CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: I WAS GONE FOR ONE DAMN MINUTE, AND YOU GOT YOURSELF INTO THIS?

Natalie Vaughn remembered she hadn’t hung up the phone; Phoebe Quinn and Aaron Channing must already be aware of her situation, and she had earlier sent the photos to James Vaughn.

Thinking of this, Natalie frowned; after this is over, James would definitely scold her. She had been too busy lately, her mind dulled, and fell into such a simple trap.

Shawn Lowe heard Natalie’s words and panicked.

"Then guess how long I need to destroy you?"

His words were tough, but Natalie’s demeanor was too confident, causing his hands to tremble as he fumbled with the camera.

Natalie squinted, guessing his intention.

"You want a livestream?"

Shawn’s eyes widened in rage, his emotions spiraling out of control due to Natalie’s composure and intelligence. His voice cracked hoarsely, laughing maniacally.

"Yes, I want the whole country to see you like this. Not only that, but I intend to tear your clothes and ruin you in front of everyone."

Natalie’s lips pressed into a line, clear that the person before her had lost his mind; he would say it, do it. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she saw the time illuminated by the spotlight.

Turns out, it had only been a little over an hour since she got tied up. She must have woken up shortly after arriving here; such a lunatic wouldn’t kindly let her stay unconscious.

An hour...

Natalie lowered her eyes in thought; within an hour, she couldn’t have gone far. As long as she remained in the city, she could be traced via surveillance.

Phoebe had seen this man before and would naturally reach out to Damian Quinn.

With that realization, Natalie sighed in relief.

"There’s a faster way to ruin me."

Shawn was dealing with connecting the camera to the computer; upon hearing this, he merely glared at Natalie.

Natalie smiled faintly.

"Since you want my fans to see me disgraced, use my account to livestream; they’ll notice immediately."

Shawn frowned, clearly skeptical of Natalie.

"You know I have many fans on my account. Time is running out for you; if you start a new stream, are you sure someone will watch?"

"You want to ruin me, but you lack the means, the traffic, the exposure. Are you sure you can destroy me?"

Natalie spoke the harsh truth in the calmest tone.

Shawn hesitated briefly; indeed, he lacked sufficient traffic and exposure.

His brow furrowed, anger flaring, as he approached with the knife pressing against Natalie’s chin.

"Account, password!"

Natalie lifted her head slightly, even managing a small smile.

She said.

"I’ll say it once, so you’d better remember."

Recently released from detention, Shawn hadn’t meticulously planned today’s actions. A person who loses reason is truly concerning.

Upon hearing Natalie’s words, Shawn surprisingly withdrew his hand, picking up the laptop.

"Hurry up! If you try anything funny, I’ll kill you."

Natalie extended her tongue to lick the blood.

"279313017"

Shawn searched these numbers on his phone, confirmed it was Natalie’s account, then logged onto the computer.

"Password!"

Natalie recited another string of numbers.

Upon logging in, Shawn found a mobile verification was required.

"Are you kidding me? I can’t log in at all."

Natalie chuckled.

"Didn’t you take my phone?"

After speaking, Natalie realized the man before her was foolish.

If he had her phone, why not directly log into the streaming room using her device? Why complicate things?

Since delegating her account to Zoe Chandler for management, different device logins would be noticed by them. Now, it was up to Zoe’s acuity.

Shawn turned on the powered-down phone, facing Natalie, only to find the unlock feature failed.

Natalie spoke leisurely.

"I didn’t set up face recognition."

"What’s the password?"

Natalie shifted her hands behind her, smirking slightly.

"Forgot."

Shawn raised his hand and slapped her once more.

"Are you fucking with me? Bitch! You’re stalling for time!"

This slap hurt Natalie’s teeth; this time, she spat the blood onto the ground.

"Don’t you know there’s fingerprint unlock?"

Natalie’s patience wore thin; she couldn’t fathom how such a stupid man dared to kidnap her. Moreover, it infuriated her that she truly was successfully abducted by such an idiot.

It was simply humiliating.

Hearing Natalie’s words, Shawn walked behind her, forcibly pulling on her fingers to unlock the phone. The ropes were so tight that her wrists bled.

"Which finger? Hurry up and tell me!"

Natalie frowned, enduring the pain.

"Right index finger."

When tied up, Natalie’s hands were clenched into fists; Shawn exerted more force to open Natalie’s fingers, the blood from her wrists smeared onto her fingers, making it hard to recognize.

"Damn it!"

Shawn cursed angrily, crudely wiping the blood from Natalie’s fingers with a shirt.

He finally opened the lock.

Shawn grabbed the computer and phone, tried again to send verification for login, but discovered he still couldn’t log in.

At this moment, the blood’s slipperiness allowed Natalie to unravel the ropes. Thankfully, earlier tugs had loosened them slightly.

Shawn erupted in anger, abandoned the idea of using high-definition equipment, directly opened the software with Natalie’s phone intending to start streaming, only to find he lacked permission.

Now, Shawn finally realized he’d been fooled by Natalie.

He flung the phone to the ground, picked up the knife, and charged at Natalie. At that instant, she untied herself.

Raising her hand to block, Shawn suddenly fell to the ground.

Natalie quickly looked up, seeing a tall figure silhouetted against the light ahead; she couldn’t make out his face, but the scent was familiar, her heart raced, jumping to a conclusion.

Zane Thorne saw the swelling on Natalie’s face and the blood at her mouth; his dark eyes sank, stepping on Shawn’s hand again and again, each time heavier, mercilessly, like crushing his hand bones.

Painful screams echoed all around, Natalie’s eyes fixed on the man before her.

She swallowed, tasting her own blood.

Wasn’t he supposed to be in Altara?

When did he return?

Zane rarely showed aggression, yet Natalie felt incredibly warm and secure.

She didn’t know how Zane found out she’d been kidnapped, nor how he was the first to arrive. But at this moment, she was indeed joyful.

"You’re back?"

Upon hearing Natalie’s voice, the violent man finally stopped, turning to see the woman untied her hands, but her legs were still bound to the chair.

Zane pressed his tongue against his cheek, crouching down before Natalie, freeing her feet.

"I was barely gone, and you got yourself into this mess?"

Nobody would understand the feelings upon receiving Felix Langdon’s call just after landing at the airport.

He didn’t either.

Shock, confusion, mixed with some unease.

An idea spun in his mind.

Upon finding the bold, sassy girl in front of him, he certainly intended to give her a proper scolding.

How could the lively girl with him end up being kidnapped?