Chapter 147 The attack VI
Chapter 147 The attack VI
NANCY’S POV
“Nancy,” My mom cried out, struggling against the hold of the man behind her.
Her cry made panic explode inside of me.
I didn’t understand what was going on or what they had done to her, but her cry made me lose all of my bravado.
“What are you doing?” I muttered, turning to Hudson again. “Let her go. You know she has nothing to do with this.”
“Doesn’t she?” He responded, mimicking my voice.
“You know she doesn’t,” I yelled.
“Nancy,” my mom cried out again, struggling to get free, but the man yanked her backwards, crushing his hands around her neck.
Instinctively, my entire body jerked forward.
“What are you doing? Let her go!”
I couldn’t move.
Hudson’s knife had pressed harder against my skin, reminding me that I wasn’t in a better position myself. My body froze when I remembered.
“You had better be careful,” Hudson warned softly, meaning to caress his lips against my ears. “You don’t want to make me accidentally slit your throat, do you?”
He laid emphasis on the word accidentally, but I knew that if it did happen, it wouldn’t be accidental at all.
As much as he said I was leverage against Mr Landon, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me if it actually boiled down to it.
I swallowed thickly, then forced my body to relax, stepping back into his circle. “Why is my mom here?”
That was all I needed to know.
As long as I knew she wouldn’t be harmed, it was fine even if he held me at gunpoint, which was ironic, considering I had been saying a day ago that I wouldn’t concern myself with her life or death and that I didn’t consider her and my dad my parents any longer.
Blood truly was thicker than water because now that I knew there was a possibility that she could get hurt, my mind urged me to ensure her safety.
“Why is my mom here?” I repeated when I still hadn’t gotten a response from Hudson.
“Isn’t it obvious?” He answered with the same sarcastic tone he’d used earlier. “She’s here for the same reason as you are?”
“She’s what…” I spat out breathlessly, hearing the words but not fully understanding them.
It took a moment for the implication to sink in.
The reason Hudson had brought my mom here and kept her here the entire time was so that she could be a hostage. Not just a hostage to use against Mr Landon, but as leverage against me as well.
He must have calculated it and figured out that I wouldn’t leave her to die and that as long as she was here, I would do his bidding, and the blood-curdling realization was that he was right.
I’d only just owned up to the truth myself.
“Cooperate,” Hudson went on simply, confirming my conjecture. “Or she dies.”
The words hit harder than any slap could have.
Since he couldn’t hurt me until he’d achieved his goal, he would hurt my mom instead. That was essentially what he was telling me.
My gaze darted between him and my mother, who was shaking now. Her lips trembled badly as she looked at me.
“Nancy…” she called again, her voice weaker this time.
The fear in her eyes mirrored mine, and I twisted to glance at Hudson quickly, pleading, “Don’t hurt her, I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Are you sure you will?” He muttered uncertainly.
“I will,” I yelled. “I just said I will, so don’t you dare lay your hands on her.”
Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them back furiously, knowing I had been backed into a corner. My voice dropped.
“I’ll listen to you; just don’t hurt her.”
Hudson let out a satisfied chuckle. “That’s the attitude I wanted from you all along, Nancy. If you’d just shown this attitude to me from the start, I wouldn’t have had to use force or resort to these means…”
“I’ll listen, I promise…” I reiterated, as fear lodged itself deep in my throat.
It didn’t help that I was just as angry, too, and because there was nothing I could do about my anger or my fear, my tears welled up even harder.
“Just don’t hurt her,” I whispered.
Hudson’s lips curled even higher in satisfaction, and he let out a sigh, glancing at his man. “For now…”
He didn’t get to finish because the loud sound of an explosion cut through the air. The room hadn’t been silent all along.
Even as we argued, the sound of bullets going off hadn’t stopped at all, but the explosion was even louder.
My gaze snapped to the entrance of the dining hall, and so did Hudson’s.
His hand that was over my chest stiffened, and for a moment, he didn’t move.
When he did, he nudged his head towards his man, the one I’d knocked out earlier, and said, “Check out what that sound was.”
“Okay,” the man nodded quickly, then rushed out. I held my breath, waiting for his return and listening for any sounds.
I heard, about two minutes later, a gunshot, followed by a loud grunt.
Hudson’s eyes narrowed, and his body went even more rigid.
“Sir, should I go check it out?” The other man, the one holding my mom, asked in a skeptical tone.
“No, just…” Hudson was saying when someone walked into view.
Hudson didn’t turn, but I did, and the instant my eyes landed on the person, my heart skipped a beat.
In the flesh, a perfect representation of my imagination, and exactly how I remembered him to be. Standing before me was Mr Landon.
He stood at the entrance, chest heaving with a wild look on his face, filling the room in a way that made everything else seem insignificant.
And the moment my eyes met his, the moment I stared into those familiar eyes that had always held mine steadily at all times, those eyes that never wavered, my breath stuttered.
Every possible emotion crashed into me all at once.