CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 128: GRANDMA, ISN’T SOPHIE’S LIFE A LIFE TOO?

"The time left for Mr. Lancaster is running out. Think carefully about which child you want. And don’t even think about calling the police; a life-and-death struggle benefits no one."

With that, the other party hung up the phone.

Damien Lancaster clenched his phone tightly as Seraphina Kennedy’s call came through again as if pressing for his life.

Damien picked up with frustration.

"Damien, those people said they give us twenty-four hours to prepare a hundred million and exchange for a child. They want Sophie. Let’s give them Sophie. Saving Annelise is the priority."

As she was calling him, another call was made to Seraphina Kennedy.

This indicated that the other party had quite a number of people and was very familiar with the Lancaster Family’s situation, knowing that the person who cared most about Annelise Lancaster was Seraphina Kennedy.

Damien Lancaster didn’t respond to Seraphina’s words, which made her anxious, "Damien! Damien Lancaster, did you hear me? You have to save my Annelise. She’s so young; she’d be terrified in the hands of those vicious people."

"And Sophie won’t be scared?" Damien asked in a grim tone.

Seraphina’s voice stopped immediately.

"Annelise is always picked up from school, how could she be kidnapped? What were her protectors doing?"

The Lancaster Family provided Annelise with the best conditions, allowing her to attend the best private schools, where security was top-notch, making abduction on campus impossible.

Even outside school, under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be kidnapped.

Annelise was picked up by a driver, a bodyguard, and a nanny. In broad daylight, who would dare to kidnap her directly?

"They said Annelise insisted on running off on her own, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. It must have been the child’s own curiosity."

Damien Lancaster furrowed his brows.

He couldn’t fathom what the kidnappers’ intentions were.

Moreover, how they knew so much about the Lancaster Family.

If they wanted money, they could use Annelise as leverage to get money.

If it’s a hostage they wanted, having Annelise was enough. Why complicate things by swapping hostages, increasing the risk unnecessarily?

Or was this really aimed at Sophie?

Damien suddenly recalled what Ivy Summers had said last time when Sophie was kidnapped...

It was Rachel Shaw who kidnapped Sophie!

"Damien, give me a clear answer. What should we do? My heart is about to jump out; my Annelise can’t be harmed."

Damien Lancaster hung up the call directly and immediately dialed another number, asking, "Is Rachel Shaw still in the country?"

"Sir, Miss Shaw left the country early this morning."

She left in the morning, but Annelise was taken in the afternoon.

Damien squinted his eyes.

Although there was no direct evidence pointing to Rachel Shaw, he was starting to believe Ivy Summers’ words.

"Uncle, what’s wrong?"

Sophie had come downstairs at some point, her big bright eyes looking at Damien Lancaster.

Damien looked up at Sophie.

Leaving Annelise alone to let her die at the hands of those kidnappers was obviously not an option. He didn’t know their location right now, but if he could lure them out by exchanging a child, maybe it would work.

But...

Sophie would be in danger.

These were a group of desperados! And they were also the ones who had kidnapped Sophie before.

After the last incident, Sophie already had a psychological shadow from them.

Letting Sophie fall into their hands again would be tearing open her old wounds.

Damien Lancaster’s gaze deepened.

Sophie didn’t know why Damien was staring at her without speaking.

But Sophie could see that Damien was very troubled at the moment.

"Uncle Lancaster? Are you troubled by something?"

Damien looked at the small, innocent figure in front of him. She was only five. How could he send her into danger?

Damien harshly criticized himself in his heart for even considering such a thing.

Standing up, Damien took Sophie’s hand to lead her back to her room, "Sophie, it’s time to sleep. You have school tomorrow, and Uncle just met with some difficulties at work."

"Uncle should sleep early too. Mommy says staying up late is bad for your health."

Damien nodded, "Okay."

Sophie walked into her room, and Damien watched her, "Sophie, you don’t want Uncle to tell you a story tonight?"

"Isn’t Uncle busy with work?"

Damien walked in, "No matter how busy I am, I still have time for this."

"Then Uncle can tell a story about Snow White tonight."

"Alright."

Sophie lay back on her small bed, and Damien sat beside her to tell the story.

Over the past few days, Damien had improved a lot, from having no emotion at all to now being able to soften his tone and add some emotion automatically.

These childish stories he could recite backward after reading once, but he would still hold the storybook and patiently tell Sophie the story.

So Sophie had temporarily changed her view of Damien.

Sometimes the bad daddy could be quite nice.

Once Damien finished the story, Sophie had closed her eyes and fallen asleep.

At this moment, there was a "ding" sound.

A message arrived.

It was an anonymous message with a picture.

In the picture, Annelise was no longer bound hand and foot but tied to a pillar. Her wrists had been cut open, with a bucket below collecting her blood.

When the wound clotted, it was cut open again, and again after clotting. This cycle repeated several times, and Annelise wouldn’t last a few more hours.

The methods these people use to torment others are extremely clever. They can make someone conscious enough to feel their blood draining away until they die.

This is not only torture for the child but also for the parents.

No parent can remain indifferent upon seeing such images. Clearly, they have used this method to extort countless families.

Damien Lancaster lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Annelise Lancaster is not his biological daughter, and he has no emotional attachment to her, but since the Lancaster Family adopted her, they are responsible for her. He cannot just stand by and do nothing.

