Free Web NovelChapter 139: Chapter 139: Scared to Tears
"Ngh—"
Sean Wright cried out in pain.
The leg that had been stabbed by the dagger was trembling uncontrollably.
The scene horrified Nina Halloway, and the color drained from her small, palm-sized face in an instant.
As the masked man pulled out the dagger and viciously stabbed it into Sean Wright’s other thigh, Nina Halloway finally found her voice. "Stop!"
The masked man glanced sideways at her, but still plunged the dagger into Sean Wright’s leg.
SQUELCH—
The blade sank into flesh and muscle.
Sean Wright howled once more.
He broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. His eyes were bloodshot and wide as he struggled violently, his body convulsing in the chair.
"If I recall correctly, the scar on my babe is twenty centimeters long. So how about I stab Sean Wright twenty times?"
The masked man paid no mind to the blood pouring from Sean Wright. He pulled out the dagger and began stabbing him repeatedly, counting aloud.
"Three, four, five..."
Nina Halloway was completely terrified, frozen in place.
There was nothing she could do but watch helplessly as the masked man’s hand rose and fell, the blade plunging into Sean Wright’s body again and again.
In the blink of an eye, the man’s white shirt was dyed red with blood.
"Eighteen, nineteen..."
The masked man counted to nineteen as he drove the knife into Sean Wright’s chest.
"Just one more to go."
He looked over at the terrified Nina Halloway and saw her red-rimmed eyes, chattering teeth, and tear-streaked face. She was crying from fear. He smiled. "Don’t be scared, babe. I’ll put him out of his misery right now."
As he finished speaking, he plunged the knife into Sean Wright’s neck...
Blood began to spray. Even from several steps away, when the masked man pulled the dagger out, blood splattered onto Nina Halloway’s face.
Her vision went black, and she fainted from sheer terror.
...
「Eleven o’clock that night.」
The wind and rain had subsided.
Alaric Blackwood met with Preston Chase and received the initial batch of information he’d gathered. When he returned to Maplewood Estate, before he could even open the file, he realized Sophie Shaw wasn’t back yet.
His heart sank, and he immediately pulled out his phone to call Sophie’s number.
When he learned she was at The Metropolis, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I’ll come get you."
"No need, I drove."
"I should still come get you."
He remembered how thugs had blocked her car on the road before. Now, with Nina Halloway kidnapped, he didn’t dare let Sophie drive back alone. ’What if something happened on the way...’
He hailed a taxi on his phone and rushed to The Metropolis.
Seeing him, Sophie asked anxiously, "Have the police heard anything about your sister?"
"They’ve locked onto a very suspicious vehicle. It has a fake license plate. They’re tracking its movements now."
Alaric Blackwood’s expression was grave. After speaking, his cold gaze fell on Ethan Austin.
Ever since returning from the film studio, Ethan had been sitting on the sofa, head in his hands, blaming himself.
Afraid Alaric would blame him, and even more afraid Alaric would get violent, Sophie whispered, "He already feels terrible. Don’t hit him."
"He didn’t do his job. He deserves it if I do."
Alaric walked straight past Sophie and stood before Ethan.
"I hired you as a personal bodyguard. You’re supposed to stay with the person you’re protecting at all times, without fail. This was your failure." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Faced with Alaric’s accusation, Ethan was unusually silent.
’It really is my fault.’
’I should have stayed in the car with Nina Halloway...’
"If anything happens to my sister, I won’t let you off the hook."
After delivering the harsh threat, Alaric pulled Sophie away.
The door slammed shut with a deafening CRACK.
Anne’s heart skipped three beats.
She looked at the distraught Ethan, feeling a deep sense of unease. "I told you to apply to be Nina’s bodyguard because I thought you were reliable, a good fighter, and highly capable. But from the very beginning, you never took this job seriously. You’ve been slacking off the whole time."
Ethan listened quietly, not refuting her.
"If Nina comes back safely this time, I hope you’ll fix your attitude and never let something like this happen again. If something does happen to her, as her personal bodyguard, you are definitely responsible."
Even though Ethan was her own brother, she couldn’t completely side with him. She even blamed herself a little. She had been blinded by the money and insisted on recommending her brother to Nina Halloway.
"Just pray she’s all right."
With that, Anne stood up and returned to her room.
While she was silently praying for Nina, Sophie got into the car with Alaric.
On the way back, Alaric drove.
Sophie sat in the passenger seat, looking at the man’s serious face, his brows knitted in silence. She wanted to ask if he had eaten dinner, but the words died on her lips, and she held her tongue.
With Nina Halloway kidnapped, who could have any appetite? She was still starving herself.
When they returned to Maplewood Estate, as she was changing her shoes in the entryway, she saw Alaric walk to the living room, sit on the sofa, and pick up a manila folder lying on the coffee table.
He took out the documents inside and began to read through them silently. She walked over and tilted her head to peek at the contents.
It was a personnel file.
The name on it was Leon Grant. There was a photo in the file; the man had delicate features, almond-shaped eyes, and a somewhat androgynous appearance.
Alaric read the file carefully. He saw that Leon Grant had returned to the country six months ago, and the first thing he did was debut as an actor. Moreover, the first show he was cast in was a drama starring Nina Halloway.
However, that collaboration had not gone well. After just a few days on set, Leon Grant had bailed. He had a major falling-out with his management agency, announced his retirement from the entertainment industry, and the male lead for that drama had to be recast.
After that, Leon Grant opened a bar—The Eighth Day Bar. He didn’t seem to do much of anything serious. He was either drinking at his bar or frequenting nightclubs to pick up women.
Alaric finished reading the file. He noted that during the time of Nina Halloway’s abduction, Leon Grant was at his bar, with surveillance footage to prove it. It seemed he had no opportunity to commit the crime, but Alaric still suspected him.
Having been high school classmates for three years, Alaric knew full well how infatuated Leon was with Nina Halloway.
After his confession was rejected, Leon Grant fled abroad. He returned after ’healing his wounds’ and tried to get close to Nina again, only to be berated by her for his unprofessionalism and inability to act. So, he ran off again.
On the surface, he was always chasing women and was never without a girl by his side, but in Alaric’s view, this was very likely a facade.
’If Leon Grant wanted to kidnap someone, he wouldn’t need to do it himself. A single phone call to arrange for a few men would be all it takes.’
"You suspect Leon Grant?"
At her words, Alaric looked up, his gaze meeting Sophie’s bright, dark eyes.
The woman sat down beside him and took the file from his hands to look through it. "What’s this person’s connection to your sister?"
"A suitor."
’The kind that’s as persistent as a cockroach.’ freewёbnoνel.com
"You think he’s the one who kidnapped your sister?"
"It’s a gut feeling. Not necessarily accurate."
...
「Meanwhile.」
In a dim basement.
Nina Halloway awoke from her faint.
Opening her eyes, she saw two tall men dressed in black shirts and pants. They were of similar build, and both wore skull masks.
The two of them were untying the ropes that bound Sean Wright.
By this point, Sean Wright showed no signs of life. He was covered in blood.
The two masked men wrapped Sean Wright in a large black bag and, in perfect sync, carried the body out.
Just as the body was taken away, another masked man entered carrying cleaning supplies.
The masked man silently cleaned up the bloodstains Sean Wright had left behind. From start to finish, he never once acknowledged Nina Halloway, as if she were invisible.
With so many masked people suddenly appearing, Nina Halloway was suddenly unsure if the man who had kidnapped her was the same one who had stabbed Sean Wright to death.
