“Mom! Please save us! I’m so scared.”
The children’s cries sent Zia into a panic. Even though they weren’t her biological children—she had carried and raised them since they were babies—she couldn’t ignore their lives.
Zia tried to contact Brian, but his number was disconnected. Zia redirected her calls to Rachel and the Ridge family, but none of them picked up.
“Three minutes have passed, Mrs. Ridge. If you’re ten minutes late, we’ll kill your children.”
The criminal sent a photo of his children with knives held to their necks.
Zia was terrified. They were just little kids.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Zia hailed a taxi and headed for the abandoned warehouse the criminal had mentioned. She arrived within ten minutes.
“Alec, Hendry....”
Suddenly, she was struck on the head from behind and lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she saw only Rachel and her children standing in front of her, looking safe.
The thugs stood beside them.
“Hendry, Alec… Why are you….”
“Surprise!” Alec and Hendry stuck their tongues out at her.
“Mommy, you’re so stupid."
“We were playing a prank on Aunt Rachel. If we got you to come here, she’d take us on vacation to Greece.”
Hendry frowned. “No wonder Grandma always says you’re from a lower class—you’re stupid! So easy to fool. Mom, you’d better stay here while Aunt Rachel takes your place at the party as Dad’s wife. After the party is over, we’ll come pick you up.”
Zia stared at them, speechless.
“Do you think this is a game? Hitting your own mother?” She said in a hoarse voice and tried to sit up, but her body felt limp, and her vision was spinning. It felt as though she’d been drugged.
Zia shook her head, trying to focus her vision.
“It’s just a game, Zia. Kids love to play,” Rachel smiled sweetly as she hugged Alec and Hendry.
“Aunt Rachel, Dad’s here. Let’s keep playing,” Alec called out happily, pointing at the car approaching from a distance.
Rachel turned her gaze to Zia. “Let me show you—between you and me, who Brian will choose.”
“Rachel, stop your crazy game! What do you actually want?” Zia hissed, trying to stay conscious.
“You should have left when I gave you the chance; you just kept provoking me,” Rachel whispered coldly, then glanced at one of the thugs.
One of the thugs set the warehouse on fire.
Alec and Hendry clung to Rachel, terrified and panicked by the flames.
“Rachel! What exactly are you planning! There are limits to jokes! Do you want to burn us all here?!” Zia struggled to get up.
Rachel just smiled. “Kids, stay calm—this is just a game. When your dad arrives, he’ll save us.”
“Rachel! Alec! Hendry!”
Brian’s voice echoed from outside the warehouse.
“It’s Daddy! Daddy! Daddy’s here!” Hendry and Alec shouted joyfully.
“See, Brian was just worried about us.”
Rachel smiled mysteriously, covered her mouth, then collapsed to the floor and closed her eyes, pretending to faint.
“Aunt Rachel!” Alec and Hendry knelt beside Rachel’s body, frantically trying to wake her up.
The warehouse door swung open, and Brian appeared with a group of people.
Brian’s gaze briefly fell on Zia, and he approached her with a worried expression. “Zia....”
The bodyguards immediately apprehended the thugs Rachel had hired. The thugs pretended to resist and then surrendered.
“Mr. Ridge! We were forced to do this because your wife paid us.”
Zia’s eyes widened, and she shook her head, “Brian, that’s not true. Rachel orchestrated all of this....”
Brian’s expression was icy toward Zia. “Zia, why do you keep hurting Rachel?! You even dragged the kids here. You know this is dangerous!”
“I didn’t do anything to her! Brian, you know me best....”
“I know you’re doing this for me. But please, stop now! This has gone too far.”
“Brian, can't you hear me?” Zia replied, her eyes red.
“Daddy, Aunt Rachel fainted!” Alec and Hendry shouted, grabbing Brian's attention.
“Mr. Ridge, we have to leave immediately... this place is going to burn down; the smoke is getting thicker...” one of the bodyguards said.
Brian nodded with a worried expression and approached Rachel. He lifted her into his arms.
Rachel opened her eyes weakly. “Zia, please forgive me... I know I was wrong... Don’t hurt me anymore, I beg you....”
She lost consciousness.
Brian stared at Zia with a very cold gaze.
“Zia, let’s take it easy for a few days. Go home on your own.”
After saying that, he turned and left, followed by his children.
His bodyguards apprehended Rachel’s hired thugs.
“Brian!” Zia tried to stand up, but she fell.
Her head was still spinning from the effects of the anesthetic.
The smoke was getting thicker, making it hard for Zia to breathe.
She gave a bitter smile, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and tried to find a way out.
The warehouse was burning behind her, while everyone else had already left. Her car keys had fallen inside the burning warehouse.
With great difficulty, Zia tried to flag down a ride and asked passing cars on the highway for help. A middle-aged couple came to her rescue and took her to the hospital.
Vaguely, as she opened her eyes, she heard the nurses whispering beside her bed. Their gaze was fixed on a cell phone.
“Wow, Dr. Rachel would definitely make a perfect match for Mr. Ridge.”
When she opened her eyes, the nurses’ expressions immediately changed.
“Tsk, why didn’t this woman just die? She keeps hurting Dr. Rachel over and over again.”
“It’s better to keep her sedated longer than have her ruin Mr. and Mrs. Ridge’s wedding anniversary.”
Then, the nurses were about to give her an injection. Zia sat up, grabbed the vase next to her bed, and threw it at the nurses.
She fled the hospital room before they could catch her.
Stumbling down the hospital hallway, Zia’s gaze fell on a television mounted on the wall.
[Daily News: The Ridge Group is hosting a grand company founding party at a five-star hotel. Many officials, businesspeople, and celebrities have been invited. Rumor has it that the CEO of the Ridge Group will make his first public appearance with his wife and children. We’re all curious about his wife, who’s been kept hidden all this time. The legendary marriage proposal ten years ago was stunning: Mr. Ridge scattered dandelions across the city as he proposed to his wife, symbolizing his extraordinary love. Let’s see who his secret wife is....]
A black limousine pulled up in front of the hotel.
Three men step out of the car—Brian and two handsome young boys—reaching into the car to help her out.
The woman, wearing a stunning red dress, takes Brian’s hand.
The red dress Brian had given Zia as a wedding anniversary gift has now been given to another woman.
Zia chuckled. Her heart grew cold.
“What an amazing wedding anniversary gift. Well then, I’ll send you a wedding anniversary gift for our tenth anniversary, Brian,” she whispered.
Mr. Finch sent an email stating that the divorce had been finalized and forwarded it to Zia’s home address.
Zia then contacted her broker. It was time for her to withdraw her 50% stake in the Ridge Group, which would cause the company to lose a significant amount of capital.
Brian would have nothing left to save his company.
Zia returned home and grabbed her pre-packed suitcase. She packed all the DNA test results Rina had sent and the divorce papers into an express package, then sent it to the hotel where the party was being held, listing her name as the ex-wife.
Zia pulled her suitcase out of the house and looked at it one last time.
A smile appeared on her lips. Not a smile of sadness, but a smile of freedom.
“Goodbye....”
She tossed her phone into the trash and walked away without looking back.
