After She She Stopped Loving Him

Charles couldn't stand the look in her eyes-it was an icy indifference, the kind that comes when disappointment

has burned everything else away.

He gently cupped her face and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Just giveten minutes. I'll track down you and

the kidnappers.”

“Mm,” Renee replied, her tone distant and hollow.

She felt numb; all her emotions seemed to have vanished.

The car pulled up to an isolated stretch outside the city. A couple of headlights lit the place up, with only a single

road leading in-and now, that road was blocked off by a big truck parked sideways. The kidnappers’ car sat right

behind it.

The truck’s headlights shined bright, lighting up the whole handoff spot.

Renee was being held tight by several kidnappers, her face streaked with tears. When she saw Charles actually

show up, her eyes went red with emotion, but her mouth was gagged, so all she could do was let out muffled

cries.

One of the kidnappers pressed a knife to her throat, his eyes full of menace. “Mr. Sinclair, we got a lookout on

the road you cin. If you brought anybody else, your sister dies right here-no bluffing. Let's not play games.

Send your wife over, and we'll hand your sister back.”

Charles was about to speak when the kidnapper suddenly brought the knife down and sliced off one of Renee's

fingers.

“Ahhh! Ahhh!” Renee screamed, her voice echoing with agony.

‘It hurts-it hurts so much | could die!" Renee thought, pain and panic flooding her senses.

Yolanda had been on her way, still half-convinced that Renee had staged the whole thing. But seeing how brutal

the kidnappers were, she knew she was wrong.

These

guys were definitely after her. But she’d been a housewife for two years and hadn't pissed anyone off.

‘Maybe it was Vivian's uncle?’ Yolanda thought.

But even the Andrade family wouldn't dare go this far with Renee. If Charles found out, they'd be facing some

terrifying revenge.

Charles let her go and gently nudged her forward, his tone gentle. “There’s a chopper waiting nearby. You won't

have to face this alone,”

Yolanda had barely stepped away when Charles, feeling uncertain, pulled her into a protective hug from behind.

“Baby”

Her chest tightened, and for a split second, she nearly burst into tears.

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She wasn’t made of stone-how could she not feel hurt and wronged by all this?

Charles looked down, his lashes shadowing his eyes as he sighed softly. “I'll make it up to you, | swear.”

She didn’t say a word, just kept going forward, her silence heavier than anything.

Charles watched her walk away, and for a split second, a gut feeling twisted inside him-like he just knew he'd

end up regretting this one day.

Her back was like a silent goodbye, as if she was slipping out of his life before he could even reach her.

‘But con... Yolanda wouldn't just stop loving me,’ Charles tried convincing himself.

He admitted to himself he wasn’t exactly a good guy, but after fifteen years of loving him-there was just no way

she'd suddenly walk away. ‘She’s lovedso long... she wouldn't just let go, right?’ he told himself.

Yolanda walked right up to the kidnappers. The one in charge had a wedge-shaped, unsettling face, cold gleam

in the whites of his eyes, and lines on his face carved deep as scars. He laughed like a fiend and yanked Yolanda

over, locking her in his iron grip.

Renee was finally released, and she nearly collapsed as she crawled toward Charles, tears streaming down her

face.

The kidnapper dragged Yolanda into the car parked behind the trucks-now the road was totally blocked off, so

Charles couldn't get through.

Yolanda was tossed into the back of the car, dizzy and barely able to focus, as the vehicle tore down the road.

There were three kidnappers total-one driving up front, the other two crowded in the back with her.

She froze, too scared to make a wrong move. The tall, thin kidnapper thrust his hand out, his voice gritty and

threatening. “Giveyour phone. Now. Or you'll wish you had.”

Back in Charles's car, she'd already fired off desperate texts to Samuel and lan-those two were her only hope.

She had no one else to call for help.

She stayed silent and handed over her phone.

The tall, skinny guy powered off her phone and tossed it aside. “Charles, cold as ice. Didn't hesitate for a

second-just handed his wife over. Tell you what, in your next life, don’t marry someone like him.”

The kidnappers burst into cold, nasty laughter, but that quickly turned to brutal seriousness. “Call that guy- tell

him Yolanda’s in our hands. Let's see if he falls for it. Damn, we finally got sleverage!”

Yolanda kept quiet, watching as the man quickly whipped out his phone and dialed.

Once the call connected, his tone was pure menace.

“Listen up, lan, you son of a bitch! I've got your little honey right here. If you don’t want her dead, you better

show up-fast. Or we'll take turns with her and tear her to pieces. What was her nagain? Oh yeah, Yolanda!

And lettell you, she’s fucking gorgeous!”

10:34 sat, Sep 20

Chapter 98

It was on speakerphone, so Yolanda heard every word.

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Normally, lan’s voice was cool with a subtle tenderness when he spoke to her, but now, on the phone, he

sounded cold and distant, like she was nothing more than a stranger.

He simply said, “I don’t know Yolanda.”

He hung up instantly, utterly decisive.

The kidnappers all whipped their heads toward Yolanda, and the tall, lanky one snapped a slap right across her

face.

“Hell no, that's impossible! We saw those two making out in the car-no way he doesn’t know her! lan is a

heartless piece of shit. Just so he doesn’t have to face us, he’s willing to dump a knockout like you!”

Yolanda reeled from the slap, her mind numb and unable to make sense of anything.

She'd wondered about just about everyone—maybe sold enemy from the Grant family—but never in a

million years

did she imagine it would be lan.

And the way he sounded on the phone... It was chillingly cold, a kind of ruthlessness she'd never heard from him

before. Just like Charles had done before.

For a moment, she wondered if she'd imagined it—maybe she'd misheard him altogether.

The tall, skinny guy lost it, grabbing a knife from the side. “We've been busting our asses for nothing! This

woman can’t even scare lan! Fuck! What the hell do we do now? We've already pissed off Charles!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than they heard the thundering blades of a helicopter overhead.

With a cold snicker, the driver jerked the wheel and shot the car straight into the shadowy forest nearby.

Beneath the dense canopy, the helicopter couldn't spot them-its view blocked by the tangled trees.

Yolanda rattled around in the backseat, every bump making her want to puke-her hands and feet were tied tight,

and she was starting to really lose it.

The driver up front was swearing nonstop, while the two guys in back clutched their knives so tight their

knuckles turned white-eyes locked on her like she was next on the chopping block. ‘God, | swear if one of those

blades comes near my neck, it’s over for me,’ she thought, heart pounding so hard she could barely breathe.

Yolanda took a shaky breath, forcing herself not to cry. “Seriously, you guys have got it all wrong-lan and | aren't

like that. I'm his boss, | basically forced him into everything. Trust me, he can’t stand me.”

She didn’t even get to finish before another harsh slap cracked across her cheek.

“You filthy bitch, just wait till we get where we're going. All of us will have sfun with you, then we'll see if

you're still so full of shit!”

Yolanda clamped her mouth shut, realizing these guys hated lan with a passion. Every extra word out of her

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Chapter 98

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