The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 1395

The tattooed man was too anxious to stay put, as he watched several men in the distance marching towards the cabin. His heart started to palpitate and fear clutched at him. At this point, he didn't have much time to hesitate. He had to escape as quickly as possible; or else, his identity would be exposed, or even worse, he would be caught red-handed. Time was of the essence and he didn't have much of it in his hands. In the end, he decided not to kill Shirley as Jim had instructed him. He knew that he wouldn't make it out of there if he had to carry her with him, so he rushed toward the back door, kicked it open and made a run for it.

The sound of heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. By then, Shirley had assumed that her patents must have found her location and now were coming to rescue her. The tattooed man's behavior explained a lot, which helped prove her assumption. Even in the face of fear and uncertainty, she tried to remain calm. She sensed, by her captor's desperate fidgeting, that he was too busy looking for a way out to pay attention to her. So she tried not to draw too much attention to herself and risk her own safety.

Once the tattooed man had disappeared without a trace, Shirley's face conveyed a spectrum of ambivalent emotions, mostly fear and excitement. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes and this time she allowed them to escape and roll down her cheeks.

When several men broke into the cabin, they saw a poor little girl in tears, sitting alone on the floor with her hands tied behind her back with a rope. Her face was covered in grime and her eyes were red and swollen.

Shirley watched as the men surrounded her, but none of them resembled her father. They were all donning identical black suits and came across as robots—expressionless and somewhat mechanical in their demeanor. The little girl didn't know what to make of them and their sudden arrival brought her no sense of safety.

She found it difficult to face the truth. A moment ago, she had assumed that this terrible episode of her life would soon come to an end when she heard multiple footsteps. She had already pictured herself in her mother's loving arms, but now it seemed to her as though it was all just a sad delusional fantasy in her head. The men in black that stood before her looked even more terrifying than the tattooed man.

Shirley's body trembled with fear and she cast a frightened look towards them. She felt like a helpless gazelle who was separated from its mother, and now was trapped by a group of hungry lions. The negative thoughts kept coming in like waves on rocks. Cold sweat covered her entire body and she felt like her heart was going to explode.

One of the men, boorish and tall, attempted to approach her in a very cautious manner. His name was Benjamin, the man in charge of the group. Judging from the way Shirley looked at him, he understood that the little girl was still in shock so he decided to ease her mind before making any sudden attempts to approach her. The others observed every nook and cranny of the room, trying to find the traces left behind by the kidnapper.

However, fright consumed every cell in Shirley's body, swelling them with terror, when she saw a stranger walking over to her. The past few days had been both mentally and physically taxing her as she was always on edge waiting for the next bad thing to happen.

Despite her best efforts to control her emotions, she still could not resist bursting into tears. Her gasping wails echoed and made everyone in the room feel distressed.

The moment Benjamin heard her cry, he stopped in his tracks and looked back to his partners. Their faces were blank as they seemed at a loss. They exchanged gazes and the confusion in their eyes was undeniable. They were worried that their aggressive actions might cause a trauma inside such a poor girl's heart.

After a moment's hesitation, Benjamin decided to approach Shirley again, but he put on a mild smiling face, and walked more slowly. Once he approached Shirley, he didn't talk to her at once. He slowly untied her hands at first. Realizing that doing that didn't stop the girl's crying, he gave her a gentle pat on the head. "Little girl, don't be scared. We are not the bad guys. We all are your parents' friends. There is nothing to worry about. Let us help you get out of here and you will soon see your parents again."

Shirley raised her head and looked at the man with beady eyes, her mind reeling in disbelief. Slightly reassured by this, she sniffled and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Really? Are you… being honest?" Shirley's mental defenses doubted the man's credibility. And she was a smart girl. She kept her eyes on Benjamin's face, trying to find out whether he was lying or not.

At the same time, nauseating spurts of adrenaline coursed through her veins. Now that her hands were unbound, she was prepared to struggle and make a run for it if she detected any inconsistency from the man's face.

As a father, Benjamin's eyes were dripping with pity. He was reminded of his own daughter. Despite being almost the same age, they had experienced completely different lives and seen different perspectives of the world. Sensing the panic inside Shirley's heart, the man could not imagine how his daughter would look if this tragedy had happened to his own daughter. He couldn't bear to think of it. 'It would definitely leave an irreparable trauma in any child's heart. I just hope this will never happen to my innocent girl.'

This little girl was too young to go through one of the most darkest and traumatic experiences of this world. In his view, Shirley was supposed to live a carefree life, protected by her parents. But now, all she was feeling was the absolute lack of safety!

If it were his daughter in her place, he would have lost his mind. It was such a pity that this girl had to go through something so harrowing and soul-crushing. He wondered if she would ever be the same as she was before this.

Benjamin shook his head in disappointment, furrowing his eyebrows and sighed. 'Look at you, poor little girl. You look as thin as a lath! You must have suffered a lot.' The dark purple bruises around her wrists were obvious indications that the rope had been tied too tightly and for too long. Such a scene added more anger to Benjamin's mind. And he couldn't stand to curse silently, 'Such ruthless bastards! How could they do this to a child?'