Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 176

In a pitch-black room.

Julie woke up, all muddled up, only to find herself tied to a chair. Her limbs were sore and her head felt

like it was about to split up, filled with pain.

Her eyes were covered with a blindfold, and her hands and feet were firmly tied to the chair. The air

was filled with a damp, moldy smell that was

nauseating.

In the absence of sight, a person often feels more insecure. Julie was no exception, particularly when

she heard the dull sound of chains, which made her get goosebumps.

She tried to break free, but a deep voice came from not too far away, “Babe, if I were you, I’d just sit

tight.”

Julie felt like she was suspended in mid-air, and any movement would trigger the sound of chains. She

probably figured it out: although she was sitting on a chair, the chair was likely chained up. And the

sound of water was probably from beneath her feet.

Julie calmed down, stopped struggling, and tried to maintain balance. Just as she was about to speak,

she heard another man’s voice, “It’s such a waste for such a beautiful woman to be tied up…”

“Quit your daydreaming, we’re here for the money, not her. Once our employer pays up, we’re out of

here. Don’t get greedy and land us in trouble.

“Don’t you think this woman looks familiar?”

“Familiar? How?”

“You remember Mrs. Hernandez from Simpo Co., the one on the news a while back? Don’t you think

she looks like her?”

From the kidnappers’ conversation, Julie was sure they didn’t know she was Mrs. Hernandez. If the

kidnappers had known, they would have kidnapped, her for her wealth. But they didn’t know her identity

and yet still kidnapped her. What were they after?

They had mentioned there was a real employer. What was their purpose?

According to one of the kidnappers, she was brought here by them. Did that mean there was another

group of people also after her?

These questions threw Julie’s thoughts into a whirl.

But the most important thing right now was that these two guys seemed to have been ordered to not

harm her. So…

“How much is your employer paying you? I can double it!” Julie suddenly blurted out to the kidnappers.

The kidnappers were taken aback for a moment, and then one laughed and responded, “You? Double

our pay?”

“I am Mrs. Hernandez!” Julie replied firmly.

From their conversation, Julie deduced that these two men seemed to be more interested in money

than her life. Hence, dealing with this situation would be a lot simpler..

The two kidnappers clearly didn’t believe Julie.

One kidnapper frowned and snapped at the other, “What are you blabbering about, Mrs. Hernandez

from Simpo Co.? She heard you!”

Then he turned to Julie, “So we’re just supposed to believe you’re Mrs. Hernandez? Well, I can claim

I’m the next in line to be President!”

Julie had a sudden idea and excitedly said to the two kidnappers, “In my pocket, I have a credit card

with no limit, and it can be used to withdraw cash anytime. It was given to me by my husband and can

prove my identity.”

Julie cleverly used the unlimited credit card as bait, knowing her current predicament. For the

kidnappers to get the card, they would have to untie her as she was sitting tightly bound to the chair.

One kidnapper was still hesitant, while the other one had already taken out his phone to check the

news, “Look at this woman. Doesn’t she look like Mrs. Hernandez? I think she’s about the same height

as Mrs. Hernandez, it must be her!”

The other kidnapper looked in Julie’s direction. As their employer’s instructions, the two men had tied

Julie to a chair and suspended it mid-air using chains. Julie was not only blindfolded but also hanging

in the air.

She was in an abandoned factory, suspended a dozen meters in the air. If she were to fall from there,

she would be severely injured if not killed.

Although Julie’s eyes were covered, she could clearly sense the distance between herself and the

kidnappers and knew she was hanging in the air. But she couldn’t tell how high she was, so the only

option was to find a way to get down.

One of the kidnappers seemed to have confirmed Julie’s identity and excitedly told the other, “We can

use this situation to our advantage and ask Mr. Hernandez for a ransom. Didn’t she bear him a child?

Mr. Hernandez would definitely pay up, right?”

The other kidnapper was still hesitating.

Julie seized the opportunity and spoke again, “Yes, my husband loves me. He won’t refuse to pay the

ransom. You guys can let me down first. I have a credit card with no limit; you can go withdraw cash

now. I’m blindfolded and haven’t seen your faces; you guys can escape after getting the money!”

