The Manipulated Villainess

Jony stared at Mario with a dumbfounded face and asked, "What are you trying to say? You\'re serious?"

Mario simply smiled and doesn\'t respond to his friend. "I\'m going to take a shower before my father called to give me an earful." He said and walked to the bathroom.

Jony watched his friend\'s back and then blinked. How can he say that with a smile?! What had gotten into him?!

* * *

Two days quietly passed without many events. Nicole was busy preparing for the final meeting with the Representative of Aris Group while Aston was busy filming. Leon spent most of his time preparing for an upcoming important exhibition while Shara looked after the museum.

It was around 11 a.m. when Nicole received a call from Garcia Han, saying that she will visit her new house after work and have dinner together. She also said that she had something to tell her. Nicole simply agreed like always but... she had another plan in mind. Then she promptly called Aston.

"You said that you don\'t have filming scheduled for tonight, right? Will you be back in the evening?" She asked the moment Aston picked up the call.

"Yes. I\'ll be free after 1 in the afternoon." Aston replied confusedly.

"Then let\'s put it into action tonight. The plan that we discussed." Nicole promptly said which made Aston raised a brow.

"Are you sure?" The actor asked. "Will it put you in trouble?"

"Don\'t worry. I trust in you. Things will go well." Nicole firmly said.

"Alright then. I will make arrangements." Aston agreed and ended the call.

Nicole put down her phone and thought of Garcia Han. It will be a huge risk but... it\'s time to do something which might make her prove something. To be honest, she wasn\'t even sure of why she wished to prove this. Maybe because... it can\'t stop troubling her. If things go wrong, then... she will just take the blame.

* * *

After ensuring that everything was ready as planned, Nicole was about to leave her office. When she rose from her seat, she received a call from Garcia Han again.

"Hello, Mother. I\'m about to leave my office."

"That\'s great. I\'m at your house now. I look around and it\'s quite great than I thought. You have a good choice, Nicole."

Nicole raised a brow when she heard her step-mother. She didn\'t expect her to arrive this soon. The sun was already set but she was well aware of how much busy the Minister was these days.

"I\'m glad that you like it. I will be there soon."

"Alright." Garcia Han said and ended the call.

Without thinking further, Nicole walked out of her office and call Aston on her way to her car. "Aston, I\'m leaving my office. To reach the street you mention, I think I will need about twenty minutes."

"Okay, got it. Everything is set. So, just trust me. I will be with you." Aston assured her.

"I\'m not scared." Nicole promptly said and stood beside her car. "She called me and said that she is now in my house. The secret cameras that we planted before will be quite useful."

"That\'s good. See you soon then." Aston said with a little smile.

Nicole gets inside her car and left her company.

*

Garcia Han was alone in Nicole\'s house. She was sitting on the couch and glanced at her wristwatch once in a while. It\'s almost an hour since she talked with Nicole and she was sure that the drive from Yang Group main building to this house only took half an hour at most.

She had been trying to reach Nicole but... her phone was off. Just what was happening?! It\'s already 7 p.m. and the dinner she prepared will start to get cold soon. Not to mention that she had some other plan for tonight.

While she was starting to feel a bit anxious, she received some photos on her phone and when her eyes landed on the photos, her eyes grew wide in shock! Before she could even think more about it, her phone went off.

"Hello?" She promptly answered the call.

"Do you see the photos?" The voice of an unfamiliar man echoed in her ears and she abruptly rose from her seat.

"Who are you?" She asked, tightly clenching her fist.

"I\'m someone who is the nearest to your daughter now. I mean, your step-daughter."

"You dare to kidnap the daughter of the Minister of Justice? You will regret this." Garcia Han uttered, enunciating each word.

The man from the other line let out a laughter. "If you don\'t know how to control your tongue, maybe you will be the one who regrets. Everyone knows how much you cared about your step-daughter. Am I wrong?"

Garcia Han shut her eyes and fell silent for a while. She understood that it wasn\'t the time to act rashly.

"I think you understand my message." The man said after a few seconds. "I want to end this quietly, without the involvement of the police or some men you hired."

"What do you want from me?" Garcia Han asked, opening her eyes again.

"I\'m glad you say that but... your step-daughter told us that it would be useless to negotiate with you. She said that you won\'t give away anything in exchange for her." The man said with a sarcastic tone.

By this time, Garcia Han was clenching her fist so hard that her long nails dug her palms, creating a mark and a little blood. Did Nicole really say that to them? Wasn\'t she afraid of dying?!

"Just shut up and tell me what you want. I will give you as long as it\'s in my possession. In return, you shouldn\'t lay a hand on her. If you do that, you will surely regret it." Garcia Han\'s voice was firm and unyielding. As a woman who had suffered many hardships from a young age, she was quite tough but... she finds it hard to stay composed at the moment. However, she didn\'t want to act weak, especially in front of an unknown enemy.

"You are just like what I heard, Minister. Very bold and daring. Your step-daughter also takes after you. She is not easy to keep under control." The man said and laughed.

Garcia Han pressed her left fist against her forehead and then roughly put it back down. "How can I trust you? I should first know that she is safe and sound."

The man fell silent for a while and said, "Alright. She is unconscious now. Don\'t worry. I don\'t hit her in the head. It\'s just some chemicals." For just a split second, the call was switched to a video call.

Garcia Han glanced at her phone screen and saw Nicole, bound to the chair. She didn\'t see any wounds and just like the man said, she seemed to be unconscious. However, one thing instantly troubled her. Then the call was back to normal.

"Are you convinced now? If - "

"That place is too dark." Garcia Han promptly said, interrupting the kidnapper.

"What?" The man asked. His confusion was quite evident in his voice.

"Nicole can\'t stay in the dark for long. She has nyctophobia, so... don\'t make her stay in the dark. If it\'s severe, she will surely pass out. I will surely hold you responsible if that happens." Garcia Han explained, her tone was quite threatening.

"I will think about that but... I know where you are now and the house is also being watched. If you try anything, then you should forget about meeting her again." The kidnapper said in a stern voice.

"Tell me what you want." Garcia Han said, ignoring whatever things the kidnapper said.

"I\'m not in a rush." The kidnapper said and let out a laughter. "But for now, you should collect cash as much as you can. I won\'t say the amount now but... the price of the only daughter of the Minister of Justice who is also the Chairwoman of the influential Yang Group can\'t be that low, right? Besides, you demand so many things from us. Not touching her and even let her stay away from the dark." He added.

Garcia Han gave a quick thought and said, "Alright. I will collect the money but I will need my assistant to help me."

"Fine but keep this in mind. Your assistant is also being watched now. Alex Jo, right?" 

"I won\'t play a trick as long as you follow my two demands. I don\'t care about the money. I only want my daughter back." Garcia Han uttered.

"Then, I will give you time to collect the money. Let\'s see how much you\'re willing to pay for your daughter\'s life. I will call you again later." The kidnapper said and quickly ended the call.

*

In one old building which was just half an hour drive from Nicole\'s house, Nathan Woo just put down the phone. Then he turned to Aston and Nicole who were just a few steps away from him.

"The Minister of Justice is no joke. I don\'t even know if it was me who was negotiating with her or the opposite." Nathan remarked with a light chuckle.....