Heather elegantly boarded the cab without even casting the poor man a glance, so he had nobody but himself to blame for messing with her tonight. She opened the window wide and the night breeze brushed her face; she even asked the driver to drive faster as she liked to listen to the sound of the breeze and feel the cold wind on her face.
Clutching her phone in her hand, she gazed out of the window, her eyes revealing the hint of coldness in her character—a coldness that resembled the night sky tonight.
The other phone in her handbag suddenly rang at this untimely moment. The sound attracted her gaze and she opened her handbag to fish out her phone. Upon seeing the strange number on the screen, Heather hesitated if she should pick up the call.
In the end, she did not do so. She dared not answer calls from people that she did not know to avoid trouble. Nonetheless, the person on the other end of the line was rather persistent. Upon seeing the call with the same strange number coming in again, she felt a headache coming on.
The constant ringing of the phone annoyed her, causing her to think if she should block this number. Therefore, after much hesitation, she finally made up her mind and blocked the number right before she exited the cab.
When she thought that the noise would end just like this, another call with a different strange number came in, ending the peace that her ears had gained for barely a few seconds and giving her the impulse to throw the phone away.
This time, Heather finally confirmed that the other person was clearly toying with her. Knowing that blocking the number again would be of no use, she picked up the call.
When the call went through, she kept quiet but the other person did the same. Yet, she didn’t hang up the call because she believed that the person on the other end of the line would lose his patience first.
After the longest silence, the person finally said, “It’s me.” It was a familiar voice that belonged to Tony, a person whom she would never have guessed would call her.
“Tony, why is it you?” She was flabbergasted that Tony would actually call her at this hour. It was totally baffling.
However, he had no intention to waste his time and explain things slowly. “I don’t have much time to explain things to you now,” he muttered. “I’m calling you for something important.”
Heather, too, got straight to the point. “Is this about Myra’s kidnapping?”
Tony was not surprised about Heather’s reply at all, since he currently had more intel than her and had long known that she had been threatened by the kidnapper.
“Do you know the kidnapper’s true motive?” Tony asked about the crux of the matter, which was exactly what Heather was most concerned about. She still did not know about the kidnapper’s motive yet and she wondered if he knew about it.
“You know.” Although it was a statement, there was a tinge of puzzlement in her tone. Tony’s abilities had exceeded her expectations.
Heather had hired the renowned detective, Zayne Lee; she did not know which professional Tony managed to find, but it was obvious that the one he had was even better.
“The kidnapper wants the Hart and Langston Family to destroy each other.” He was equally shocked when he first knew about the kidnapper’s motive, and the first person that came to mind was Caleb.
“Caleb Moriarty?” Unsurprisingly, Heather thought about the same person as well.
However, Tony denied it. “It isn’t Caleb, but the force behind the kidnapper is immeasurable now.”
“Other than Caleb, who else could have plotted this?” Heather replied in disbelief. She couldn’t think of any other forces that would do this.
“We have been fooled. Caleb’s emergence attracted all of our attention. The real mastermind behind this is someone we never would have thought of.” As of now, Tony had yet to uncover who was behind Myra’s kidnapping; he never thought that there was actually a person who had the ability to pull this off right under his nose in Bradfort City.
“In other words, you don’t know who is behind the kidnapper as well. How did you find out about their motive, then?” Something just doesn’t add up. I wonder where Tony got the news.
“That person contacted me himself so I reckon that he will look for you soon.” Tony had had a brief conversation with the mysterious man earlier and right after the call ended, he contacted Heather.
Although there was a mysterious woman shadowing him in the dark, he was able to get away from her surveillance. Unlike Heather who required the help of a detective, Tony was a detective himself.
He had another power which he had kept hidden from everyone. If it wasn’t for this hidden force, he might have been completely at the mercy of the enemy.
“What do I do now?” Heather believed that Tony had a plan, so all she had to do now was to actively cooperate with him.
“We do as they say.” The reason he contacted her was not only to give her some confidence, but also to ask her to listen to what the kidnapper said.
“You want me to put the Langston Family at risk?” Heather found his request a bit over the top because if she were to listen to what the kidnapper said, she would be putting the Langstons at risk.
“Trust me—I will definitely find a way to turn the tables.” Knowing how much effort Heather had put into rescuing Myra, Tony hoped that the former could trust him now.
“I’m willing to sacrifice anything no matter what it is, but I dare not put the Langston Family at stake,” she murmured as she hesitated. In all honesty, Heather was worried that she might destroy the century-old foundation of the Langstons.
“I know that my request is putting you on the spot, but I can’t lose Myra. Please, I’m begging you.” Tony had never begged anyone, but he had to do so for Myra’s sake this time.
“I—” Just as Heather was debating internally whether she should do so, another call came in her other phone—it was from an unknown number.