“That lady does have a point.” One of the kidnappers’ excited voices echoed from the ground.

However, the other kidnapper slapped him on the head, “Are you out of your mind? That credit card is a

supplementary card. If this woman really is Mr. Hernandez’s wife, he would know our location as soon

as we swipe the card. We wouldn’t be able to escape!”

The man stopped talking.

Julie fell silent.

Damn, real kidnappers are so much smarter than the ones on TV.

Julie told the kidnappers, “Aren’t you guys after money? You can go to the bank, then call my husband

to come and rescue me. As soon as he hears I’ve

been kidnapped, he’ll rush over without a second to spare, giving you guys plenty of time to withdraw

cash. If you’re worried, plan your escape route in advance. Money solves problems. You guys should

know that better than I do.”

Upon hearing Julie’s words, the kidnappers fell silent. Because this was indeed a good plan. By the

time Mr. Hernandez rescues his wife, they would have already escaped.

Seeing the kidnapper hesitate, Julie seized the moment and said, “I have no idea who your boss is, nor

what beef he’s got with me. I heard you just want the money and then get out of here safe and sound.

But let me tell you, with kidnapping, there’s no such thing as a safe getaway”

“My daughter is sick… I need the money to pay for her medical bills…

Upon hearing this, Julie immediately grabbed onto the kidnapper’s weak spot and started explaining.

“Kidnapping is a serious crime. According to our criminal law: kidnapping with the intention of extortion,

or taking hostages, can result in more than ten years of imprisonment or life imprisonment, and fines or

confiscation of property; if the kidnapping results in the victim’s death, or if the victim is killed, it could

mean the death penalty, and confiscation of property; if the situation is less severe, it could still mean

five to ten years of imprisonment, and fines.”

One of the kidnappers pleaded, “Don’t listen to her nonsense! Shut up!” Another kidnapper was starting

to freak out.

Julie knew they wouldn’t really kill her, so she dared to continue, “The sentence for kidnapping doesn’t

change depending on the ransom amount. If you let me go now, take the money, and leave, I can go

back to my husband, and I wouldn’t be able to recognize any of you. If you’re lucky, you might get

away; even if you’re not, if you rat out your boss and cooperate with the police, and didn’t hurt me,

you’d be lightly sentenced to just five to ten years. You’d still have your lives, and you could start over

in ten years.”

Julie’s tone became serious and she told the kidnappers directly, “If your boss really wants me dead,

do you think my husband would let you off the hook? You’d be sentenced to death!”

Julie started to persuade them again, “If not for yourselves, think about your families! I’m a mother, too.

If something happens to you, think about how your mothers would feel?”

“I think she makes sense. Look…” One of the kidnappers showed the other the legal information he

found.

The other kidnapper glanced at it, his brows furrowed even tighter.

The younger kidnapper said again, “Look, the boss told us to hang her this high. If she falls, do you

think she’ll survive? Should we put her down first and check if the bank card is real?”

The older kidnapper started to think. Since she was Mrs. Hernandez of Simpo Co., there must be

money in that bank card. They were just trying to make some money, to complete the task and get

paid.

They originally thought they were kidnapping an ordinary person, and didn’t expect her to be someone

so prominent. If something really happened…

They were just trying to make some money but didn’t anticipate their own lives could be at risk.

The older kidnapper was still hesitating.

Julie had been spinning around in the air for a while, her head starting to get foggy. She pinched the

flesh of her palm with her nails. The pain kept her

conscious.

“You don’t have to take off my blindfold. I promise my credit card has no limit. There’s no harm in

putting me down to check. If I lied to you, you could just hang me up again. I don’t have any weapons

on me, what are you afraid of?”

The older kidnapper finally said, “Neal, go, put her down.”

Julie’s forehead was covered in sweat.

Hearing the command, Julie breathed a sigh of relief. Then she heard footsteps in the open space,

although she couldn’t see, she knew that must be Neal preparing to put her down.

But just as Julie heard the sound of the chains, feeling a rush of excitement, suddenly, a very familiar

voice came from the door, “Whoever dares to put her down, I’ll make sure they die today!”

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