5
Isabelle’s stare was like a poisoned needle, fixed on Lily’s face. The little girl flinched and hid behind Marcus.
“What is that little brat doing here?” Isabelle shrieked, her nails scraping against her designer clutch. “Marc- us, you’re quite the actor. Hired a child to prove this charlatan has some talent?”
I didn’t answer, simply taking a sip of my tea.
But she was relentless, storming over to me. “What, did I hit the nail on the head? It makes sense. Someone like you, who cons people with cheap tricks, could never find anyone for real. You probably colluded with the kidnappers from the start, staging this whole drama to swindle the Austins!”
“Isabelle, that’s enough. Lily is still recovering from her ordeal.”
“Her ordeal? I call it a self-directed melodrama by the Austin family!” She reached out to grab Lily’s hair, but Marcus slapped her hand away.
“Aria Vance, do you dare repeat it in front of everyone? How did you find this little girl? Did you know where she was all along?”
“The abandoned toy factory on the edge of the city. Third warehouse, innermost cage. The stuffed rabbit she was holding had a tear in its left ear.”
Lily suddenly piped up. “The lady is right! My bunny’s ear got torn on a nail!”
Isabelle’s face turned beet red, then twisted into a hideous sneer. “A coincidence! You probably dug up dirt on the Austins and set this all up in advance! What about my brother? Where did you hide my brother?”
Just as the words left her mouth, the doors to the banquet hall were thrown open. Two bodyguards rushed in, carrying a large tray covered with a red cloth. The tray was heavy, and a dark red liquid was seeping from
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its edges.
“Miss Kinsman! This was just delivered! No return address…”
Isabelle ripped the cloth away. On the tray was a severed foot, an all-too-familiar silver anklet still clasped around it. It was the gift she had given Shane for his eighteenth birthday.
“Ah!” She screamed, stumbling back and crashing into the champagne tower behind her.
When Elder Kinsman saw the contents of the tray, he clutched his chest and collapsed, caught just in time
by a nearby servant. “Shane… my Shane…”
At that exact moment, Isabelle’s phone began to vibrate violently. With trembling hands, she answered. The video that popped up on the screen made her crumble to the floor.
On the screen was a man in a skull mask, toying with a bloody axe. Behind him, a mangled figure was tied to
a metal frame.
“Miss Kinsman, how does your brother’s left foot taste? I’ll give you one chance. Fifty million by tomorrow night, or the next delivery will be his head.”
“It’s the Skull Gang!” someone in the crowd gasped. “They kidnapped Director Johnson’s son last month. When they didn’t get the money, they…”
“And Mr. Wang’s daughter… they found her with her intestines pulled out…”
The whispers swelled around her. Isabelle’s head snapped up to look at me. For the first time, the venom was gone from her eyes, replaced by pure, unadulterated terror.
