Chapter 171 Kidnapped
Christina tensed up as she screamed in panic, “Who are you people? Let go of me!”
What’s going on here? Are these people muggers or something? The car stopped right in front of me, though. Were these people waiting for me?
Christina was snapped out of her train of thought when a pungent smell filled her nose. The next thing she knew, her vision went black, and she pa*sed out.
“This woman sure looks hot!” said one of the men with a leer.
“Cut the chit–chat! Let’s get her out of here!” said another man.
The car then sped off and disappeared behind a corner.
The employees of Radiant Corporation were preparing to open the new store up for business the next morning.
It wasn’t until they started working that they realized Christina was absent.
“Ms. Tanner, I can’t get through to Ms. Steele, What should we do?” asked one of Christina’s colleagues. Gina got worried as she knew Christina wasn’t the type to go absent without leave, especially on such an important day.
This is the new store’s first day of operation, so there’s no way she’d miss out on it!
“I’ll try calling her. You guys stick to the plan and carry on as usual.”
Having a*signed everyone their tasks, Gina stepped aside and called Christina a few times. However, all of her calls went unanswered.
Fearing that Christina could be in danger, Gina hesitantly called Nathaniel to inform him of the situation. She then went back to check on the work progress after ending the call.
Nathaniel, who was busy handling some urgent documents from overseas, phoned Scenic Garden Manor after hanging up.
The butler answered the phone and told him that Christina had not returned since last night. When he heard that, Nathaniel’s eyes filled with anger, and he realized Christina was in trouble.
The look on his face turned incredibly gloomy as he ordered, “Check the footage from all of Radiant Corporation’s surveillance cameras and find out what happened last night!”
Sebastian had never seen Nathaniel look that scary his entire life.
“I’m on it!” He didn’t dare waste another second.
Meanwhile, a man easily carried Christina, who was still unconscious, into an old and abandoned warehouse.
Christina groaned in pain when he tossed her onto the floor. Her mind was still a little foggy as she slowly came to her senses, but the sight of the thugs standing in front of her shocked her so much that it cleared
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her head instantly.
The thugs were all eyeing her from head to toe with disgusting, lecherous grins on their faces.
“Whoa! Her skin is milky smooth!”
“She’s got a really pretty face too!”
The guys snickered as they commented on Christina’s body, much to her disgust.
It became clear as day what the thugs wanted to do to her. Christina got so scared that she was trembling
all over.
Stay calm! Don’t panic! You need to figure something out as quickly as possible! You can do this, Christina!
Christina clenched her fists tightly in an attempt to calm herself down.
One of the men reached out to grab her by the shoulder.
Christina tried to move out of the way, but he still managed to tear a piece of her jacket off, revealing the silky smooth skin of her slender shoulder.
“Please don’t hurt me! I’ll pay you guys any amount of money you want!” she exclaimed in an attempt to negotiate with them.
The man leading the group let out a disdainful snort. “Hmph! An office worker like you can’t possibly have a lot of money! I doubt you even have a few thousand in your bank account!”
The person who sent the thugs had told them that Christina was a nobody, so they didn’t have to worry about any repercussions.
Having initiated a conversation, Christina calmed down a little and said, “Don’t you guys do your research before kidnapping people? I may not be rich, but my husband is!”
Noticing that she had piqued their curiosity, Christina continued, “My husband is Nathaniel Hadley, the CEO of Hadley Corporation. You guys can ask him for any amount of money you wish. However…”
She then narrowed her eyes and imitated Nathaniel’s displeased gaze as she continued, “If you guys so much as lay a finger on me, then you can forget about leaving Jadeborough alive!”
The men exchanged glances as they realized she could be telling the truth.
Although these thugs were from the lowest cla*s in society, anyone from Jadeborough would have heard of Hadley Corporation’s CEO and his reputation.
They knew that nobodies like themselves could not afford to mess with someone as powerful as Nathaniel.
The person who hired them had only paid them a little over a hundred thousand, and that money was definitely not worth offending Nathaniel over.
Fearing Christina was just bluffing, the man leading the group hesitated briefly before asking, “Is that
true?”
Christina nodded confidently. “Absolutely!”
The man then handed her an old phone and said, “Call him. If you turn out to be lying about your
husband… Hmph!”
That short was a threat in itself.
Christina quickly punched in Nathaniel’s phone number, and the warehouse fell into complete silence as everyone waited to see what would happen.
Christina was anxious as Nathaniel had a habit of rejecting calls from unknown numbers.
Fortunately for her, the call got through after a few rings.
“Hello?” Nathaniel’s icy–cold voice echoed throughout the empty warehouse.
As though she had found her savior, Christina yelled, “Nathaniel! It’s me, Christina!”
The man quickly snatched the phone over and exchanged surprised glances with the other thugs. My goodness! It really is Mr. Hadley of Hadley Corporation!
After taking a moment to think about it, he cleared his throat and said, “So, you’re Mr. Hadley? Your woman is in our hands. You’ll have to pay us five million if you want her back!”
The other thugs were beaming when they heard that.
Five million? We could never make that much money even if we worked the rest of our lives away!
Nathaniel snorted in disdain. “Five million? I’ll pay you guys fifty million!”
Christina froze up and broke out in a cold sweat.
What? This has got to be the first time I’ve heard a victim offer to increase the ransom
The men’s eyes lit up with joy when they heard that.
“If any of you dare lay a finger on her, however, I will be sure to kill each and every one of you!” Nathaniel threatened in an icy–cold voice.
For a second there, it felt as though he was the one who held all the cards.
The man leading the group quickly read out an address for the delivery of the ransom and hung up the phone immediately after.
The thugs then glanced at each other, feeling relieved that they had not raped Christina, as it would have gotten them killed.
“You’re a lucky one, woman! We won’t hurt you as long as you don’t try to escape!” said the man leading
group as he whipped out a rope and had his men tie Christina up.
the
“We’ll let you go once we receive the money, so just behave yourself!” said the thug as he tightened the rope around her wrists.
Phew… Looks like they’re not going to hurt me anymore. After all, fifty million is worth a lot more than a momentary pleasure. It sure is great having someone I can count on! Hmm… Now that I think about it, these thugs did not know my identity when they kidnapped me. It doesn’t look like they grabbed me at random, either. They were clearly aiming for me, so they must’ve been acting upon someone else’s orders.
With that in mind, Christina mustered her courage and asked, “Who sent you guys after me?”
The thugs froze in surprise as they weren’t expecting her to figure out that much. The man leading the group said with a vicious expression. “I suggest you not ask questions you shouldn’t know the answer to. It won’t do you any good.”
That confirms it! These thugs were indeed acting upon someone else’s orders! Who could it be, though? Who would
want to do this to me?
