Chapter 159

"Mr. Bridges, what do you mean by that?"

Alton gritted his teeth, his voice thick with phlegm. "How dare you ask me what I mean? Don't think I didn't watch the livestream!"

Alton had watched Hayden's livestream from start to finish. At first, he thought this guy had some guts and cleverness, but once Amelia appeared and started suppressing Hayden, he sensed something was off.

This Hayden was simply too pathetic.

At that moment, he still held onto a glimmer of hope. He had merely provided an address; the Scott family might not be able to trace it back to him.

Once he cut off contact with this person, the matter would have nothing to do with him.

However, when a man with a deep, magnetic voice appeared in the livestream, Alton was completely panicked.

He had previously attended some top-tier business meetings with his boss and recognized that voice—it was Alexander, the head of the Brown Group!

For the next two days, Alton was on edge, fearing that Alexander would come knocking on his door. He never expected that Hayden, the fool, would dare to call and ask him for money!

And this woman!

Alton's gaze fell on Opal beside him, anger bubbling up inside. He violently cracked the whip in his hand, the sound cutting through the air as it struck the woman's battered body, eliciting a hoarse scream.

If it weren't for Opal's instigation, he would never have thought to go against Ella, let alone cross paths with the Scott family and offend Alexander!

Before he died, he had to vent this anger!

With that in mind, Alton suppressed the fierce expression on his face and said very kindly to Hayden on the phone, "How about this? Where are you? Online transactions can easily be traced. I'll give you cash, and we can discuss financing as well."

Hayden's face lit up with joy.

It seemed he had just called at the wrong time; Alton wasn't targeting him—he was likely just upset about the woman beside him.

He quickly reported his location.

However, after waiting anxiously for a long time, Hayden was met not with the money he had been eagerly anticipating, but a group of bulky, masked thugs.

These people seemed afraid of causing a scene; after beating Hayden up, they immediately fled.

At that moment, Hayden finally realized he had been set up. He angrily pulled out his phone to call the police, only to be stopped by another group of people.

"Mr. Johnson, right? Please come with us."

Looking at the familiar, menacing aura of the group before him, Hayden was horrified. "Who are you? Are you Alexander's people or the Scott family? Where are you taking me?"

The group remained silent, swiftly binding him, blindfolding him, and shoving him into a car.

Not long after the car left, another group appeared at the scene.

Looking at the empty space and the disappearing tail lights, the leader made a phone call. "Mr. Allen, our people arrived too late. Hayden has been taken away; it looks like it was the Brown family's doing."

"And we discovered another unidentified force trying to get involved, but they slipped away quickly, and we have no leads on them."

On the other end of the line, Flynn's voice came through, somewhat cheerful. "I was hoping to let this promising heir know my good intentions, but it seems there are many people trying to help her."

"It doesn't matter that we didn't capture him; just come back."

Flynn's wife, listening to the call, showed a hint of concern. "Is Ms. Johnson's background very complicated? Should we… get someone else?"

Flynn glanced at the TV, where Dax and "Elsie" were happily interacting, and said meaningfully, "How could an heir from a prominent family not encounter some challenges and hardships along the way?"

"I actually think she's more suited for it."

Besides, it was rare for Dax to like this woman and her daughter so much.

In an abandoned factory in the suburbs.

Hayden was roughly thrown from the car, blindfolded.

The surroundings fell into silence for a moment before footsteps approached, and someone removed the blindfold from his face.

Hayden shook his head, looked up, and saw Alexander standing before him.

"Mr. Brown, what do you want?"

This was an extremely empty place, and only Alexander stood across from Hayden, while Alexander's subordinates stood far behind.

However, recalling the methods of this person, Hayden felt a surge of fear.

Alexander didn't respond; he merely toyed with a slender knife in his hand, the sharp blade dancing rapidly on his fingertips.

Watching this made Hayden break out in a cold sweat.

Just then, Alexander's phone rang, breaking the tense atmosphere of the dilapidated factory.

"Mr. Brown, is Hayden with you?"

Seeing Alexander's expression soften instantly, Hayden, though unable to hear, instinctively felt that it was likely Amelia on the other end.

He immediately shouted, "Amelia! Amelia, help me!"

Amelia didn't need to ask; she immediately understood where Hayden was. She paused for a moment and asked Alexander, somewhat confused. "You have no grudge against him, so why kidnap him?"

Alexander chuckled softly, "It's to win over my beloved as a suitor."

Amelia was utterly speechless. "As long as you're happy."

"Keep him alive; I'll come over and ask a few questions later."

After hanging up, Alexander tucked his phone away, and the knife spinning in his fingertips came to a halt.

He walked slowly toward Hayden, appearing like a cold, divine being, but his words sounded like the whispers of a demon.

"You heard that I want to please her, so if you can't provide anything of value…"

The blade moved repeatedly across Hayden's major arteries, and soon a small puddle of foul-smelling liquid formed beneath him.

"I'll tell you anything you want to know!!"

The blade suddenly pressed into Hayden's neck. "It's not about what I want to know; it's about what you know."

Hayden jolted, racking his brain to recall. "I, I'll say something… I know now!"

He swallowed hard and, with a trembling voice, said, "Layla has a secret!"

"I found her on the mountain behind the village; it seemed she had escaped from somewhere, covered in wounds. When I saw her, she was already in a coma."

"I thought she was pretty, so I took her home…"

Alexander keenly sensed something was off from Hayden's hesitant words.

"What did you do to her while she was unconscious?"

Hayden's face turned pale. "I… I slept with her."

A flicker of disgust crossed Alexander's face, and he suddenly slashed the knife across Hayden's carotid artery.

"Shameless!"

Hayden was in pain, but he couldn't help but defend himself.

"If I hadn't saved her, she would have died on that mountain!"

"I saved her life! I just slept with her; that's what I deserved!"

Alexander didn't want to hear Hayden's desperate words and coldly pressed the dagger in a little further. "Go ahead."

"Well, there's nothing else to say; after we got married, she brought me to Emerald City to start a business, but a few years later, she died…"

"How did she die?"

"She just… died of illness…"

Alexander expressionlessly plunged the knife down.

Hayden's scream echoed throughout the factory, and he trembled, clutching the spot where his finger had been severed. "I'll tell you!!!"

"It was Ava, it was Ava who killed Layla!"