CHAPTER 136: THE CALL FOR HELP

Samuel was on edge, practically trembling with impatience. The moment the call connected he barked, "Sophia’s with me. If you want her back alive, bring one hundred million in cash — now."

Lucas’s voice dropped to a razor-low calm. "I want to hear Sophia’s voice."

He needed to know she was okay.

"I’m fine. Better than fine." Sophia curled one corner of her mouth and glanced down at the knife pressed to her waist. "Honestly, I’d be even safer without this knife."

"You heard me — she’s in my custody. If you don’t want her dead, bring the money. Now!" Samuel’s words were savage. "Half an hour. Eastern Mountains North Road, the outskirts. Put it in Sophia’s car."

Then he slammed the phone down.

"Look at you — first time doing a kidnapping?" Sophia teased, taking out a tissue and offering it like a mother. "You’ve even got sweat on your brow. Don’t worry — practice makes perfect."

Samuel snapped, "Shut up."

"Don’t worry, he’ll come," Sophia said, utterly unflustered. She folded her hands behind her back and smiled as if they were discussing tea, not a ransom. "But since this is your first rodeo, you do know what you’re supposed to do, right? First rule: control my hands. Tie me up so I don’t run."

Samuel frowned. Was she insane? She was literally coaching him through her own abduction.

"From my last experience," Sophia continued conversationally, "the guy wasn’t after money — he wanted revenge. He did a pretty good job planning it. He hit me hard at the back of the head — one whack and I was out. Oh — and a tip: if you’re going to ransom me, you should’ve gone after Andrew, not Lucas. Andrew’s my—" she paused, like she’d suddenly remembered something delicious. "He’s my father."

"Your father?" Samuel echoed.

"Yeah. Haven’t you heard? Between you and me, Andrew and I are very close. I even went back to the office to help out. Call him. Ask for another hundred million. That gives you two hundred million total." She said it with the same calm patience she used when explaining the weather.

Samuel’s expression softened a fraction.

Outside, Andrew was still in the hospital. The news of Ethan and Olivia getting back together hit him like a blow — he’d actually fainted from the shock. When he came to and saw Ethan hesitating at the doorway, he wanted to bite him in half.

"Olivia, what are you doing? I thought you and Ethan were broken up. Why are you with him again?" Andrew snapped.

Olivia reached out to soothe him. "Dad, it’s not what you think. I thought he’d moved on, too. Turns out this whole thing was his grandfather’s doing."

"You let yourself be tricked? Are you stupid?" Andrew rounded on Ethan, furious.

"Dad, I’m not lying. When that show ruined my face, he stayed with me. He took care of me." Olivia’s voice trembled with the memory.

"He’s lying to you," Andrew spat. "Why are you being so foolish?"

"Dad! Please trust me."

Susan, sitting beside them, nodded emphatically. "I support my daughter — at least this is more trustworthy than bringing Sophia back into the office."

His phone buzzed. Andrew frowned and picked it up. "Hello?"

"You want your daughter alive? Bring one hundred million in cash to Eastern Mountains North Road," a cold voice said.

Andrew stared for a beat, then barked, incredulous, "You actually think you can scam me?"

"Maybe you should check the name in your contacts."

On the other end of the line, Sophia clutched her own throat and cried out in pain, "Daddy—help me!"

Andrew’s face went white. "Sophia!"

"Heh—recognize the voice now? Then start getting the money ready."

"Wait! How do I know this is real?" Andrew demanded.

"Still not convinced?" Samuel flipped the camera and threw a punch at Sophia on the screen.

Sophia’s panic-stricken cry shredded the room. "Dad! Save me!"

Samuel snatched the phone away. "You see that now? Half an hour. That’s all you get." Then he cut the call.

Olivia laughed, vicious and pleased. "Karma’s a bitch — Sophia’s finally getting what she deserves."

"Hmph! That little witch — who’d have thought someone would actually kidnap her? Andrew, you are not to go rescue her. I want to see if these kidnappers will actually follow through and kill her."

Susan chimed in, unable to hide the grin on her face. Sophia being in trouble put an impossible smile on them both.

"No. I have to save her," Andrew said.

"Dad, think about how much damage she’s done to us," Olivia pressed. "You really want to rescue her so she can keep ruining our lives?"

"Do you know how many billions YL is worth because of what Sophia holds?!" Susan snapped.

Andrew’s face darkened. Everything he’d been doing was to get Sophia back — to fix things so Morgan Group could thrive again.

"Dad, what are you talking about? YL? You mean... the YL Group overseas?"

"That’s right. You heard me."

"No way. Dad, you’re being scammed!" Olivia insisted. Sophia could never be a director at YL — that was YL, an enormous company!

"You’ve been out of the loop for a while," Andrew said. "Get moving. Get cash. Save her."

"No! Andrew, listen — this could be Sophia’s trap. She might be testing you." Susan physically blocked him, refusing to let him leave.

"Susan, don’t stop me. She’s important right now. You need to see the situation clearly."

"Well, have you thought about this?" Susan said coldly. "If she’s gone, doesn’t that mean YL could be yours?"

Andrew hesitated.

If Sophia actually died, everything tied to her could fall to him.

Silence fell over him. Their argument suddenly sounded... plausible.

Across town, the mood was far more relaxed.

"I bet you’ll end up with nothing," Sophia said casually.

Samuel shot her a glare. "What do you mean by that?"

"You just called my dad. I’ll bet he won’t come," she said, like she was making small talk.

"He won’t? You told me to call him!" Samuel flared, stung and angry.

Sophia’s smile was thin. "Actually... I have a strange backstory. Want to hear it?"

She sounded like she was joking, but the smile was brittle, worse than crying.

Samuel sat beside her and strapped her down to the car. "Go on. Tell me."

"A long time ago... I nearly vanished. My father didn’t look for me. I have a little sister — she’s adorable. Even without me, they were fine. I fought to survive and got to where I am now. Maybe you don’t know this, but my dad faked his condition — staged being ill — to protect my identity. So I went back to Morgan Group. But like you saw when you called him, he hesitated. He didn’t really want to save me. Even if he came, it would be for my status. But—" Her voice cooled. "If he doesn’t come, he’ll get so much more."

A thin, hard frost slid across Sophia’s eyes.