"Adrian Holloway, your wife’s in my hands. Get five hundred million ready and wire it to my account. If you don’t, then in twenty-four hours, you can come collect her corpse!"
A rough, overbearing male voice blasted through the phone, making Adrian’s brows knit in irritation.
He had no idea who the caller was. The only reason he even paused was because the call had come from Sophia Ellison’s number.
Then he remembered the cold war between him and Sophia lately. She had been trying every trick in the book to get his attention, desperately making her presence known, all just to make him respond to her.
Honestly, the only reason this call had gone through was because his finger had slipped and he had accidentally hit accept.
"Tell Sophia Ellison this: I don’t care whether she lives or dies. I have zero interest in dealing with her. Tell her to quit pulling this childish nonsense."
His voice was icy, clean-cut, merciless.
The second he finished speaking, Adrian hung up without hesitation and went right back to work, as if none of it mattered.
At that same moment, in a dim warehouse out in the outskirts where even daylight seemed afraid to enter—
Marcus Yanis, face twisted with hostility, glared viciously at Sophia, who had her hands and feet bound tight, trapped and unable to move.
The phone had been on speaker.
So of course, Sophia had heard every single word Adrian said.
A wave of bitterness surged up from the bottom of her heart. The desperate hope that had filled her eyes just moments earlier now felt ridiculous, almost laughable.
Marcus had kidnapped her to extort money from Adrian. Ever since she was dragged here, fear had wrapped around her like ice, and all she could do was pray Adrian would come save her as fast as possible.
But she had never expected that at the edge of life and death, Adrian wouldn’t care about her safety at all.
To him, this was just another one of her little self-directed dramas.
The extortion call had failed. Furious, Marcus hurled the phone into the corner with a violent smash.
Right then, the warehouse door was suddenly shoved open.
Marcus turned his head and looked over.
Two men walked in carrying a huge woven sack, the shape inside clearly that of a person.
Sophia’s gaze was instantly pulled toward it too.
Had Marcus kidnapped someone else as well?
"Boss, we brought the person over!" The two men strode up to Marcus, grinning, their voices buzzing with excitement.
"Nicely done." Seeing his lackeys handle things so efficiently, Marcus gave a highly satisfied nod.
Good thing he had prepared a backup plan.
Otherwise, this whole thing would’ve been a total waste of time.
Marcus Yanis barked an order at his men and had them drag the person out of the sack.
The second the figure inside was fully exposed, Sophia Ellison’s eyes widened on reflex.
Lydia Sinclair!
Even if that woman turned to ash, Sophia would still know her at a glance.
She had to admit it—whenever Lydia was involved, Sophia couldn’t help feeling on edge.
In A City’s upper-class circle, everyone knew Lydia Sinclair was Adrian Holloway’s one true white moonlight.
They’d grown up together, the classic childhood-sweethearts setup, and their engagement had been settled when they were still young. If Adrian hadn’t briefly lost out during the brutal heir selection in the Holloway family, if Lydia’s parents hadn’t forcibly broken off the engagement and shipped her overseas, the title of Mrs. Holloway would never have fallen to Sophia.
And now Lydia was here.
Sophia couldn’t stop her thoughts from spiraling. When had Lydia come back? Had she already seen Adrian? Had Adrian been distant with her for so long because of Lydia?
Lydia had finally been pulled back into the light, and just as she was about to struggle, she noticed Sophia was there too. The panic on her face instantly shifted into cold disdain.
The next second, Marcus Yanis dug a phone out of Lydia’s handbag.
Forcing her to unlock it with her fingerprint, he flipped through the contacts and found Adrian’s number.
Then he glanced at the call log.
Back and forth. Frequent calls. Constant contact.
So the so-called white moonlight really was the real deal.
Marcus let out a smug laugh.
Good thing he’d had the brains not to bet everything on Sophia alone.
He pressed call. The moment it connected, he ripped the tape off Lydia’s mouth and signaled for her to speak.
Lydia had already realized she’d been kidnapped, but she clearly hadn’t expected the kidnappers to call Adrian instead of her parents for ransom.
“Adrian, I’ve been kidnapped! Please, save me!”