Chapter 780: Savior or Kidnapper
Dora felt something cool and smooth pressed against her dry, cracked lips—a straw. Instinctively, she sucked on it thirstily, drawing in water that tasted like heaven to her parched throat. She gulped greedily, desperate for more, the water spilling from the corners of her mouth as her body cried out for relief. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t think, only focused on quenching her burning thirst.
Finally, after what felt like too little, the man pulled the straw away, "Slow down," he said, "At this rate, you’re going to make yourself sick."
The words barely registered at first, muffled by the fog that clouded her mind. She was still half-lost in a haze of confusion and disorientation. But the sudden absence of water snapped her back to the present. Slowly, almost reluctantly, she opened her eyes, blinking against the glaring light that assaulted her senses. Her head pounded, her limbs felt heavy, and her mouth was still dry despite the water she’d just drunk.
It took a moment for her vision to adjust, for her thoughts to align themselves into something coherent. When they did, dread settled over her like a weight. She realized two things immediately: she wasn’t tied to a chair anymore, but lying on a bed. And she had not been rescued. The person feeding her water was none other than her kidnapper still wearing the dreary mask.
"Where is this? Why haven’t you released me yet? I am sure that Kael already paid the ransom.
The man’s eyes narrowed under the mask as he sat back," Sigh! I would think it is obvious. You’re my safety net. That woman... she fooled me. According to our plan, we were supposed to take you, get the ransom and then leave your location to the Prince while we made our escape. But she changed the plans at the last minute. She gave me a flight ticket to flee the country while she decided to leave you to die there."
"I may be a bad man and a kidnapper but I am no murderer. Also, do you know how confident she is that she will not get caught? She had no intention of leavign the country as planned. She simply took the money and returned home, pretty as you please. It took me a while to understand why she did that thought. She must have planned to pin the blame for the kidnapping and your murder on me. So, of course, I returned and brought you back from there."
"Now, with you in my possession, I can surrender and even help the Prince identify who tried to harm you, while negotiating appropriately to not be punished too severely."
Dora frowned and stared at the man who was looking at her expectantly," Are you expecting me to praise you for being an upright bad man?"
The man shook his head," I need you to call Prince Kael and let him know that he needs to make the arrangements for my surrender and the rest. I don’t really have his number or anyway to contact him."