Chapter 143
After hearing his words, Charlotte's expression grew darker, but she forced herself to stay calm.
"What exactly do you want? Money? Or shares in the Langley Group?"
Seeing how cooperative Charlotte was, the other party seemed quite satisfied.
"It's so much easier talking to smart people."
"Of course, I have no interest in those shares of the Langley Group. I want money."
"How much."
"Fifty million dollars."
The moment those words left his mouth, Charlotte's pupils contracted slightly, her eyes filled with shock.
For ordinary people, this was an astronomical figure!
Even though the Langley Group was doing well and had decent cash reserves, withdrawing that much liquid capital in a short time wouldn't be easy.
It might even break the company's cash flow chain if handled poorly!
However, for Charlotte, who had hidden her true identity, obtaining this money wasn't difficult.
In her dark web account, she could mobilize funds far exceeding this amount with just a few keystrokes!
But...
Charlotte lowered her eyes, lost in thought.
Why would he demand a figure that just happened to hit the Langley family's maximum capacity? And how could he be so certain she could come up with the money?
Unless he knew her background—knew everything about her!
"Fifty million dollars? You're overestimating the Langley family." Charlotte laughed coldly, her tone dripping with mockery. "Charles probably can't even scrape together five million right now. You want me to produce fifty million dollars? Where am I supposed to find that?"
"Charlotte, don't play dumb with me."
The voice on the other end grew sinister. "The Langley family might not have it, but that doesn't mean you don't!"
"I don't believe you spent all those years abroad without saving up something!"
"Bottom line—I don't care how you do it. I just want to see the money!"
Hearing this, Charlotte's expression shifted slightly. He was testing her, just as she suspected.
"I don't care who you are, but any transaction requires balanced risk and reward."
"In Imperial City, kidnapping the chairman of the Langley Group isn't some minor case."
"Once the police get fully involved, even if you get the money, you might not leave safely!"
"Risking all this for fifty million dollars seems pretty stupid, don't you think?"
After saying this, Charlotte deliberately paused, then spoke again with absolute certainty.
"Richard, instead of running your money laundering operation, you're doing this dirty work—who hired you?"
The instant those words left her mouth, the phone line fell into deathly silence.
Charlotte stared intently at the audio tracking program running on her computer screen. The progress bar was slowly advancing, locking onto his location.
A full five seconds passed before an angry yet shocked voice came through.
"You... you traced me?"
Charlotte snorted coldly and spoke slowly.
"I'll admit, your multi-layer proxy setup was cleverly designed, but your anti-tracking mechanism triggered point-one seconds too slow."
"Richard, what do you think would happen if I sent your location and evidence of this kidnapping and extortion to the police—or to those enemies on the dark web who've put a bounty on your head?"
"Shut up!" Richard lost his temper and shouted.
Just thinking about Charlotte having access to all his information made Richard furious.
"You think knowing my name gives you leverage?"
"Let me tell you something—I have your mother. One press of this remote, and she becomes a pile of mush."
"So get the fifty million ready, or I'll really send your mother to meet God!"
"I need to confirm she's safe..."
"You don't get to make demands!" Richard coldly refused. "Three days. That's all you get."
"If you don't deliver the money by then, I'll cut off your mother's fingers and mail them to you one by one."
Charlotte's expression darkened. Just as she was about to stall for more time, the door in the distance opened and Alexander walked in carrying food.
But then, Richard suddenly spoke.
"I have to say, Alexander really does treat you well—even personally bringing you food."
"So don't try anything clever. I know everything."
The moment those words were spoken, Charlotte felt her blood freeze.
This place was surrounded by special electromagnetic-interference-resistant materials. There were no windows, no ventilation ducts—how could he know so clearly?
Was there surveillance?
She looked up at the ceiling, at the smoke detector in the corner...
"Stop looking. You won't find it." Richard seemed to read her thoughts, his tone full of mockery. "I took this job because I was fully prepared. Everything is under my control."
"Remember what I said. Three days. Fifty million."
"Don't try anything, and don't let Alexander get involved. Understand?"
Charlotte clenched her teeth, her voice cold and hard.
"Fine. Three days. But if my mother suffers even the slightest harm, no matter where you hide, I'll tear you to pieces!"
After hanging up, she leaned back in her chair, her face pale.
"Who was that? Why do you look so awful?" Alexander set the plate in his hands on the table and asked.
Hearing his question and seeing the curiosity in his eyes, Charlotte's gaze flickered. She picked up the glass of milk and took a sip.
"Nothing. Just a spam call."
"A spam call?" Alexander clearly didn't buy it. His gaze slowly shifted to the computer screen.
The black popup window from before had disappeared. Only streams of data and that man's photo and information remained on screen.
Alexander stared at it for a moment, then raised one eyebrow, his tone clearly skeptical.
"A spam call made you look this shaken? Charlotte, do you really think I'd believe that?"
"And I'm pretty sure I just heard my name. What's going on?"
Seeing he wasn't easy to fool, Charlotte couldn't help biting her lip. Thinking of what Richard had just said, she lowered her eyes and shook her head gently.
"It's really nothing. Please don't ask, okay?"
"I'm just... not in a good mood right now."
Alexander looked at the irritation written across Charlotte's face. After a moment's thought, he closed his mouth and sighed.
"Alright then."
"Did you find anything?"
Charlotte pressed her lips together. "No. It failed."
Hearing this result, a flash of regret crossed Alexander's eyes.
Then he came to Charlotte's side and gently took her hand.
"It's okay. We'll keep trying."
"Eat something first."