Chapter 173 Falling into a Trap
'Where'd she go? Is she pissed about what went down this afternoon?' Luke wondered.
[Give me Chloe's number.] Luke texted Terry.
Terry shot back the number real quick. [Can't find Elsa?]
Luke didn't bother replying and called Chloe.
It was noisy on the other end. Recognizing his voice, Chloe said sarcastically, "She went to find Vincent. Didn't you know your mom and David kidnapped him?"
"What did you just say?!" Luke's eyes went cold.
"David had Vincent drugged and taken away yesterday. Elsa just found out. You mother told Elsa that if she agreed to a divorce, David would release Vincent. Elsa didn't want to divorce, so she went to find Vincent herself. Do you think she's just lying in bed?"
Luke hung up, fuming. No wonder Elsa asked him those questions today!
It took nearly two hours to drive from the villa to the Azure Lake Resort, and it was dark by the time Elsa arrived.
The place was deserted in late autumn, with many shops closed and only a few inns lit up.
She parked and walked aimlessly. Suddenly, a two-story white building by the lake caught her eye.
Elsa had seen this building in Karen's social media posts. Karen had a BBQ here with friends in the summer.
The building was lit, and three unmarked black SUVs were parked outside, indicating someone was inside.
Elsa's nerves tightened. She felt something was wrong and approached carefully, lightening her steps.
There were voices on the first floor, but she couldn't make out what they were saying from outside.
Elsa cautiously moved closer, trying to eavesdrop.
"Ms. Miller, we've been expecting you!" The nearest car door opened, and two burly men, each about six feet three inches tall, stepped out.
Elsa was startled by the sudden voice. Seeing what they were holding, she became even more frightened. They had guns!
"Are you David's men?" At that moment, Elsa realized she had fallen into a trap.
As she was escorted inside at gunpoint, Elsa steadied herself, trying not to sound too panicked.
"Not exactly. We just have some business with Luke and borrowed this place from Karen," the man said.
"If you're looking for Luke, capturing me won't help."
No matter how frantic she felt inside, she had to stay calm on the surface. "Don't you know Luke and I are just putting on a show? Besides, we're getting a divorce."
Once inside, Elsa saw there were at least a dozen people in the house.
"How would we know if we didn't try?" Sean Butler said, lounging on the central sofa and sipping tea.
Clearly, he was the leader of this group.
"What grudge do you have against Luke?" Elsa asked, "Is Vincent also in your hands?"
"Most people would be scared with a gun pointed at them, but you seem quite calm." Sean looked at Elsa with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Where's my brother?" Elsa kept asking.
"Your brother is, of course, with David. The person I want to find is Luke. Without mentioning Vincent, how would you have come here?" Sean's sinister eyes scrutinized Elsa.
He then continued, "As for Luke, he shorted my stocks, causing me to lose billions overnight. Do you think that's enough of a grudge?"
Elsa knew about this incident. "I heard about it. But the version I heard was that you were greedy, leveraged billions, and couldn't repay the funds in time, so you ran away."
If she guessed correctly, the man in front of her should be Sean, one of the Taylor Group's rivals.
Luke's shorting of the Butler Group's stocks last month was widely known among the Taylor Group's employees. Elsa's workplace, Dalton Banks, was also funded by Luke, so she had heard about it.
If the Butler Group had been operating normally, a loss of billions wouldn't have been fatal. The problem was that the Butler Group's apparent prosperity was a facade; those billions were leveraged loans. Sean's bankruptcy filing was rejected, and now he was at the end of his rope.
"Shut up!" Landon Fisher, one of Sean's henchmen, slapped Elsa upon noticing Sean's expression change.
Landon's slap was so powerful that Elsa nearly fell to the ground.
"Now, call Luke," Sean ordered Elsa.
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