Chapter 504 A Deal
Keith peered into Harper's clear but guarded eyes, feeling a twinge of softness in his heart, but it wasn't enough to derail his ambition. Having survived all kinds of hell from his crazy mom since he was a kid, he knew power was everything. Only by holding onto power could he get whatever he wanted, including women.
Keith said coolly, "I told you it wasn't me, but I might know where she is."
Harper's mind was a mess, unable to figure out who was behind all this; she just wanted to find Agnes.
"Tell me." Her clear eyes were filled with tears as she croaked, "Please, tell me."
Keith's lips curled slightly as he said, "Really? Just a 'please' doesn't cut it."
Harper didn't hesitate and dropped to her knees.
"I know, it's all my fault. I'm sorry for being rude. Please."
She glanced up with determination in her eyes, pleading, "Please, give Agnes back to me."
For Agnes, she'd do anything.
Time was ticking.
Who knew what those bastards were doing to Agnes right now.
"You!" Keith wasn't pleased but rather pissed.
Her kneeling to him totally wrecked the victim image he had just set up.
People would only think he was forcing her.
"Get up!" Keith grabbed her arm, gritting his teeth, and hissed, "Harper, don't push me."
He dragged her to a corner where no one would notice.
Harper complied, "Give Agnes back to me."
"Is that all you can say?" Keith squinted his eyes.
Keith's face seemed gentle, but when it turned cold, there was a dark vibe to it, especially the eyes behind those gold-rimmed glasses, like a beast lurking in the shadows.
Behind his handsome face, there was a hidden danger, a kind of evil that felt like a refined scoundrel.
"What do you want?" Harper's eyes were red, holding back her anger, wishing she could tear apart the cunning Keith in front of her.
"What do I want?" Keith lifted her chin, examining her, and said, "How about a night with me?"
Harper felt a wave of disgust. Holding back her nausea, she questioned, "What about Saskia from Luminara?"
Saskia Scott, the daughter of the Scott family, had been engaged to Keith for half a month.
Ryan had picked Saskia as Keith's fiancée, thinking a guy like Keith needed a powerful partner to gain more power.
The Scott family, known for their charity work, had a stellar reputation, making them a perfect match.
Keith's good looks, combined with his charm, quickly won Saskia's heart.
Even during the video scandal, Saskia came out to say it was just a misunderstanding and expressed her trust in her fiancé Keith.
"Harper..." Keith's lips curled into a smile, his voice hoarse as he said, "You should know, no matter who I marry, she can't replace your spot in my heart."
Harper's stomach churned with nausea.
Keith wanted her to be his secret mistress.
Keith's eyes burned with possessiveness as he looked at Harper, saying softly, "Harper, just stay behind me. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of you."
Harper wanted to slap Keith right across the face.
How could a guy say such sleazy stuff with a straight face? It was downright shameless.
Harper's expression went blank, showing no emotion, but this emptiness was exactly the kind of obedience Keith liked.
Keith gently pressed her shoulders, his voice low and raspy as he said, "Don't worry. As long as you're with me, I'll make sure you and Agnes are safe. Even though Agnes isn't my kid, I won't let her suffer."
Keith just made Harper sick.
Keith said without thinking, "Look, I'm willing to accept your kid despite everything. What more do you want?"
For the first time, she felt there was no bottom line for those who were utterly disgusting.
Harper unexpectedly didn't resist. She looked up to meet Keith's gaze, speaking softly, "If you say you love me, then Keith, I want to hear the truth. Did you kidnap Agnes?"
Keith's expression froze.
This was the first time Harper didn't push back against his so-called love, which made him feel good.
Keith ruffled her hair gently, saying softly, "No, I didn't."
At this critical moment, he wouldn't do anything so foolish.
Harper carefully watched his face, confirmed he wasn't lying, and then looked away.
Keith liked her gentle demeanor, coaxing softly, "Tonight, come to my place."
He reached out, eager to pull Harper into his arms, but she dodged.
Her behavior instantly darkened Keith's face.
Harper's face showed a complex expression as she said, "Keith, I need to think about it."
Her attitude was still cold, but it was clear that the previous tension was gone.
Keith looked at her for a few seconds, then burst into laughter, "Alright, but I gotta remind you, the first 48 hours of a disappearance are crucial. You don't have much time left."
Harper's face turned pale.
Keith wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace, saying gently, "What are you hesitating about? I've told you I'll be good to you. All these years, my heart has never held anyone else but you."
Harper's body trembled slightly.
"Alright." Keith, in a good mood, didn't want to push her too hard. He turned her face towards him, looking at her gently as he said, "I'll give you time, but don't take too long, okay?"
Harper nodded with a gleam of exhaustion in her eyes.
Keith looked at her lovingly, speaking softly, "Shall I give you a ride home?"
Harper refused, "I want to go alone."
Keith didn't insist but chuckled softly, "Alright."
Even if Harper was still a bit resistant now, it didn't matter. They had plenty of time ahead of them.
Keith would make sure she learned to have eyes only for him.
After all, he was always confident in his manipulative methods.
When they both appeared in the company's hallway, they happened to run into Saskia.
Saskia saw Keith and called out, "Keith..."
Then, her eyes fell on Harper with a bit of wariness.
Harper was such a beauty with a kind of fragile charm that would attract men like moths to a flame.
Saskia had never seen Harper before, so she didn't know who she was.
"Keith, who is this?" she asked.
Keith replied calmly, "Harper."
So this was the Harper from that video scandal.
Saskia stepped forward and clung to Keith's arm like she was marking her territory.
She said politely, "Harper, nice to meet you."
Harper couldn't even fake a smile; she couldn't be as shameless as Keith. She just responded woodenly.
Then she said goodbye to the two and turned to leave.
Saskia's face showed some embarrassment. Leaning on Keith's shoulder, she said, "Keith, why does Harper seem like she doesn't like me?"
Keith replied gently, "No, you're just imagining things."
Saskia turned her face to look at him, pouting slightly as she said, "But I feel like there's something weird between you two."
"Saskia." Keith's smile faded a bit, looking dark and intimidating.
It sounded like he was calling her as usual, but Saskia inexplicably sensed a hint of threat.
Saskia instinctively started to apologize, stammering, "S-sorry, Keith."
A little bickering between engaged couples was more like flirting.
Saskia used to throw little tantrums over trivial matters, but she had never seen Keith with this expression before.
For the first time, she suddenly found him a bit scary.
Unexpectedly, the next second, Keith gently pulled her into his arms, praising, "Saskia, you're so good."
Keith's handsome face seemed to be filled with endless affection.
Saskia immediately melted, feeling warm and sweet inside.
In an instant, she forgot the unpleasantness from just now.
She hugged him tightly, nuzzling her head into Keith's chest, and said shyly, "Keith, I'll come to your place tonight."
This was the purpose of Saskia's visit today. Considering they had been engaged for two months, it was time to take their relationship to the next level.
Keith chuckled, teasing in a low voice, "To my place? Aren't you afraid I'll eat you up?"
Saskia's face turned bright red.
She hugged his waist tightly, saying playfully, "You're so bad."
If she looked up now, she would see Keith's expression was extremely cold, showing no trace of affection.
Keith's voice was low and hoarse as he said, "I have to work late tonight. Let me finish this project first."
Saskia was a bit disappointed but had to pretend to be understanding.
Saskia replied, "Okay, your work is more important."
Eager to show her support, she added, "If you need my dad's help with anything, just let me know."
"Okay." Keith gave her a light hug. They looked like a couple deeply in love.
Harper returned to her studio, deep in thought.
Luckily, she managed to put up a good show today.
She must have fooled Keith with all her acts.
She did it for Agnes. She had to appear helpless and irrational, so Keith would let his guard down, giving her a chance to find a flaw.
But Keith said it wasn't him, and Ryan also looked clueless. So who kidnapped Agnes?
Harper wrote down names on a piece of paper, crossing them out one by one.
Finally, she stopped at Audrey's name.
She thought of something and immediately called Jasper, "Jasper, is Audrey out?"
Harper hadn't had time to follow Audrey's news, still thinking she was at the police station.
Jasper replied, "Yeah, I heard she tried to off herself by slitting her wrists. She's now under special treatment."
Since Agnes's disappearance, Jasper had dropped everything to search in every direction, but no luck.
Jasper had also kept tabs on Audrey, finding out through his connections that she hadn't seen any outsiders.
He relayed this info to Harper, but Harper still felt Audrey was the most suspicious.
After thinking for a few seconds, she said, "Jasper, you keep an eye on the Hernandez family. I'll head to the hospital to watch Audrey."
Jasper said, "You won't be able to see her at the hospital. She's under supervision."
Although there was no concrete evidence proving her crime, Audrey was still a suspect, so the police had placed her in an isolation ward.
"I know. I'll just look around," Harper said.
With that, she started to take action.
Unexpectedly, after waiting at the hospital for a while, she saw Abigail enter Audrey's ward.
It turned out Audrey had requested to see only one person, Abigail.
Inside the ward, Abigail looked at the weak Audrey lying on the bed and said coldly, "What do you want?"
"Mom," Audrey's pale lips still called her by the old term, but Abigail found it particularly disgusting.
She threw a paternity test report at Audrey's face, shouting, "Don't call me mom. Neither Francis nor I have anything to do with you."
Audrey looked at the report, her expression unchanged.
At first, she couldn't accept that she was pregnant with Jonathan's child.
When she found out, it was like a bolt from the blue.
But later, Audrey had only one thought in her mind: to pin this child on Francis.
Audrey had planned to use that injection to threaten Francis, but she hadn't expected him to sacrifice himself to save Harper.
Through initial rejection and acceptance, Audrey even felt it was better this way. At least, Francis would be acknowledged to be the father of her child with no refutation.
She hadn't expected Abigail to have a backup plan.
Audrey weakly smiled, "Mom, I heard you really want to see your granddaughter, right?"
Abigail's face changed dramatically as she questioned, "What did you say?"
She had just heard about Agnes's kidnapping and had already sent people to look for clues.
Abigail grabbed Audrey's hospital gown, squealing, "It was you, you kidnapped Agnes, didn't you?"
Audrey was yanked by Abigail, coughing continuously, which almost tore her wound open.
"Let go," Audrey said weakly.
Abigail held on tightly, screaming, "You wicked bitch, if you dare touch Agnes, I'll kill you. I'll kill you! You wicked bitch."
At this moment, a nurse rushed in to pull Abigail away.
She scolded Abigail, "How can you treat a patient like this?"
Audrey took a while to recover and reached out for a cup of water.
The nurse asked cautiously, "Do you need me to call the police?"
Audrey waved her hand weakly as she said, "No, you can leave."
The nurse looked puzzled but left as Audrey insisted.
Once the room was empty, Audrey coughed twice, and then arrogantly said, "Mom, let's make a deal."
Abigail's eyes darkened with anger as she fumed, "Do you know what you're doing? You're just breaking more laws."
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