third person's POV
Facing Melinda's craziness, the person on the other end of the phone sneered, "We kidnapped the wife of the Todd family, Cliff's wife. The ransom we can get is way more than what you paid us to kill someone. And thanks for giving us the address, otherwise we really couldn't have found Cliff's place!"
Melinda's face turned pale.
The man on the other end of the phone said again, "But don't worry, as long as Cliff pays the ransom, we'll help you take care of the problem; if he doesn't, we'll still take care of it, it's just a matter of time."
"You guys couldn't do this! I contacted Cliff, he would definitely try everything to find out who you were, and then I would be exposed!"
Melinda knew Cliff's tricks—it was no trouble at all for him to find out who these kidnappers were, and when he followed the trail, he'd definitely end up coming after her!
Even if Vanya was dead, her dream of marrying into a rich family was completely over!
"This had nothing to do with us. We just did the job for the money and made some extra on the side." The voice on the other end of the phone got colder.
"How could you do this! How could you!" Melinda screamed hysterically, but the call was already hung up.
She was shaking all over—It's over, all over!
"Melinda, w-what's going on? What do we do now?" Belinda freaked out too.
Melinda glared at her with red eyes, "What kind of person did you find? So disobedient!"
"Melinda, don't freak out. Vanya was gonna die sooner or later anyway. As long as Cliff didn't find out it was you, you'd be fine, right?"
"You were dreaming!" Melinda gritted her teeth, "The longer it drags on, the more trouble there'll be. Just those three? How could they ever threaten Cliff? By then, Vanya will be fine, but they'll get caught by Cliff first and rat us out!"
Those people were desperados. They would do anything for money. There was no guarantee they wouldn't sell her out to save themselves.
No, she had to find a way to kill Vanya to get rid of future trouble!
Thinking of this, Melinda rushed out right away.
Meanwhile, Vanya slowly woke up.
She opened her eyes and looked around—the place was full of junk, and her body was swaying a little.
Is this... the cabin?
"What if what that woman said was true, and Cliff really had that ability, what would we do?"
"Once we got the money, the emperor was far away, who could find us?"
"Yeah, true."
A few men were talking.
From their voices, they sounded like they had snuck in from overseas, and the knives in their hands were all controlled weapons that you just couldn't get in LA.
Vanya frowned and forced herself to calm down.
The "woman" they talked about, was it Guinevere?
Impossible.
Guinevere's self-staged kidnapping was so lame, how could she ever find people like that? These three were obviously desperados.
"Boss, he's awake," a man shouted.
Vanya didn't plan to keep pretending to be unconscious—who knew what would happen if she kept it up.
The boss in front heard what the third guy said, walked up to Vanya with a knife, and reached out to rip the tape off her mouth.
Vanya neither shouted nor screamed, and the oldest was a bit surprised.
Usually, the people they kidnapped would wake up and start yelling help, but this woman wasn't scared at all—there was no fear on her face.
"Cliff's woman really was something else." The boss reached out and pinched Vanya's chin, looking her over. "This face is really pretty."
"You didn't have to scare me, before you got the ransom, you guys wouldn't dare touch me."
These three guys were obviously professional kidnappers, and people in this business all had their own rules.
The boss really let go of her and said, "But someone paid for your life. As soon as Cliff's money arrives, we'll kill you right away. You're dead sooner or later anyway, so the three of us might as well have some fun with you. It's no loss for us."
Vanya listened to what he said and laughed.
Not seeing the fear on the woman's face, the boss was obviously unhappy: "What are you laughing at?"
"I laughed at you for being too naive."
Vanya said, "Who is Cliff? Who am I? Can you guarantee you'll get the money and get away safely by boat? No way. If you mess with me and end up in Cliff's hands one day, I don't need to tell you what'll happen, right?"
The three of them looked at each other, like they were thinking.
Vanya said again, "I'm not good at much, but I've got a fiery temper. If you dare touch me, I'll find a way to kill myself. If you want ransom from Cliff, you have to let him know I'm safe first. If he finds out I'm dead, what do you think will happen to you?"
"Fine, you got me!"
The boss stepped aside, "Anyway, you'll die at our hands sooner or later, so we'll let you act tough for now. Once we get the money..."
"Took the money, you guys probably wanted to kill me, sail away overseas while Cliff was still shocked, am I right?"
Vanya's words made the three of them shut up right away—that was exactly their original plan.
Vanya smiled and said, "You guys kidnapped me just for money, and money's easy to talk about. But not everyone dares to take money from Cliff. I admire your courage. Actually, we could make a deal."
"What deal?"
"A win-win deal—made sure you guys got the money, made sure you could report back to your boss after I died, and I'd even give you some extra money afterwards."
The three of them looked at each other, confused.
Vanya looked at them, the corners of her mouth slightly curling up.