Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ novel Chapter 109

Reckless

I stood in front of the door of some conference room. My hand froze in the knocking gesture, an inch away from the door’s surface. I could just act like an idiot and open the door just to see that guy’s face, but all of my instincts were telling me to run the hell away from there. My heart thundered as I wondered if I should take a gamble and face the person who wanted Aren and me dead. Finally, instead of barging inside, I leaned against the wall right by the door crack and tried to hear more…

“I cannot guarantee that this method will work in this specific situation.” I heard another voice coming from that room. The voice seemed calm and much softer than the voice of my kidnapper. “What we can be certain of is that the suggestion will stay engraved inside that man’s mind, and he will react to the keywords in a certain way.”

“What way?!” my kidnapper roared. “The whole mission is useless if we cannot even lead him the way we want to!”

Whatever it was that they were planning, it couldn’t be anything good. They mentioned keywords and suggestions like they were planning to manipulate or brainwash someone… But who, and what for?

Suddenly, I heard the heavy footsteps of several people walking through the corridor. I had no idea who they might be, but my brain screamed danger. I started running further along the long and spacious corridor, hearing the footsteps getting closer. It sounded like those people were just around the corner, leaving me a few seconds at most to hide.

“‘Think, Cora! Think!” I tried to motivate my brain to fight against the increasing panic. All of a sudden, I noticed a closet room a little further away, on the opposite side of the room

per was. I lurched at the door, praying that it would be open. I jerked the door handle but with no effect. The sound of the footsteps was getting more and more vivid; it was my only chance. As I rammed the door with all the strength that I had, I somehow forced it open. Thankful for the instant rush of adrenalin, I jumped inside the tiny space between the brooms and mops and closed the door, leaving only a small gap to glimpse through.

A second later, I saw five men in black suits walking through the corridor. They resembled bodyguards. Was I acting like a lunatic? There could be many people at this party who had brought their own security. Perhaps assuming that they were dangerous was a bit too farfetched. Then I started to think how idiotic a girl with a fifty-million dollar diamond on her neck hiding in a broom closet looked… While I inwardly mocked myself, those five men walked closer and then stopped in front of the door where my kidnapper was. I gulped as I discovered that my assumptions were rather correct. One man from the group stepped forward. He was shorter than the rest but had the most intimidating aura. He had short black hair, and his posture was terrifyingly familiar. I didn’t have to see his face to recognize him.

“Max…” I mumbled under my breath.

I was certain that it was him. The man who had almost killed me and who had caused Aren to fall into a coma was alive. The rest of the men stepped aside as if they feared him. Max gave a single knock on the door and walked into the room almost right away; the rest of the men followed him, closing the door behind them.

I stayed inside the closet, trying to steady my breath and prevent myself from having a panic

attack. My whole body trembled as I was afraid to make a single step out into the corridor, terrified to get caught by someone from Max’s men.

I took a series of deep breaths, calming my mind enough to think about what I had just witnessed. It became clear that Max was either working for my kidnapper or working with him. It meant that the man who kidnapped me and Mr. C. could be the same person. I found myself in the perfect place and time to find all the proofs we were looking for, but instead of eavesdropping on their conversation, I was sitting in the damn broom closet!

“No, Cora. You shouldn’t act recklessly. You are no superwoman, and you should use your brain instead of muscles…. which you don’t possess,” I voiced out my rational arguments.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t just sit there and waste this opportunity. I took the phone out of my purse and called Aren, marking that as an act of wisdom, but his phone was out of reach.