Chapter 201 The Kidnapper

Katherine clenched her fist so tightly her fingernails dug into the flesh of her palm. Whatever that bitch Bella was doing, she was doing it right. If that was going to continue it wouldn’t be long until Katherine was kicked out of the mansion.

Charles suddenly turned his head and looked at her direction. Katherine immediately moved aside and pulled the curtains. She did not want him to notice her.

When she looked out again, Charles and Bella were no longer in sight.

Katherine sat on the bed wondering what went wrong with Charles and why everything had changed since the last time he had come back. Thinking back what she had seen in the study, made Katherine furious. That temptress Bella was seducing Charles with every conceivable means and he was responding in the most appropriate manner.

It occurred to Katherine that since Charles refused to sleep with her he must be sleeping with Bella. All normal men have this need. Although Charles had kissed her when they were together, she could easily sense he did not love her. She realized that by not having a carnal relationship with Charles, she had given Bella the advantage.

If she wanted to regain Charles’s favor and draw him away from Bella, she would have to start sleeping with him. If there was anything that all men were after, that was sex, and that was what she was going to give him. Sex of the most passionate and steamy kind. This would make him forget Bella forever.

She picked up her phone and called her father. She wanted to know whether he had Bella’s blood in his possession and of course, the old man did not fail to deliver. His voice, full of optimism and excitement, didn’t leave any doubts to Katherine that things were going as planned.

“I just received the sample and will test it soon.”

“Great. Let me know the results as soon as you get them.”

“No matter how the results come out I promise you Bella Brook will die.”

“In case she is not the one you’re looking for that won’t be necessary. My wish is to see her life become a living hell. I want her to suffer public humiliation in the eyes of everyone. I want Charles to throw up every time he hears her name.

While saying these words, Katherine’s eyes gleamed viciousness and her voice trembled with excitement.

“My girl, what has happened to you?” asked he father.

Katherine suddenly started sobbing. “I believe that Charles has fallen in love with Bella.”

“No matter what, you mustn’t let go of Charles. He is our most important asset. If we lose him that will be the end. All our research will go down the drain.”

“Have you ever considered telling him the truth? We may be able to gain his support.”

“That is out of the question. He must never find out that I am in charge of Devenport Research Institute.”

Katherine was not interested in these things. The only thing she cared about was Charles. She hung up to her dad and fantasized about the myriad ways she could make Bella to suffer.

Bella followed Charles to the underground facilities where the interrogation chamber was located. To access this area, you had to take a secret elevator inside a bungalow near the guard’s dormitory.

Bella was surprised to discover the underground place was even larger than a shopping mall parking lot. There were many rooms and lots of equipment. The ventilation system was state of the art and there were surveillance cameras everywhere. Which made Bella fear for herself now that she knew about this place. The more she knew about Charles, the less safe she was. Knowledge of this underground bunker could possibly put her life in danger. If Charles had no qualms about displaying his cruelty for trivial matters he wouldn’t hesitate to cause serious harm in order to protect his precious secret.

“Would you like to see what’s in the rooms?” asked Charles pointing to one of the closed doors.

“I don’t want to know,” replied Bella.

The less she knew the better.

They went down a long corridor to a room with a steel door. The guard in the white uniform opened the door for Charles. Bella realized this was the interrogation room.

Bella initially thought it would be a dark, damp cell. She was surprised to see it was a spacious, brightly lit room. There was no trace of furniture and all the surfaces had been painted white. Bella covered her eyes because the lights shining for above annoyed her.

Charles had prepared for Bella’s reaction. He handed her a pair of sunglasses and took one out for himself.

“Thanks,” she said. “I needed that.”

“Visual and auditory assault along with sleep deprivation are some of the techniques we use here.”

This was something that Bella did not want to know. She didn’t say anything, only frowned.

In one of the corners was a woman curled up against the wall. She was sitting with her head between her knees. Bella realized this ought to be the woman that tried to abduct her. Upon further observation, Bella noticed that the woman was bound with tape around her wrists and ankles.

“Do you want a seat?” asked Charles.

“Maybe you ought to give her one.”

“Cool it. She is doing fine.”

“Please untie her.”

“As you wish,” said Charles.

The guard came in and knelt beside the woman. Bella found the spectacle quite appalling. It was like a sadistic bondage video from the dark web. There was one rope that connected Lynn’s ankles to her wrists, and another one around her neck that got tighter with each move.

“Do you recognize this woman?” asked Charles.

“Is it Lynn Sanders?”

“Bingo!”

Bella took off the sunglasses to take a better look. She always suspected that Lynn had tried to set her up in the past but never believed that she would be capable of kidnapping.

Her eyes were blank and her lips were dry. The smell was also quite bad.

“What did you do to her?”

“Nothing in particular. Just kept her here for a day or so,” said Charles in a merry tone.

“Have you given her anything to eat?”

“No food and no water. Not until she tells us what we want.”

The sound of Bella’s voice must have stirred something inside Lynn. No matter how much she hated Bella, she knew that Bella was the only one that could save her now.

“It wasn’t me,” she whispered in a faint voice.