Chapter 96: Laura, Seeing through Everything

"Alright, I'll come out!" Although this was the first time Laura had encountered such a situation, she knew it would be best not to anger these kidnappers.

They dared to kidnap her, showing clear signs of insanity.

Right now, all she hoped for was that they were only after money.

She got out of the car, and the masked men swiftly approached, roughly tying Laura up in a way that still allowed her some mobility.

"Miss Costa, we're only after money, not your life. I hope you'll cooperate with us." The apparent leader among them, despite speaking with a hoarse voice, maintained a relatively gentle attitude.

That's good.

Though Laura felt somewhat afraid, she remained composed and said, "Release my driver, and I can have him inform my parents."

Jason, who had also been forced out of the car and tied up, looked up in astonishment upon hearing her words. He was deeply moved, evidently not expecting that, even in such a situation, Laura would treat him this way.

"That's quite troublesome. It can rather be arranged with a video call. Let's go together." The leader responded.

"I can't accept that!" Laura stood her ground. "If you don't release Jason, I won't go with you."

"Miss Costa, do you not believe that I can shoot you right now?" the leader of the kidnappers threatened.

Laura tilted her head defiantly. "Come on, shoot me! If you dare to lay a finger on me, you'll never walk out of Freton City! If all you want is money, then think carefully!"

The leader was taken aback. He felt as if the roles had suddenly flipped. Laura seemed more confident than him. Frankly speaking, if he had no reservations, he wouldn't waste time with so much idle talk and would have acted immediately.

Laura's words were spoken out of necessity. Jason was different from her, he was just a driver, and the Costa family wouldn't care about him. If anything unexpected were to happen, given Jason's age, he might get injured or even lose his life, which she could not bear at all.

"Capturing me alone is enough, release Jason. Otherwise, don't expect any cooperation from me!"

Though her heart was uneasy, the thought of Jason being involved made her resolute.

After being her driver for so many years, Jason began to speak with determination. "Miss..."

Jason's tear-filled eyes made him feel even more ashamed. He was well aware of Giulio's trust in him and that this was all just a charade. But the Miss was oblivious to all this and still showed her concern.

"Fine! Let him go." The leader really didn't care about this matter. When Laura wasn't scared off, he didn't mind letting Jason go either.

"Once we reach the base, we need to find a way to break through Laura's psychological defenses and make her utterly despair so that Elijah's appearance will be even more shocking." The leader contemplated silently in his mind, waving his hand to order his subordinates to release Jason.

However, he failed to notice that Jason hesitated before leaving and made a gesture to Miss Costa, as if implying something. When Laura saw it, her heart trembled. She recognized the meaning of the gesture, "No danger, do not be afraid."

"How can I not be afraid?" While sitting in the dark in the truck with the kidnappers, Laura thought about this matter. Even if it was only about money, unforeseen circumstances were bound to arise. Jason, with his rich experience, wouldn't overlook this point. Why did he make a safe gesture?

"Unless Jason believes that these kidnappers won't harm me!" After being reminded of this, Laura recalled the various interactions with the kidnappers, and the more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became.

These people were too polite, lacking any sense of savagery. Moreover, upon careful reflection, their walking posture, standing positions, and their current presence in the darkness, silently guarding her without exchanging a single word, all felt very familiar to Laura. When she had encountered Henry's former subordinates in the convalescent home, she had had the same feeling.

"Are all these people recently discharged soldiers, or even military personnel still in service?!" This thought flashed through her mind, and Laura's heart pounded, feeling like she had discovered a shocking secret. If they were just ordinary thugs, it would be one thing, but a group of soldiers kidnapping the Costa family's Miss for the sake of money? How could that be possible!

"And that leader wearing a mask, deliberately muffling his voice, it's as if he doesn't want me to recognize his voice. I must have seen him somewhere, or even heard him speak." Laura suddenly realized, and her shock deepened.

She didn't believe that simply paying off Giulio would be enough to secure her release. These people had a much deeper purpose. The cargo container was pitch-black, and Laura could only perceive that they seemed to be heading towards a remote mountainous area through the increasingly bumpy road. It was unclear how much time had passed when the vehicle finally stopped, and the door opened. Laura squinted her eyes and saw the leader standing behind the car.

"Miss Costa, please come down."

"Alright." Laura nodded and walked to the side of the container, realizing that the ground was still a bit high. She suddenly decided to test the situation further, so when she got down, she pretended to stumble a little.

With her feet stepping on empty air, with a light exclamation, she fell toward the ground.

As expected, the leader was startled and quickly reached out to support her. But when he made contact with her body, he deliberately clenched his palm, reducing the area of contact with her.

At this moment, Laura was completely certain that these people were not kidnappers at all. They were definitely people she knew, sent to take her.

Unsure if they would become furious when exposed, Laura silently followed them, pretending to know nothing.

After being brought to a cave, the leader recorded a video of Laura. He then waited for a while before making a call to Giulio, demanding one billion dollars right in front of Laura.

From a distance, Laura could even hear Giulio's roaring voice from the other end of the phone, clearly filled with anger.

Playing it up, the leader negotiated for a while, threatening that if the money wasn't received within a day, the hostage would be killed.

Laura almost burst out laughing while watching, but managed to hold it in.

After the call, the leader came over to Laura's side, clearing his throat and frightening her, even pulling out a knife, and threatening to make a few cuts on Laura's face.

It took Laura a lot of effort to squeeze out tears, showing a scene of horror and despair.

The leader nodded to himself and left the cave, making another phone call.

"We're almost done here. It seems Miss Costa won't be able to take much more. I'm worried that if we scare her a bit longer, she'll faint. Hurry up and bring the team over. I've got the bulletproof vest and blood packs ready. We'll play dead, then you show up. I guarantee Miss Costa will be infatuated with you."