Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman novel Chapter 423

What really perplexed Jean was the fact that the worried and anxious expressions on Joy's face weren't mere play-acting but real.

However, now was not the time to dwell on real or fake. The launches had already been docked on the shore now. And several young men jumped on to the shore one by one, led by a man with a beard.

"Where is Shirley?" Joy asked as she ran towards the bearded man. She had taken the lead in rushing out and was now staring closely at him standing in front of the crowd. "I thought we agreed that I would get Shirley back as soon as I brought the ransom! Where is she? What have you done with her?" Joy questioned him once again.

"I told you to come alone. But you brought these guys with you! Doesn't that violate the terms? Clearly you broke our agreement first." The young man who seemed to be the leader glanced coldly at Zed who was standing behind Joy, following which, his roaming eyes came to a halt when they fell on Jean's face for a few seconds. He seemed unhappy with the grouped arrival.

"You demanded a ransom of a hundred million dollars from me. If I hadn't asked them for money, where else would I have gotten such an outrageous amount? Besides, how else could I have felt safe?" Joy didn't seem afraid of him though, and she retorted immediately in an equally angered voice.

By that time, both Zed and Jean realized that things hadn't turned out as they had expected. They glanced at each other in confusion.

'There is no way that the anger and worry on Joy's face are pretentious or make-believe. They are genuine!

Do we guess everything wrong? Does Joy really have nothing to do with the kidnapping?

Have we all misjudged her this badly?' They both thought in unison as

Zed gave Jean a soothing look. He shook his head gently, motioning her to wait and see what would happen next.

Jean suddenly understood what Zed had actually meant and moved forward to stand near Joy.

"Don't get anxious, Joy! They are here now and I think they will bring Shirley soon." She soothed and calmed her stepmother down.

"Oh?" The bearded man was surprised on her sudden entry into the discussion. "You seem quite confident. It seems like you have really brought the ransom money!" Looking at Jean in an interesting way, the bearded man responded.

"Of course we brought the money. We want to save Shirley's life and we aren't going to take any risks with that. All the money is here. If you want it, just take it but let Shirley go first." She looked up at the bearded man with a serious face.

"You are Jean Wen?" the man asked. He had been looking at her for quite a while now and suddenly laughed out loud. "We've heard from our sources that you don't have a good relationship with Shirley. I don't believe that you're going to pay a hundred million dollars for a woman you despise."

"Oh you don't believe it?" Jean instantly let out a sneer as she heard his words. "Of course, someone as cold-blooded and heartless as you, with as much mercy as an animal will certainly not believe it. Who I like or dislike is none of your business! So why don't you cut the crap and give us Shirley?"

Jean had gotten impatient.

"Of course we'll give her to you. But we want to see the money first! Who knows what tricks you're going to play?" The bearded man looked at Jean and mocked her.

His beard had given him a solemn, almost religious look, but he was in fact, as cunning as a fox.

Jean, on the other hand, had almost lost her temper because of his attitude. But now she could only hold it back and look at the man. "Are you the leader?" she asked.

"Yeah. Everyone calls me Brother Carlos and I lead their ranks!" Carlos Hu replied proudly.

His triumphant expression was comical to the point of laughter but Jean let it slide. She couldn't understand, as just an ordinary kidnapper, what he was so proud of when he announced his name.

And looking at his high and mighty complacent expressions, she was almost tempted to punch him a smack in the face.

"Well, Brother Carlos. You can send one of your subordinates over here. He can count the money right here in front of us and then we can exchange. How does that sound?" Jean looked at Carlos Hu and offered a treaty.

"That sounds like a good idea." Carlos Hu nodded in satisfaction upon hearing the proposal, which seemed reasonable. He called a subordinate to come over and count the money they had brought.

As they waited for him to count the money, Carlos glanced at Zed who was standing next to several money boxes and then looked at Jean. "Is that the famous Mr. Qi? How come he is so willing to stand like a mere guard behind you?" he asked curiously.