Hannah froze mid–step. Her body stiffened like her feet had been Halled to the ground. Slowly, she turned around.
Leon let out a smug laugh. The second he saw the change in her’expression, he knew that he’d gambled right.
That little girl was Hannah’s greatest weakness.
Leon stepped forward, yanked off the lid of a water barrel beside him, and pulled out a small sleeping figure–Chloe.
Hannah’s pupils contracted at once. “Chloe!”
Even Anathea looked shocked. She hadn’t expected Leon to go so far as to abduct Chloe just to threaten Hannah.
Hannah shouted Chloe’s name again and again, but the latter didn’t stir. Her eyes stayed shut.
“What did you do to my daughter?” Hannah’s voice shook with parlic.
+25 BONUS
“She was making too much noise, so I gave her a little sleeping pill” Leon said with a twisted grin while pinching Chloe’s cheek. “Quiet now, isn’t she?”
“You sick bastard!” Hannah’s fury erupted as she lunged forward.
But Leon was already holding a knife to Chloe’s neck. “Take one more step, and I’ll slit her throat. With skin this soft, it probably won’t even take much effort before it tears wide open, don’t you think?”
“Stop! Don’t you touch her!” Hannah screamed, her voice trembling. She was terrified that one wrong move from Leon could hurt Chloe.
Seeing her eyes rimmed with panic and how she was on the verge of tears, Leon let out a click of his tongue. “So this little bastard actually means that much to you?”
“You…” Hannah stepped forward again, but Anathea grabbed her wrist and shook her head, signaling Hannah to stay calm.
“Chloe’s still in his hands,” she whispered. “That lunatic is completely unhinged. There’s no telling what he might do.”
Hannah bit down on her lip and silently glared at Leon with fury burning in her eyes.
All she wanted was to tear him apart with her own hands.
Anathea tightened her grip on Hannah’s hand to calm her down, then turned to Leon and said steadily, “You abducted a child because you wanted money from Hannah, didn’t you? Take the money and let the girl go.”
She threw one of the money bags at his feet.
Leon gave it a glance and scoffed. “Oh, this isn’t enough.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah frowned.
He clearly said ten million dollars before.
“I changed my mind.” Leon chuckled as he pinched Chloe’s cheek ‘She’s such an adorable little girl. Compared to those two useless old geezers, she’s worth so much more. How could ten million dollars be enough? I want 50 million dollars,”
“That’s too much!” Hannah trembled with fury.
Ten million dollars had already been outrageous. Now he wanted so million dollars? Did he think money grew on trees?
“So what? I could ask for 100 million dollars, and you’d still have to hand it over.” Leon tightened his grip on Chloe’s face. In no time, a red mark appeared on her fair cheek.
“Don’t touch her!” Hannah cried out, digging her nails into her palms. Pain surged through every inch of her body.
After some hesitation, she finally choked out, “Fine. I’ll pay.”
1/2
Chapts tea
+25 BONUS
If it meant getting Chloe back, Hannah would give him her own life, let alone 50 million dollars.
Leon was surprised by her response. Then, his smile deepened, like he’d just stumbled upon something truly interesting “So this little girl really is that important to you, huh?”
Hannah froze.
Meanwhile, Anathea’s eyes darkened. A bad feeling surged through her like a wave
The next second, Leon pulled out a small pill,
“What are you doing?” Hannah’s voice cracked as panic surged.
I got this pill from a miracle doctor I know. Once someone takes it their whole body will start to rot from the inside out if they don’t get the antidote within a month.
“This way, you’ll have to come to me every month with money to trade for the antidote if you want to keep your daughter alive.”
Anathea looked at the sly, twisted smile on Leon’s face and felt nothing but disgust.
He never had any intention of taking the 50 million dollars and walking away. He wanted to squeeze Chloe for everything she was worth.
He was like a leech that would never be satisfied, clinging to Hannah’s arteries and draining her dry day after day for the rest of her life.
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