"Elly," Octavius looked up, hesitating before glancing at Charlie beside Eloise. She followed his gaze, then looked at Charlie, who was confused. "Why are you two looking at me?"
Eloise was just as puzzled. "Why are you looking at him?" "Elly," Octavius pleaded, "I want to meet Mr. Kingswell." "Why do you want to see him? Do you suspect he's the one who made Lysander disappear?" Eloise frowned.
"No!" He answered too directly. Seeing Charlie standing by, Octavius's gaze shifted nervously. "I... I just want to ask if Mr. Kingswell has any clues..."
Eloise figured it out. He was indeed suspecting that it was Isidore who caused his brother's disappearance. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "When did Lysander go missing?" Octavius gave a date, and her heart sank— it was the same day Lysander had informed her of the assassination attempt on Isidore.
Lately, Eloise had been under so much stress that her thoughts were running wild. Considering what Charlie had said, that Isidore was investigating the hiding place of the mastermind behind the assassination, Eloise couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Lysander, who accidentally knew too much, had been captured and tortured by Isidore?
Even though she was innocent, Eloise knew these things were complicated and not something she could casually interfere with. She kept her suspicions to herself, but Octavius's look of despair made her heart ache.
Clearly, due to the disappearance of his brother, this twenty-year-old young man had lost all vitality. He had even dropped his studies and returned from his hometown, all in pursuit of the faintest trace of a clue. Eloise could not bring herself to offer any dismissive words.
After a brief hesitation, Eloise stood up and said to Charlie, "Where is Isidore? Take us to find him." Charlie, visibly displeased, replied, "Miss Devereux, the boss's schedule is always confidential. How can we just…"
"Can't I find him?"
"You can wait for him to come back in the evening."
Eloise pulled out her phone, "I'll ask him myself." A large hand covered the screen, stopping her from dialing. Charlie closed his eyes and sighed, "I'll take you there."
No matter how much Eloise urged, Charlie leisurely drove. In his eyes, Octavius was just a university student, and no matter how much Isidore favored Eloise, she was nothing more than a pampered young lady.
The boss was busy every day. To bring these two idle people to disturb him for some nonsense reasons was ridiculous. It wasn't like he was playing house with children. So, he was simply taking advantage of their unfamiliarity with the area, driving in circles to delay the time.
After the first hour of driving, Eloise suspiciously tapped on the window, "That fountain, I feel like I've seen it before." Charlie, without changing his expression, replied, "No, you must have seen wrong."
In the second hour, Eloise slapped the window, making a loud "bang-bang" sound. "That fountain appeared for the fourth time! I'm sure I'm not mistaken. Charlie, what's going on? Are you taking us in circles?"
Charlie remained unfazed, his expression unchanged: "In today's cities, everything is geared toward uniformity. The landscape design tends to be quite similar, so it's perfectly normal to see identical fountain features."
"It's not just the fountain, I've seen that old man sitting by the fountain three times!" Eloise raised her voice. Charlie silently cursed his own misstep and subtly switched to a different route, "Miss Devereux, you're really joking. How could you see three identical people in different places?"
"Because you're taking us in circles!" Eloise was convinced he was fooling her. She turned to Octavius for support, "Octavius, didn't you see it too?" Octavius, his face pained, was holding his stomach, "Elly, we've been driving around the fountain for so long, and I've been hearing that sound… I'm feeling a bit urgent."
Charlie: "..." He parked the car in front of a park with public restrooms, and Octavius hurriedly got out. To his surprise, she was gone for quite a while and didn't return. Eloise looked outside several times and broke the silence in the car, "Charlie, you should go look for him."
Charlie closed his eyes in patience, "Miss Devereux, my job description doesn't include going to public restrooms and shouting for people." Eloise gritted her teeth, "I'll call Isidore and ask him what your job description actually includes." Charlie opened the door and got out of the car, his figure disappearing around the corner.
Just as he left, Octavius came back, apologizing to Eloise, "Sorry to keep you waiting." He went to pull the backseat door but shook it and said curiously, "Why won't it open?" Eloise pressed the unlock button, but Octavius gave a wry smile, "Still won't open."
"It shouldn't be," Eloise murmured as she got out of the car and walked toward the back door. She grasped the handle and was about to pull it when suddenly, a chill swept over her face. A strange scent spread through the air, and she was pulled into the darkness, losing consciousness.
When Eloise regained consciousness, she found herself in a typical kidnapping setting—bare, empty walls, a filthy concrete floor, a wooden table, and two weathered wooden chairs. Sitting in the chairs were two men with fierce, menacing expressions. Turning her head, she saw Octavius, also tied up, staring at her with terrified eyes.
After all, Octavius had called her "Elly." Despite her fear, Eloise forced herself to stay calm and asked the two men, "Why did you kidnap us?" The man in the white vest spat, his knife menacingly pointing at Octavius. "Lysander is your brother?"
Octavius nodded. The man in the white vest kicked him in the waist. "Your brother's something else, huh? He leaked the news of our assassination attempt on Isidore, causing Kate to lose his life. And now he's gone into hiding!"
Eloise shouted, "If his brother offended you, why take it out on him?"
The man in the white vest glared at her. "We were fools to trust that scoundrel, Lysander. After killing Isidore, we thought we'd get the two million and live to spend it. We asked him to pass the money on to our families, and what does he do? He sold us out in the blink of an eye. Wouldn't you be furious?"
Eloise felt guilty. "H-How do you know it was him who sold you out?"
The man in the white vest narrowed his vicious eyes. "We arranged everything perfectly. If it wasn't for him leaking the information, how would Isidore have figured out our plan?"
"Yes... it's really infuriating." Eloise nervously avoided his gaze, but deep down, she couldn't help but feel a sense of relief, knowing that Isidore and Lysander's disappearance had nothing to do with each other. The more the man in the white vest thought about it, the angrier he became, and he slapped Octavius across the face again.
"Hey!" The man in the black vest, who appeared more composed, called out to him. Eloise thought he might be more reasonable, but to her surprise, he leered at Octavius' face, stroking his chin and laughing, "Delicate and smooth-skinned... Don't damage him." Eloise nearly vomited in disgust.
Just halfway through the laugh, the man in the black vest's cold gaze swept over. Fearing he might become enraged and silence them, Eloise straightened up and said with seriousness: "I'm pregnant." The man in the white vest eyed her small belly with a wicked smile. "Is it Isidore's child?"
The man in the black vest slowly curled his lips into a grin. "Even better. I was worried he wouldn't fall into our trap for just a woman." Eloise was shocked. "You still haven't given up on killing him?" After all that had happened to your teammates, how could you not have learned your lesson?
The man in the white vest shot her a disdainful glance. "You think two million can just be dismissed like that?" "Indeed... it's not a small sum." Eloise couldn't help but feel somewhat moved by their reckless pursuit of money, valuing it over their own lives.
But when she thought of being used as bait to capture Isidore, she couldn't help but regret fabricating the lie about being pregnant: "But, sir, my relationship with him isn't that deep. Are there any men who haven't abandoned their wives and children nowadays? You catch me, it won't do you any good. Just let me go."
"Since you're of no use," the man in the white vest's beady eyes flashed with a cold gleam, and his knife pointed at her. "Then it's rape first, kill later!" "I'm useful, useful, really useful!" Eloise, terrified, shrank to the side. "He really likes me! I'm his little darling!"
"Your change of face is truly disgusting!" The man in the black vest threw Eloise's phone at her and cut the ropes binding her hands. "Call your dear husband."
