CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 176: UNDERLYING CURRENTS, A PLANNED KIDNAPPING

Pain!

Holly was jolted awake, her eyelids heavy and unliftable, as if a needle was stabbing into her temple.

She should be in a car.

Every bump of the vehicle intensified her pain, her head drowsy, feeling like it was about to explode.

She struggled to open her eyes, but everything was pitch dark in front of her, and an acrid smell lingered in her nostrils.

Her eyes were covered with a black cloth like an eye mask, and her wrists were burning with pain.

Where is this place?

Were they after Blake Sinclair or her?

The car kept moving forward, occasionally there was the sound of honking, it seemed they were still in the city.

She tried to wiggle her fingers, but the rope immediately embedded into her skin, causing her wrists to ache fiercely.

"Don’t waste your energy."

An older man’s hoarse voice interrupted her, "Behave yourself, when you arrive, someone will untie you, and you can suffer less."

Holly forced herself to calm down, but the fear in her heart made her voice tremble a bit. "Brother, do you have the wrong person?"

She had sent a message to Blake Sinclair before getting into the car, he should soon discover her disappearance.

She must stall for time.

Holly softened her tone, trying to please, "Brother, I know you want money. You must know Sinclair Group!

I am Blake Sinclair’s wife, how much money do you want, I can have him send it to you right away. One million? Five million? Ten million? As long as you let me go, I promise not to call the police, and there’ll be no pursuit."

A mocking snicker came from beside her, it was from a younger voice, playful and unconcerned: "Missy, do you believe your own words? If it was about money, we would have directly talked to President Sinclair, kidnapping you, a pampered lady, is way more troublesome."

It’s not about the money? Then what is it about?

She suppressed her panic, settled for the next best thing, and pleaded again, "Then could you take off my blindfold, please? It’s all dark, and I’m a little scared. If I get carsick and throw up in your car, it won’t be good."

"Do you think we’re stupid?"

The owner of the young voice seemed to find her suggestion ridiculous, "If we take off the blindfold, wouldn’t you see what we look like? Even if we let you go then, you turn around and describe us to the police, and we’re done for. Stay put, we’re almost there."

Almost there?

What does that mean?

Just then, the car suddenly came to a stop.

The inertia threw Holly forward, her forehead hitting the back of the front seat’s headrest.

She inhaled sharply from the pain.

But before she had a moment to recover.

The car door was opened, and a rough hand grabbed her arm, pulling her straight out of the vehicle.

The evening wind, with its chilly breeze, blew on her face, bringing her consciousness back a little.

Holly was dragged along for a few steps.

Somewhere along the way, one of the high heels she wore when she left dropped off, and the remaining one hung loosely on her foot, finally being deemed a nuisance and kicked off, disappearing completely.

She walked barefoot, the ground underneath filled with gravel, making her feet ache painfully.

The next second, she was ruthlessly thrown into another car, her head hitting against the opposite car door.

"Goodbye, pampered Mrs. Sinclair," accompanied by the young man’s voice, the car door was also shut.

The car fell into a dead silence, with unknown fear surrounding her.

The strong smell of gasoline mixed with the musty odor of old leather in the car rushed into her nostrils, making her stomach churn.

"Brother?"

Holly tried to speak again, her voice carrying a slight tremor, "Where on earth are you taking me? How much did the person instructing you pay you? I’ll double it, triple it! As long as you let me go now, I can call Blake Sinclair and have him transfer the money to your account right away!"

She could hear her own echo, but received no response.

Holly’s heart sank to the bottom.

Just when she thought the other party would remain silent, a familiar female voice suddenly came from the front seat.

Light and fluttering, yet instantly piercing through her heart: "Holly."

Holly froze, instinctively shrinking back, her back pressing tightly against the seatback.

This voice...

How could it be her?

And before she could react, suddenly a bright light appeared before her eyes.

The blindfold was yanked off roughly, and the glaring light made her instinctively close her eyes, the rims of her eyes stinging as tears fell.

She slowly adapted to the light, and when she opened her eyes, she met a pair of eyes filled with venomous madness.

Mia Chapelle.

Mia was wearing a black mask, only revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes, staring intently at her.

