novelraw Chapter 407 - 208.
Chapter 407 - 208.
The remote slum in a bustling city.The sky was getting darker, and everything around was left with only blurry outlines. The wild wind raged, seemingly ready to unleash a torrential downpour at any moment.
A man in his forties, on his way home from work, saw from a distance a bizarre scene and stopped in his tracks. He nudged his coworker with his elbow, "Hey, look over there, the two people are carrying something—could it be a pregnant woman?"
The exhausted coworker, only thinking of going home for a hot shower and sleep, didn’t even want to glance, "You must be so tired you’re seeing things. Everyone living here are poor old men, where would there be a pregnant woman?"
There were no streetlights, only the remaining glow of the sunset to illuminate the way.
The man rubbed his eyes with his hand, finally seeing a bit clearer, and was instantly shocked, "It really is a pregnant woman, and she seems to have been knocked out. Those two aren’t planning to cut her open and steal the baby, are they?"
Nowadays, society is chaotic, and there are plenty of people bold enough to risk everything for money.
The coworker looked in that direction too, his expression slightly changing, and immediately grabbed the man who was about to intervene, lowering his voice to warn, "Don’t meddle in other people’s business. What if you get into trouble—what will you do about your wife and kids back home?"
Seeing the pregnant woman being carried into a house, the man clenched his fist and growled lowly, "But I can’t just watch as the bad guys threaten her life!"
The coworker pulled him into the alley, at their age, their fervor had long been worn away by reality. Though he didn’t want to get involved, he couldn’t escape the latent niceness buried in his conscience.
Reaching a dark spot, he took out his phone to call the police, "Hello, is this 110? There’s a drug transaction at No. 86, Shuangmendong Alley."
He said a few more things in a low voice, leaving the man beside him stunned.
After hanging up, the coworker, with a cold expression, tugged the man’s arm and led him further inward, explaining, "By making it sound serious, those slacker cops will rush over faster."
————
In the shabby rental house, besides the bed, there was only a broken sofa to sit on.
There were no windows, so during the day sunlight couldn’t come in, and by night a strong musty mold smell filled the air.
Zhao Ying let out a cold laugh, turned to scoop a ladle of cold water from a bucket, and splashed it onto the face of Nan Wan, who was tied hand and foot and unconscious.
Water spilled onto the cement floor, leaving a mess.
Cold.
So cold.
Nan Wan tried several times before she could force her heavy eyelids open, the stench of rot filled her nose, and the surroundings were unfamiliar.
Cold water dripped from the broken hair in front of her forehead onto her eyelids, her eyelashes were covered with droplets, blurring her vision.
In the dim light, she vaguely saw a smiling face coming closer, greeting her, "Mrs. Mu, it’s been a long time."
She finally saw whose face it was.
Zhao Ying, the woman whom Madam Mu once sent to her son’s bed under the guise of being a nanny.
Nan Wan looked blankly at Zhao Ying, who was bent over slightly in front of her, the remnants of the drug still lingering, leaving her mind muddled and her gaze somewhat unfocused.
Her hands and feet were bound, she had no strength at all, even breathing was strenuous, and her gaze passed Zhao Ying, seeing Aunt Zhou still unconscious, thrown in a corner.
Her white teeth bit into her lip, the pain bringing back her scattered consciousness, she spoke with a hoarse voice, "What do you want?"
"What do I want..." Zhao Ying seemed to have heard a joke, laughed softly while half-covering her mouth, and whispered in Nan Wan’s ear, "Mrs. Mu, how forgetful of you rich folks, it’s only been a year, and you’ve forgotten what you’ve done?"
The suffering and torment she endured, she would return it all today.
The biting cold made Nan Wan’s face gradually pale, her delicate features showed no warmth, she looked at Zhao Ying in front of her with indifference, "The horror box, the ambiguous photos, it was all you."
It was a statement.
"Yes, just a little appetizer, the esteemed Mrs. Mu shouldn’t be very satisfied," Zhao Ying’s gaze slowly moved down, finally stopping on Nan Wan’s belly, her mouth curled into a mocking smile, "What you’re carrying now, seems like a lump of living flesh..."
A year ago, this woman clearly wasn’t pregnant, yet she framed her!
If it weren’t for that incident, she wouldn’t have lost the protection of Madam Mu, and wouldn’t have ended up like this today.
Nan Wan’s numb hand clenched tightly, forcing herself to stay rational, "My mother didn’t have an accident, the call from the sanatorium wasn’t made by a nurse, these were all carefully planned links, so, who’s helping you secretly?"
Mu Jin Huan had just left home less than an hour before she got the call. If Mom really had a life-threatening emergency, her third brother would definitely inform her.