She was terrified, but if she wanted to save herself, she had to remain calm. No one was there to save her now. She had to depend on herself.
After she remained quiet for a while, the man stood up, turned around, and said to another guy behind him, “Turn on the radio, let her listen to it!”
The radio was turned on, and Sarah heard Charles’s voice, “Mr. Roberts, are these the results of your investigation?”
“Yes!” Another voice responded.
Charles didn’t respond, but the sound of turning paper was heard. Then, the sound of a pen being thrown on the table was heard. He seemed to be very stressed.
Mr. Roberts asked, “Is there something you don’t like?”
Charles's voice sounded weak and disappointing, “It never occurred to me that my wife… doesn’t love me. Really… I really didn't expect this from her!”
“Mr. Thomas?”
After a long silence, Charles sighed, “I’m really disappointed. I’ve been so good to her and even decided to leave with her. How could she do this!”
The leader switched the radio off. Sarah was shocked by what she had heard and questioned in a loud voice, “What did you say to Charles? What did he investigate?”
Sarah didn’t understand what had made Charles doubt her again. Did someone say anything to him? It was not easy to trust people, but if someone used so-called pieces of evidence against her, he would doubt her indiscriminately.
The man sneered back, “Hum, we don’t need to tell you. This is just to prove that your man doesn’t love you. If he loved you, he wouldn't doubt you. Sarah, are you ready to give up?”
Sarah was furious. Had they done all this to make her give up on her marriage? They had gone through too many misunderstandings throughout their short marriage but had managed to overcome them all so far.
Perhaps the man read her thoughts as he laughed ironically, “Don’t think that you're safe this time. You and Charles don't trust each other, how can you live like this? Not to mention that we are well prepared this time, Charles will never forgive you! You have two choices, one is to take your money and leave and never come back, which I think is your best choice. The other is to continue fighting against us. But what will you get by fighting us? If you're smart, you will choose the first one as soon as possible!”
“How much money can you give me?” Sarah asked.
The man raised one finger and said proudly, “One million, enough for you to live a good life. Even if you work for two hundred years, you can’t earn that much!”
To his surprise, Sarah burst out in laughter.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked.
Sarah was taken to a small grove beside a suburban highway. Among the tall and dense pine trees, lush grass made it easy to hide. The kidnappers tied her hands and feet and stuffed a cloth in her mouth to prevent her from making a sound; placing her hillside, she had a full view downhill of the road.
Sarah didn’t know what they were planning next. Thinking of what they had told her earlier, were they going to kill her here? Panicked, she sobbed and struggled to get free.
But the leader put a knife to her neck and said in a mocking voice. “Come on, stop struggling, or I will kill you now!”
Sarah looked at the knife pressed against her neck and dared not to move. She didn’t know what to do. Her entire body was trembling in fear.
After waiting like that for some time, they heard some voices suddenly approaching the mountain road. One of her captors whispered. “Boss, here they are, here they are!”
The leader held Sarah more tightly, threatening her with his knife to keep silent and not to move.
Afraid of what he may do to her, Sarah followed his command, knowing that she had no way out. She looked toward the road, wondering to whom the voices from the street belonged. To her surprise, she saw Charles and Emma walking toward them. They strolled, seemingly lost in deep conversation.
Sarah wanted to yell for Charles to notice her, but the knife on her neck was very threatening, and her mouth was still stuffed. Even after Charles and Emma were close to her, she dared not to make a sound but watched as they walked past her.
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