CHAPTER 392: CHAPTER 392: DESTINED TO LOSE TO ETHAN HAWTHORNE

After a round of chaos, Anna Thornton ultimately couldn’t escape.

First of all, she wasn’t planning to escape; venturing out in the wilderness could be more dangerous than staying here.

Secondly, they had no intention of letting her go!

Riley Osborne was just a little girl who was too scared to even hold a knife, something Rooster and the others hadn’t anticipated at first.

But once they realized, they quickly showed what it meant to be part of the underworld.

Spike had a knife to his throat by Riley, but he saw through her, knowing she wouldn’t actually stab him. So he quickly reached for his clothes he’d taken off earlier; his gun was in the pocket of his pants.

"Watch out!"

Anna Thornton warned Riley and moved toward her.

But it was too late, as one of Scrapper’s men launched a sneak attack. Riley’s shoulder was stabbed, and she screamed in pain, losing strength in the hand holding the knife.

Anna Thornton and Riley both quickly went from having the upper hand to falling into Scrapper’s control once more.

This time Scrapper wouldn’t be careless again; the two women were tightly bound together, with no room for any slack.

"I’m sorry, Miss Thornton, it’s my fault you’re in this mess!"

Riley and Anna Thornton were tied back-to-back and couldn’t see each other’s expressions, making communication difficult.

But Anna heard Riley’s voice weakening and guessed her face must be pale. The knife had pierced through her entire shoulder, and Anna could even feel blood flowing uncontrollably from Riley’s wound, soaking both her clothes and Anna’s back.

"Don’t say that. Save your strength and stay conscious. We might still have a chance."

"Miss Thornton, do you think President Sterling will come to save us?" Riley asked.

"Uh..." Anna remembered that when she was captured, Conrad Sterling seemed to be on a business trip.

Before leaving, he even sent a message saying that in the next three days, she could spend more time having meals with Pop and Lola without worrying about interruptions.

Which meant Conrad Sterling would be away for at least three days, and he probably didn’t know about this yet.

So Anna didn’t put her hopes on him at all!

The reason she didn’t hurry to escape was that she was sixty to seventy percent sure the European and American bigshot Scrapper mentioned might be someone she knew.

Even if she guessed wrong, over there nobody would dare to disrespect that person.

That’s what Anna was considering—that staying was a bit safer than running into the wilderness.

However, she didn’t plan to tell Riley this.

Riley had already been stabbed; telling her that her efforts were actually in vain and nearly ruined things would be like stabbing her in the heart a second time.

"Do you believe Conrad will come?" Anna asked Riley.

"I believe!" Riley nodded vigorously.

Riley, in pain and losing blood, was starting to lose focus in her eyes.

But hearing President Sterling’s name, she bit her tongue hard to stay alert.

"Since you believe, then hang on until he comes!"

...

"Boss, what are these two women whispering about?"

"Ignore them!" Scrapper glanced at his watch, putting his shirt back on. "In half an hour, we’re meeting the big boss. Make sure you keep an eye on them, especially the pretty one. Don’t let her escape!"

"As for the other one..." Scrapper pointed at Riley, spitting, "That damn woman dared to hold a knife to my neck. Don’t let anyone stop the bleeding. If she’s still alive when I’m done with business, I’ll slowly finish her off!"

Strangely, Riley wasn’t as scared anymore after hearing Scrapper say that.

She seemed to be learning, like Miss Thornton, to grow stronger in adversity.

Initially, Riley felt she couldn’t escape, and instead had burdened Anna Thornton.

It seemed she was destined to not win against Ethan Hawthorne!

But if she could sacrifice herself to help Miss Thornton escape, wouldn’t that be... doing President Sterling a favor?

Would President Sterling then be more impressed with her?

Riley actually didn’t hope for much. Being in love with such an outstanding yet unreachable person, she just wanted him to occasionally think of her in the future.

But... it seemed she couldn’t wait any longer!

Her consciousness was fading, even biting her tongue until it bled didn’t make her feel pain anymore.

Scrapper suddenly grabbed Riley by the collar, dragging her.

He slapped her hard, menacingly questioning, ’What gun? Where’s the gun?’

Riley was confused. She didn’t understand what he meant.

A gun? She hadn’t taken any gun!

But Scrapper seemed convinced. He was sure he put the gun in his pocket. He’d stripped off his clothes playing poker, and after putting them back on, the gun was missing?

This woman must have grabbed it with the knife! Trying to escape, even with a knife wound piercing her shoulder!

Fine, let’s see if she can escape again!

After dragging Riley to the ground, Scrapper brutally kicked her, iron-hard blows landing on her stomach, face, and the wounded shoulder...

Anna Thornton, tied with Riley, was also dragged to the ground. Struggling to get up, she turned to kick the violent Scrapper. "What kind of man are you? Beating a woman, try coming at me!"

"Miss Thornton... don’t! Miss Thornton mustn’t get hurt..." One of Riley’s eyes was so swollen from Scrapper’s kicks that it wouldn’t open. Gradually losing consciousness and slipping into a coma, Riley kept whispering so only she and Anna could hear, "Miss Thornton getting hurt would make President Sterling upset!"

Anna Thornton: "..."

"Miss Thornton, I’ll tell you a secret... I actually... I like President Sterling!"

"I know! You’re opposing Ethan Hawthorne for his sake, right?"

"Miss Thornton, you’re so smart! You figured it out..."

Please, it’s not that Anna Thornton is smart, Riley just can’t hide her feelings.

Every time she looked at Conrad Sterling with those eyes, admiration was written all over her face.

Let alone Anna Thornton, did she really think Conrad Sterling didn’t notice?

"Conrad Sterling, that bastard, just uses women! So damn despicable!"

"Miss Thornton, even though President Sterling likes you, I won’t let you insult him!"

Anna Thornton: "..."

She was obviously standing up for Riley!

This fool clearly got President Sterling’s attention since her first drugging incident with Ethan Hawthorne.

Did you really think he saved you sincerely, and later encouraged you genuinely?

Riley seemed weak, but deep down she had a determination, a moth-to-a-flame spirit of preferring death to dishonor.

She was actually a pawn that Conrad Sterling had set his eyes on, well-suited for toppling Ethan Hawthorne.