CHAPTER 161: CHAPTER 161: TEAR UP THE RANSOM NOTE

In the meeting room.

All personnel related to the FZZL project were present.

"Please switch your phones to vibrate or silent mode."

Julian Xavier stood on the stage and said this first.

Caleb Lockwood, Mr. Miller, Jim, and everyone else adjusted their phones, and Julian Xavier smiled slightly.

Due to having a baby face, his smile always appeared very approachable.

Julian Xavier connected the USB drive and turned on the projector.

Sitting below, people naturally assumed Julian Xavier was preparing for his upcoming explanation regarding the gene database, no one suspected his other hand in his pocket was secretly switching on a signal and Wi-Fi jamming device.

The device wasn’t large, and the area it could jam wasn’t big, just enough for this meeting room.

But that was enough.

As long as Caleb Lockwood and the others didn’t leave the meeting room, they wouldn’t receive any messages from outside.

"Next, I’ll discuss from a genetic perspective how it integrates with the AI-assisted diagnostic system."

Just as Julian Xavier began his eloquent speech, in the reception hall, Serena Jennings was informed by a waiter that Caleb had left a USB drive in the guest room and needed her to retrieve it.

Serena Jennings knew Caleb Lockwood was likely having a meeting with CelestiMed, but Mr. Miller should be right beside him.

Not letting Mr. Miller retrieve it but asking her to go made Serena Jennings somewhat puzzled.

Most critically, Caleb hadn’t previously told her where the USB drive was, nor did she know how many USB drives Caleb had brought overseas, or which USB contained the FZZL-related data.

Serena Jennings took out her phone and called Caleb to confirm.

The call didn’t connect.

She called Mr. Miller.

That call didn’t connect either.

Serena Jennings thought, perhaps their phones were silent due to the meeting.

So were they too busy to step away?

Was it absolutely necessary to notify her to get it?

Serena Jennings still felt something was off, but knowing how crucial the FZZL project was to Caleb Lockwood, retrieving a USB drive wasn’t too troublesome.

Serena Jennings voluntarily left the reception hall.

In the corner, Claire Shaw saw Serena Jennings leave and silently entered the restroom.

Serena Jennings took the elevator to the 12th floor.

Tonight, the hotel was almost exclusively hosting guests for Cynthia Fulton’s wedding; at the moment, they were all in the reception hall, so from the elevator to the corridor, it was silent like a ghost town.

Cleaning was happening on the 12th floor, with a cleaner pushing a cleaning cart at the end of the corridor.

The guest room for Serena Jennings and Caleb Lockwood was right at the end.

Serena Jennings walked over, ready to use the room key to open the door.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the cleaner silently approaching her, standing right behind her.

Out of instinctive vigilance, Serena Jennings turned around, and the cleaner just happened to lift his head.

They locked eyes.

Serena Jennings finally saw the face hidden under the baseball cap—

Dylan Quinn?!

The meeting room was dimly lit.

Only the projection screen in the front remained bright.

Everyone was fully focused on Julian Xavier’s explanation, until a staff member rushed in saying there seemed to be a fire.

The fire alarm had actually been sounding for a while, but the meeting room was soundproofed so well, the people inside had no way of noticing.

"President Lockwood, let’s go quickly."

Mr. Miller and the bodyguards immediately protected Caleb Lockwood, but Caleb darted out and took the escape stairs to the reception hall first.

The reception hall was already in chaos, everyone was running out.

Only Caleb was running inside.

The hall was originally quite large, and now in the chaos, Caleb glanced around but couldn’t find the person he was looking for.

Watching as the reception hall emptied, Mr. Miller finally pulled Caleb Lockwood out.

But Caleb’s gaze was still searching for something.

"Mr. Miller..."

Caleb just opened his mouth when suddenly a man’s voice came from beside him.

"Who are you looking for?"

The voice wasn’t too familiar to Caleb but not unfamiliar either.

Because he had just listened to this voice for a long time in the meeting room.

"Do you need help finding them?"

Julian Xavier asked repeatedly, and Caleb didn’t respond with a word.

At that moment, the alarm sound ceased.

Standing beside Caleb, Julian Xavier asked a staff member about the situation and then returned leisurely to Caleb’s side, saying,

"The staff said they’ve checked, it’s not a real fire, don’t know if someone was playing a prank or if the machine broke, it was the smoke-making machine used for the wedding that leaked a lot of smoke, triggering the fire alarm."

After hearing Julian’s explanation, Mr. Miller sighed, clutching his chest.

Caleb silently took out his phone and saw Serena Jennings had sent him a WeChat message:

I had to leave for a while.

Caleb frowned.

He was about to call Serena Jennings when suddenly a video call came in.

Caleb accepted it casually, and Dylan Quinn’s repulsive smiling face instantly appeared on the phone screen.

"President Lockwood, hope you’re well!"

Caleb’s gaze was cold.

He noticed Dylan was in a place resembling an old, decrepit apartment, with wallpaper in tatters.

"I’m a fugitive with limited time, so I’ll get straight to the point... Caleb Lockwood, prepare a hundred million for me, otherwise, I will kill this woman!"

Dylan adjusted the phone’s camera, and a woman’s figure immediately appeared on the screen.

The woman was tied to a chair, her mouth taped shut.

The veins in Caleb’s hand holding the phone instantly popped up.

He thought Dylan Quinn had kidnapped Serena Jennings.

Because Serena Jennings left the reception hall and was easier to target, plus the whole internet knew Serena was his wife.

However, the person appearing in the video call now was—Claire Shaw.

Claire widened her big eyes, her rims red, tears rolling.

"Originally, I wanted to take this woman and your wife Serena Jennings together amidst the chaos, but those guys around your wife left the hotel before I could create confusion, even though they were close to each other... however, this stupid woman was still around, she was searching for you everywhere, unaware she’d caught my eye."

While saying this, Dylan lit a cigarette, the tip glowing red, he took a drag, and casually intended to burn Claire’s shoulder with the cigarette butt.

Claire, with her mouth taped, could only struggle and mumble.

"If you dare mess around, I guarantee you won’t get a cent."

Caleb’s deep voice made Dylan pause.

Dylan shrugged, sneering.

"I know this Claire Shaw is your first love, even though you’re married, you can’t let her go, so asking for a hundred million isn’t a lot, if your wife was included, I’d want two hundred million, but since you were cuckolded by your wife, I’ll pity you somewhat, one hundred million will do, convert it to Bitcoin, I’ll send you the account, if it’s not there in two hours or if you dare call the police or play tricks..."

Dylan suddenly pressed the burning cigarette butt onto Claire’s shoulder, and Claire immediately cried out in pain.

"Dylan Quinn!" Caleb roared lowly.

Dylan immediately released his grip, smiling, "Sorry, sorry, slipped my hand."

He tore off the tape from Claire’s mouth, seemingly to deliberately let Caleb hear her cries.

Claire, just able to speak, shouted at Caleb,

"Caleb, don’t mind me!"