The monthly salary wasn’t high, but Nora Ainsworth still checked out of her room and took a car to a remote mountain villa.

The main gate was shut tight. She looked around before ringing the doorbell.

An elderly woman opened the door. Seeing how Nora was covering her face, she asked, "Young lady, are you here for the job?" She spoke standard Fravian.

Nora Ainsworth nodded. "Yes."

"Your face?"

"I was scalded by boiling water as a child, which disfigured my face," she explained. "So I only dare to show my eyes."

"I see. Come in."

Nora Ainsworth followed her inside and found the villa was much larger than she had imagined.

And the scenery was beautiful.

Following the old woman to the backyard, she didn’t see anyone else along the way.

"How old are you?"

"I’ll be 23 after the new year."

"Are you married?"

Nora Ainsworth’s voice fell. "Who would want to marry someone who looks like me?"

"What’s your name?"

"I... Just call me Amy." ’How could I possibly tell her my real name?’

And just like that, she was hired.

The old woman told her what areas to clean each day and explained the villa’s rules before showing her to her quarters—a private room.

Nora Ainsworth looked around. Seeing the nice environment, she decided to stay.

Since it was her first day, the old woman let her rest. She would start work tomorrow.

On her new phone, Nora Ainsworth looked up information about the villa online. There was very little. It only said that the villa had been purchased several years ago by a tycoon from Fravia for vacations, but the tycoon had only visited once and never returned.

She couldn’t be bothered to guess who this tycoon was.

*

Chloe Marshall kept her eyes wide open. She didn’t dare to close them. She hadn’t had a single bite of food or a drop of water, and she didn’t know how much time had passed.

A clamor of voices reached her ears.

She felt her body being lifted and carried around. With her stomach empty for so long, time seemed to stretch on endlessly.

Finally, the sack over her was loosened.

A large man unlocked her handcuffs and pushed a bowl of clean, cold water and a bowl of plain boiled noodles toward her. Chloe Marshall didn’t move, staring warily at the two bowls.

"It’s not poisoned. Our goal isn’t to kill you."

Hearing this, she picked up the noodles and wolfed them down. She devoured every last strand of the flavorless noodles.

Finally, she drank the bowl of cold water, which made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

After she finished, her hands were cuffed again.

"What are you going to do to me?" Her voice was hoarse, her lips cracked and bleeding.

"We’re not going to do anything to you. We’re just sending you to a place you can never return to Fravia from."

Chloe Marshall fell silent, then said, "I know who’s behind this."

The large man got up and left without another word.

She sat there. They hadn’t put the sack back on her, and the feeling of breathing fresh air was a relief. Staring out the window at the endless expanse of sea, she sat quietly.

’Now that I’ve suddenly disappeared, is he going crazy with worry?’

’And Zeke... he must be terribly upset.’

’Out on this vast, endless sea... where on earth are they taking me?’

The news of Chloe Marshall’s sudden disappearance had already spread like wildfire online.

Netizens were discussing it fervently.

A commented: We all knew she was with Ethan Ellsworth. Was it one of his crazy fans?

B commented: Did a fan get jealous of her?

C commented: Or maybe a woman who’s obsessed with Ethan Ellsworth did it.

D commented: I think she pissed someone off, and they’re trying to get back at her.

The myriad theories put the police investigating the case under immense pressure.

As for Ethan Ellsworth, two days had passed with no progress on the case, and he couldn’t sleep a wink.

He was terrified something would happen to her.

Meanwhile, the secret surveillance on Jean Grant had not been reported to the public and was still ongoing.

After obtaining information about Jean Grant’s frequent calls with an unknown person, the police decided to discreetly summon her for questioning on the third day.

That evening, Ethan Ellsworth accompanied the police to her home.

Mrs. Grant was taken aback by the sudden arrival of the police. "Ellsworth, what is all this?"

"Mrs. Grant, the police have solid evidence linking Jean to Chloe’s sudden disappearance."

Mrs. Grant was shocked. "How is that possible?" she said repeatedly. "I’ve been here every day for the past few days. I haven’t seen her leave the house."

"Some things can be done using communication devices and the internet. So, they want to take Jean to the station for questioning now."

Mrs. Grant grew frantic. "Questioning? Questioning about what? Our Jean would never do something like this!"

The police officer ignored her. "We have a warrant. Go up and arrest Jean Grant. Take her to the station."

Immediately, the officers behind him went upstairs. A panicked Mrs. Grant called Mr. Grant and Quentin Grant.

Quentin Grant had just returned from Yarnia the day before to handle company business, so he arrived quickly.

But everyone ended up gathering at the police station.

"What evidence do you have that she did it?"

Ethan Ellsworth’s expression was taut. "They don’t make arrests without evidence."

At that moment, the lead officer on the case walked over. "Here’s what we know," he said. "The night before Chloe Marshall was kidnapped, Jean Grant’s phone was used to call an unknown individual. Of course, that alone isn’t enough to prove she did it. However, just a few minutes after the call ended, she transferred a sum of five million to the bank account of a man with the surname Huang. During the time frame of Chloe Marshall’s kidnapping, she called this unknown person over ten times. Furthermore, we’ve learned that a few minutes after that, another five million was deposited into the same bank account. That makes her highly suspicious. Before Miss Marshall was kidnapped, her call logs show she had never contacted this person before. In other words, this was the first time."

Quentin Grant’s expression was grim. "Is that all?"

Actually, he already had his suspicions.

The officer continued, "Upon further investigation, we discovered that this Mr. Huang is a key member of the Valiant Club. Because of Ethan Ellsworth’s involvement, Herman Hawthorne’s side is currently looking into the Valiant Club’s internal affairs. Jean Grant is a person of major interest. This incident has caused a huge stir online, so we must apprehend the mastermind quickly to ensure the hostage’s safety."

Quentin Grant said nothing more. After a long pause, he said, "Let me see Jean."

"Please, follow me."

Ethan Ellsworth followed close behind, stopping at the door of the interrogation room as Quentin Grant went in alone.

The officer and Ethan Ellsworth stood at the door and did not enter.

Quentin Grant sat down in a chair, looked at Jean Grant opposite him, and said, "I’m only going to ask you this once. Were you behind what happened to Chloe Marshall?"

Jean Grant’s face was expressionless. "No," she denied.

"Then tell me, what was the ten million you transferred to a member of the Valiant Club a few days ago for?"

Jean Grant couldn’t answer. She could only remain silent.