It was Laney. After seeing Janet get into Ritchie’s limousine, Laney quickly hailed a taxi and instructed
the driver to follow them. The luxury car stopped at a restaurant famous for its truffle dishes.
Laney rushed out of the taxi and followed the pair inside. Given Ritchie’s prominence in the social
circles of Seacisco, it wasn’t surprising that his private room was located on the top floor of the
restaurant. Not only that, but he also had two burly men in black suits standing guard outside the door.
Laney had heard from the grapevine that the Lester family had their own private security team. This
was only a matter of course. As one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the city, the Lester
family naturally had a lot of enemies who wanted to bring them down at every possible opportunity.
Needless to say, they were very meticulous in selecting men who were exceptional in combat. Laney
made sure to keep her distance from the door. She needed to assess the situation first, and avoid
being discovered before she could come up with a plan.
Her gaze had only met Ritchie’s once before, but it was enough for her to tell that he would be tricky to
deal with.
Around ten minutes later, Laney thought she heard muffled sounds of an argument from inside the
private room. Without wasting another second, she lunged forward and knocked out the two
bodyguards, storming through the door.
She found Janet trapped in a corner by Ritchie, her eyes filled with tears.
“What are you doing here?” the man roared when he caught sight of Laney.
“What happened to my men?” Laney charged towards him wordlessly. Before Ritchie could even react,
she had already grabbed him by the nape. He immediately blacked out and crumpled to the floor.
“Laney!” Janet cried out in fright.
“Is he dead?”
Laney held out her hand and helped Janet to her feet.
“Don’t worry. He’s just unconscious.”
“Why are you here?” Janet asked as the other woman pulled her out of the room.
“Didn’t I tell you to go home?” Laney looked from side to side to see if other guards were coming for
them.
“I had a feeling that man was up to no good, so I decided to follow you. Stay behind me. His men could
be just around the corner.”
Janet was at a loss. Everything was happening so fast that her mind was having difficulty catching up.
One thought did strike her, though-that no one else had ever been this concerned for her, except for
Ethan.
Soon enough, Ritchie’s men appeared down the hall, having heard the commotion just now.
“Mr. Lester!” One of the men rushed into the room to check on their boss, while the other four
surrounded the women.
“You two, stop right there!”
Left without a choice, Laney let go of Janet’s hand. She clenched her fists and braced for a fight. In one
fluid motion, she kicked the man nearest to her and proceeded to punch the guy who was about to
pounce on her. Her movements were so swift and smooth that Janet barely caught it. Janet could only
stand back, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Was this really the Laney she knew?
“Hey. Focus.” Laney grabbed her hand, and then they were running again.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t even reached the end of the hallway when more of Ritchie’s men arrived.
Ritchie himself had woken up at this point. He glared at the women, looking anything but a gentleman.
The veins on his forehead bulged, and his lips were curled in a snarl. He leaned awkwardly against one
of his goons, then pointed at Janet and Laney.
“Catch them!” he bellowed. with that, a dozen more men appeared out of nowhere.
Laney gritted her teeth. There were too many enemies, and she could tell by their figures and stance
that they were all skilled at fighting. They were probably on par with her colleagues, too.
She could take them on a one-on-one duel, but she couldn’t possibly deal with everyone all at once. To
make matters worse, she noticed that some of the men were carrying lethal weapons like daggers.
Even so, Laney clenched her fists and readied herself. She needed to protect Janet at all costs.
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