Free Web NovelChapter 235: Chapter 238: I Want to Escape
Charlotte Shaw and Willow Quincy’s first conversation ended on an extremely unpleasant note.
She had given Willow Quincy a piece of her mind, and he had gone downstairs in silence, leaving her alone in the room.
She sat on the edge of the bed, replaying everything Willow Quincy had said. Once she finished, she found herself accepting the absurd truth about her background and the reality of her imprisonment.
Although she had long known Willow Quincy had feelings for her, she never imagined he would imprison her.
She lowered her head, staring blankly at the floor. Her mind reeled for a long time before her awareness and rationality began to slowly return.
’Actually, Willow Quincy was right about one thing. I do have many vulnerabilities now.’ But these vulnerabilities weren’t burdens; they were the very source of her conviction to fight back against him.
’Willow Quincy won’t be able to keep me imprisoned. I will walk out of here completely unscathed.’
With that thought, Charlotte Shaw rallied her spirits and began to survey the villa.
The villa looked like it had been recently renovated; there were few signs of anyone living there. Everything Charlotte saw was brand-new, even the floors were so pristine she felt hesitant to walk on them.
She got up from the bed and walked straight to the balcony off the living room. It was spacious, and from there, she had a clear view of the scenery outside the villa.
A snow-dusted forest, a sapphire-blue lake, a frost-covered meadow. And that was it.
It didn’t look like the city, nor did it resemble a suburban retirement community. It was more like a secluded, private mountain estate.
Estates like this were common in Aethelburg, but judging by the amount of snow, Charlotte Shaw’s gut told her this wasn’t Aethelburg.
Aethelburg was located far to the north; come winter, even the city proper would be covered in a thick layer of snow, to say nothing of a mountain estate at a higher elevation.
But at the estate before her, not only was the snow thin on the ground, but it also felt much warmer than Aethelburg. She was certain of it: this was definitely not Aethelburg, but rather a neighboring city or county to its south.
It was now the next morning, about fifteen hours since her disappearance. Charlotte Shaw had been abducted around seven o’clock the previous night. At the time, Uncle Young was just outside the alley making a phone call. If nothing had gone wrong, he should have discovered she was missing within five minutes and immediately called Jackson Shaw and Felix Preston.
Jackson Shaw had already lost his daughter once; with Charlotte gone again, he would have reported it to the police immediately. He was well-connected in Aethelburg, and the officers he could contact were at the city level, at minimum.
Officers of that rank had significant authority. As soon as her disappearance was confirmed, they would employ various methods to conduct a city-wide search. The most straightforward approach would be to block major intersections and inspect every suspicious vehicle leaving the city.
And yet, under those circumstances, Willow Quincy had still managed to spirit her out of Aethelburg and bring her all the way to this estate without anyone noticing... ’How did he evade the search?’
Charlotte also vaguely remembered a fork to the right in the alley she had entered yesterday, which connected to another narrow lane. Willow Quincy had knocked her out before taking her, so he must have retreated through that other lane.
There were several security cameras in the alley. As long as the police determined the time of her disappearance and Willow Quincy’s escape route, it would be easy to identify the vehicle he used and trace it back to him.
Besides, Willow Quincy had a strong motive.
’If even I can figure out this simple line of reasoning, then the police in charge of the case should have no problem. As long as they’re thinking straight, Willow Quincy should be their prime suspect. So why, after more than fifteen hours, is he still completely fine? He’s even in the mood to be leisurely holding a video conference downstairs.’
’What on earth did he do to avoid the police’s suspicion?’
Charlotte Shaw frowned, completely baffled.
After racking her brain to no avail, she set the question aside for the time being. She turned, went back into the room, and began searching for anything she could use to contact the outside world.
Willow Quincy had hidden her phone and purse. Apart from the clothes on her back, all she had left were the Gold Bracelet from Mrs. Preston and the wedding ring from Felix Preston.
Thinking of the wedding ring, she instinctively reached for her ring finger, only to feel a bare knuckle.
"...My wedding ring?" A jolt of shock went through her, and she quickly looked down at her right hand.
But there was nothing there. Just five bare fingers.
Her wedding ring was gone.
She instinctively glanced at her left wrist. The Gold Bracelet was gone too.
"...Willow Quincy!!"
She didn’t even have to think to know who had taken her wedding ring and bracelet.
Rage instantly shot to her head. Clenching her fists, she stormed out of the room, only to collide with Willow Quincy at the top of the stairs, who had apparently heard her shout and come to investigate.
"Willow Quincy, where are my ring and my bracelet?!" she demanded, grabbing him by the collar.
Willow Quincy lowered his gaze to look at her, a faint, unreadable smile playing on his sharp, cold features.
"What the hell are you smiling at!" Charlotte had no patience for his games and snapped, "Where are my wedding ring and bracelet? Where did you hide them?"
Willow Quincy raised an eyebrow, his gaze, which could almost be described as tender, tracing the lines of Charlotte’s face. "Those ugly, tacky, useless things? I already threw them away for you. If you like rings and bracelets, I can take you to buy better ones."
"...You threw them away?" Charlotte stared at him in disbelief. "You threw them away?"
"Yep, threw them out," Willow Quincy said airily. "You’re not Felix Preston’s wife anymore, so of course I had to get rid of everything the Preston Family gave you—"
SLAP!
His answer was a hard, hateful slap from Charlotte.
He wasn’t angry, nor was he hurt. He seemed only to be worried about Charlotte’s hand.
He took her hand in his, his tone resigned. "Sonia, your hands are for drawing your designs. You can’t be impulsive and hurt yourself."
"If you’re still too angry and need to hit me, then just hit me with something else."
"...Give me back my ring and my bracelet." Charlotte didn’t want to hear his nonsense. She just held out her hand, demanding what was hers.
"I can’t," Willow Quincy said, his lips curling into a gentle, lingering smile. "I told you, I threw them away. I can’t give them back."
Charlotte shot back, "Then go find them. The great Mr. Quincy is so resourceful; finding two little pieces of jewelry shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?"
Willow Quincy: "Of course it’s a problem. First, I just tossed them aside casually, so I paid no attention to where they landed. Second, even if I did know where they were, I have no desire to go pick them up."
"Trash belongs in a trash heap. It shouldn’t be flaunted in front of me."
