When She Ended It With Divorce (Chiara and Titus) novel Chapter 275

Chapter 275

Chapter 275

6

Titus finally opened his eyes and answered the call without even glancing at the screen. “Chiara…” the person called.

They all recognized Lena’s voice. Paul clenched his fists, his eyes fixed on the phone. The expert had left a note on the whiteboard for him.

The expert wrote: [Try to stall for time so we can pinpoint her location.] The expert shot Titus a glance, then looked away. Titus stayed silent for about ten seconds.

Lena was clearly running out of patience, her tone turning irritable and downright hostile. “Chiara, I know this is your phone; the kindergarten has your number on file. Quit acting mute!”

Titus gripped the phone, his face grim and his gaze downright icy. “I’m Titus speaking,” he said, his voice cold.

Lena was clearly caught off guard; she hadn’t expected him to answer. The line went dead silent for a good ten seconds. But Lena snapped back quickly, sounding even more anxious and excited now.

“Well, Mr. Goodman, you remember me, don’t you?” she said with a mocking laugh.

Titus’s face stayed cold. “If I hadn’t looked at your personnel file, truth be told, I wouldn’t have remembered you at all.”

Paul’s heart thudded in his chest. ‘Is he really going to set Lena off with that?’ he wondered. The expert gave Titus a worried glance, silently reminding him not to rile up the kidnapper.

Lena’s mood swung wildly the moment she heard that. “Yeah, someone as insignificant as me wouldn’t stick in your memory for long, Mr. Goodman. But after all these years by your side, you just toss me aside like I never mattered?”

“Why did you take my son? Tell me, what do you want from this call?” Titus demanded, his voice cold as ice.

“Purpose? I called Chiara’s phone, not yours. Put her on,” Lena shot back.

“She can’t answer right now,” Titus replied flatly.

“Titus, do you really think I won’t kill him?” Lena threatened, her voice sharp and dangerous.

Paul’s heart started pounding. He quickly reminded Titus not to provoke Lenh. ‘She’s been plotting this kidnapping for ages; she’s after something big. Provoking a psycho like her is just asking for trouble, Paul thought.

Titus shot a look at the expert, who was frowning, his fingers flying over the keyboard. But as soon as Lena finished, she abruptly hung up.

The tracking on their end was cut off as well. “She hung up?” Paul asked, his voice tight with worry.

Titus’s face was stormy. “She did it on purpose.”

The expert wiped the sweat from his forehead. “That’s going to make things a lot harder.”

Sure enough, less than two minutes later, Lena called again. “I know you’ve got cops with you. Don’t even think about tracking me; you won’t find me. Put Chiara on the phone!” she snapped.

“I told you, she can’t answer,” Titus replied, his voice icy.

“Titus, don’t push me!” Lena snapped. After a few seconds of tense silence, a child’s sobbing broke through the line.

“Daddy… Mommy… Mommy…” Ryan whimpered, his voice shaking with fear.

His knuckles turned pale around the phone, veins popping on his forehead. Titus shut his eyes, trying to steady himself.

15:13 Wed, Jan 14 GM

Chapter 275

When he finally spöke, his voice was icy but controlled.

“Ryan’s been hurt, and Chiara couldn’t take it; she passed out, and she’s in the hospital now. Lena, whatever you want, talk to me. Chiara’s not leaving the hospital, not even waking up, until this is over. You got that?”

He had no intention of letting Chiara take charge of the kidnapping case. It was not that Chiara had been unwilling to step in, but that Titus had never planned to give her the chance.

Lena’s temper flared at his words, her anger practically radiating through the phone. “Titus, is that how much you love her? Enough to put Ryan’s life after hers?” Lena snapped.

“State your purpose,” Titus replied, his tone icy and unyielding.

“Oh, you love her that much? Alright, then you come instead of her. No cops; if I spot even one, you’ll never see me again, and your kid’s dead. But if you’re feeling brave and think I won’t notice, bring them along. Let’s see who’s really got something to lose!”

