"Absolutely not!"Huub protested as he caught on. "What if you renege on our deal after we give you our treasure and refuse to free your hostage? We'd just be taken for suckers!""My fight is not with you. I only want the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom!"The voice on the other end snapped impatiently, "At worst, the only person I have a bone to pick with is Frank Lawrence! None of you are my concern, and I won't hurt the hostage if your Bloodcrane Spiritbloom is real as you assured me! He will be freed!"Still, she soon paused and giggled coolly. "And you're in no place to demand anything from me."Huub's expression turned cold at the kidnapper's demands, but she hung up before he could say another word.He returned the phone to Helen and slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it!" he bellowed before turning to Helen. "What do we do now? Are we just going to give up the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom? What if she suddenly changes her mind?""We have no choice now."Helen sighed lengthily, lowe
Click.In the same instant Frank heard the wooden box being opened, he leapt out of the closet straight toward 'Horey Lindt', catching her and pinning her on the floor."Don't move!" he snapped."Ahh!" The woman shrieked underneath Frank, jolting him to his senses.Feeling a foreboding sensation in the pit of his stomach, he turned to the woman, his eyes widening as he found himself staring at an unfamiliar face.It was not Horey! "What…"Even as Frank's face fell, the woman beneath him struggled, punching his chest."Let me go, you moron! Let me go!" she shrieked."Damn it!" Frank cursed as he heard a rush of footsteps outside and poked the woman in the collarbone, knocking her out.Then, he scooped her up in one hand and hid in the next room before pressing his ear against the wall to eavesdrop on Room 10."What happened?!""The closet broke? And what's that on the table?"Frank breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the staff members' murmurs of confusion—fortunatel
Horey was no fool—she would be able to tell away that the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom in the box was an artisan object and no treasure.And since it was a fake, she would immediately presume that Helen and the others were trying to trick her.On top of that, Frank showed up and subdued her courier.One did not need imagination at this point.Horey would naturally presume that the whole thing was a trap designed by Helen to catch her, and that Helen had never planned to follow her demands from the start.Horey would be furious and would definitely hurt Gavin Lane in retaliation."Devious witch…"Frank could not help sighing, impressed despite Horey being his enemy. She was so cunning she would crush her senior apprentice, Kairo Wal, by a country mile in the brains department.Seeing that Frank has asked his questions—and that she already gave all the answers she could give anyway—she asked fearfully, "Excuse me, could you let go of me now?""What? Oh, right. Sorry…"Frank quickly
Tugging on Frank's sleeve, the woman said quietly, "M-My boyfriend and I… slipped. And we heard people outside, so we hid…"One of the security guards was staring at her sideways. "If you heard people, why would you hide?""Uh, well…"The woman murmured awkwardly. "We came in from the back door. We saw an empty room, so we tried to check it out before we got our own… And then we slipped and hid when we heard you coming.""I see."The security guards nodded before one of them said, "Wait, did you break the closet in Room 10? I'm sorry, but you'll have to pay for it…""What? How much?" the woman asked, her fingers clenching on Frank's sleeve."Five grand." The security guard whipped out a price list."What?! That's so expensive!" The woman flinched in shock."It's fine. Five grand it is—we can afford it."Still, Frank quickly strode up and whipped out a check to write down ten grand before slipping it into the security guard's chest pocket and patting it. "Use the change to buy
"Well, this means trouble," Frank murmured to himself, frowning as he tried to think of a solution.-Meanwhile, outside the karaoke box, Helen received a call from Horey. "Your plan is genius, Ms. Lane.""What?"Helen was left confused. She looked between Gina and Huub, but they looked just as confused as to what the kidnapper was talking about.Horey chuckled just then. "Still pretending, huh?""I'm not pretending. What are you getting at?" Helen pressed urgently.Horey laughed in cold rage. "Not pretending? Then why did you bring a fake flower? Hell, that's not all—you even had someone hide in the closet in Room 10, ready to ambush me! You're really showing no sincerity here, Ms. Lane!" Helen wheeled on Huub in shock. "The Bloodcrane Spiritbloom is fake?!"Huub appeared stunned for a moment, but he quickly stuck with the script he had prepared beforehand, insisting vehemently, "Impossible! That's definitely the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom, an heirloom from my ancestors! How cou
Huub appeared anxious, but he knew inwardly that he had won.Gina was an idiot and a slave to the rich and important—she would never stop him and was an ally to a certain extent.As for Frank, that gigolo was now in Blackwater and would never leave for the rest of his life.Now, no one could stop Huub—Helen was as good as his!Even as he thought that and led Helen and the others back inside the karaoke box, he spotted a familiar face in the lobby."Frank Lawrence?!"He froze when he recognized the man, unable to react right then."What's wrong, Mr. Droitner?"Both Gina and Helen were puzzled to see Huub suddenly freezing like a statue and spotted the same familiar face when they looked where he was looking.Gina was a little angry as she exclaimed, "Frank?!'"Frank! What are you doing here?!"On the other hand, Helen was delighted—Frank would always appear at her most vulnerable and helpless moments.She left Huub and walked over to Frank right away, wrapping her hands arou
"Huh?!"Huub's accusation caught Frank off guard.Both Helen and Gina were stunned for a moment, but they turned toward Frank too, and he frowned. "Still trying to bullshit your way out of this, and even trying to blame me for using a fake?""Frank!"Gina strode up just then, glancing between Helen and Frank as she yelled, "I don't know if Mr. Droitner gave us a fake herb, but he at least had the sincerity to help us along the way! That alone makes him better than you!"She paused before adding coolly, "Where were you and Helen and I are worried sick for her uncle? And now, you jump out of nowhere. It makes me wonder about your intention!"Huub was certainly delighted with Gina's outburst, though he chuckled under his breath. "I knew it—she really is an idiot."Then, turning toward Helen with a loving gaze, he said, "I don't know if my Bloodcrane Spiritbloom was messed with, but I swear that it's my family heirloom passed down from my great-great-great grandfather. I wouldn't ha
"Hahaha!!!"Huub was at once nervous, but his knuckles eased triumphantly as he saw the footage.Fortune was really on his side! He was just bullshiting, but by an unprecedented stroke of luck, Frank had just proven himself guilty!Laughing coldly as he pointed at an impassive Frank, "See?! You're the one who switched out my treasure, and the kidnapper noticed that it wasn't real!""What else do you have to say now?! Let me guess—you were already dead set on sacrificing Helen's uncle yesterday just to keep your Bloodcrane Spiritbloom even when Helen came to your doorstep asking you for it!"But when she left with me, you heard that I had one too, so you wanted mine as well! So you got a fake one, found out where we were making the exchange with the kidnapper, hid here, and switched out my Bloodcrane Spiritbloom, even trying to frame me for it!"You tried to catch the kidnapper directly to win Helen's favor anyway, and that sure was a fat lot of help! How cunning and heinous can y