Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
If I had never loved John or been with him, I wouldn’t have been stalked by this lunatic Elsa.
But those things had already happened; it was too late to change them now.
She had to rack her brains to placate Elsa and buy a sliver of safety for the children in her womb.
“Elsa, I know you hate me and don’t want me to have a good life. But if I die here today, when the truth comes out you’ll face the full force of the law. If you let me go, I won’t press charges for today. You’ll still have Simon to spoil and protect you-you can have a good life.”
Of course Lily despised Elsa and didn’t want her to thrive.
But given the circumstances, she had to say whatever would calm her.
If she enraged Elsa, if Elsa started beating her, it wouldn’t matter whether Simon arrived in time-the babies could already be a puddle of blood.
I’ll have a good life?
Elsa laughed with something close to a wail. “Lily, because of you I have advanced stomach cancer. I’m dying-less than a year left! How could I possibly have a good life? You ruined me so badly-you have to die with me!”
Lily remained silent.
What does Elsa getting terminal stomach cancer have to do with me?
She didn’t say that; she didn’t want to provoke Elsa.
Elsa screamed again in a frenzy, “You’re a time bomb. Only when you’re gone will Simon dedicate himself to me, marry me, love me. Today you and your wicked spawn must die!”
“Ms. Quinn, I’ve just received news-Mr. Simon is on his way to the seaside.”
When her subordinate reported in, Elsa’s face finally lost some of its ferocity.
Still, the look she turned to Lily was chillingly venomous. “Lily-Simon is mine.”
“I’ll make you see with your own eyes that in his heart, I’m the most important. Even if you are the real Lizzy, today Simon will choose me!”
She tore her gaze from Lily with haughty certainty and ordered her men, “Shut that bitch up!”
She paused, then added, “Tie up her hands and feet too. If you’re putting on a show, make it believable-only then will it hit home.”
Lily certainly didn’t want her mouth taped shut.
A hand behind her had been quietly working, trying to loosen the knot around her wrists.
But with both hands bound, her fingers were clumsy; the rope knots were tight and firm, and she couldn’t free her wrists.
She forced herself to shuffle backward, trying to put distance between herself and the men approaching.
But her feet were bound, so she couldn’t move quickly. One man grabbed her chin while another roughly sealed her mouth with tape.
She still hoped Elsa would stop, and that these men wouldn’t be so loyal to Elsa.
But with the tape pressed down tight across her lips, she couldn’t form a single whole sentence; even the muffled whimpers she managed sounded indistinct.
“Lizzy!”
Not long after the kidnappers had bound Elsa’s limbs, Simon arrived.
He’d gotten a call from the abductors claiming they’d taken Elsa and demanding fifty million in ransom-otherwise they would kill her. They’d insisted only he come alone and that he not alert the police; they’d warned that even if he brought the money, they might still kill her.
He’d assumed the woman bound on the cliff would be Elsa-he hadn’t expected Lily to be there too.
Seeing Lily’s hands and feet tightly bound and her mouth taped, her face deathly pale, something inside him twisted painfully.
He stepped forward, intent on untying her.
“Don’t move!”
As soon as he took two steps, the men pressed the tips of knives harder against Lily and Elsa’s throats.
“Bring the suitcases of cash, box by box, onto our boat. One more step and we’ll slit their throats right now!”
“Let them go first!”
One of the captors sneered, his eyes cold and narrow. “Do you think you have bargaining chips? I’ll say it again-move the money to the boat, or…
He let the threat hang and smiled wickedly at the glinting blade in his hand.
Simon’s brow tightened; murderous intent flooded his eyes. He hated being threatened.
Still, with Elsa and Lily’s lives in those men’s hands and the danger of them carrying out their threat, he reluctantly hauled the suitcases of cash to the waiting boat.
“I’ve put the money on the boat. Let them go!” he demanded.
“Ha!”
As if hearing the world’s funniest joke, the leader burst into scornful laughter.
“You think fifty million buys two lives? It’s not even night yet and you’re already dreaming. All right, let’s play a game.”
He paused, then sneered, “You can choose one of these two women. The one you pick, we’ll return to you unharmed. The one you abandon…well, you don’t care about her anyway-we’ll throw her into the deep sea for the fish.”
Hearing that, Simon’s expression darkened so sharply it could have crushed a fly.
To him, Elsa was the Lizzy who had shared those darkest days beneath the rubble-he didn’t want her killed.
Still, inexplicably, he couldn’t bear the thought of harm coming to Lily either.
Yes-he wanted to save Lily, if only for the sake of the children in her belly. After all, those two little lives were the flesh of his most respected elder cousin.
He hesitated briefly, then said through clenched teeth, “I’ll give you one hundred million. Let them both go.”
Elsa’s face stiffened.
One hundred million…
He would really pay a hundred million to save Lily…
That bitch Lily-did she deserve it?
Still, fearing to arouse Simon’s suspicion, Elsa lowered her gaze slightly and tried to cover the resentment in her eyes, forcing on a proud, helpless expression through her tears.
“Ha!”
The kidnapper laughed triumphantly. When the laughter subsided, his voice dripped with contempt. “Looks like both women mean a lot to you. But my brothers don’t like you; we won’t let you get what you want. I’ll say it again-you can only choose one. One goes to the fish, one goes home safe. You have one minute…if you don’t decide in a minute, neither of them will live!”
“Two hundred million!” Simon blurted, urgent. “I’ll have two hundred million brought here right now-don’t hurt them!”
“Ha!”
The leader’s laugh was laced with malice and disdain. Clearly he had no intention of being swayed by two hundred million.
Simon realized that and pushed further. “One billion! Ten hundred million-I’ll give you one billion. Release them both!”
The kidnapper’s lip twitched slightly.
Ten billion was a tempting sum.
If Jimmy hadn’t once saved their lives, he might have agreed.
But that life had been saved by Jimmy.
He knew he wasn’t a good man-greedy, lustful, ruthless-but he valued loyalty above all. He had sworn to avenge Jimmy; he couldn’t go back on that oath.
He ignored Simon’s offer and glanced at his phone as he counted down coldly. “Three!”
“Two…”
When the captor began the countdown, Simon’s eyes flared blood-red.
He stared, unblinking, at Lily’s ashen face.
He wanted her to live.
Even if she was married to his elder cousin and carrying that man’s child-forever making a romantic future with him impossible-he still wanted her to survive.