Chapter 275: I Can Definitely Pay More Than Her
Isabella had lost all sense of time.
With her eyes blindfolded and her mouth gagged, stripped of any ability to negotiate, she felt like a fish trapped on a cutting board—completely at their mercy.
"Vance, are we really just going to sit here waiting? Didn't they say to get rid of this woman quickly?" A deep but timid voice broke the silence.
Isabella's ears immediately perked up.
A heavy thud followed—it sounded like someone had been slapped hard across the face.
"Kade, you idiot! I never should've brought you along on this job. Look how stupid you've become!" The man called Vance had a sharp, ruthless edge to his voice.
"This woman is our only bargaining chip. If we kill her before we get the money and the cops catch us, who do you think they're going to come after?"
Vance was clearly the brains of the operation. Despite what Isabella had heard him promise on the phone earlier, he apparently had no intention of following through until the payment cleared.
Smart. Calculating. Dangerous.
"It's hot as hell in here. Luca, what kind of setup is this? Not even a damn fan! I'm dying here!" Kade's shrill voice complained bitterly.
Luca grumbled back defensively. "There's no electricity here, genius. Even if I bought a fan, where would I plug it in? We're here to make serious money, remember? Once we cash in, we can live in air-conditioned comfort every day."
Kade scoffed. "Vance just negotiated the price up. After this job, we're each walking away with a hundred grand. You know what a hundred thousand dollars
gets you in Seaside City?"
"What?" Luca asked.
"In a rich neighborhood? A fucking toilet. That's it!" Kade's voice rose mockingly. "We're risking murder charges, and each of us gets a hundred grand. You know how much that woman's going to walk away with?"
"How much?" Luca's tone turned uncertain, clearly swayed by Kade's words.
"That woman's marrying the richest man in Seaside City. She's going to be Mrs. Montagu, sitting pretty at the top! Our a hundred grand? That's not even what she makes in a single day!"
Isabella's heart nearly stopped.
So it was Laura.
She'd suspected it from the moment she regained consciousness, but hearing it confirmed out loud sent ice through her veins. She'd known Laura was ruthless—had steeled herself for that reality—but she never imagined Laura would actually try to have her killed.
"Vance, that woman sounds loaded. Why don't you call her back and ask for more money? If we each got a few hundred thousand, we could buy a place in Seaside City. I could bring my wife and kids over, live like city folk!" Luca suggested eagerly.
Another thud—this time it sounded like Vance had kicked him. Hard. Like kicking a heavy sandbag. Luca let out a muffled groan.
"Stop listening to Kade's bullshit! This is serious business. We've already kidnapped her—there's no turning back now. Asking for more money once was risky enough. If she backs out now, we're the ones left holding the bag on kidnapping charges. We'll squeeze more money out of her after the woman's dead."
Of the three, Kade was the instigator, Luca was the follower with no brains of his own, and Vance was the calculating leader who thought ahead.
Isabella's mind raced. She had to figure out how to exploit the tensions between them.
After their brief argument subsided into silence, an idea formed in her mind.
She let her head loll to the side, feigning unconsciousness.
"Hey, you think maybe we already killed her?" Luca's voice came, panicked and uncertain.
Hurried, clumsy footsteps approached. Isabella felt a rough hand press against her nose.
"She's still breathing," Vance confirmed.
Another hand touched her forehead, then moved to her neck.
"City women are delicate. Maybe she passed out from the heat. I heard people can die from heatstroke," Kade offered.
The three of them huddled together, debating in hushed tones.
"Maybe we should just let her go? At least then we could sleep at night," Luca suggested weakly.
Another thud. Another kick.
"Are you completely brain-dead? If we let her go now, all this was for nothing. You gonna pay us out of your own pocket?"
They'd already committed kidnapping. Walking away empty-handed was unthinkable.
"Untie her. Give her some water. Whether she lives or dies after that is up to fate," Vance decided.
The gag was removed from Isabella's mouth. A cup with a strange smell was pressed to her lips, and rough fingers pried her mouth open, forcing water down her throat.
After pretending to be unconscious for so long, being forcibly hydrated gave Isabella the perfect cover. She coughed violently, as if just coming to.
"Who are you people?" she gasped, fear lacing her voice.
"Shut your mouth if you know what's good for you, or I won't be so nice!"
"You're doing this for money, right? I have money. Lots of it. If you don't believe me, look up the race car driver Victoria... I can give you my entire year's salary from the racing club."
Luca snorted. "You think we're idiots? Victoria? Race car drivers are bottom-feeders, basically street thugs. How much could you possibly make? Not even close to what we're already getting paid."
"I can pay more than her," Isabella said calmly. "My annual salary is twenty million dollars."
"Twenty million dollars?" Luca muttered.
Vance and Kade went silent. Clearly, they had no idea either.
Several moments passed—presumably while they looked up Victoria's earnings. Then came a sharp intake of breath.
"Holy shit. That's actually real."
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to pull! You really expect us to believe you'd hand over that much money?" Kade's shrill voice was skeptical.
Isabella coughed again. "To save my own life? Why wouldn't I?"
The sight of that much money clearly had them reconsidering. But just as they seemed ready to negotiate, footsteps echoed from downstairs, accompanied by muffled voices.
Vance cursed under his breath. "Shit. I forgot about those two assholes."
"Untie her and push her down the stairs—now!" Survival instinct kicked in. The money meant nothing if they were caught.
The moment Isabella felt the restraints loosen, she sprang to her feet and drove her knee hard into the groin of the man closest to her.
He let out an uncontrollable howl of pain.
It was Luca.