Chapter 393 My Name’s Not Belle
If the wedding hadn’t been canceled, Courtney would’ve been the Duncan Family’s daughter-in-law and Oliver’s sister-in-law. Since the leader of the drug dealing ring wanted to avenge his sworn brothers who had been sentenced to death, the first person he went to would be someone from the Duncan Family. On the one hand, this was because the drug dealing ring was exposed because of James; on the other hand, they had probably found out the identities and backgrounds of those students long ago.
They had probably been breathing down the necks of everyone in the Duncan Family for a long time, though they couldn’t lay their hands on the Duncans because the Duncans were almost always surrounded by bodyguards whenever they went out. On the other hand, Courtney had Elijah to protect her. The only time she was alone was when she finished drinking coffee with Alexander at the cafe this afternoon.
At the thought of this, Alexander slowly turned pale, and his face broke out in a cold sweat. “We must go back to the police department.”
“No, we can’t.” Gale pressed the man’s cold hands down. “Oliver said that those drug dealers are all cold-blooded monsters. If we call the police, the police will search every island in the middle of the river right away. We don’t know their location, and they might kill Courtney first if they’re alerted.”
When Alexander heard the word ‘kill,’ his brow furrowed, and there was a look of panic and hesitation in his eyes.
Just then, Gale added, “Let’s head back first. Oliver said he’s got a way.”
Speechless, Alexander had no choice but to comply.
…
Meanwhile, a small boat had just reached the shore of Riverark Island, an island located in the middle of the river. Two men, one stout and one skinny, dragged a gunnysack out of the boat. The stout man carried the gunnysack on his shoulder, whereas the skinny man hid the boat in the reed marshes by the shore. Then, they went deep into the jungle, one after another.
The stout man seemed to be tired of carrying the gunnysack. He complained in a deep, gruff voice, “What’s the matter with Dragon these days? He told us to look out and stay on the island as much as possible because the situation’s been tense these days, so why did he get one woman after another back to the island?”
The skinny man next to him helped him lift the gunnysack a little while giving it a slap with a lecherous expression. “Well, isn’t that because he’s worried that we might have trouble with our desires in this godforsaken place? After all, we couldn’t be staying on the island by ourselves without the presence of women, or our lives would’ve been f*cking boring. And besides, I didn’t get to go back to my hometown during the holiday this year.”
“That’s wrong. Haven’t we already sent Britney’s cousin here?”
“There are 26 of us on the island. Do you think that woman can handle all of us by herself? Britney cares about her, after all.”
“She cares about her? Really?” The stout man let out a sneer. “If Britney really cared about her, I don’t think she would have her brought here as a prostitute. Do you think I’m blind to what you guys have done to her?”
The skinny man smiled in embarrassment at the mention of this. “What’s wrong with you, Fatso? People in our trade have no scruples and don’t give a f*ck about killing people, yet you’re the only one on this island who keeps avoiding the pleasure like the plague. It’s already been three years since your wife passed away. Why so insistent on staying celibate?”
Fatso’s eyes suddenly darkened as they darted to the skinny man with a fierce glare.
Frightened, the skinny man trembled with fear while spluttering, “T-That’s not what I meant, Fatso…”
Just then, they heard a scuffling noise in the distance. The beam of a flashlight shone right on their faces, ending the awkward standoff at once. “Oh, Fatso and Lil’ Mackaque! You two are back, huh?” A familiar voice sounded from the jungle; it was one of their ring members who was on patrol today. “Thanks for the hard work. Dragon’s been waiting for quite a while, so let’s have dinner together, shall we?”
“Okay,” chorused Fatso and Lil’ Mackaque. They followed the person into the jungle as if they had forgotten their verbal exchange just now.
“What about this woman?”
“Just lock her up in the cabin on the east side with that woman. They’re of the same use, anyway.”
A man let out an obscene chuckle. “More people are gonna be able to go in at a time from now on.”
Fatso opened the door to the cabin on the east side right away as he didn’t bother to listen.
The instant the door opened, a dark silhouette in the corner cowered with a start and hid under the covers, leaving only a pair of eyes that stared up at Fatso in horror.
Fatso frowned and put the gunnysack on the ground in the cabin. Before he left, he said in a quiet voice, as if because he couldn’t bear the sight of the scene, “They’re gonna be having drinks later tonight. Be submissive, or you might suffer.”
Upon hearing this, the figure in the corner began shaking like a leaf. Then, it started to gasp for breath desperately, as if it recalled something horrifying.
With that, Fatso shut the door with a bang and padlocked it from the outside, and the room became dark at once.
A little while after that, the gunnysack on the ground moved a little.
Courtney was awakened by the icy coldness of the floor. When she came to her senses, she found herself wrapped in a gunnysack. After struggling for a long time, she poked her head out of the gunnysack, only to scream out of fright with her face as pale as death. There was a face staring at her from above, and it was pale enough to make her flesh creep.
“Shh…” The deathly pale face hushed Courtney by putting its right index finger to its lips. Then, it crouched down beside her and started to untie the rope binding her.
Courtney slowly regained her composure. As moonlight shone in through the window, she plucked up the courage to turn sideways and stare at the person’s face for a long time. Then, she asked in a whisper, “Belle? Is that you?” She recognized the woman as the one who had deceived Alexander by passing herself off as Jordan’s biological mother. Even though Belle wasn’t the woman’s real name, it was the only name Courtney could think of at the time.
The woman’s expression changed. Suddenly, she knitted her brows. “My name’s not Belle.” Then, after a moment’s pause, she continued in a low voice, “My name’s Poppy.”
Courtney was startled for a moment. After all the ropes binding her were untied, she ventured by asking, “Did you kidnap me to this place? Are you doing this for money or something?”
“Do you honestly think I’m capable of that?” Poppy’s expression was somewhat strained. After untying the ropes, she got up, got back to the bedside, and sat down while studying Courtney. Then, she mumbled, “Just resign yourself to your fate now that you’re here.”
“Resign myself to what?”
The look in Poppy’s eyes suddenly became creepy. “Neither you nor I can open the door day or night, but they can do so whenever they want.”
Courtney didn’t understand what she meant, though. She looked at the little door behind her with a frown, asking, “What do you mean by that?” She had yet to figure out who her kidnappers were and whose hatred she had incurred. And besides, why is this woman who passed herself off as Belle being here as well? It seems like her life’s been quite miserable, she thought.
However, Poppy’s smile grew more and more sinister. “You’ll find out about it tonight.”
After sizing Poppy up for a long time, Courtney stopped asking her questions, thinking that she seemed to have a screw loose. She pulled at the door, only to find that it was locked from the outside. The window was sealed shut from the outside, allowing only a minuscule amount of light to pass through, and there wasn’t a lamp in the room.
Through the window, Courtney saw a small two-storey building catty-cornered from here. The building was lit, and the men’s crude laughter could be heard from there.
A desert island, a woman, and a bunch of men… Courtney soon realized what Poppy had suffered. Recalling what Alexander had previously told her about Poppy being a cousin of Britney, she immediately picked up some clues. She asked, “How did you get kidnapped to this place?”
