The Billionaire's Mistake (Anya and Daniel) novel Chapter 197

Chapter 107: Tension 

Confusion quickly gave way to fear as the severity of the situation became clear. By standing there, the message was clear. 

No one would be leaving until Stella Grey was recovered. 

The team leader, a tall, broad–shouldered man with a clean shaven head and cold eyes, strode to the center of the ballroom. 

He pulled a menacing–looking rifle from the holster on his back and pointed it to the floor, before looking around the crowd. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that this event is now on lockdown,” he announced in a tone that brokered no argument. 

“No one will be permitted to leave these premises until our security team has completed a full sweep and resolved the situation. Do not move around or risk getting shot,” he said. 

The crowd could only nod mutely. 

The guests could only stay still. They did not want to get in the way not be implicated. 

It was clear this was a large scale operation. 

When Maria saw the men, she knew these were James‘ personal team. She could not help but 

frown. 

Did James come with them to the hotel? When? From the looks of it, they were always here. 

From the corner of her eyes, she spotted Elena looking unperturbed and even looking around with slight glee. 

Maria knew that Elena had always loved her son. But James was never interested. Why did she look as though she knew the inside story? That is the look of someone who participated in this 

fiasco. 

A thought suddenly crossed Maria’s mind and she paled. Maria knew her godson well, there was no way he did not expect this. Did this mean he knew Stella would be taken? Or did he set it up? 

She felt like cursing out loud. No, there is no way he would use his wife as bait, right? Maria was really worried now. If James was not really interested in saving his wife, she would die in 

the hotel. 

Maria felt a headache suddenly come over her. What was her son thinking? 

Drama like this was easy to 

underground communities. 

spread. A few text messages and it was making it’s round in the 

Chapter 197 Tension 

They were all at the mercy of James Grey now, they had time on their hands, so they talked. 

It did not take long for news to spread outside the hotel, that the Green family had blocked their own gala, barricading their guests inside. 

The guest all had their cellphones and some of them were communicating with their affiliates outside. 

In a room, Stella slowly regained consciousness, her eyes fluttering open into near total darkness. She blinked rapidly, trying to get her bearings as her head throbbed painfully. 

Where was she? The last thing she remembered was greeting guests at the Hotel ballroom then going to change her clothes before everything went black. 

As her senses readjusted, she realized she was tightly bound and lying on a hard floor. Her heart started racing with fear. 

She could make out the faint sounds of voices nearby, two people seemingly arguing in harsh 

whispers. 

“We are bloody surrounded and the communications have been cut off,” one of them said. 

“…can’t believe they already know she’s missing! The whole place is on lock down,” one voice 

hissed. 

Another voice responded gruffly. “Well of course. Did you think it was going to be easy? Just stay calm and wait for the extraction.” 

Stella felt her blood run cold. It was slowly dawning on her that she had been abducted from the ball, and her captors were now panicking that they would be caught by James. 

As she wrestled with the ropes binding her wrists and legs, trying to loosen them she recalled the look on Elena’s face all through the hotel. 

A thought ran through her head and her heart went cold. 

She was bait? 

So this was the plan. She already knew that she had agreed to be useful to him as long as he protects her, but after all this while, she was still used this way. 

She recalled that mysterious woman had looked at her that way since yesterday, when the agents were there. Doesn’t this means that James had planned this from the beginning? He had planned this long before bringing her on the hotel. 

She had already come to terms with this being her only use, but why did it still hurt to think that he actually did it? 

She felt like laughing. She felt stupid. Elena knew and if she guessed right, some of James’s men on the hotel know too. How far did this go? Does his parents also know? 

Chipler lex fendion 

Stella felt like a clown. 

“Wait…I think she’s awake!” The first person shouted. 

Heavy footsteps approached Stella’s prone form until she could make out the shadowy silhouettes of two figures towering over her menacingly. 

“Well hello there, Sleeping Beauty,” a mocking female voice sneered down at her. The assailant’s face was covered from her face down. 

“Don’t goad the merchandise. Lock her up instead,” Stella heard. 

“Merchandise?” Stella asked. 

The female leaned down, her face filled with contempt. “You’re our bargaining chip now. Let’s. see how your husband behaves when the person he cares most about in the world is our hostage.” 

Stella’s head spun trying to make sense of this nightmare, but one thing she knew, James would probably be able to find her easily. “You’ll never get away with this, not at this hotel. This entire hotel is a trap.” 

The woman’s eyes flashed with unhinged fury. “Nonsense!” She suddenly screeched, spit flying from her mouth as she grabbed a nearby chair in anger 

She had felt it from the moment they were surrounded. It was as though the Greys were ⚫ waiting for them.