And so, she said to Tony, who was at the other end of the line, “The kidnapper is calling me.” Then, she hung up his call and picked up the other one. The call went through and the kidnapper’s voice was different than before—it looked like it was the mysterious man himself this time.
“Miss Langston.” The mysterious man had a frivolous tone, which was different from what she had imagined.
“Who is this?” Heather asked, pretending that she knew nothing.
“Miss Langston, my identity doesn’t concern you. All you have to know is that Mrs. Hart is in my hands.” What the mysterious man said would anger anyone who heard it, not to mention his tone that would irritate the hell out of anyone.
“What’s the purpose of kidnapping Myra?” Heather asked, slightly frustrated.
“It seems like you are not surprised by my sudden call, Miss Langston. I supposed that a little bird told you about me,” he replied calmly, but his words gave Heather a shock. She suspected that the mysterious man had found out that she had spoken to Tony, so she immediately switched the topic.
“What’s your motive? Why don’t you just tell me?” As she had no knowledge about what the mysterious man knew about, it would be better to not reply to him directly.
“Fine, Miss Langston. Since you are so eager to know my motive, I don’t mind telling you. I heard that the Langston, Hart and Moriarty Family used to be very close years ago, but the relationships among the three families fell apart and they started to fight with one another—”
Before the mysterious man was able to finish his sentence, Heather interrupted him, “Did you call me to tell stories?”
Upon hearing that, he burst out laughing. “Miss Langston, you have quite the temper. Rumor has it that you are a calm and sensible woman, but the actual situation seems different.” The mysterious man was quite talkative, but Heather was in no mood to listen to him rambling on so she muttered, “You can just go straight to the point and tell me your motive.”
“Alright, alright; be patient. Listen to me as I slowly explain it.” He persisted on with his chatty mode, and Heather would have hung up the call if this was any other ordinary circumstance.
In the end, she kept quiet, indicating her acquiescence. Truth was, she had never seen a kidnapper like this. She mentally speculated the kidnapper’s identity and found that she seemed to not know anybody so loquacious.
“Well, I don’t have any hobbies in particular, you know. However, I very much enjoy seeing siblings fighting with each other,” he said and chuckled in an arrogant manner.
“Therefore, the three families raging wars against one another and becoming enemies put you in a good mood?” she mocked.
He cackled in response. “Miss Langston, you are so cute and way more interesting than Tony.”
Upon hearing that, Heather patiently asked, “What do you want the three families to do now?” Could it be that this guy has nobody to chat with? Otherwise, why is he saying so much nonsense?
“Continue on with the fights, of course. What the Langston Family did back then was quite disgraceful—you guys used a weak lady in exchange for peace.” There was a change in the man’s tone and it now carried a hint of fury.
Heather immediately took notice of this and a bold idea popped up in her mind. Years ago, Claris had a lover and they loved each other. Is this mysterious man related to the lover that was seldom mentioned?
“I don’t quite get you,” she calmly replied.
He chuckled but he seemed to bear no hostility toward her. “Miss Langston, I don’t believe that someone as bright as you doesn’t understand what I mean—I want the three families to be ruined!” The way he stressed the last few words clearly conveyed his hatred toward them.
“Sounds interesting. You want to destroy the three families, but do you think that we will be at your mercy just because you managed to capture Myra?” Truth was, Heather found that he seemed to have overestimated himself.
“This is just the beginning. I have the ability to take down the entire family in one night, but taking action myself is no fun at all. I want to see you fighting one another.” The man became more cocky with his words and what he said made her scalp tingle.
“You want me to collaborate with the Hart Family and take down the Moriarty Family?” she guessed.
“Yes. Miss Langston, you are just as smart as I said.” The mysterious man gave her a positive reply, then paused for a moment before he added, “Tony has already agreed to it, so I believe that you won’t reject it.”
Heather recalled Tony’s request but she was still hesitating, and what the mysterious man said sent chills down her spine. For some reason, she felt that he really had the ability to take down a family in one night. Therefore, she was actually feeling unsettled although she put up a strong front.
“I need some time to consider.” She suspected that what the mysterious man told her was different from what he had told Tony, so she wanted to verify it with the latter.
“Okay, I’ll give you an hour to consider. If you still can’t think this through after an hour, Mrs. Hart will be used as a human sacrifice.” The mysterious man no longer wore a carefree tone, and instead replaced it with one that was full of murderous intent.
After hanging up the call, Heather immediately called Tony, but he did not answer her call. She then called him two more times but to no avail.
Now, she couldn’t find anyone to discuss this confidential matter. She wanted to discuss it with Zayne, but she felt conflicted and wondered if she should.
An hour soon passed by. Looking at her two phones, she felt helpless because there didn’t seem to be another option for her.
