Helen certainly did not understand why Frank would go all out, even sending for bodyguards.
“It is.” Frank nodded solemnly, and he was concerned over none other than the Talnamese’s presence here.
The only person who had a connection with them was most likely Frank himself. After all, the Talnamese still held a grudge for the time when the Lord of the Southern Woods led an insurgency into Talnam and almost abducted their king.
As the only son of the Lord of the Southern Woods, Frank was worried that the Talnamese were after him.
And those folks were known for their savagery—if they really had Gina, Frank would not risk letting Helen get caught by them too.
And most of all, he would not allow himself to be used as a bargaining chip against his own father. He would rather die than allow himself to get involved with that man again, especially if it was because of his own competence.
With that, Frank brought Ned along in his Maserati and drove straight to the outer reaches of South Morhen.
Ned had made many calls along the way, and it took them half an hour to find the right factory, which also took them out of Morhen borders.
–
“It’s not my fault, Aunt Gina!” Cindy Zonda sobbed in that factory, leveling a guilty stare at Gina.
She was left battered all over with blood-red lines lining her skin, clearly having been whipped repeatedly.
“You little…” Gina could snap right then.
She was tied to a pipe. She had also been beaten up and could not speak coherently, aside from mumbling the occasional curse.
“It’s not my fault!” Cindy bawled. “It was that ruby… Turns out it belonged to Talnamese royalty! It’s a national treasure, but he somehow stole it and gave it to us. He clearly wanted us dead! That’s why I was captured when I headed abroad. We’d get killed if we didn’t get the ruby back! I have no choice, Aunt Gina!”
“And you sold it for just 500 million!” Gina almost choked right then, while disappointment welled up within her.
It turned out that everything Frank said was the truth—the ruby was worth ten billion dollars, but Cindy had to sell it for just 500 million, which she proceeded to squander abroad.
“Heh. I really don’t care how much you sold it for.”
A scrawny dark-skinned man strode over just then, brandishing his whip as he sneered. “Bring us the ruby, or you’ll die painfully. Trust me—none of you will like the feeling of insects crawling in your belly. The sounds they make when they eat your innards…”
As he walked up to Cindy with a savage smile, Cindy said in anguish, “Please don’t kill me! I’ll definitely get the rub back, don’t worry! Right, Aunt Gina?!”
Knowing that Cindy had dragged her into this, Gina had no choice but to clench her jaw and nod.
“J-Just don’t hurt us. I can make a call… I’ll ask someone to bring the ruby to you,” she said.
A flip phone was thrown at her nonchalantly right then.
“Do it now!” The Talnamese man urged her, growling.
