact, there didn’t seem to be
many people around the vicinity as well.
Just as I opened my mouth to ask Coraline about our whereabouts, my phone began to ring with a call
from Dominic. Despite vanishing without a trace for so many days, it seems like he’s still alive.
“What?” I asked brusquely.
“Where are you?”
“Leave me alone. I didn’t contact you when you disappeared, did I?” I replied.
“Fine, we’ll have a good talk when you are back,” Dominic uttered lowly after a brief moment of silence.
He put extra emphasis on the word good. Immediately, an array of provocative scenarios surfaced in my
mind as my courage vanished into thin air.
“I’m at Ho-” Before I could finish my sentence, pain throbbed at the back of my head as my vision
plunged into darkness. I promptly blacked out.
When I regained consciousness, I realized that my vision was still shrouded in darkness. My limbs were
tied up, rendering me immobile in a curled-up position.
Pain flared at the back of my head. What on earth happened to me? I remember talking to Dominic on
the phone. Then someone hit me from the back. Also, where is Coraline?
Although I was clueless about my whereabouts and what occurred, I could feel my surroundings rocking
back and forth. The swaying motion left me extremely nauseous.
Additionally, my dizziness was amplified by the fact that my vision was covered. The darkness caused
me to lose track of time.
After what felt like an eternity, the rocking motion came to a halt.
A rough grip latched around my arm and yanked me upward. Once again, I felt pain flare across my
body. I must have fallen.
My perpetrator held no regard for the condition of my body. He continued to yank me forward as he
forced me to stumble after him.
Along the way, I was thrown around. The rough handling caused pain to flare across my entire body.
After a few moments, the grip on my arm vanished as I was shoved into a pile of foreign material. The
material felt dry and scratchy when it scraped across my skin.
Right at that moment, my blindfold was ripped away. Instantly, a bright light flooded my vision and I
caught sight of a blurry shadow in front of me.
It took me a few moments before my eyes adjusted to the light, and I realized that the man standing
before me was none other than Julius himself.
I felt my brain go blank. “J-Julius, did you kidnap me?” I stuttered.
A wide grin tugged the corners of his mouth upward as he smiled from ear to ear. “Darling, it’s been such
a long time since we last met. Didn’t you miss me?” The words that spewed out of his mouth caused my
skin to prickle with discomfort.
“Are you crazy? We are divorced!”
Julius tilted his head to the side like he was in deep thought. All of a sudden, he exclaimed in a surprised
tone, “Divorced? Right, we are indeed divorced! Not only did you divorce me, you even demanded a
huge sum of money!”
The sight of his crazed expression caused my heart to pound uneasily.
Without any warning, Julius brought his face closer to mine. He even reached out a hand to caress my
cheek, asking slowly, “Were you happy with the five hundred thousand? Did you have fun spending it?”
“I-” Before I could reply, Julius slapped me viciously across the face.
An unhinged look filled his sharp gaze as he cupped my face in his hands. “Were you happy with the
money? Did you have fun spending it?”
I ignored the throbbing pain across my cheek and questioned coldly, “I didn’t touch the money. My card
was frozen. Julius, where did you get the money from?”
Julius brushed my question aside. “You didn’t touch it? Then return the money to me! Quick, give it back
to me!” he demanded agitatedly.
Has he gone mad?
“My card has been frozen. How am I supposed to return it to you?”
“It’s frozen?” Julius seemed to stiffen with shock before he regained his composure. “What about your
lover? Or that lawyer? Aren’t they wealthy men? Ask them to give me the money!”
I know why he kidnapped me now. He must be after the five hundred thousand.
“Are you going to let me go if I give you the money?” I asked to test the waters.
Julius fixed me with a dark stare. “That’s right. I’ll let you go as soon as you get the money,” he said after
a long moment.
Although it felt like something was amiss, I knew that Dominic would be able to find me as long as I
contacted him. I have to seize this opportunity and get myself rescued!
“Give me the phone. I’ll call him right now,” I said after regaining my composure.
“Liliana, I know what’s going on in that head of yours. Do you think that someone will rescue you the
moment you make a call?”
I began to panic when Julius unearthed my plans.
“N-no, didn’t you say that you’ll let me go after getting the money?” I stammered.
My words brought forth a smile on his face. With that, he rose to his feet and left.
Seeing his figure vanish in the distance left me stunned. What does he intend to do? Although he’s not
letting me make a call, Julius didn’t mention anything else. Does he still want the money?
After he left me alone, Julius did not return. Thus, I was stuck in this pitch-black and quiet place. My
eerie surroundings caused goosebumps to appear all over my skin.
All of a sudden, I heard the sound of rustling.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda