Mr. Billionaire, I'm Back!

Chapter 61: Betty Gets Kidnapped

When Elaine left Joanna's office, she was angrier than she had ever before been in her life. None of her previous designs had ever been criticized, and Joanna was a new employee. So what gives her the right? – though Elaine – If she thinks she's so smart, she should try doing a design! She wanted to say these things to Joanna, but she knew better. In the end, she hid her anger and said, "I'll show you the new designs when they're completed."

Joanna nodded and said, "Fine. You're dismissed." Then she turned away from Elaine and began to review the documents in her inbox. When Elaine didn't leave right away, she waved for her to go without looking up, and the woman walked away sulkily.

Joanna had been working for about an hour when she received a message from Ken. He wanted to talk to her about their divorce. When she heard this, she remembered that Jane was pregnant, and she thought about what Matt said in the video from the previous night. She knew that it was Jane who was pushing for a quick divorce.

Joanna didn't want to talk to Ken anymore. She just wanted to finalize the divorce. When she thought about the promises she'd made to Ken's father, though, she felt like she had an obligation to drag the divorce out for as long as possible.

Almost immediately after getting off the phone with Ken, she received a call from Betty. She picked up her phone and said, "Hey, Betty. What's up?"

Betty: "Joanna, help me, I--"

Before Betty had finished speaking, her phone was taken away. Joanna heard Betty struggling, and she stood up in alarm. "Hey!" she shouted. "What's going on?"

The next voice that she heard through the microphone was that of a man, and she didn't recognize his voice. "Are you Joanna?" the man asked.

"I am," Joanna replied. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The man sneered. "I just want money," he said. "Listen, if you want to save your friend, prepare ten million dollars in cash. Then, take it to Oak Road No. 10 at eight o'clock tonight. I'll meet you in the master bedroom. It's on the third floor. Don't tell anyone. Come alone, and don't call the police. Those are the rules. If you break them, your friend dies."

Joanna frowned. She rubbed the phone case with her fingers and said, "Okay, but don't touch Betty."

"Don't worry," the stranger said. "As long as you do what I say, we won't touch her."

"Okay," Joanna said. The kidnapper hung up, and Joanna called Ken. She explained the situation and told him what to do. "I'm going to get the cash," she added. "You call the police, and then have a few of your men look into the situation. And tell them to be careful not to get caught. I got the feeling that this guy isn't acting alone!"

Ken couldn't believe what he was hearing. Betty was his only relative, and it would kill him if anything happened to her.

After talking to Ken, Joanna went to the bank to withdraw ten million dollars. She put the money in a gym bag, which she put in the trunk. Then she drove to a club that was near the designated place.

Joanna walked into the club and went directly into the room that Ken had reserved. He was waiting for her, and when she saw him, she asked him, "What do we know?"

Ken stood up anxiously and said, "The house is abandoned and dilapidated. It has been scheduled to be demolished for a long time, but the contractors have run into an assortment of problems. What's the plan?"

"I will bring the money in," she replied. "You and your men will ambush the kidnappers."

Ken gave Joanna a disapproving look and said, "But if you go alo - "

"I will be safe," Joanna interrupted. "And so will Betty. I won't let anything happen to either of us. Just be careful not to strike until we are both out of there. The kidnapper said that if I brought anyone, he would kill Betty."

***

Joanna waited until half-past seven before she left the club. She drove the final few blocks to Oak Road No. 10, parked the car, pulled the gym bag from the trunk, and approached the building. When she got to the door, she knocked, and when no one answered – not that she had expected anyone would – she walked in.

It was an old-style building. The door opened unto a foyer. To her right, there was a large family room. To the left, there was a study and a hallway that led deeper into the house. In front of her: a stairway. As Joanna looked up, she suddenly realized how fast her heart was beating. And she was sweating profusely.

Joanna took a deep breath, and then she took her first step into the house. She walked towards the stairway, and then she hurried up to the third floor. The master bedroom was the first door to the right, and when she looked inside, she saw five men. Betty was tied to a chair by the window, and she was whimpering.

All of the men were sitting except for the largest of them. He was standing by the wardrobe, and when he saw Joanna, he smiled. "You made it," he said.

Joanna glared at him. "Set her free, and I'll give you the money," she growled.

The man looked at her and laughed. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Devine, but that's not how this works." One of the other men walked towards Joanna and tried to snatch the bag away from her, but she hid it behind her back.

Joanna: "I said, set her free, and I'll give you the money."

The man smiled and tried to punch her, but she dodged the blow easily. He tried again, multiple times, and every blow failed to connect. Finally, Joanna ran towards Betty, but before she made it even halfway across the room, someone stuck out their foot and tripped her. And she fell flat on her face. The man who'd tripped her stepped forward and held her down with one foot.

When Betty saw what was happening to Joanna, she began to shriek.

The man leaned forward to grab Joanna's hair, and he didn't notice the knife in her hand. It had been hidden in her sleeve the whole time, and it only took a second for her to s***h it across the back of his heel.

Now it was the man's turn to scream, and his shrieks were like a blanket over Betty's. Joanna rolled over, pointed the blade at the man by the closet, and said, "Let go of my friend, and I'll give you the money!"

Suddenly, the man next to Betty began to chuckle. When Joanna turned her head, she saw that he had a knife to her throat. "Put the knife down," he said, "or I'll cut her throat."

Joanna sighed as she dropped the blade. She had done her best, and she could do nothing more. The man smiled triumphantly and said, "Okay, come to me."