Chapter 177 I Won't Dare Anymore
Nathaniel arrived at the scene, where Daphne had already called the managers and security. The fire department was there, too.
The lake was shaped like a pot—shallow edges, deep center. They'd been searching for ages with no luck. It seemed like Chelsea had sunk to the center, so they had to drain the water.
Everyone got to work fast.
Daphne saw Nathaniel and felt relieved.
"Mr. Heilbronn, I'm so sorry. Miss Thompson said she needed some air, so I thought it was safe inside the villa. I just went upstairs for cookies, and she disappeared."
Daphne was crying, feeling like she let the Heilbronn family down. She'd never messed up this bad before.
Nathaniel didn't say anything. His mind was racing. He was scared of water, too, almost drowned as a kid. Chelsea had saved him back then.
Hearing Chelsea fall into the lake made him panic. Chelsea was forced to stay here, and now this happened. She could swim, but she was pregnant, which made it risky.
Nathaniel felt like he owed Chelsea big time.
The fire department was doing their thing, but it had been over an hour. Even if they found Chelsea, would she be okay?
Nathaniel couldn't think straight.
Meanwhile, Chelsea was taken to see Maria. The guys in the car knew she was pregnant, so they weren't too rough.
When Chelsea and Maria saw each other, they hugged, scared.
Chelsea cried, hugging Maria.
"Mom, where are we? Did we get kidnapped?"
Maria had been crying so much her voice was hoarse. Seeing Chelsea, she totally lost it.
She knelt in the car, banging her head on the floor. "Please, let my daughter go. She's pregnant. Have mercy, please."
Chelsea, not fully grasping the danger, glared at the men and went to her mom.
"Mom, get up. Don't beg them. They wouldn't dare kill us in broad daylight."
Maria, a mess of tears and snot, pleaded, "Please, let her go. She's carrying the Heilbronn heir. Whatever ransom you want, they'll pay. If something happens to her, Nathaniel won't stop until he gets justice."
The four men stood outside the van, smoking. Maria's crying was annoying.
"Stop crying!" the mean-looking man with a scar on his eyebrow shouted, making Maria shudder.
He smirked, "The sun's setting. Save your tears. When it's dark, we'll take you somewhere proper to cry. If you can't cry, then we'll make you."
The other three guys laughed.
Maria felt even more uneasy. "What do you want from us?"
The scarred guy puffed out the smoke, looking relaxed. "You'll find out when it gets dark. Are you scared of ghosts? We'll show you some."
Chelsea looked terrified at the mention of ghosts.
"That's nonsense! There are no ghosts!" She'd always been scared of the dark and never watched horror movies. Now, she worried they might throw her and Maria into a haunted house.
As the sun set and the sky turned red, darkness fell.
One guy stubbed out his cigarette. "Time's up. Let's do it."
Chelsea and Maria trembled. They'd been tied up in the van, waiting for nightfall. Were they going to be raped, or have their organs harvested?
Maria was so scared she couldn't walk and even wet herself. Chelsea, a bit stronger, hadn't been treated as roughly.
The men took out ropes, tied their hands behind their backs, and dragged them out. When Chelsea and Maria saw the rows of tombstones, they realized they were at the cemetery they had visited the day before.
Brenda, that awful woman, was buried here.
Maria's legs gave out, and two men had to drag her. Chelsea sat on the ground crying, and two men lifted her.
Maria and Chelsea cursed, guessing who was behind this. It had to be Aurelia seeking revenge.
They shouted like crazy, "Tell Aurelia to come out! Her mother deserved to die, and so did she. She and Brenda are both despicable!"
"Aurelia, show yourself if you have the guts!"
"Let go of me!"
They were dragged to Brenda's grave, which had been cleaned up and surrounded by flowers.
Maria and Chelsea were forced to kneel. The scarred man slapped them both. "Now cry. If you don't, I'll gouge out your eyes."
Chelsea had never been in such a situation—bound in a graveyard, forced to kneel, and slapped.
"Brenda was despicable. Why should we mourn her?" Chelsea sounded stubborn.
The scarred man slapped her again. "Mourning? You're here to repent, to atone. Cry!"
Chelsea struggled against the ropes. Maria, exhausted, could barely kneel.
The leader lit a cigarette, the flicker of the lighter echoing in the graveyard. "Make them cry. If they don't, we won't get paid."
After all this effort, they couldn't afford to lose half the money, so the men took turns slapping Maria and Chelsea.
Maria gave in first. "Please spare us. We won't do it again."
Chelsea burst into tears. "Mom, are we going to die?"
For the first time, she felt real fear.
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