Chapter 198
My mind went completely blank. My entire back pressed against the car door.
Jason was satisfied with my panic. With one hand still aiming at me, he crooked a finger with the other.
"Get out of the car. Come with me."
I wanted to refuse, but the situation left me no choice.
"Okay."
I slowly opened the car door, my eyes quickly scanning the surroundings.
Nearly everyone had already fled. The area was quiet and deserted.
But I didn't see Leopold coming.
"What are you dawdling for?" Jason lost patience and came around to the back of the car. "Waiting for Leopold? Too bad he can't spare any attention for you right now."
My thoughts exposed, I couldn't help asking, "Why not? What did you do to him?"
Jason snorted coldly. "Don't worry, he's not dead. But if you don't move faster, that might change."
My heart leapt into my throat. "What do you mean?"
Jason refused to say more. "Stop wasting time. Move!"
He yanked me over and positioned me in front of him.
He was clearly using me as a human shield.
Even though there wasn't a soul around, he still moved with extreme caution.
"Jason, when you said you wanted to cooperate with me before, Ethan was actually the one who sent you to find me, wasn't he?"
Jason sneered. "Why are you asking? Don't tell me you think I'll let you go just because you said that?"
"Of course not. I just want to confirm it."
So everything Leopold had said was true.
Ethan really had been doing quite a lot behind my back.
And most of it had been aimed at Leopold.
"Women's mouths are never honest."
Jason warned through gritted teeth, "You better behave. If you dare try anything, I won't mind adding another body to my count!"
I didn't want to die yet, so naturally, I couldn't push back.
When we reached a dock, I noticed a speedboat moored nearby.
As if it had been specifically prepared for him.
I looked around again. Still nothing but eerie silence.
This quiet carried the oppressive tension before a storm.
"Move faster!" Sensing my hesitation, Jason barked at me harshly.
I was shoved forward.
My lower abdomen pulled painfully again.
"Don't push me. I can walk on my own."
Seeing me stumble, Jason said coldly, "You just had a miscarriage recently, didn't you?"
I immediately frowned. "How do you know that?"
"I also know your baby had abnormalities. It was never going to survive from the start."
A chill crawled up my spine.
I stopped in my tracks, staring at him in shock and suspicion. "You've been following me this whole time!"
Jason didn't answer. Instead, he curved his lips and asked me an unexpected question.
"Do you know why your baby had abnormalities?"
I was too shocked to speak.
"You took quite a bit of medication in Silverlight City. Didn't you ever suspect anything?"
My nerves were already on edge. At his words, my breathing became erratic.
"There was something wrong with those medications? But Arnold is one of the world's top specialists. He couldn't have given me problematic drugs." My mind raced, then suddenly froze. "Was it... Ethan?"
"Why don't you suspect Leopold?"
In that moment, a bone-deep chill swept over me like a tidal wave.
Leopold?
It was Leopold!
By now, we'd reached the edge of the dock.
The fishy sea breeze battered my face again and again.
With the speedboat right in front of us, Jason—who'd been so cautious until now—finally released me.
"Don't move. In a moment, I'll tell you what to do, and you'll do exactly what I..."
A gunshot cut off his words.
Immediately after, a bloom of blood blossomed before my eyes.
"Damn it!"
Jason cursed in pain.
He couldn't worry about me anymore and leapt down into the speedboat.
I still hadn't recovered from my earlier shock when he accidentally knocked into my shoulder as he jumped.
Without any struggle, I fell straight down.
The sea wind sliced across my face like a blade.
"Lucinda!"
Only then did I faintly hear someone screaming my name with raw desperation.
But I had no time to respond. The icy seawater engulfed me.
Like countless tiny needles piercing every inch of my skin.
I struggled to open my eyes but couldn't manage it.
My chest was compressed by the water. I couldn't breathe. My body kept sinking.
Suddenly, a force grabbed my hand and pulled me upward.
I forced my eyes open and saw Leopold's face, distorted by the water pressure.
Seeing that I'd opened my eyes, he kept making hand gestures, releasing streams of tiny bubbles, as if trying to tell me something.
But I didn't understand.
Leopold decisively gave up and instead used all his strength to pull me upward.
The suffocating feeling in my chest grew heavier and heavier. Both my brain and chest felt like they were being torn apart.
Just as my consciousness began to blur and I was about to pass out, fresh air suddenly rushed into my nose and mouth.
I breathed greedily in great gulps.
"Cindy, quick—give me your hand!"
Ethan suddenly appeared above me, stretching his arm as far as he could.
My whole body had gone soft, trembling uncontrollably.
I struggled to lift my hand.
He pulled with both hands, dragging me out of the water.
"Your face has gone completely pale. Quick, drink some hot cocoa to warm yourself up."
The moment I was ashore, he removed his jacket and draped it over me.
At the same time, he handed me a steaming cup of hot cocoa.
I wanted to speak, but I was shaking so violently I couldn't make a sound.
I quickly took a sip.
Before the warmth could spread through my chest, a pale hand suddenly reached over.
The cup in my hand was knocked to the ground.
The scalding hot cocoa spilled everywhere.
"Leopold, what are you doing? Cindy is already so cold she can't even speak, and you deliberately knock away the drink warming her up—are you trying to make her seriously ill!" Ethan, usually so mild-mannered, darkened for the first time, furiously berating Leopold.
"You're that kindhearted?" Leopold's face was full of displeasure as he questioned him coldly.
My expression changed sharply. Was there something wrong with that hot cocoa?
"Leopold!" Ethan's eyes burned with intense fury at being misunderstood. Unable to contain himself any longer, he swung his fist at Leopold.
Leopold was soaking wet. Though he'd expended considerable energy in the water, he still dodged the punch nimbly.
Then he retaliated in kind, landing a heavy punch on Ethan's face.
Ethan staggered from the blow but refused to concede.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth forcefully and lunged forward again.
The two instantly grappled together, trading blows, neither giving an inch.
My initial shock turned to panic.
Especially seeing half of Ethan's face covered in blood.
I quickly tried to stop them. "Stop it, both of you! Stop fighting!"
But my voice was drowned out by their brawl.
In the end, Leopold gained the upper hand.
Ethan fell and couldn't get up.
"Ethan..."
I'd barely spoken when Leopold grabbed my hand in a viselike grip and forcibly dragged me away.
"Leopold, let her go!" Ethan struggled to his feet and rushed over to stop us.
Leopold didn't look back. "My business. You can't interfere."
Ethan immediately summoned his security team to block our way.
"Mr. Guise, the family head is calling."
The captain respectfully handed him the phone.