The call was cut off again. The expert shook his head. “She must’ve figured we’d try to track her. The two calls she just made pinged from completely different locations; she’s deliberately trying to throw us off her trail.”

Paul added, “Judging by all this, she’s been plotting this for ages. She’s probably got every angle covered already.”

Paul turned to Titus, his voice urgent. “Mr. Goodman, no way you’re going alone. Not happening.”

The expert shot Titus a look, then got up to update the team on what was happening. Soon enough, Lena texted him the address. Seeing that, Paul’s anxiety shot through the roof. “Mr. Goodman, you can’t go by yourself.”

The

expert rushed over with his phone as soon as he heard. “Mr. Goodman, the police chief wants to talk to you,” he said, passing the phone to Titus.

Titus took the phone. “Mr. Goodman, I’ve been briefed on the situation. Just in case anything goes wrong, we’re going to put a tracker on you,” the chief said.

Queenie already knew what was going on. She saw them coming out of the office and immediately got to her feet. But one look at Titus’s grim, cold face told her this was serious, so she kept quiet and stayed out of it.

She grabbed Paul’s arm when she saw he wasn’t leaving with the others. “Why aren’t you going with them?” she asked.

“Lena only wants Titus to come alone. If anyone else shows up, she’ll kill Ryan. The cops aren’t willing to take that risk,” Paul replied, his voice tight with worry.

“Lena? So it really is her!” Queenie said, her eyes wide in disbelief. “That psycho! If only we’d taken her out for good back then, Queenie muttered through gritted teeth.

Paul sighed. “How were we supposed to do that, anyway?”

Queenie was left speechless. ‘Yeah, it’s not like we could’ve just killed her. What else could we have done?’ Queenie thought, feeling helpless.

She could have been thrown in jail for what she had done, but no one could keep a person locked up forever.

“Didn’t you ban her from all the ports back then?” Queenie asked.

“You think I didn’t?” Paul shot back.

Lena’s info was blacklisted at every port and airport; she was totally banned from getting in. But she still found a way to sneak back, and even got mixed up with Elaine.

Elaine was barely even a blip on Paul’s radar anymore. He had no clue if she was even alive, and now, out of nowhere, she’d

WED

14

m

O

15:13

Chapter 275

resurfaced just to make a mess again.

Should’ve just finished her off instead of leaving her crippled. It was overseas anyway, Paul thought darkly

Still, Titus couldn’t cross that line. If he really killed her, he’d be no different from her. Titus was ruthless in business, never hesitating to crush his opponents, but he’d never go so far as to actually kill someone or push them to their grave.

At least in this respect, his record was spotless; she was just insignificant, not worth sullying his hands over. But right now, Paul figured Titus must be kicking himself.

If he’d known she’d come back to bite them, Titus probably wouldn’t have hesitated to get his hands dirty after all.

As soon as Titus stepped out of the office, he saw Jeffrey waiting for him downstairs. Titus didn’t even look at him, just went straight for the car door. Jeffrey walked up fast and grabbed his arm.

Jeffrey stepped forward, voice unwavering. “I’m coming with you.”

But Titus seized him by the collar, pinning him hard against the car. His eyes were icy, full of ruthless anger. This is the mess you made by bringing her back; happy now?” Titus spat.

Jeffrey looked ashen, but he didn’t put up a fight. He just repeated, unwavering. He stepped forward, voice unwavering. Tm coming with you.”

Titus glared at him for a long moment before roughly shoving him aside, then got into the car. Without missing a beat. Jeffrey opened the back door and climbed in after him.

“Wasn’t he supposed to go alone? Who’s that guy with him?” one of the cops whispered, sounding confused.

“Pretty sure that’s Mr. Yates from Yates Group. Let the chief know, quick,” another officer said, looking tense.

AD

Comment

Send gift

No Ads

15.13 Wed, Jan 14