His Real Wedded Bride

Chapter 1128 Raising Money

"But how can I arrange so much cash in such a short time?" questioned Sheryl. She was shocked

when the man demanded ransom all of a sudden. This was not part of their initial deal.

"That's why I am giving you one hour to prepare the cash. Mrs. Lu, I warn you. Don't play any tricks on

me. If you dare to call the police, you know how this will end." Duncan continued to threaten her using

her kids.

Duncan was just pretending to sound peremptory. He wanted to make Sheryl more anxious and

terrified. Clark and Shirley were, in fact, safe with him. Apart from Shirley getting too scared due to the

blindfold, the kids weren't caused any physical pain.

However, Sheryl didn't know this. All she could imagine at that moment was her kids being in some

kind of terrible danger. Every second lost was adding great risk to the kids.

She was too scared to wait any longer.

"Fine, I will get the money. But I need you to promise me that once we give you the cash, you will free

my kids," Sheryl demanded.

"Rest assured, Mrs. Lu. I have seen what I needed to see and have got what I wanted. Once I get the

money, I won't be stupid enough to kill anyone. However, the basic premise of all this is that you don't

call the police." Duncan's words sounded tough but reasonable, which convinced Sheryl to a certain

extent.

"Deal!" There was no room for her to bargain with him. Besides, she was not in the mood to do so

either. All she hoped was that her kids would be sent back without any mishap.

After she hung up, Charles walked towards her with a stern look and asked, "When did this happen to Content © NôvelDrama.Org 2024.

Shirley and Clark? Who did this to them?"

Clearly, Charles had too many questions, but Sheryl was at a loss.

"I don't know when it happened either. I heard the phone ring when I was about to leave the backstage.

From the other end of the phone, I heard our kids' voices. Charles, they were crying, both of them, at

the top of their voices!"

Sheryl looked terribly upset as she described the situation to Charles. Isla was beside Sheryl. When

she looked at Sheryl's teary eyes, she sniffled a tear herself.

Isla really wanted to hold Sheryl in her arms and console her. However, when Isla was about to stretch

out her hand, Charles got closer to Sheryl and wrapped her in his arms in an instant. He kissed Sheryl

on her forehead and comforted her, "It's all right, Sher. Don't be scared. You have me. I won't allow

anything bad to happen to our kids. I promise."

In Isla's imagination, she had always wondered what kind of man could be recognized as an

indomitable man. Before she had gotten married, she had a lot of dreams about different types of men

with various virtues. But her dreams stayed as dreams; she never talked to anyone about her ideas of

an ideal man.

She never expected that she would see such a man in real life.

Isla looked at Charles, who had tried his best to clear Sheryl's name, and now he was consoling her

not to worry about the kids. Then she thought to herself, 'Even in such a terrible scenario, Charles' face

doesn't show any anxiety or desperation. It's unbelievable. He's just like the man who used to appear in

my fantasies.'

For a moment, she was relieved for Sheryl who was lucky enough to have such a good husband;

however, she realized at once that her relief was misplaced. What was troubling them was still not

solved. It had instead, become worse.

It was too early to feel relieved.

Even so, Charles' perseverance and determination would undeniably be Sheryl's strongest

reassurance to solve any problems that got in their way. Isla believed that Sheryl's luck wouldn't always

turn its back on her.

Now that the cold weather had lasted for so long, it was time for some warm sunlight to shine upon

both Charles and Sheryl.

"Charles, the ransom is five million, and we only have one hour left. We should prepare the money as

soon as possible." Sheryl was in no mood to throw herself into Charles' arms and cry or feel depressed

for what was happening, as her kids were still in danger.

"Of course, we should prepare the cash as soon as possible. But, Sher, do you think that such a man

can be trusted? Do you honestly believe his words?" Unlike Sheryl, Charles stayed calm and collected.

He was trying to calm down Sheryl as well.

"I don't care whether he can be trusted or not. And we don't have time to doubt his words right now.

Charles, we only have an hour!" Sheryl almost collapsed with madness.

One hour was too short a time to hesitate or to even consider finding another way out. They had to

make their move as quickly as possible. Or else, there would be no way for them to exchange fifty

million into cash in time.

"Listen to me, Sher. We should stay calm and act smart. As we prepare the money, we should also

inform the police about what's going on. An incident like this requires the police to step in." Unshaken

by Sheryl's over-reaction, Charles stuck to his own judgement.

"No! He stressed that we shouldn't call the police. Charles, he claimed that he wouldn't hurt Shirley or

Clark as long as we didn't call the police. No, we absolutely can't call the police!" Sheryl shook her

head crazily at Charles and spoke almost in an incoherent manner as soon as she heard Charles' idea

to involve the police.

"Sher, please calm down and think about it. Do you believe him or me? He has already broken his deal

once. There is no way of knowing if he would do it again. How can we possibly believe such a man?

This guy has no integrity. If we do as he says and give him the money, he might ask for more. He will

think that we are weak and won't let go of the rare opportunity to get more money from us."

Charles knew that this was a trick that kidnappers always played to blackmail more money from

families of the kidnapped. He was convinced that neither Shirley nor Clark was at any risk at the

moment.

"Think about it! He asked you to do as he said, and you followed. You admitted to your scandal to the

reporters just as he had asked you. Your doing so has done nothing good for you. It has only made the

situation even worse. Because now, he can control you. He feels victorious and will use your weakness

to continue to keep you under his control." Charles held Sheryl's shoulder to steady her. He explained

patiently, "He felt excited that he had taken control of you, and grew more arrogant every time you

called him to beg. Clearly, he has gotten used to that sense of superiority. That's why he dared to

demand the ransom to that size from you!

His only way to extort money from us is by using Shirley and Clark, who are in his custody. So before

he gets the money, I am sure that he won't hurt the kids." Charles spoke to the point. He paused for a

moment and then continued, "But Sher, once he gets the money, we cannot be sure that he wouldn't

continue to ask for more. If he asks us for money we are not able to afford, then Shirley and Clark will

be in real danger."

Sheryl's face suddenly grew rigid with both confusion and realization at his words.

Charles' words were finally having some effects on her.

She froze for a while and then came to herself, asking anxiously, "Charles, what should we do now?"

"We'll inform the police and ask them to investigate into this in secret, to help us from the shadows. At

the same time, we do as he asked. When we take the cash to him, we should be smart and quickly act

according to the situation." In his mind, Charles had already designed a scheme to deal with this

blackmail.

"Do what needs to be done, Charles," Sheryl nodded towards Charles, numb from shock. She was

convinced by Charles' explanation. She felt at a loss, so the best thing to do was listen to her husband.

"Time is precious. Let's split up. You and Isla go and exchange the cash. His men might be spying on

you, so it's not wise for you to show up at the police station with me. I will go to the station alone." Isla

nodded to everything and agreed with him.

She offered to take her stand and said in a determined tone, "All right! Let's do this." Charles smiled

and nodded at her. He quickly looked at his watch to check the time, then turned to look at Sheryl and

said, "Eight minutes has passed, which means, we have fifty-two minutes left. Let's pick up the pace!"

When Sheryl was about to rush out from the backstage, she was at once reminded that there was a

crowd of reporters waiting for her outside. She turned to Charles. "There are so many reporters out

there. The moment we walk out, they will definitely surround us. How can we get out quietly?"