Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 276

Inside a villa located in Whispering Pines, a suburb in the south, a woman dressed in a white T-shirt

and high-waisted denim shorts sat on a bed in the bedroom. The room was spacious with only a

solitary bed, devoid of any other furniture. The windows were designed with burglar bars, making

escape impossible.

The bed was adorned with two pillows and a grey blanket, while a dark blue coat lay next to it. A pair of

white canvas shoes were placed by the bedside.

The bedroom door swung open, and a tall man, nearing six-foot-three, pushed a food cart into the

room.

The woman turned swiftly at the sound. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders, her blue eyes pure and

clear, and her skin was fair and smooth. Her doll-like eyes glanced at the food cart before sweeping

over the bodyguard outside the door.

“Hey!” she said in a slightly accented English, addressing the man pushing the food cart. “How many of

you guys are there?”

“You won’t be able to escape, so don’t even try,” the man said.

She chuckled, “So, how long do you plan on keeping me here?”

“That depends on my boss. Just sit tight, we won’t mistreat you,” the man replied.

“But I’m so bored, there’s no one to talk to all day,” she complained, looking at the man. “Can you tell

me who your boss is? Do you know why you guys kidnapped

me?”

The man evaded her questions, placing the food on the table and gesturing to it. “Please eat.”

Reluctantly, she sat on the edge of the bed and started eating.

“I’ve been kidnapped for quite some time now. Even if you don’t tell me who your boss is, can you

request him to give me a tablet to play with? I won’t go online, I just want to play some offline games…”

She kept bringing up this matter while eating. Eventually, the man, seemingly annoyed, made a call,

presumably to his superior. He switched off the room’s Wi-Fi and handed her a tablet pre-loaded with

games.

She immediately grabbed the tablet and started playing, obediently sitting on the bed.

The man exited the room, locking the door behind him.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from downstairs.

The two bodyguards at the door exchanged glances. The tall one spoke into the walkie-talkie, “Scar,

what’s happening?”

The walkie-talkie emitted a buzzing sound, but there was no reply from Scar.

“Stay here, I’ll go check it out,” the tall man told the other bodyguard. He pulled out a gun from behind

him and made his way downstairs.

At the front door, he found Scar and another colleague writhing on the floor, a woman standing

between them, her foot on their hands.

The tall man quickly pointed his gun at the woman in black, Julien.

Julien raised her hands in cooperation, then warned, “There’s someone behind you.”

Before he could react, he was knocked out by Raines, who had come up from behind with a vase.

“Kyle only sent these amateurs here, what did you bring me for?” Raines said, meaning that Julien

could have taken care of these guys in no time.

Julien cast.Raines a cold glance, “I thought you wanted to come.”

Raines couldn’t admit that the young master had asked him to come…

Picking up the tall man’s gun from the ground, Raines remarked, “Is it so easy to get private gun in our

country?”

Julien took out her phone to make a call.

As Raines was inspecting the gun, he asked Julien, “Aren’t we here to rescue someone? What are you

doing?”

“They must get the guns in some illegal ways. I’m calling the cops.” Julien quickly reported the villa’s

address, making the call with efficiency.

A bead of cold sweat dripped down Raines’ forehead. He wiped off his fingerprints from the gun with

his coat and put it back into the tall man’s hand

“Call me when you’ve handled things upstairs.” Julien handcuffed the unconscious man to a nearby

iron railing.

“So, what about you carrying handcuffs?” Raines asked as he made his way upstairs.

Julien glanced at the handcuffs and smirked, “Is there a law against using it as sex toys?”

Raines wondered what the young master saw in this woman…

As he reached the top of the stairs, he found another man in black already unconscious on the floor,

clearly taken out by someone else.

Raines frowned at the sight. The man in black was looking towards the bedroom, his face contorted

with pain. Raines gestured to Julien downstairs, then crept towards the bedroom door. He put on

gloves, took the gun from the unconscious man, and kicked the door open.

Along with the sound of the door opening, a woman’s scream echoed through the room.

The burglar bars had been cut open somehow. Raines sprinted towards the window. A man in black

had swiftly kidnapped Emily.