Seeing Holly’s terrified and fearful appearance, her lips twisted into a crooked, cold smile.

"Mia? How can it be you?" Holly’s voice was somewhat hoarse.

But Mia Chapelle didn’t answer.

She casually threw the torn-off eye mask onto the passenger seat and started the car.

The engine roared to life, and the car felt even more jarring.

Holly Crowe’s first reaction was to open the car door, but finding the handle, she realized the doors were locked, and the windows couldn’t be rolled down.

She quickly scanned the car interior.

It was a very rundown van, with seat backs so worn that the stuffing was exposed.

The van was stuffy and hot, with no ventilation.

Moreover, there was a heavy smell of gasoline inside the van.

The gasoline smell, mixed with the perfume on Mia Chapelle, made her stomach more uncomfortable.

Her head was also spinning intensely.

Her wrists were still bound, the rope cutting into her flesh till they felt numb.

She struggled to calm her emotions and looked outside to determine where they might be.

The van had already driven onto the bridge, the distant water surface shimmering with ripples.

The setting sun was slowly sinking, the sky painted a brilliant orange-red, like a blazing fire.

Is this the Riverbend Bridge leading out of the third ring road?

"Mia Chapelle! What exactly are you trying to do?"

Holly Crowe’s voice trembled as she tried to communicate, "Stop the car, we can talk!"

But Mia Chapelle seemed agitated by her voice.

She suddenly slapped the steering wheel twice, and the horn blared.

"Don’t talk to me!"

She screamed, the red streaks in her eyes even more prominent, "I don’t want to hear your voice, and I don’t want to see your face!"

Her emotions had spiraled out of control, and her hands trembled on the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve erratically.

"Ah!"

Holly Crowe was violently flung to the other side due to inertia, her head crashing into the car door, intensifying her dizziness.

Struggling to sit up, Mia Chapelle once again jerked the steering wheel to the other side, causing her to be slammed onto the seat again.

Vertigo and searing pain attacked repeatedly.

It felt as if Mia Chapelle was intentionally tormenting her, every time she managed to sit up, Mia would sharply turn the wheel to the opposite side.

Drivers in the adjacent lanes rolled down their windows, shouting expletives, "Can you even drive? If you want to die, don’t drag others with you!"

Mia Chapelle acted as if she hadn’t heard, continuing to wildly turn the wheel, the car accelerating, the speedometer needle nearing one hundred and twenty.

Cars on the bridge quickly swerved aside, the cacophony of horns rising and falling.

"Mia Chapelle, calm down! This is too dangerous."

Holly Crowe reined in her discomfort, softening her tone.

She knew that Mia’s mental state was highly abnormal, but she had to stabilize her; otherwise, both of them might perish on this bridge.

"We can talk this out, what do you really want? I can help you."

"Calm down? Hahahahah."

"What do I want? Hahahahah."

Mia Chapelle suddenly laughed grimly, her voice sharp and jarring.

"Can you give me what I want? I want Daniel Alden back, I want my child back, I want Zion Pence to love me like he used to, can you give me that?"

She gripped the steering wheel with one hand, violently tearing off the mask on her face with the other.

Holly Crowe glanced over, her heart instantly tightened.

Mia Chapelle’s lower face was covered in red, swollen scars, some areas even beginning to fester, yellow pus trickling down her chin, nauseating.

The intense visual shock combined with the suffocating air inside the car pushed Holly’s discomfort to its peak.

She couldn’t help but gag but was afraid of provoking Mia, so she bit her lip hard, suppressing any sound.

Her teeth broke the skin of her lips, and the taste of blood spread throughout her mouth.

Chills surged up Holly Crowe’s spine.

"After the last surgery, I was supposed to become you. Why, why did it fail!"

Mia Chapelle’s voice was tearful, mixed with obsessive insanity.

"I was so close to having a face just like yours, and then Zion Pence would change his mind, everyone would love me, but why did it fail, Holly? You tell me, why!"

Her voice was piercingly desperate.

She suddenly slammed the accelerator, the van veering off the bridge, heading towards the narrow dirt path beside the fields.

The tires churned the muddy paths between the fields, flinging dirt onto the windows.

Finally, the vehicle came to a halt on an open space by the riverbank.