The job offer she had gotten recently was pertaining to Brettley Morrison as well.
“Well, Brettley Morrison’s wife, Bethan, owes me a lot of money.”
Vanessa sighed, then continued, About a hundred million, to be exact. She didn’t have a lot of money while she was abroad and needed my help to return to Banyan City. At that time, she promised me that once she returned to Brettley’s side, she’d return my money and even another hundred million as interest and for my silence.
“However, she’s left Banyan City with Brettley for about a year now, and I heard that Brettley’s father is getting married today, so they’ll probably return for the ceremony. I had initially planned to sabotage the wedding, but I’m worried that they’ll deny everything and humiliate me in front of the public instead. Can you help me with this?”
This piqued Willow’s interest. “You’re not lying to me, are you? Does Brettley Morrison’s wife really owe you that much money?”
“We haven’t even talked in such a long time, and there’s nothing I want from you, so why will I lie to you?”
Vanessa shot Bethan a meaningful glance, then chuckled. “I don’t ask for much; all I want is for Bethan to return my hundred million dollars worth of money because I had stolen that money from my father’s company to loan her. I don’t care much about the interest-it’ll be up to you whether you can get a hundred million or just ten million back from her. How does this sound?”
Willow fell silent upon hearing this.
Before she could even say anything in response, the policeman gestured at Vanessa excitedly. They successfully tracked down Willow’s exact location!
Bethan stormed over and glanced at the location of the signal.
She furrowed her brow when she recognized the familiar location.
The location of Willow’s phone signal, as shown on the screen…was near Orchard Manor!
This was the manor that Brettley had built for her as a surprise, but because of Cynthal’s deceit that resulted in Bethan ultimately leaving him, the manor was then abandoned.
Then, after getting together with Fiona to save Nigel, Brettley let Fiona move in there, and when Cynthal burned down Blue Bay Villa, Brettley, Bethan, and the kids even lived there for a short time.
A year later, after Blue Bay Villa was successfully restored, they moved out of Orchard Manor, and the place was then abandoned once more.
Bethan never thought that…Jacqueline and Willow would have trapped Anne there!
Bethan furrowed her brow as she stared at the familiar location.
This was the place Fiona had lived in before her death, yet Jacqueline and Willow had brought Anne there… Was it because they did not think the police would care to search for them there, or was it to commemorate Fiona’s death?
“It’s go-time.”
While Bethan was pondering this, the policemen gathered a few teams and headed to Willow’s hiding place to ambush her, leaving one team behind to stay with Bethan and Vanessa and continue monitoring the signal.
After assigning the relevant tasks, the police sprang into action.
Vanessa stayed behind at the police station, chatting with Willow. “You don’t believe me?”
Vanessa sneered when she heard the doubt in Willow’s voice. “Willow, you and I have been classmates for two years-don’t you know what kind of person I am? When have I ever lied to anyone, not to mention you? Don’t you remember that I was the one who stopped those people from bullying you? Do you honestly think I’d lie to you about something like this?
“Besides, you and your brother have built up such a successful business, and what do you think will happen if I lie to you and you find out about it? My parents will kill me if they find out about this!”
Willow fell silent upon hearing this. No matter how reluctant she was, she had to admit that Vanessa was right.
Vanessa had grown up in a spoiled and rich family, and had never learned to lie to get out of things at all, therefore…it was highly unlikely that Vanessa would be lying to her.
However, Willow could not help feeling that this was too good to be true.
She and her brother were the lowliest people on the social hierarchy and would not even compare to any of the guards working for Vanessa at all. Why did Vanessa not try to find someone else to help her and instead came to her?
“It’s because you and I go way back, and I wanted to give you my business.”
Vanessa curled her lips into a smile. “Come, let’s meet up and talk about this in person.
Willow was tempted by this. She stayed quiet for a while, then finally replied, “Alright. Please hold on while I settle my affairs first.”
With that, she hung up the phone.
As soon as she put the phone down, she glanced at Anne, who was sitting in front of her with her hands and feet bound, and her mouth gagged. She sneered. “As much as I like to admit you’re valuable, you’re still not worth a hundred million. Jacqueline had wanted me to kill you after the wedding tonight, but now, I have something more important to attend to…”
She curled her lips into a smirk, brandished a knife, and drove it deep into Anne’s abdomen.”
