Chapter 950
Richard was about to speak, but Thalassa beat him to it. “Richard, you guys go on ahead. I can catch a cab back home,” she said. She could tell that Charlotte meant the world to Richard. Whenever he looked at Charlotte, his eyes would soften with affection.
When you like someone, it’s impossible to hide the fondness in your gaze.
Thalassa didn’t want to be the reason for any discord between Richard and Charlotte.
With that, she walked to the curb to wait for a ride.
Seeing Charlotte’s outright refusal to let him drive Thalassa home, even threatening to cut ties with him, and Thalassa’s insistence on not being chauffeured by him, Richard gave in. With a mix of exasperation and endearment, he said to Charlotte, “I can never win with you. When will you ever change that stubborn streak of yours?”
“If changed, would I still be Charlotte?” she retorted with a roll of her eyes.
Richard found himself at a loss for words. Yet, he pondered, if Charlotte were to lose that naive, adorably clueless part of her, would she still be the Charlotte he knew?
“Come on, let’s get you home,” Richard said, giving up on the debate about driving Thalassa as he took the lead towards his car. Charlotte glanced back at Thalassa, who was still waiting at the curb, then followed Richard, her heels clicking on the pavement. She had come with Richard’s car today, and the feeling of having someone by her side attentively cater to her every wish, felt incredibly satisfying.
Thalassa stood by the road, watching as Richard drove off with Charlotte, the car disappearing near the café.
She turned her attention back to the stream of taxis, all showing their occupied lights. As Richard had mentioned, it was peak travel time, and hailing a cab was proving difficult.
But Thalassa wasn’t discouraged. She continued to wait, confident that a ride would come eventually.
Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around her waist from behind. Startled, she struggled, but the person’s other hand pressed a cloth over her mouth.
The cloth carried a strange fragrance that quickly invaded her nostrils and filled her lungs. She tried to expel the odd smell but couldn’t.
The stranger was strong, unmistakably a man.
Thalassa attempted to scream for help, but her mouth was sealed shut, her cries muffled.
Fighting with all her might, it only took a few seconds for her body to weaken, her head to grow heavy, and darkness to engulf her vision as she lost consciousness.
When Thalassa came to, she felt dizzy and numb. As her mind slowly sharpened, she recalled the events before she passed out, sending a wave of shock and fear through her. She snapped open her eyes to find a circular chandelier above, surrounded by buzzing mosquitoes and fluttering moths.
She squinted against the light, and then she heard a voice.
“Mr. Brennan, yes, the girl’s been taken care of. It’s your call on what to do next,” a gruff voice said on the phone.
Mr. Brennan? Was it someone from the Brennan family? Was it Daniel Brennan?
The Brennan family had been ruined by Lysander, and as far as she knew, she had nothing to do with it. Why would Daniel have her kidnapped?
Panic-stricken and bewildered, Thalassa tried to get up, planning to escape before anyone else arrived,
But as she moved, she realized her hands and feet were bound, making it impossible to flee. Her mouth was taped shut, silencing any attempt to call out.
“Sure, sure, we’ll do it your way,” the kidnapper continued speaking on the phone, his voice growing closer.
Thalassa saw a tall, slightly overweight man emerge from another-room. He had a phone in his hand, still deep in conversation.