Chapter 218: Tie Her Up
"What are you trying to do?"
Mandy Halloway was terrified.
Lydia Wynn was hysterical, her strength surprisingly immense. She pinned Mandy down with all her might, rendering her struggles useless.
They were both wearing the standard robes provided by the beauty salon, the kind given to clients after a facial to make subsequent massages and full-body treatments more convenient.
Lydia had hidden a dagger on her person beforehand. Seeing Mandy Halloway struggle more and more violently—harder to hold down than a pig at slaughter—she pulled the dagger from behind her waist and pressed it to Mandy’s neck.
"Mrs. Blackwood, be a dear and cooperate. You’re coming with me."
Mandy Halloway was petrified, her face deathly pale.
"This is kidnapping."
"Not a peep, or I’ll slash your face to ribbons."
As she spoke, Lydia Wynn kept the dagger pressed to her neck, forcing her to get up and wash her face.
Mandy Halloway had no choice but to do as the madwoman said.
After Mandy washed the facial mask off, Lydia Wynn took her by the arm, pressed the dagger to her waist, and led her out of the VIP room straight to the locker room.
Her phone was confiscated, and she was forced to change out of the salon robe and back into her own clothes. Then, held hostage by Lydia Wynn, she was guided past the staff and into an elevator heading down.
In the lobby, they ran into the salon’s receptionist, who looked surprised. "Mrs. Blackwood, are you finished with your treatment already?"
’It’s supposed to take two hours,’ she thought. ’Why is she leaving so soon?’
With a knife pressed to her back, Mandy Halloway’s nerves were stretched taut. She told the receptionist, "Something urgent came up. I’ll be back tomorrow."
This had never happened before, but if a client had an emergency, there wasn’t much the receptionist could say. She just nodded with a smile. "Of course, Mrs. Blackwood."
Just like that, she was led out of the salon by Lydia Wynn and pushed into the back seat of a white Mazda.
Lydia Wynn had come prepared. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and quickly used it to chloroform Mandy Halloway, knocking her unconscious.
The unconscious socialite slumped in the back seat. Lydia Wynn slammed the car door, got into the driver’s seat, and drove back to her apartment complex. Then, grunting with effort, she hauled Mandy Halloway out of the back. Instead of taking her upstairs, she carried her directly to the basement storage unit.
These basement storage units were standard for every resident in the complex, each one less than ten square meters.
Lydia Wynn tied the woman to a chair with rope and sealed Mandy Halloway’s mouth with duct tape. Next, she took out the phone she had confiscated from Mandy, unlocked it with her fingerprint, and took a photo of the woman in the chair. She sent it directly to Alaric Blackwood.
The message contained the photo, an address, and a demand for Alaric Blackwood to come alone. He was not to call the police, or else she would kill Mandy Halloway.
When Alaric Blackwood received the message, he looked at the address. ’Lydia Wynn’s place?’
He called out to Quentin Blackwood, who was already at the door. "Your illegitimate daughter is making her move."
Quentin Blackwood froze. "What did she do?"
"She kidnapped your wife."
"What?"
Alaric Blackwood showed the photo on his phone to Quentin Blackwood. He was the one who had arranged for Lydia Wynn’s apartment, so he knew it came with a basement storage unit. The moment he saw where Mandy Halloway was tied up, he recognized the location.
"Your mother is in the basement."
"Do you have a key?"
Quentin Blackwood shook his head. "I’ll take some men and rescue your mother. You go see Lydia Wynn and get her under control."
The father and son split up.
Alaric Blackwood drove directly to Lydia Wynn’s apartment, while Quentin Blackwood took his men to the basement storage area and had them break open the iron door with tools.
Meanwhile, Alaric Blackwood took the elevator upstairs and arrived at Lydia Wynn’s front door.
Without hesitation, he decisively rang the doorbell.
Seeing him through the peephole, Lydia Wynn opened the door a crack.
Alaric Blackwood noticed the security chain was fastened. Lydia Wynn was being cautious. She looked around, confirmed he was alone, and immediately unfastened the chain to let him in.
"Where’s my mother?" Alaric Blackwood began his act the moment he stepped inside.
Lydia Wynn locked the door, pulled the dagger from behind her back, and pressed it against Alaric Blackwood’s lower back. "As long as you do what I say, I guarantee Mrs. Blackwood’s life won’t be in danger."
"Fine."
Lydia Wynn jabbed him with the knife. "Take off your overcoat."
Alaric Blackwood complied, tossing the overcoat onto the floor.
"The suit jacket, too."
Alaric Blackwood frowned slightly, unbuttoned his suit, and threw the jacket carelessly to the floor.
"See that glass of water on the coffee table? Go over there and drink it."
"Is it drugged?"
"Less talk."
Lydia Wynn pushed the dagger an inch deeper. Alaric Blackwood was now only in a white shirt, and he could clearly feel the tip of the blade piercing the fabric, followed by a faint sting in his lower back.
Seeing the blade break the skin on Alaric Blackwood’s back, drawing a small amount of blood that stained his white shirt, Lydia Wynn’s hand, which held the dagger, couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
"Get over there and drink that water. Now."
"Alright, I’ll drink."
Alaric Blackwood strode toward the coffee table in the living room, picked up the glass of water, and feigned to drink it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lydia Wynn watching him, her eyes gleaming, eagerly waiting for him to down the water. Seizing the opportunity, he twisted his hand and splashed the water in her face.
"AH!"
Lydia Wynn screamed. The next second, Alaric Blackwood had her knife-wielding wrist in a death grip.
With one hand, the man snatched the dagger; with the other, he gripped her wrist, twisted it hard, and threw the weapon far away. Then, in one swift motion, he chopped the back of her neck.
His movements were fast, precise, and ruthless.
The disparity in strength between a man and a woman left her with no chance to resist before everything went black.
Alaric Blackwood let go, and Lydia Wynn collapsed stiffly to the floor.
...
Meanwhile, Quentin Blackwood and his men broke open the iron door to the basement and successfully found Mandy Halloway.
He immediately relayed the news to Alaric Blackwood, then untied the ropes binding Mandy Halloway. However, due to the effects of the drug, she was still unconscious.
He swept Mandy Halloway up in his arms, put her in a car, and had two bodyguards escort her to the hospital. He then took the remaining men upstairs in the elevator.
Arriving at Lydia Wynn’s apartment, he saw as soon as he entered that she had already been subdued.
The woman was lying face down on the living room floor, her cheeks still wet with water, looking utterly disheveled.
"Tie her up."
At Quentin Blackwood’s command, the accompanying bodyguards immediately searched for a rope. In a flash, they had Lydia Wynn tied up securely and thrown onto the sofa.
Meanwhile, in Lydia Wynn’s room, Alaric Blackwood found the medication she was taking—an anti-anxiety and anti-mania drug. In the nightstand drawer, he also found a psychiatrist’s business card.
"She’s been seeing a psychiatrist. Did you know?"
He walked out holding the medicine bottle and the business card, tossing both in front of Quentin Blackwood.
"I wasn’t really aware."
Quentin Blackwood picked up the medicine and the card, looked them over, and sighed helplessly. "When she wakes up, I’ll talk to her. I’ll persuade her to go abroad."
"Will that work? What she did today was a crime. It’s kidnapping."
"What else can we do? Hand her over to the police?"
"Shouldn’t we?"
"But she’s my daughter, after all..."
"And you can guarantee that if you send her abroad, she’ll behave?"