Chapter 38 Kidnapping
Noah nodded and didn't say anything more. He didn't need to waste his energy on people like that. However, Joshua's words reminded him that it was time to find a new place to live.
During dinner, Lisa suddenly received a phone call. She looked at it and saw that it was from Evelyn. "Isn't Evelyn having dinner with Joshua? Why is she calling?" Lisa answered the phone with confusion.
"Lisa, help me!" Evelyn's anxious voice came through the phone.
"What? What's wrong, Evelyn?" Lisa's face turned pale.
One minute later, Lisa hung up the phone, and her expression became grim. "What's going on?" Noah asked.
"Evelyn and Joshua have been kidnapped," Lisa said.
"Kidnapped?" Noah was taken aback. These two had just been showing their affection downstairs, and now they had been kidnapped?
"The person who kidnapped them seems to be a powerful figure from a gray area in Oceanbridge City," Lisa said gravely. "They said they want a million dollars within three hours, otherwise they’ll throw both of them into Celestial Canopy River to feed the fish. Although Evelyn is wealthy, her assets are all fixed, there’s no way she can come up with a million dollars in cash within three hours!"
"Joshua is rich, why doesn't he ask his father for the money?" Noah suggested. "Besides, why did Evelyn call you when she was kidnapped?"
Noah didn't have much affection for Evelyn, and she had the wealthy Joshua by her side. If Evelyn couldn't come up with a million dollars, couldn’t Joshua come up with it?
"I don't know. Evelyn asked me to take a million dollars from the company's account as an advance, and she’ll repay it once we rescue them," Lisa explained. "But using public funds like this is embezzlement. I could have done it if Pinnacle Wealth Management was still Evelyn's company. But now that Pinnacle Wealth Management has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Noah Capital, embezzling public funds without permission is illegal! That money doesn't belong to Evelyn!"
Lisa was in a very difficult situation. Since Pinnacle Wealth Management had been acquired, Lisa had been promoted two levels in her position within the company.
Lisa had been promoted from an ordinary accountant to financial supervisor. Lisa estimated that she could become the financial director within a few years.
Even she couldn't understand why the upper management at Noah Capital valued her so much.
Lisa was full of hope for the future.
If this embezzlement of company funds was discovered, the consequences would be severe. She could be fired at the very least, and her future would be ruined. At worst, she could go to prison.
But Evelyn had been her best friend for years, and Lisa couldn't stand by and do nothing.
After hesitating for a moment, Lisa made up her mind and said, "Honey, no matter what, I have to save Evelyn. She may speak harshly sometimes, but deep down, she’s kind-hearted. I can't just watch her get into trouble."
She picked up her car keys and headed out the door, saying, "There are still two million dollars in the company's safe. I'm going to withdraw the money now. Have a good meal, honey. It's true that I’ll be discovered for embezzling funds, and will lose my job. But saving a life is more important."
Lisa hurried downstairs.
Noah shook his head helplessly. "What a foolish woman. Noah Capital's money is not your money. It doesn't matter if you embezzle one billion or ten billion."
After Lisa left, Noah also went downstairs and hailed a taxi.
Meanwhile, in a small dark room at an underground casino in Oceanbridge City.
The room was dimly lit and filled with smoke. Joshua and Evelyn were tied to iron chairs.
Both of Joshua's cheeks were red and swollen. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, and he trembled uncontrollably with deep fear in his eyes.
Tears flowed from Evelyn's eyes as she whimpered softly. Her shoulders, arms, and lower legs were bound with ropes, leaving blood-red marks on her skin. Her red high heels lay beside her.
Four burly men with fierce tattoos surrounded them.
At the head, a man with a big gold chain was smoking a cigar with his legs crossed. He looked at the two people in front of him with a playful expression and said, "The call has been made. You have three hours to bring me one million dollars. If the money doesn't arrive, I’ll throw the man into the river to feed the fishes, and my men will enjoy the woman before she’s thrown in as well."
His voice was deep and left no room for doubt.
"Do you know who I am? Do you have a death wish?"
Joshua stared at the man and angrily said, "Don't you know who I am? Damn it!"
"I don't give a damn who you are!"
The man kicked Joshua in the stomach and shouted, "I don't mess with people who don't mess with me! You have no manners, punk. You spit on my brand-new shoes while I was eating! I hate it when other people touch my shoes, and you didn’t even apologize!
"If it weren't for the fact that you drive a Lamborghini and probably have some money, I would have thrown you into the river a long time ago!"
The man blew a smoke ring and glanced sideways at Joshua.
"It's late already, but you're still pretending with me! Fuck!"
He kicked Joshua down, and he rolled on the ground with the chair.
Joshua felt like his intestines had been ruined. His whole stomach was in pain, and he couldn’t help but vomit. The air was instantly filled with the smell of vomit.
Evelyn, who was beside him, had tears in her eyes and muttered, "Lisa... please hurry up and get the money to save me!"
She deeply regretted it now.
Originally, Evelyn, who had mocked Noah at Elegant Haven, was in a good mood.
She was having a sweet and intimate meal with Joshua at the restaurant.
But Joshua had spit in public and it had coincidentally landed on a man's shoe right in front of him.
The man was dressed in a suit and looked very refined. He didn't get angry, but asked Joshua to apologize.
But Joshua was used to being arrogant, so he arrogantly said, "Fuck, I spat on your shoe, so what? How dare you ask me to apologize! you don't know what's good for you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the man slammed the table.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Dozens of people in the restaurant, stood up and stared at Joshua with fierce eyes.
Evelyn's face instantly turned pale. She knew that they had offended someone from the gray area.
What happened next was simple. They had beaten Joshua up and taken the two of them into this small dark room.
'Lisa, you must come and save me!'
Evelyn's heart trembled as she saw the four big men surrounding her. She had only seen this kind of person from the gray area on TV.
'There’s two million dollars in cash in the safe deposit box at Pinnacle Wealth Management. If Lisa takes the money, we can leave! Then everything will be fine! I just need to endure a little longer... '
Evelyn kept comforting herself.
At this moment, she had lost any good feelings she had toward Joshua.
If it wasn't for him, they wouldn’t have encountered this situation.
Joshua, who had been kicked, struggled to sit up from the ground, stared at the man with bloodshot eyes, and spat out a mouthful of blood, saying,
"Fuck, how dare you hit me!
"My dad is Charles! If you hit me, my dad will make you wish you were dead!"
"Charles? Who is Charles?" The man was taken aback and thought that the name sounded familiar.