Damien Lancaster glanced at Sophie, who was sound asleep under the blankets, and felt his resolve waver.

He stayed awake all night.

Early in the morning, Seraphina Kennedy rushed over, holding the photos, her eyes red and swollen, clearly from crying all night.

"Damien, think of a way to save Annelise. Even though you don’t acknowledge her, this child at least called you ’Dad’ once; you can’t just watch her die."

"I’m trying to think of a way."

"But we’re out of time; the kidnappers only gave us twenty-four hours, and nine hours have already passed," Seraphina cried out.

"Then what do you want to do?"

Seraphina lifted her head. "Use money and Sophie for the exchange. Let’s save Annelise first, then figure out how to save Sophie. These kidnappers just want more money; we can give it to them."

Hearing this, Damien Lancaster’s demeanor grew even colder.

"This isn’t fair to Sophie. She’s not a child of the Lancaster Family. What right do we have to decide her life and use her for an exchange?"

Seraphina thought to herself, if Sophie were a child of the Lancaster Family, she wouldn’t suggest exchanging her.

With this thought, a bit of guilt surfaced, but it quickly faded. She told herself that using Sophie to exchange for Annelise was just a delaying tactic; once Annelise was safe, they would also rescue Sophie.

Seraphina gritted her teeth and marched upstairs.

Sophie had just woken up and was wearing her little backpack, ready to go downstairs.

Seraphina went up and grabbed her.

Sophie was puzzled, "Grandma Kennedy?"

"Sophie, listen to me, your sister Annelise is in trouble, and you need to save her..."

Before Seraphina could finish, Damien Lancaster cut her off, his voice low, "Mom, she’s just a child."

"But Annelise is also a child, Damien Lancaster. Can you bear to let Annelise face those people alone?"

Damien Lancaster’s face was tense, and he instructed the servant to take Sophie to have breakfast first.

Sophie looked at them, her big eyes full of confusion.

Sophie then saw Seraphina suddenly rush toward the window, pretending to jump out.

Damien Lancaster, usually a man whose emotions were inscrutable, widened his eyes at that moment.

"Damien Lancaster, if anything happens to Annelise, I won’t live either."

Damien Lancaster’s molars clenched tightly.

The servant nearby was also frightened, anxiously looking at Damien Lancaster, "Sir?"

"Take Sophie to have breakfast."

"Miss Sophie, come with me," the servant said, leading Sophie away.

Seeing this tactic fail, Seraphina looked painfully at the cold-blooded Damien Lancaster, "Damien Lancaster, I am your mother. Are you going to just stand there and remain indifferent?"

Damien Lancaster remained silent because he knew Seraphina cared about Annelise, but not enough to actually jump off the building for her.

"Come down, I’ll think of another way. You don’t need to use this method to threaten me; it won’t work."

With that, Damien Lancaster turned and headed downstairs.

Seraphina hurried to catch up.

At that moment, a new message arrived on Damien Lancaster’s phone—it was another video of Annelise being tortured.

This time, they were even more ruthless, leaving Annelise covered in bruises, crying and screaming in pain.

Damien Lancaster’s eyes tightened. He knew this was their threat, a reminder that time was running out.

The servant screamed.

Seraphina, who had also received the video, was so frightened her legs gave out, and she collapsed directly to the floor.

"Sir." At this moment, Julian Jacobs rushed in and shook his head at Damien Lancaster.

Last night, Damien Lancaster had sent Julian Jacobs to investigate, but unfortunately, they came up empty-handed.

Damien Lancaster also understood that even if they discovered the kidnappers’ location, as long as Annelise was in their hands, the initiative was not theirs. He had to comply with their demands.

These kidnappers had committed so many kidnappings without a single failure because no one dared to gamble with a child’s life against the kidnappers’ humanity.

"Sir, given the current situation, Miss Annelise won’t be able to hold on for more than a few hours, and then she might..." Julian Jacobs couldn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood. "Please make a decision soon, sir."

To save, or to use Sophie and money to exchange.

Not to save, and let Annelise die.

Damien Lancaster glanced at Sophie, who was being led to have breakfast by a servant, his gaze growing increasingly gloomy.

The villa fell silent for a brief moment.

Damien Lancaster pressed his lips together tightly. After hesitating for a long time and wrestling with himself, he walked over to Sophie.

Sophie was scooping porridge when she saw Damien Lancaster approach and squat down beside her. She tilted her head and asked, "Uncle, what’s wrong?"

Damien Lancaster struggled to speak, "Sophie, Annelise has been kidnapped..."

"So Uncle is planning to exchange Sophie for Annelise?"

Sophie wasn’t foolish. She had sensed something was off last night, and then Seraphina had just mentioned asking her to save Annelise.

Being only a five-year-old child, how could she possibly save Annelise Lancaster? The only possibility was that they intended to use her to exchange for Annelise.

Having a child see through him like this, Damien Lancaster felt even more guilty.

Seraphina ran over and grabbed Sophie, showing her the video of Annelise being tortured, "Sophie, will you help save your sister Annelise? If you don’t save her, your sister Annelise will die."

Sophie looked at the tearful Seraphina Kennedy and calmly asked her:

"So Grandma Kennedy, does that mean Sophie’s life isn’t a life, too?"