Since that’s the case, I might as well get rid of you now!”
Then, ignoring the look of utter shock and horror on Anne’s face, Willow drew the knife out and stabbed it into Anne’s abdomen twice. “Since you’re going to die anyway, I might as well make it a quick one!”
Then, Willow let go of the knife, allowing it to clatter on the ground, and strode away.
The stench of blood soon filled the small basement.
Vanessa and Willow had agreed to meet at a small restaurant near Orchard Manor.
Vanessa remained in contact with Willow ever since coming out of the police station, and with the policemen flanking them, she and Bethan arrived at the restaurant, whereas John followed the rest of the cops to Orchard Manor to save Anne.
Since Willow was just a lackey and was not the mastermind behind this kidnapping, after discussing with Bethan, John, and the cops, they decided to let Vanessa continue stalling Willow while the rest searched for Anne.
After 15 minutes, everyone settled in their hiding places around the restaurant, and Vanessa called Willow.
“I’ll be there soon!”
Willow sounded excited on the phone. “If it weren’t for the traffic jam, I’d be there by now!”
Bethan could not help narrowing her eyes when she heard Willow’s voice from the earpiece. Brettley was the one who had deliberately caused this road congestion. Since Willow was so near to the restaurant, they had to find a way to slow her down so that the police could set up their hiding places.
“Alright, I’m sitting next to the window. You’ll see me as soon as you walk in.”
With that, Vanessa sighed and hung up the phone.
She turned to glance in Bethan’s direction and gestured at her, asking her whether John had found Anne yet.
Bethan shook her head.
This was strange. John and the police should have reached Orchard Manor, and they successfully tracked down Willow’s precise location, so they should have found Anne. What was taking them so long?
“Miss Chance!”
All of a sudden, the door swung open, and Willow, dressed entirely in black, strode over to Vanessa. “You look even more beautiful than when I last saw you! You must’ve gotten plastic surgery, haven’t you?”
Vanessa could not help frowning at this rude statement. Despite her displeasure, she decided to ignore this for Anne’s sake. “No, I just got more meticulous with my skincare routine.”
With that, she poured Willow a cup of tea. “What have you been up to lately?”
Willow was a little startled to see Vanessa pouring her a cup of tea. She quickly took the cup from her and smiled. “Didn’t I tell you on the phone? My brother and I took a huge job offer that pays a lot, and have been busy dealing with it recently.”
Vanessa smiled. “What job is it? Does it pay even as much as what I’m offering you?”
Willow took a sip of tea and waved dismissively at her. “No, actually.”
Vanessa immediately noticed the faint streaks of blood on Willow’s hands as she did this, and alarm bells sounded in her head.
A bad feeling arose in her heart, but she lowered her head and took a sip of her tea, feigning calmness, then lifted her head to glance at Willow. “What happened to your hand? Did you hurt yourself?”
Willow paused, then realized she did not wipe her hands properly before sitting down. She took a napkin and dabbed at her blood–streaked hand. “No, I didn’t, but I was killing a chicken just now, and the blood must’ve gotten onto me.’
Then, she tossed the napkin into the trash can and smirked. “Though…the chicken must be dead by now.”
Bethan, who had been eavesdropping through a hidden microphone in Vanessa’s ear, felt her heart sink at this.
Biting her lip, Bethan found an excuse to slip out the restaurant’s back door and dialed John’s number.
Willow was the one who had kidnapped Anne, and she was with her right before meeting with Vanessa.
There were streaks of blood on her hands, and she even claimed she had been slaughtering a chicken…there was no way Bethan would not overthink this.
She clutched her phone so hard her palms were covered in sweat, and as she listened to the dial tone, she prayed silently over and over that Willow was just kidding and that Anne would be fine.
Anne had gone out with her that day and had only gone to the bathroom to help her eavesdrop on Jacqueline’s conversation, which was how she had gotten kidnapped.
In her many years of knowing Anne, she had helped Bethan through many hard times, and she rarely got the chance to reciprocate. If something terrible was to happen to Anne because of her, how was she going to face John and their daughter?
How would she have the dignity to continue with her life?
Bethan’s heart thumped at this thought. She bit her lip, dialing John’s number over and over, praying for good news.
After a long time, he finally picked up.
Bethan was so happy to hear this that her voice cracked. “How are things now, John?”
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.