Chapter 1070: Perplexed and Smitten (130)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“875689.”
An Xiaoning immediately knocked her unconscious, after which she took out a thin rope from her bag and tied the woman up before also stuffing her mouth with a piece of cloth to prevent her from becoming a hindrance once she comes to.
An Xiaoning made her way to the third floor and took a glance at the doors. She decided to try and unlock every single one with the password. Lady Luck seemed to be smiling on her and she managed to unlock the first door that she tried.
She looked inside and discovered that it was indeed Nicole’s room.
Thinking that she did not have too much time left, An Xiaoning closed the door and hurriedly searched the room for any surveillance cameras. As expected, she found one.
She snapped the camera and prepared to hide in the dressing room. At this very moment, the electricity was restored.
The sudden brightness made her eyes feel uncomfortable.
Her sense of vision was attacked.
To her astonishment, the entire room was pink in color.
Women who fancied pink to such an extent were usually teenagers at heart.
However, it’s such a waste of electricity to keep the lights on in her bedroom even when she was away from home.
Or did she do that in order for the surveillance cameras to capture everything clearly?
An Xiaoning rummaged through Nicole’s belongings and found a portrait sketch in her drawer.
It was a portrait of No. 8.
An Xiaoning picked it up to take a closer look before placing it back inside the drawer. As soon as she closed the drawer, she heard the sounds of footsteps approaching from outside the door.
She entered the dressing room where there were numerous clothes racks and hangers that were full of clothes. She would easily go unnoticed by standing behind a random rack.
As soon as she got into her hiding spot, she heard the door being pushed open and a woman speaking in a drunken stupor. “I’m dead beat…”
“Your Highness, would you like to have some hangover broth?”
“No, I’m tired. I want to sleep. Close the door and get lost!”
“Yes, yes, yes. Your Highness, I’ll get lost right now.”
A silence filled the room the instant the door was closed.
An Xiaoning waited quietly for a while. More than ten minutes later, she came out of the dressing room to see that the fast-asleep Nicole was lying on the bed and snoring loudly with her eyes tightly shut.
Despite standing at a distance away, An Xiaoning could smell the odor of alcohol that was reeking from Nicole.
Clearly, she had a drop too much tonight.
It gave An Xiaoning a splendid opportunity.
In the darkness of the room, Nicole went to bed without even removing her clothes.
An Xiaoning stood by the bed and began hypnotizing Nicole.
She could not think of a better solution. Although it meant that she would be offending the entire royal family of Y Nation, she had no choice but to resort to such means in order to rescue No. 8.
She did try to negotiate, but Nicole was the one who refused to give in. Wasn’t that the case?
After getting the answer she needed via hypnosis, An Xiaoning stripped Nicole down to nothing and took several photos of her bare body. She then put the clothes back onto Nicole before looking for a piece of paper and a pen to write a declaration letter.
She woke Nicole up once she verified that no stone had been left unturned.
Nicole had yet to sober up and was still in a drunken stupor. Staring at the stranger in front of her, Nicole questioned, “Who are you?”
“Sign your name here. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”
Seemingly having recognized her voice, Nicole said, “An Xiaoning?”
“Hurry up.”
“I’m not signing it. Beat me up if you dare. You won’t be able to escape even if you kill me,” said Nicole, who was supporting herself with her hands behind her while staring at An Xiaoning.
“If you refuse to sign it, don’t blame me for sharing these photos online for the viewing pleasure of the public,” said An Xiaoning, deliberately showing Nicole the nude photos that she had just taken.
A sullen expression formed on Nicole’s face the moment she saw the photos. “You… how dare you take those photos of me…?”
“Are you going to sign it or not? Once you sign this declaration, I’ll delete these photos in front of you. Let me take my bodyguard away and you’ll get to keep your life and your dignity. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being nasty.”
“Didn’t you say… say that you’d be giving me three days to send him back…”
“I thought about it carefully and decided that I couldn’t afford to wait any longer. I’m asking you once more. Are you going to sign it or not? If you’re not going to, I’ll publish these photos right now. Princess Nicole, I’m not going to be gracious and kind to you just because you’re a woman. Think about it carefully. Do you want your pride and your life, or do you want something else…”
She nodded with her eyes glassed over and said, “You’re really something. I’ll sign it.”
She picked up the pen and skimmed through the terms that An Xiaoning had written on the paper before signing her name slowly.
“Stamp your thumbprint onto it too,” said An Xiaoning, handing her the red ink pad.
“You’ve really prepared everything, haven’t you?” Nicole said while stamping her thumbprint onto the paper.
“Of course, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” She stowed the signed document away in her bag and asked, “Why didn’t you yell for help?”
“There are surveillance cameras in my room and all around the house. I wonder if you’re aware of that, Ms. An?”
“I found out when I entered. Hence, I’ve already destroyed them.”
A look of shock and dismay formed on Nicole’s face upon hearing her answer. Just as she was about to yell, An Xiaoning covered her mouth.
She then tied Nicole up tightly with some ropes and stuffed somethnig into her mouth.
“Did you think I would give you the chance to retain any evidence against me? Dream on.” An Xiaoning then deleted the nude photos of Nicole and showed it to her. “I’ve honored my word and deleted all of your photos. You’ve seen it for yourself too.”
An Xiaoning then removed her shoes and slipped her hand below the headboard of the bed.
She fumbled about and found a button. The moment a crack opened, a look of astonishment formed in Nicole’s eyes, for she was the only person who knew about the secret basement. She had even killed the person who constructed the basement for her back then. Just how did this An Xiaoning find out?
An Xiaoning dived in without even looking at Nicole.
The basement was brightly lit, and An Xiaoning shifted her gaze onto No. 8, who was suspended in the air by ropes. Due to the fact that he had suffered severe beatings, all his clothes had become tattered, torn, and stained with blood. He seemed to have passed out and was motionless.
An Xiaoning took hold of the rope and swiftly lowered him down onto the ground.
“No. 8?”
She stuck a finger beneath his nose to test if he was breathing. Fortunately, he was still alive.
An Xiaoning released him from the ropes and carried him out of the basement.
Once they were outside, An Xiaoning placed him onto the bed, causing Nicole’s bedsheets to be stained with blood.
Nicole tried to yell at her to no avail, for her voice was muffled.
“Shut the hell up!” Fuming with exasperation, An Xiaoning desperately needed an outlet to vent her anger and thus decided to take it out on Nicole by giving her a hard slap across her face.
Nicole fell onto the bed and tried to struggle with all her might, as if she were a giant caterpillar that was only capable of wiggling.
An Xiaoning could not be bothered to deal with Nicole at the moment. She was racking her brains for a way to bring No. 8 out of the castle safely.
Given their jarring difference in height, it was not quite realistic or feasible for her to piggyback him out of the castle. However, it would be way too slow if she were to just hold onto his arm and support his weight.
Hence, she must think of another solution in order to leave.
The quick-witted An Xiaoning decided to look through Nicole’s mobile phone, only to discover that her text message history was empty. However, she also found that Nicole had made numerous calls. Thus, she deduced that sending a text message was not a feasible option, for it did not conform to Nicole’s habits.