Instead, she was blocking their way and demanding that they did not care about Steven and insisted they start showing their concern towards him more.
It was clear she was trying to buy time!
Mrs. Hughes frowned at this thought.
What would she be trying to buy time for?
She stared at Gwen for a long time before finally being hit with realization.
Gwen had admitted that she knew of Denise and Sean’s whereabouts!
Not only was she aware that Denise had been sold to Mr. Hoffman, but she even knew that Sean was being imprisoned somewhere.
She was trying to keep them here…
Mrs. Hughes picked up her phone and dialed the butler’s number. “Go to the jail cell at the furthermost corner of the dungeon and see if that Sean fellow is still there!”
As she said this, she grabbed hold of her husband’s hand and stormed past Gwen.
She had just taken two steps when she froze and turned to glance at Gwen, who had turned pale with fear. “You were trying to provoke me so that I’d stay here to argue with you, and your friends would have time to rescue them, weren’t you? Well, you’re a smart woman, but sadly, your plan isn’t foolproof!”
With that, she shot Gwen a disdainful look and added, “You’re far too young to be competing with me, honey.”
With that, she turned and stormed out of the room, dragging Mr. Hughes behind her, and headed back to the hotel where they had left Denise and Mr. Hoffman.
She wanted to make sure whether Denise had been taken.
Sean did not matter as much. Denise was the most important pawn at this moment, and they could not lose her!
Steven was beginning to get desperate when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Hughes leaving. He stood up and sprinted in their direction, intending to catch them before they left. “There’s no need.”
Gwen reached out to stop him. “There’s no need to stop them.”
With that, she whispered into her earpiece, “Have your father’s men arrived yet?”
“They have,” said Nigel, letting out a sigh of relief. “Previously, none of us could seem to find Uncle Sean’s exact location.
“The Hughes family had a magnetic interruption device installed in their dungeon, and none of the people we’ve sent, including Uncle Lucas, could navigate their way-the compasses didn’t work.
“However, the moment that woman called, the butler immediately ran into the dungeon to check, and by following him, we managed to find the place they kept Uncle Sean before this. I’m sure that we’ll easily be able to find him by scouring around-they can’t have gone far.”
Nigel could not help adding, “You’re far smarter than I thought, Aunt Gwen!
“I thought that you had blurted out the truth when you tried to stop Mrs. Hughes, but I never knew you’d have done it on purpose to raise her suspicions and make her give away Uncle Sean’s location herself! “I seem to have underestimated you! You’re far smarter than I initially thought!”
Gwen could not help chuckling when she heard this. “Neither Bethan nor Brettley are very good with their words, so how could they possibly have given birth to such a sweet-talker like you?”
She could not help sighing as she added, “Your father was the one who taught me this trick.”
Brettley had reminded her before coming that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were naturally very suspicious people. Since they had committed plenty of crimes during their time, it would be easy to turn their doubts on themselves and make them give away their own plans.
Therefore, he advised her to feed them some information that would easily manipulate them into giving themselves away.
Initially, Gwen did not believe this would work. How could someone be so suspicious to this extent? However, when she finally came face-to-face with Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, she could not help feeling even more respectful of Brettley’s quick wit and intelligence.
It was no wonder this man could work through all the misunderstandings between him and Bethan and get back together with her.
This man was far more intelligent and thoughtful than anyone she had ever met.
“You have to give yourself credit, Aunt Gwen.”
Nigel smiled. “There’s no need to credit my Daddy for everything-he’s already smug enough!”
After that, he continued to update Gwen on the search mission’s progress.
When she heard that the men had successfully tracked down Sean’s location, she finally let out a sigh of relief as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulder, but…
Just as she was about to share the good news with Steven, his phone rang.
It was Denise.
He could hear the sound of the cold, harsh wind interspersed with a man’s screams from the other end of the line.
“Steven.”
Denise’s voice was scratchy and hoarse as though she had been crying. “I’m so lucky to have been your sister and to have met Sean in the last few moments of my miserable life.
“If you ever come across Sean again, please tell him to live his life the way he deserves to. Goodbye.”
“What do you mean?”
Steven widened his eyes in shock at this.
His voice began to tremble as he tightened his grip on his phone. “What are you talking about, Denise? Did something bad happen?”
An expression of fear, one that rarely made an appearance, crossed Steven’s face as he repeated, “What happened, Denise?”
Denise began to chuckle, and the sound of her laughter felt eerily loud against the background.
“Steven, I’ll never get out of this alive.”
There was a hint of despair in her scratchy voice. “Father and Mother left me here for dead. They handed me over to that pervert Mr. Hoffman, and he’s the sickest person I’ve ever met.”
Standing on the icy ledge, Denise lifted her head to glance at the man in the distance, who at this moment was screaming profanities and brandishing his whip at her. She let out a bitter smile. “I know you were trying to stall Father and Mother so that someone would be able to rescue me. I know you never once gave up on me, but…”
She continued in a choked voice, “I’m sorry, Steven, but I won’t be able to repay your kindness anymore. I’m sorry.”
She turned to gaze at the sprawling sky above her.
At this moment, she was standing on the ledge of a five-story building, and the cold, icy ground at the bottom seemed to be leering at her.
She knew that if she jumped off the building at this moment, she would not be able to survive.
“Denise!”
Steven’s voice began to shake as he held his phone with both hands in desperation. “Please don’t do anything stupid! We can always talk this out!”
He bit his lip and tried to listen for any clues on the other end of the line. “That Mr. Hoffman is still with you, isn’t he? Don’t worry; put me on speaker, and I’ll speak to him myself!
“I have plenty of money to offer, and as long as I make a deal with him, I’m sure he’ll let you go. Denise, you still have so much to look forward to. You can’t give up!
“You had just decided to start your new life with Sean afresh, hadn’t you? Did you forget all about this? You
“Steven,” said Denise, stopping him. “It’s precisely because of Sean that I came to this decision.
“If I hadn’t once gotten to see the light, I would never have understood just how pitiful my life is, but because I met Sean, I finally realized how meaningless my entire life turned out to be-I finally realized that I have nothing to look forward to at all.”
Finally, she sighed. “Goodbye, Steven.”
With that, she tossed the phone aside, turned around, and leaped off the ledge.
A loud thud echoed through the phone, followed by blood-curdling screams.
“Someone jumped!”
Steven almost dropped his phone.
“What’s happening?”
Gwen furrowed her brow when she noticed how pale Steven’s face had become, and strode over to gently clasp his hand. “What happened to Denise?”
*She.”
He lifted his head to stare at her, his eyes etched with despair. “She…jumped off the building.”
He tried to stifle his tears as he continued, “Brettley and the rest have been so good at their jobs-they must know where she is, don’t they? Can they tell me? I…I want to go find her. What if…”
What if there was still a fighting chance?
Even if the likelihood was one in a million, he was still willing to cling onto hope.
Gwen did not dare to let her guard down when she heard how solemn Steven was. She said to Nigel, “Hey, I need your brother’s help with something!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.