Chapter 73: Chapter 73: A Web of Deceit

Helen Lloyd clutched her phone, occasionally checking the messaging interface to see if her employer had received the news yet. Simultaneously, she had to leverage her network of contacts to quickly trace Julian’s whereabouts.

It was her own negligence. She hadn’t anticipated such a scenario. She should have stopped Julian from the start.

Helen sighed in frustration. The other side was monitoring them so closely; if Julian hadn’t played along with the flow of events, who knew what even more horrific things might have occurred? Just then, her phone vibrated. Helen hurriedly opened it to check. It was a message from Ethan Caldwell, containing a concise two-word reply: “Understood.”

Helen quickly looked up toward the international arrival exit. Sure enough, she spotted a man with a familiar physique pulling a suitcase out of the airport terminal. As the distance between them closed, she finally saw the man’s features clearly. It was indeed her boss, looking remarkably composed, as if nothing untoward had happened.

In that fleeting moment, Helen suddenly wondered: Did her boss truly care about his partner that much?

It wasn’t until the man took out his phone casually, as if he were simply texting, that Helen received another message a moment later. It read: “Use every connection you have, you must find him.”

She exhaled softly, suddenly realizing that her boss’s acting skills were impeccable. When was he acting? When was he not? Helen honestly couldn’t tell.

She cast her gaze toward a corner of the waiting area. It seemed Aaron Sterling had spotted Ethan Caldwell. Aaron ruffled his own hair to make himself look disheveled and wretched, then rushed toward Ethan, whining and weeping about something.

Helen couldn’t hear the words, but she silently felt that her boss must be furious right now.

Obviously, Ethan Caldwell was seething with rage. How could he possibly be happy? From the few lines of text Helen had sent, he understood exactly how critical the situation was. The audacity of the Sterling family – they dared to plot against him.

Seeing Aaron lunging toward him at this moment, Ethan loathed him enough to want to kick him away. However, thinking that he still hadn’t found Julian’s whereabouts, he had to endure it.

Unaware that his plan had already been exposed, Aaron Sterling wept and wailed right in front of Ethan: “The kidnappers said you must personally deliver the ransom for them to release Julian. I have no other choice…”

That was the narrative – Aaron threw himself before Ethan, claiming Julian had been kidnapped. Surprisingly, this matched the testimony of the old taxi driver: they wanted to kidnap for ransom. Aaron rambled on about how worried he was, how he didn’t dare tell their father because Richard was old and might not withstand the shock. He claimed he had borrowed money from friends to pay the ransom, but the other side insisted on seeing Ethan Caldwell and demanded he ransom his associate before they would release the hostage. Left with no alternative, Aaron had come here to lie in wait and beg for Ethan’s help.

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Ethan would have truly wanted to applaud this man’s impressive performance; Aaron was acting the part perfectly. But Ethan couldn’t unmask him just yet. He could only play along: “Where do they want the money delivered, and when?”

“They set a deadline within the next half hour. Luckily you returned in time, otherwise…” Aaron sobbed theatrically. “Hurry, get in the car, I’ll drive you there.”

Ethan agreed and walked briskly toward Aaron’s car. At the same time, he surreptitiously sent a request to track his real-time location to Helen’s device. Aaron did not notice; he simply jogged behind Ethan, climbed into the driver’s seat, and drove away while continuing to weep.

Helen Lloyd received the location signal and quickly alerted her subordinates. She didn’t follow immediately in her car but waited until Aaron’s vehicle had disappeared from sight before slowly trailing the GPS signal. At the same time, she called for additional security backup.

The opposing side had hired mercenaries in addition to common thugs; without professionals, they would certainly be at a disadvantage.

A convoy of cars separated, all converging toward a single point.

—

Meanwhile, at the other end of the city, Julian Sterling was thrown onto a bed, his hands bound. He was delirious, his body burning hot.

His head felt like it was splitting open, his entire body ached, and a tormenting heat simmered within him, making him incredibly uncomfortable. Julian wanted to curl up, but he felt the restraints on his wrists and the gag covering his mouth. He frowned with difficulty, wanting to open his eyes to survey his surroundings, but he heard footsteps. Julian could only bite the tip of his tongue to maintain his composure, preventing himself from squirming and keeping his breathing steady.

From outside, the sound of a door opening drifted in, accompanied by voices.

“Can’t we play with him right now? Look at that appearance – soft and tender. Who knows how many times CEO Caldwell has played with him.” This voice belonged to a young man; it sounded vulgar, raspy, and disgusting.

“No. Wait for the drug to fully kick in.” This voice sounded older but was no less nauseating than the first. “I’ll let you know when the car arrives. You can do whatever you want then. It’s best if he initiates it himself due to the drugs; that wealthy tycoon will be more satisfied seeing that.”

“Ha, look how smooth his skin is. If he initiates it himself, that would be delicious.” The young thug laughed raucously, his lecherous intent obvious.

The older man agreed: “Of course. If CEO Caldwell sees a scene like that, he’ll definitely dump him. At that point, you and your boys can do whatever you like.”

The two men laughed loudly, then closed the door and locked it from the outside. Julian lay on the bed, his body scorching hot from the drugs, drenched in sweat. He silently blamed himself for his negligence in falling into the hands of these people. It was eighty percent likely that this involved Gabriel Cole, but to push him into a desperate situation where Ethan Caldwell would abandon him… he feared Aaron Sterling also had a hand in this!

Julian panted heavily, opening his eyes to scan the room, silently searching for a way to escape. If he still had the body from his past life, escape might have been easier. But this body was too frail. After the collision in the car, every part of him hurt, and now, under the influence of the drugs, he had lost all his strength.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep