Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 138: Chapter 138: Punishment

Just as the sky turned completely dark, a torrential downpour began, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

BOOM—a startling clap of thunder.

Nina Halloway was startled awake. She snapped her eyes open to find herself in a dimly lit room.

She was tied to a chair. Across from her, just a few steps away, was another person, also tied to a chair. Judging by their build, it was a man.

The man’s head was covered with a black sack, his identity unknown.

Looking around, she saw an old-fashioned light bulb glowing overhead. Besides the two chairs they were tied to, there was nothing else. All four sides were concrete walls with no windows, only a tightly sealed iron door. It looked like a basement.

She struggled against the ropes on her arms. They were tied too tightly; the coarse hemp bit painfully into her flesh as she moved.

"Is anyone there?"

she called out.

Her trembling voice echoed in the empty basement.

She tried to calm herself down. Looking at the man across from her, whose head was lolling to one side, still unconscious, Nina Halloway recalled what happened before she was captured. Ethan Austin had carried her to the garage. She had actually been awake then but was too sleepy to struggle, so she just continued to doze on his sturdy shoulders.

He put her in the car and locked the doors. She didn’t hear Ethan Austin get in. Then, in her sleepy haze, the rear passenger window was suddenly shattered.

She jolted awake, and the first thing she saw was a person dressed in all black, wearing a terrifying mask. They had shattered the window, opened the door, and were leaning into the car.

She fought back with all her might, but it was useless. The person was tall, and the difference in strength was too great. The masked man knocked her out with a prepared handkerchief.

The next time she woke up, she was in this basement. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been unconscious, but she could faintly hear the PITTER-PATTER of rain and the occasional rumble of thunder.

"Hey! Wake up!"

She tried to wake the man across from her.

After she’d been calling for several minutes, the man finally stirred.

Realizing he was tied up, the man began to panic, struggling frantically. But the metal legs of the two chairs were welded to the concrete floor and couldn’t be moved, and the hemp ropes around his body were too tight to break free from.

"Mphh... Mphh..."

The man’s mouth was gagged, and he could only make muffled sounds.

Nina Halloway wanted to talk to him about their situation, to ask who he was and why he’d been kidnapped, but the man was extremely agitated and kept struggling.

"Sir, please calm down."

"It’s just the two of us here. You’re not the only one tied up; I am too. Don’t panic. Let’s try to figure out what’s going on."

Nina Halloway did her best to soothe the man’s emotions.

Hearing her voice, his struggles gradually subsided.

"Can you tell who I am?" Nina asked.

The man nodded.

"I’m Nina Halloway. Do you know me?"

The man nodded again.

’Good.’

Now she could be sure that the man tied up with her knew who she was.

"Do you know me from TV, or do you know me in real life? If it’s in real life, nod. If not, shake your head."

The man nodded.

"Do I know you?"

The man still nodded.

"So, we’ve worked together?"

The man began nodding frantically, growing agitated again and making muffled sounds.

The noise was giving Nina Halloway a headache. She wanted him to be quiet, but he was yelling and desperately trying to break free from the hemp ropes.

With the black sack over his head, he couldn’t see Nina Halloway, but she could see him clearly.

She saw that he was wearing a thin long-sleeved T-shirt and casual pants. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and the ropes binding his arms had already broken his skin from the force of his struggles, drawing blood.

"Sir, your arms are bleeding. Stop struggling, you should save your strength..."

she advised kindly.

Instead of diminishing, the man’s struggles only grew more frantic.

Seeing his forearms stained with a considerable amount of blood, Nina Halloway helplessly looked away, not daring to watch any longer.

"Mphh, mphh, mphh..."

The man kept letting out muffled howls.

Nina Halloway frowned, wanting to persuade him to quiet down, but her voice was drowned out by his guttural roars. Helpless, she could only ignore him and let him scream and hurt himself.

An unknown amount of time passed before the man, having exhausted his strength struggling, finally fell silent.

It was then that the sound of a key turning in a lock came from the iron door.

Nina Halloway’s eyes widened as she stared at the iron door.

CREAK—

The door was pushed open.

A tall man dressed in black pants and a black shirt, wearing a terrifying mask, walked in.

It was her kidnapper.

The man wore black gloves and held a dagger. Its brightly polished blade glinted coldly under the light.

Nina Halloway couldn’t help but shiver.

"So, you’re both awake?"

The man spoke. It wasn’t a normal voice; he was using a voice changer.

The mask on his face was a skull. Only a pair of pitch-black eyes were visible, but because of the dim yellow light and the way the mask’s prominent brow bone cast a shadow over them, Nina Halloway couldn’t determine the man’s actual eye color.

She watched the masked man warily, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"What do you want?"

"Money?"

"I have money. I can give you however much you want. Just don’t hurt me."

The masked man stared at her for a moment, then ignored her. He walked over to the man across from her and pulled the black sack off his head.

The sudden light made the man squint.

Nina Halloway stared at his face and realized he had once worked on her film set. He was a Wireman, responsible for directly operating the wire-rigging equipment—including pulling the ropes by hand and controlling the pulleys—to ensure the actors’ movements in the air were safe and precise.

Nina Halloway had only done wire-work a few times. The last time, there was an accident. She fell from a great height, and her lower back struck a sharp metal object, leaving a long gash. She had nearly injured her spine and been paralyzed.

Fortunately, she was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment...

And the man tied to the chair before her was none other than the Wireman who had been operating the rigging equipment during that accident.

"Remember him?"

The masked man turned to ask her.

"Sean Wright?"

She stated the Wireman’s name correctly. The masked man nodded in satisfaction. "That’s right. Sean Wright."

"Why did you kidnap us?"

The masked man let out a low chuckle and reached out to ruffle Nina Halloway’s hair. "Sweetheart, Sean Wright’s mistake left that long scar on your body. We have to punish him."

"?"

After the incident, Sean Wright was fired by the production team and had paid compensation.

Although Nina Halloway’s injuries had been serious, that Chapter had closed five years ago. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"My beautiful sweetheart, how could you be left with a scar? It’s all that damned Sean Wright’s fault. Sweetheart, tell me, how should we punish him?" The masked man’s tone grew increasingly deranged.

Nina Halloway shook her head. "N-No, that’s not necessary. He’s already paid compensation."

"How could mere compensation be enough? The scar is branded on you, impossible to remove. It’s a wound for life."

"Really, it’s not necessary."

"You’re too soft-hearted. In that case, I’ll decide for you."

The masked man toyed with the dagger in his hand, his gaze turning coldly to Sean Wright. In one swift motion, he raised the knife and plunged it viciously into Sean Wright’s thigh.