5. Negotiation

"Oh, God! Nowhere, huh?"

Aileen gasped in shock. The hopes that had just soared were now dashed to the ground.

          

"Shit! Why did they take my phone?" screamed Mark, sounding very annoyed.

Aileen rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Of course they did. It's an unwritten rule of siege procedure. Disarming the victim and their communication devices is the most important thing they have to do," Aileen said in an annoyed tone.

Mark snorted quietly. He was very annoyed by this fact.

"Oh, I hope the cell phone wasn't turned off so the central team can find out where we are now. They'll still be able to find the last place the phone was before it went off."

Aileen decided to give up hope for now. She was now focused on thinking of ways to break free of the restraints and escape the room.

"Can you crush this chair and make a pointy end to hang our ropes from?" Aileen offered her opinion.

Suddenly, Mark thought about such a method. It seems possible, he thought. Then, he struggled to move from his position to the wooden chair at his feet.

Then, resting on his bound hands, he tried to turn around and position himself to sit down. It was hard work, but yes, it worked!

Aileen noticed Mark's actions. She tried to follow suit, but now it was easier as Mark came to her aid, using his legs as a base for her to sit on. It worked!

Now, they both stared at the chair, trying to figure out how to destroy it while still tied up. Mark tried to bend and then quickly straighten his legs to throw the chair as hard as possible against the wall, but it only caused the chair to rattle without breaking at all.

"Oh God! Stop it, Mark! It'll only make them suspicious and come here!" Aileen squealed worriedly.

"Then what?" Mark squealed in frustration.

Some clattering footsteps could be heard in the distance. Suddenly, they both pricked up their ears. Aileen's eyes even seemed to say to Mark: "There they are!"

Damn it, the two grumbled as they had no way of escaping their bonds while the captor was already on his way back to the room.

Unconsciously, they held their breath as the door suddenly slammed open. There were only two large men, whose faces they had seen yesterday, staring at Aileen and Mark, who were now sitting down.

"What are you doing? What's all the commotion outside, huh?" one of them scolded.

"We were just talking," Mark replied with a guiltless shrug of his shoulders. He tried to buy as much time as possible so that the two thugs would not beat them up or make them lie down again. Getting up was difficult enough.

The two thugs approached and checked the bonds on Aileen's and Mark's bodies. Then, still satisfied with the level of security, they went back outside without forgetting to give a warning threat,

"Do not do anything to endanger your own lives! We will not hesitate to hurt you if that happens. Listen!"

The door closed again, and there was another lock outside.

"Shit. This is what it's like to be held hostage," Aileen complained later.

She remembered the mafia movies she often watched where the protagonists were tied up like this. But in those movies, the protagonist was almost always able to easily break free of the restraints in one way or another.

"Don't compare it to movies! It's different. The bonds of real villains are that tight, you know, and you can feel it yourself, right?" Mark sneered as if he had read Aileen's thoughts.

"Oh! How can you even guess where my thoughts are going? Tsk!" Aileen snorted in annoyance.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in his office, William struggled with his thoughts. It had been quite a struggle yesterday to carry the unconscious bodies of Mark and Aileen to the car of his thugs. Not to mention that Laura had to explain to the many employees who had seen the incident that they had both passed out from the poisoning of the same drink.

Now, she just hoped that none of the eyewitness employees would confirm Mark and Aileen's condition to their families. Of course, that would be very dangerous for him later. The police might even get involved!

From Laura, she learned that Aileen was a country girl who lived alone in a rented house while she worked in the city. Ah, thank God, at least for the time being, there would be no relatives to ask about her whereabouts.

He would have time to convince Aileen and Mark later before that happened. He planned to bribe them with whatever they wanted to keep their mouths shut.

"But I think Ms Aileen would strongly resist that bribe, Sir," Laura commented when William mentioned his plan.

"Oh, we'll never know. Money can darken a person's eyes. We'll see if she's as moral as usual when she's offered a lot of dollars," William said confidently.

Although his heart also told him that Mark and Aileen seemed to have a strong stance on bribery, he was still convinced that no matter how strong their stance was, a pile of money could shake it.

After working hours, he went to the detention center with his signed blank check. The profits from his dirty sabotage business had made him so much money so far that he would not hesitate to spend a lot of money to silence Aileen and Mark so that the business could continue as before.

At this point, William entered the room where Mark and Aileen were being held. The two prisoners seemed to be glaring at him, and various insults came out of Aileen's lips as well.

"Come on, you bastard, Mr. William! Let us go now, or you'll be very sorry for what you've done to us!" Aileen shouted with great anger.

She was disgusted to realize that her boss was nothing more than a saboteur who would do anything for personal gain! What a disgusting leader!

"Oh my, Mrs. Aileen. You still act all-powerful when you're in such a helpless position!" William scoffed and sat down in the chair.

"And how shameful of you to think you've won over us just because you have some thuggish henchmen holding us back like yesterday! How shameless!" Mark replied with a suppressed snort.

William laughed discordantly.

"I can do what I want with my money, Mr. Mark. And look at this. I'll give you whatever you want, plus a guaranteed release from here, as long as we... well... have a nice chat afterward."

The mustachioed man's right hand flicked a blank check with a persuasive look that alternated between Aileen and Mark.

"How about it?"

Without even discussing it, the two captives unanimously replied, "NO WAY!"

"I'd rather be homeless than eat the money of the cunning! Taking money from the company and eating it from behind? That's the true definition of a bastard!"

William felt deeply insulted by Mark's words. He was so angry and afraid of being found out that he got up from his chair, lifted it, and smashed it into the romantic man's body.

I don't know what possessed Aileen, but she spontaneously swung her body at Mark.

At the same time, there was a loud rattling sound that made her eyes darken, and a great pain came.