Even if Julien was quick, she wouldn’t be able to make it from the front to the back window in just a few

seconds. As Raines predicted, Julien wasn’t in time to intercept the man

Raines raised his gun at the man, but didn’t pull the trigger.

Because the sound of police sirens was growing louder.

Raines tucked the gun away, jumped out the window, and chased after the man. However, he was too

late. He could only watch as the man jumped into a black van parked nearby.

Unexpectedly, the van didn’t start.

Inside, Julien sat in the driver’s seat, greeting the panting Emily and the man in black who had just

hopped into the back seat, “Hi!”

Zenith had expected Hayden to send someone, but he didn’t expect even Julien to take matters into

her own hands, all for one hostage.

Zenith dropped Emily, pushed open the car door, and jumped into the surrounding forest.

Julien also opened her door, casually tossing the car keys to Raines. “Take her home.”

With that, she chased after Zenith.

Emily, still in shock, opened the car door and ran after Julien. “Don’t leave me behind!”

Raines swiftly pulled Emily back, frowning at her, “Are you out of your mind, girl?”

Emily felt that the man standing in front of her, who wore a hostile expression, should be the one who

was truly out of his mind.

Realizing that Emily had misunderstood, Raines patiently explained, “I’m a good guy. I’m here to save

you.”

“Are you with Moore?” Emily asked, her eyes full of suspicion as she glanced towards the woods and

then back at Raines.

Raines frowned, “What?”

Seeing Raines’ confused expression, Emily maintained her scepticism, but didn’t answer his question.

Instead, she stepped back and asked, “And who are you?”

“I’m the guy Fred sent to rescue you,” Raines replied.

Upon hearing her father’s name, Emily finally relaxed. However, she looked back towards the woods,

puzzled, “Then who was that woman just now?”

“She’s with me.”

At this point, Raines finally realized, “You know that person in black who was here just now?”

“I don’t know him!” After the conversation, Emily knew that Raines was sent by her father to save her.

But her intuition told her not to let him know that she was acquainted with Moore. So, she feigned

ignorance, “That person in black, isn’t he after me?”

“You knew he was after you and you still followed him?” Raines replied, starting the car.

Emily feigned fear, clutching her seatbelt, “I didn’t know, I didn’t know anything…”

Seeing Emily’s frightened appearance, Raines didn’t press her any further.

Julien chased all the way into the woods but found that he had lost track of his target. The person in

black was clearly familiar with the area, or had planned his escape route well, so Julien lost him…

When Julien returned to the villa, somewhat displeased, Emily had already been treated like a VIP.

However, Julien’s first act was to grab Emily by the collar and dragged her into the gym, “Who was the

person who tried to kidnap you today?”

Emily remained silent.

Thinking she could not understand, Julien asked again slowly, but Emily still did not respond.

“She’s probably scared,” Raines’ voice resounded from behind Julien

Realising he may have gone overboard, Julien let go of Emily, “Tell me who that man is, and I’ll take

you back to Fred.”

“That… that man in black?” Zenith was like a brother to Emily since childhood, while Julien was a

stranger she met today. From Emily’s perspective, she would never betray Zenith.

So, she shook her head, looking genuinely sincere.

“My master ordered me to take her to Fred.” Raines spoke up when Julien fell silent.

“Get lost!” Julien responded icily.

Raines left with a visibly shaken Emily. Julien turned around and headed to Hayden’s study.

As expected, Hayden was in his study. Standing by the large window, phone in hand, he spoke to

Kieran on the other end, “The rescue happened before dawn, with Raines and Lien. The hostage has

been returned to Fred and is being guarded round the clock. Fred should accept our conditions. As for

Kyle…”.

“Let’s talk when I get back,” Kieran’s voice came from the other end.

Hayden continued, “During the rescue, Lien chased a man in black, identity unknown When are you

planning to return?”

“This afternoon,” Kieran sounded cheerful.

“What are you up to?” Hayden asked.

“Just bought a bouquet to surprise my wife when she wakes up,” he paused, “Oh sorry, I forgot you’re

single.”