บท 42: Can You Kidnap Him

"Lina."

Lina didn't look back. She sauntered out of the room, like she owned this entire building and everyone was indebted to her. Her heels were the sound of water in oil, loud and crackling. The sound took up the silence in the hallway. She glanced to her right and watched the sun set.

Lina was supposed to give her Uncle a signed wedding certificate by tomorrow morning. She dug her nails into her palm and frowned.

"Time to marry some random stranger on the street," Lina said to herself.

At least, this decision was hers to make, and if she'd regret it, she was the cause of it. No one else.

- - - - -

Priscilla felt like the world gave up on her. She watched as Lina left, taking Kaden's patience with her. She wondered what made a woman as tiny as her so confident.

How did she face the storm and not scream in fear?

The minute Priscilla heard Lina's name, she knew who it was—the woman rumored to be two-timing the Young Master with Everett Leclare.

Priscilla thought it was a joke at first, because what woman would be foolish to entertain another man when they had Kaden?

Now that Priscilla witnessed Lina's behavior, Priscilla knew, without a doubt, this woman mattered to Kaden. This event had never happened before, not in the past ten years that she had worked for Kaden.

"What a woman," Priscilla complimented, watching as Lina's figure disappeared into the distance.

Priscilla noticed how proud Lina stood, but how caved in her shoulders were. Priscilla realized Lina wasn't comfortable in her own skin.

"What a woman indeed," Sebastian mumbled under his breath. "But we don't have time to gawk. She ruined the Young Master's mood for the entire day. No, no, scratch that, the entire week!"

Priscilla froze. Fuck. How could she have forgotten? Warily, she turned to their coffee-drenched Young Master.

Even Antarcitica's frigid winds were no match for Kaden Dehaven's icy gaze. His fury took up the entire room, leaving the air hot and heavy. It was difficult to breathe in here, much less, stand and say something.

"U-uhm, Boss—"

"Silence."

Sebastian shut his mouth. Despite having the respect of the entire employee population in this building, despite commanding so many bodyguards, and despite all of his accomplishments, he stood like a lost little boy. That was how much the Boss terrified him.

Sebastian fidgeted where he stood. There was a haunting silence in the room, like the sound before a judge sentenced a prisoner to death row. No one said a single thing. No one dared to.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Kaden opened his mouth.

"Get my attorney on the line," Kaden seethed.

Priscilla gulped. That poor Lina Yang… she didn't know what was coming for her.

Once the impenetrable team of attorneys was summoned, there was no going back. They won every case given to them. They always drained the other party's bank account until there wasn't a single penny left.

Lina Yang, in all of her righteous glory, was going to be sued for all that she got.

- - - - -

"Hey Isabelle, you said you have an older brother right?" Lina called the second she set foot outside of Yang Enterprise.

"Yeah, that poor thing, he's on a blind-date right now. He was literally kidnapped out of his bed today, tied up, tossed into a helicopter, and then was shipped half-way across the country by my crazy grandparents," Isabelle babbled.

Isabelle shuddered at the memory of her brother's wretched screams this morning. She had run into his room only to see him being hauled out of his window. The panicked look in his eyes was going to haunt her tonight.

"Well, how about I offer your brother a proposition?" Lina stated.

Isabelle's older brother was the first stranger that came to mind. The only one that had a slim possibility of accepting Lina's wild agreements later.

"Oh, I can give you his contact information if you'd like, but I think I already sent it to you," Isabelle stated. "Though, I doubt he even has his phone on him. You'd have to wait until tonight when he returns home."

Lina contemplated how to meet Isabelle's brother in a way that wouldn't be too improper.

"Can you kidnap him for me and ship him to me by tomorrow morning then?" Lina joked.

"Yeah sure, I can ask my grandparents on the premise that I've found my brother a super pretty, intelligent, and perfect blind date!" Isabelle chirped.

"I-I was kidding."

"Oh." Isabelle blinked, looking up from her nails that she was just painting. "Well, that's disappointing."

"Isabelle!"

"Joking, joking!" Isabelle laughed, leaning back in her chair, even though she had been super excited for that thought. How nice would it be to become sister-in-laws with Lina…

Isabelle had many friends, but none like Lina. Something about Lina was unbelievably refreshing. It felt like Isabelle could tell Lina all of her darkest secrets and Lina wouldn't judge. No matter what.

"Something tells me you were on your way to calling your grandparents…" Lina wryly commented.

Then, she noticed a black car pulling up to the entrance. She blinked in surprise, wondering who it was. Must've been some old executive. Then, her eyes nearly fell out of her sockets.

Wait, isn't this the youngest senior attorney in Ritan?!

"What the hell," Lina breathed out, watching as another jackpot of a husband rushed past her.

The attorney was adjusting his tie with an irritated expression on his handsome face. He had stoic features that always seemed serious, with brows that were tugged together with anger. He was the kind of cold and professional man that made women wonder what their less-stern side was like.

"What? What is it?" Isabelle rushed. "Did you see someone hot on the streets right now? Oh my god, send me a picture, hurry up!"

"I… I think I just saw the youngest senior attorney in Ritan rush past me," Lina muttered. She watched as he dashed into the employee elevator, all the while his kept hair stayed perfectly in place, but his tie was being readjusted.

"That sounds so hot. I'd love to think what he can do to me with his tie," Isabelle wistfully sighed, fanning herself at the thought of a handsome lawyer tying her up.

"Yeah, and I'm about to ask for his hand in marriage," Lina said, hanging up the phone just as she was about to walk into the building again.

Then, her phone rang again and Lina saw it was Isabelle. She picked up.

"What is it?" Lina asked.

"Don't do that to my poor brother, Lina! Please take pity on the man and go on a blind date with him and pretend to be his girlfriend or something," Isabelle shouted into her phone. "You're the only friend that'd agree to this and not find it weird!"

Lina paused. "What? Is he that desperate to not be kidnapped by your grandparents?"

"After today's incidents, I think he's traumatized for the rest of his life, and as desperate as a man can be," Isabelle retorted.

Lina sighed. The lawyer was gone anyway. She didn't want to give the security guards another difficult time.

"Alright then, ship your brother to me at the crack of dawn tomorrow," Lina said. "And not a minute less."

"Can you even wake up before the afternoon?" Isabelle asked.

"Not. A. Minute. Less."

"Whatever you say~" Isabelle giggled, hanging up the phone with a wicked smile on her face. Finally, a woman suitable for her brother!