Chapter 13
Zachary shot Estelle a deadly glare. “How dare you bully Susan? You’re done for! Just wait and see how Jules deals with you!”
Estelle finally lifted her gaze, looking at him with a serious expression.
She asked, “Zachary, have you moved on from being a lapdog? You’ve been promoted to a full-time bootlicker now, haven’t you?”
Zachary instantly exploded after hearing that. He pointed at her, fuming. “Jules! Luther! Did you hear that? She just called me a bootlicker! And earlier outside, she called me a simp!”
Luther coughed lightly. “Zach, maybe we should let Jules handle this.”
“No way!” Zachary was like a cat that just had its tail stepped on. He hissed out the words, “If Jules doesn’t stand up for me today, I’m not leaving!”
Estelle gave a careless shrug. “Then stay here. I have things to do, so I’m leaving.”
She rubbed her bruised wrist and started to walk away, maneuvering around them. But before she could take more than a few steps, Julian’s expression darkened as he reached out to grab her wrist again. This time, his grip was lighter. Estelle felt no pain, but she still couldn’t break free.
Zachary wanted to continue yelling. When he caught sight of Julian’s ice-cold expression, the words were stuck in his throat.
Seeing this, Susan also chose to stay silent.
Without another word, Julian roughly pulled Estelle into a nearby private room. He shoved her inside, his voice laced with mockery.
“Estelle, is this your new game of playing hard to get?”
Estelle frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
His gaze was sharp, filled with sarcasm. “Last time, you pretended to be in danger just to lure me out. When I got there, nothing had even happened… Estelle, when did you start resorting to such pathetic tricks?”
Estelle’s chest tightened.
It felt like something was slicing into her, slowly and painfully, making it hard to breathe. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails cracked against her palms.
Pathetic tricks.
That was what he thought?
That night, she had been in danger. She had gone out to buy groceries, only to be held hostage by a kidnapper. It was all because Tobias had thrown a tantrum that morning, complaining that the vegetables weren’t fresh enough and refusing to eat them.
Estelle knew it wasn’t really about the food.
Susan must have found out that the household groceries were usually handled by Lila and deliberately mentioned it to him.
But to avoid further trouble, Estelle went to the market herself.
The man who kidnapped her was rather pitiful. He had been scammed out of millions, leaving his family in ruins.
The money was nowhere to be found, and he had lost everything. With nowhere left to turn, he took his anger out on the world.
That day, as Estelle stood in the market, carefully picking vegetables, she became his random target. He held a knife to her throat, his voice sharp with rage as he shouted demands at the police. In his frustration, the blade nicked her neck, leaving a shallow wound.
To calm him down, Estelle told him something—her husband was rich and could pay off his debts.
For a moment, the kidnapper hesitated. No one had ever offered to help him before.
She told him if he let her make a phone call, her husband could settle everything for him. He could start over.
The kidnapper wavered and allowed her to make a phone call.
The moment the line connected, she said, “I’ve been kidnapped.”
But all she heard from the other side was Susan needed emergency surgery. The papers had to be signed immediately.
Julian’s voice was calm and decisive. “Susan is in critical condition. I’ll call you back later.”
Then, he hung up.
The kidnapper hesitated, perhaps from realizing that she was his only bargaining chip. He didn’t give up on the ransom just yet. So, they waited and waited for two whole hours.
