Chapter 774: Kidnapping

Chapter 774: Kidnapping

Margaret squinted at the woman in front of her, barely recognizable now, and felt momentarily disoriented.

She found herself thinking back to the woman from yesterday, whose every smile and expression had been so seductive.

A cold laugh came from Fiona. She kept her head down, her messy hair falling loosely across her face.

Margaret stayed on guard, holding her knife up, pointing it straight at Fiona.

"What did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this to me?"

She spoke through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with cold malice.

But the next second, a sharp burst of pain hit her in the shoulder.

She spun around and slashed her knife at the person who had attacked her from behind, leaving a wound across them.

Margaret held on through gritted teeth, but the pain in her shoulder kept making her vision go dark.

"Margaret."

Calla's voice came from behind her. Margaret's eyes went wide.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked at Fiona, then at Calla, and understood immediately.

"You two are working together?"

"Knowing that now won't do you any good."

Calla let out a cold laugh and pulled out a long knife. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this mess."

"You were the one who acted recklessly, using Cecil to kidnap me so I could slip away. And now you want to pull the same trick again?"

Margaret kept her eyes wide open, trying to buy time.

"Don't try that on me again. It won't work anymore!"

After that day, Calla had replayed the whole scene in her mind and realized something was off.

Margaret had deliberately stirred up trouble between her and Cecil, giving herself the opening she needed.

Margaret's vision was getting blurrier by the second, cold sweat dripping down her forehead. Calla had caught her off guard just moments ago, and her shoulder was still throbbing.

"What's the point of all this?"

"There's every point."

Calla's voice rose with emotion.

"My life is ruined because of you. You're going down with me!"

With that, Calla swung her weapon and lunged at Margaret.

Margaret shut her eyes on instinct. The pain in her hand and shoulder hit all at once, leaving her unable to move.

But after a long moment, she still felt nothing new. She slowly opened her eyes. The knife that had been aimed at her was frozen in midair.

She opened her mouth, then used every last bit of strength she had to fall sideways.

Calla's knife dropped. A second later, she collapsed on the hillside.

"William..."

Margaret looked up at the man in front of her, her voice breaking. Blood was still flowing steadily from her arm, and it pained William to see it.

"Margaret."

William swallowed hard and pulled her into his arms.

Behind them, Fiona tried to make a run for it, but William moved fast, tackled her, and pulled a rope from his backpack to tie the two of them together.

"Let go of me!"

Fiona struggled. She couldn't believe it — just last night William had tied her up and left her in the hallway, and now here she was, tied up again.

Calla just stared blankly at the two of them, unable to say a word.

Right as Calla had been about to stab Margaret, William had moved in fast and stopped her.

When Calla saw it was William, she froze.

He radiated an overwhelming presence that made it impossible to look at him directly.

While Calla stood there stunned, William landed a heavy punch on her back.

She couldn't take it. She had no choice but to drop the knife.

"What took you so long?"

Margaret buried her face in William's chest, her shoulder still aching.

"It's my fault. I should have found you sooner."

William tried to calm her down. Soon after, Margaret went limp in his arms and passed out.

William's expression darkened. He had come hiking with Philip today and hadn't brought many people with him. For now, all he could do was scoop Margaret up in his arms.

After seeing what had just happened, he had already called the police. They arrived quickly, making their way up the mountain with a team.

Fortunately, the two of them hadn't climbed very far, so the officers got there fast.

William had only noticed Margaret was gone halfway through the hike and rushed back down. Philip, for some reason, had just kept climbing.

William hadn't had much to talk to Philip about anyway, so he'd headed back down on his own.

Sure enough, halfway down the mountain, he found Margaret and Calla locked in a struggle.

Seeing Margaret covered in injuries, William felt a sharp pang in his chest.

The police caught up, took one look at the two women tied up and Margaret's battered state, and understood right away what had happened.

"I'm sorry, sir. This must have been quite a shock."

The officer apologized to William. William carried himself with a calm, distinguished air that made it clear at a glance he was not someone to be messed with.

"Take them away."

William gestured toward the two women. The officer nodded and had them dragged off immediately.

"Get off me."

Fiona tried to struggle, but the officer shot her a sharp warning look that made her think twice.

She had dressed carefully today — a fitted pencil skirt, full makeup done up to look seductive — all hoping to win William back.

Instead, William hadn't so much as glanced at her all day. The one look he did give her was a cold, hard glare.

Now Fiona was being hauled down the mountain by the police, her skirt a mess, looking completely wretched.

Nearby, William stood with his head bowed, looking down at Margaret in his arms.

She was only half-asleep against him, but the mountain air was harsh, with cold wind howling around them, making it impossible for her to rest properly.

"William..."

Margaret murmured his name. William came back to himself and looked down at her gently.

"Are you uncomfortable here?"

Margaret nodded, her whole body trembling without stop.

This trip had been meant to help ease her anxiety. Now this had happened on top of everything else. William was worried — genuinely afraid that all this turmoil might make her condition worse.

Thankfully, the wound on Margaret's arm had been treated in time. William had brought a first aid kit along just in case, and it had come in handy.

"It's okay. It's over now. I'm here."

William felt a wave of regret. If he had known it would come to this, he never would have brought Margaret hiking today.

Hiking was already physically demanding. This had only made things harder on her body.

Margaret held onto his arm and nodded, resting her head against his chest.

But soon, something occurred to her.

She lifted her head and looked around. "Where's Philip?"

At the mention of Philip, William's brow furrowed.