Chapter 179 The Fox with Hidden Claws
The security room echoed with snores as the new guards slept, oblivious to the night's events. Zack pounded on the door to wake them up.
"Check the surveillance," Nathaniel ordered.
Zack opened the computer, but the footage was just static. "Mr. Heilbronn, the surveillance was destroyed. We can't see anything," Zack said.
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "Search the place."
With several bodyguards, Zack led a thorough search of the cemetery.
Nathaniel stood at the entrance, scanning the area, thinking about where someone could hide and where the criminals might have taken Chelsea.
If it were a simple kidnapping, they would've called for ransom. But Nathaniel's phone was silent. His biggest fear was that Chelsea had been killed without a chance for negotiation. Even with all the money in the world, it would be too late.
Restless, Nathaniel felt his phone buzz. It was Zack. "Mr. Heilbronn, we've found her."
Nathaniel's heart tightened. "Where?" he asked, rushing in the direction Zack indicated, passing small tombstones until he saw several heads in the distance. Ending the call, he walked quickly towards them.
At Brenda's grave, Maria and Chelsea lay unconscious, still kneeling. Their bodies were numb.
As Nathaniel approached, Zack and the bodyguards had already untied them. "Chelsea, wake up," Nathaniel said, brushing her hair from her face and gently patting her cheek.
Chelsea slowly came to her senses, initially struggling in fear, unable to move from being bound all night.
"Stay back! Don't hurt me," Chelsea cried out.
Nathaniel was relieved she could speak, then his tension eased a bit. Luckily, it turned out better than he had expected; she was unharmed but clearly terrified.
"Chelsea, it's me," Nathaniel reassured her.
Shaking her head, Chelsea stammered, "Please have mercy. It wasn't me who harmed you." She seemed still in shock.
Seeing a black Maybach driving away, Nathaniel asked, "Do you know who kidnapped you? Was it Joe?"
Realizing it was Nathaniel, Chelsea burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. "Nathaniel, I don't want to stay here. There's a female ghost; she grabbed my hair, wanted to gouge my eyes out, and said she would take my baby. I'm so scared!" Chelsea was incoherent with fear and tears.
Desperate to understand, Nathaniel pulled her back and asked, "What happened last night?"
Overwhelmed, Chelsea shook her head, unable to speak, almost fainting again.
Meanwhile, Maria, now awake, rambled, "I didn't kill anyone. It wasn't me. It was your poor driving that caused the accident, not me!"
The bodyguards, repulsed by Maria's stench, stepped back.
Nathaniel's gaze fell on the gravestone in front of him. The name Brenda made him pause. The woman in the photo smiled brightly, her eyes resembling Aurelia's.
Recalling Aurelia's annual cemetery visits, Nathaniel realized he never joined her and didn't know where her mother was buried.
He had learned about the grudges between her mother and Maria. Seeing them tied up and left kneeling at Brenda's grave all night, scared out of their minds, he connected the dots.
Recalling Aurelia's tense demeanor at the hospital and her and Ulysses' accusations against Chelsea, he had a hunch about what had happened.
This silent, ruthless, yet non-lethal revenge that inflicted immense psychological torment was definitely something Aurelia would do.
Nathaniel thought he had raised a docile lamb over the past three years, but he soon realized she was a fox with hidden claws.
With Chelsea unconscious, Nathaniel lifted her and headed for the exit. He figured the two had been terrified from being bound and left at the grave all night.
Worried about Chelsea, especially since she was pregnant, Nathaniel decided to take her to the hospital for a check-up.
"Let's take them back and go to the hospital," Nathaniel said, carrying Chelsea while the bodyguards hesitated with Maria.
Zack frowned. "Just drag her." So, Maria was lifted and dragged out by the bodyguards.
Maria, emitting a foul odor, left the bodyguards covering their noses. She had been so scared the previous night that she had soiled herself.
At the parking lot, Nathaniel made sure Maria didn't enter his car.
Disgusted, the bodyguards handed her some torn bags, saying, "Wrap yourself in these, or we can't take you."
Getting that filth in the car would be unbearable.
Maria ignored the bodyguards, her eyes vacant as she repeated, "Not me..."
Zack saw this and figured Maria had been scared out of her mind while Nathaniel was in a hurry to take Chelsea away, so he covered his nose and instructed the two bodyguards, "Stay here with her. I'll call her family to pick her up."
Given Maria's current state, it was impossible to take her in the car; it would be ruined.
Zack called Norman, giving him the address to get Maria.
At the hospital, Aurelia had a peaceful night's sleep and had already paid those involved. The men's leader, checking the transferred amount on his phone, grinned.
"Ms. Semona, call us if you need more help next time."
Aurelia's lips twitched, "If a guy named Nathaniel approaches for trouble, tell him I ordered and paid for the job."
The men were shocked. Nathaniel? The tycoon from the financial news? He was known to be cold and ruthless, with formidable methods.
"Ms. Semona, are you serious? Will we offend the Heilbronn Group by doing this?" The leader couldn't help but worry.
Making money was one thing, but they valued their lives. If they really offended Nathaniel, their future would be bleak.
"Just blame me," Aurelia instructed.
Nathaniel wouldn't bother with a few small-time thugs. She wanted to absolve others and provoke Nathaniel into a quick divorce.
She was tired of her current life, ready to leave and start anew.
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