Chapter 554 A Meal with the Devil (2)
A meal with him? Alina didn't think she would be in a situation where she could eat peacefully with the man who captured her and possibly bring harm to Ran Xueyi. But here she was, sitting at a long dining table filled with mouthwatering food, with a psychopath and a white fox on each side. The man, whose name she still doesn't know, elegantly used his fork and knife to cut through his food. He didn't glance at her even once as soon as the food appeared before him. Similarly, the white fox also had its own plate, and a butler was beside it, serving it with its own food. Between them, Alina sneakily licked her lip and looked away from the food. It's not because she was not hungry. It was because she belatedly realized how crazy it was to accept the offer of the man, whose henchmen almost killed her.
"Eat." Alina looked at the man. Surprisingly, he finished his food quickly and was now wiping his mouth with a cloth. "Is that an order?" Alina asked with narrowed eyes. The man smiled but shook his head as he said, "No, it's not an order, Alina. But I had the chef prepare all of these just for you."
Alina didn't respond to him immediately as she glanced out of the window. It was dark. "Did you prepare these as my last supper?" That caught his attention. Meeting her gaze, the man placed the cloth he used to wipe his mouth to the side. A maid swiftly removed the plate he used and cleaned around it. Then, the man put his interlaced hand on the table where his plate used to be. "You don't have to make it sound so bad," he said. "At least, I haven't yet decided when you will die." There was truth in his words. His voice sounded gentle and mellow, but the smoothness of it made her think of a guillotine: decapitating a person's head with a swift and clean strike.
"Besides, I'm not a cur who will not treat my guests properly." He leaned back, almost taking the overpowering pressure with him from just now, as he added, "Or, perhaps, you don't find the food in front of you appetizing? If that's the case… I'll make sure the chef hears of your review, and I'll think of an appropriate punishment for his actions."
He was forcing her to eat. Alina knew it. Even though she wanted to refuse to eat at the same table as this man, it was too late; she had already left the comfort of her bed and felt as if this man was tugging on her conscience by using the chef as leverage.
Taking a deep breath, Alina forced a smile as she raised her fork and forcefully stabbed an egg while her eyes didn't leave his. "Thank you, Mr…" she trailed on.
"Evgenia Vorona," the man supplied. "Thank you, Mr. Vorona…" Alina paused as she felt that the name was way too familiar. But she couldn't remember where she stumbled upon that name and continued, "But there's no need to disturb the chef for such a simple thing. The food's great." She ate a whole egg and vengefully bit into it before gulping it down her throat. The most irritating of it all was that while she was chewing, the man continued to smile as if he were pleased with her.
The supper ended once Alina filled her empty stomach with food. Thankfully, an elderly man took away Evgenia the moment he wanted to escort her back to her room.
But before he left, the white fox was led back to the room with her with the words:
"He gets lonely a lot. Please watch over him while I'm away." Alina stared at the white fox that found a nest in her bed, taking the lower half of it for itself, and sighed. Touching her stomach, where her wound is now covered with bandages, Alina decided to rest on the single-seater and let the fox take the bed instead.
—***—
"She's on an uninhabited island in Russia," Song Yu Han told Ran Xueyi as soon as he received her call. Due to him and his men gathering information and investigating the whereabouts and identities of the people who might have been involved in Alina's disappearance, Song Yu Han didn't have the time to look through his phone. It wasn't until today that he finally got some time to call his wife. As expected, this news didn't only relieve Ran Xueyi's worries. It made her even more restless. "Russia? Why there?" Ran Xueyi spent three years with Alina in Ren Country. She knew that Alina wouldn't try the deep waters of underworld organizations in Russia.
Most people in Asia wouldn't even dream of trying to bump against any giants from Russia, not only because they were powerful but also because of their fearlessness and ruthlessness, and even international governments wanted to avoid getting into trouble with them.
Ran Xueyi found that this doesn't make sense. If Alina warned her to run away from the forces who captured her, does that mean that whoever was targeting her came from Russia?
But who? And why would they come after her? Frowning, Ran Xueyi pursed her lips as she tried to recall anything that might have led to her being involved with anyone from Russia. But, no matter how much she thought of it, there's nothing that came to her mind. It was also something that Song Yu Han wondered when he was investigating. He tried to look for that trace that linked Ran Xueyi to anyone from Russia, but he didn't find anything. "When are you planning to go to Russia?" she asked.
Song Yu Han frowned, knowing what she had in mind, but still replied, "In five hours." Ren Country was closer to Russia, and it would only take 3 hours to fly there. "You don't have to come. Let me take care of this," Song Yu Han told her, trying to reassure her. Ran Xueyi looked at their son sleeping tightly in bed and pondered over it. Finally, she said, "No, I have to go. Alina's in this situation because of me. I need to be there and make sure she can come back to me and Little Zhanzhan."
"Alright." Sighing, Song Yu Han resigned and accepted that he couldn't stop her. "But call me as soon as you get there."
"I will."
After their call, Ran Xueyi started to pack her things. There wasn't much to take to another country since she was in a hurry and wasn't on vacation, but she needed to prepare a few things before going on her journey.
As she readied her bag, she crouched down by the bed and reached underneath. She grabbed an unassuming wooden box there and used a key to open it. Inside the wooden box was a gun. She used to keep this gun underneath her pillow before, but after she gave birth to Little Zhanzhan and until now, she kept this gun inside the box, fearing that her son would find it and accidentally get his hands on it.
Now, this deadly weapon is out to find its prey.
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