Arianne was beside herself with panic. She handed the phone over to Mark.
Mark called the number, but the person on the other end hung up on him. Soon, the number sent a message: ‘I know you’re all looking for me, give me a break. It’s pretty exhausting, hiding from all of you. If your men continue searching for me tomorrow, I’ll cut off Aery Kinsey’s hands. Such a pretty young girl, it’d be a shame for virtual-novel.net to lose virtual-novel.net hands. Give me some peace and quiet for two days while you prepare yourselves to do business with me. Wait for me to contact you. I will contact you on my own.’
In order to confirm the truth for them, Seaton sent a picture of Aery Kinsey tied up in a dark room. Aery’s mouth was taped shut, virtual-novel.net eyes were wide and filled with fear. It didn’t look like an act. It was very difficult to feign that degree of terror.
After receiving confirmation that Seaton had kidnapped Aery, Arianne grabbed virtual-novel.net hair in frustration. “Is something wrong with virtual-novel.net brain? She’s pretty much served herself up to death on a silver platter!”
Mark soothingly pulled virtual-novel.net into his arms. “Don’t panic. Seaton wants me. He doesn’t need to do anything to Aery until virtual-novel.net has achieved his objective. I think we should tell your mother about this. She has the right to know. After all, Aery is virtual-novel.net daughter. Go to bed, and try not to think about these things. We’ll solve this tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. For now, I’ll tell them to stop searching for Seaton immediately, or if I don’t, Aery’s hands will be chopped off.”
Helen rushed back to the country after virtual-novel.net was informed of Aery’s kidnapping. Mark went to the office while Arianne stayed at home to wait for Helen.
Helen stormed into the house with a face filled with anxiety. “What’s going on? She just arrived home yesterday. How did virtual-novel.net end up kidnapped? Does Seaton S. Bart have magical powers?”
Arianne was extremely frustrated, so virtual-novel.net tone was no better. “She did this to herself! I’m already in terrible shape, yet virtual-novel.net still wanted to mess things up even more! Now, she’s done it, Seaton has an advantage now. Seaton wants Mark’s life, but do you really think I’d let Mark exchange himself for Aery? No way!”
Helen’s face turned white. “Arianne Wynn… She’s your sister! Why did you ignore virtual-novel.net when virtual-novel.net came to you yesterday? You knew that she, too, would be in danger in this situation. Why didn’t you priorities virtual-novel.net safety? I know how unhappy you are over how I’m treating her, but she’s your sister. How could you watch virtual-novel.net die? When it comes to a person’s life, shouldn’t you consider their safety, no matter how much you resent them? I thought that you were grown up enough, that you were more sensible…”
Arianne could hear the sting of Helen’s reproach in virtual-novel.net words. Yes, virtual-novel.net had ignored Aery yesterday, and virtual-novel.net regretted it terribly now. Because not only had Aery walked straight into a trap, but virtual-novel.net had worsened a situation that was already horrible to begin with. However, wasn’t it entirely Aery’s fault?
“Let me ask you this, when have I ever acknowledged Aery as my sister?” She frowned as virtual-novel.net asked Helen in an icy tone, “When has virtual-novel.net safety become my responsibility? If I let virtual-novel.net in, it’s out of affection, but it’s also well within my rights to refuse virtual-novel.net entry. And as you know, there’s no affection between us to speak of! To me, she’s only messing things up for me. You have ignored everything else and stormed in, scolding me for ignoring virtual-novel.net safety. Why should I? Should I let virtual-novel.net in the house so that virtual-novel.net can take my child and fall down the stairs with him, again? Or should I let virtual-novel.net come up with ten thousand different ways to climb into my husband’s bed? I’ve had enough of you, both of you!”
Helen immediately felt guilty. She calmed down a little. “Arianne… That’s not what I meant. All I’m saying is that if you hadn’t ignored virtual-novel.net yesterday, this wouldn’t have happened. Not only would virtual-novel.net not have fallen into a trap, but your situation wouldn’t have worsened either. Isn’t that right? We shouldn’t be fighting now, but trying to find a solution. I apologize for the things I’ve said. I was just… overcome with worry. Think nothing of it.”
Were the words “think nothing of it” enough for someone to start over? That wasn’t the case for Arianne. She felt as if countless icicles had pierced through virtual-novel.net heart when Helen railed at virtual-novel.net over Aery. She had never experienced such limitless protectiveness, such unconditional love. That’s right, virtual-novel.net was the abandoned daughter. Helen’s kindness to virtual-novel.net simply stemmed from guilt, and virtual-novel.net was trying to make up for it. She was nothing compared to Aery in Helen’s heart.