Chapter 197 - Only Ten Minutes
"Do you want to know where they are?" Liam asked her.
"Don't you dare to hurt Gigi!" she warned the guy; she then asked him a series of questions afterward. "Where's Fraine? Did you take her too? And Tom? What did you do to him!?"
Hailey was sure that Liam would not hurt the girls, but he wouldn't think twice to pull the trigger of his gun to shoot Tom on the head.
Liam replied, "Well, if you will listen to my instructions, nothing will happen to them. Their safety is in your hands, sweetheart."
"Why are you doing this, Liam!?"
"You know why I am doing this, sweetheart. I want to bring home my queen to my castle."
"Then why don't you find someone else who is willing to be your queen!?" she could not help stressing out. Liam is her nightmare even in the daytime because he has a bad temper.
"Be careful with your mouth if you don't want me to smash Tom's head! Or how about the other girl in here? I don't need her. She's only baggage to me. But I will free her if you take her place. How about it?" Liam threatens her further.
Hailey gritted her teeth. She hissed, "Don't hurt Fraine! She has nothing to do in our fights!"
Liam clicked his tongue, then said, "Don't forget, it was only you who choose to fight with me. What I wanted for you to do is simple, sweetheart."
While Liam spoke on the other line, Hailey typed a quick message on her computer; she sent it to Sandy. She instructed the guy to bring ATHENA around and monitor the movement inside the Shen Tower, where she had her office. Sandy already knew her location, but first, she needs to know which floor Liam is on this building.
Hailey opens the wall on the right side of her office, where she kept a monitoring screen. It has a double purpose why she hangs it in there; it will be helpful at times like this.
She waited until Sandy successfully linked her computer to ATHENA. Later on, the monitor screen started displaying the view of her location.
"Answer me!" All of a sudden, Liam yelled from the other line.
Hailey takes a deep sigh, then explains to the guy, "You can't force someone to love you, Liam. That won't lead to a happy life."
Hailey calmed down and spoke softly this time. She needs to know which floor Liam is hiding inside this building.
On the other side of the call, Liam fretted. "It's only you who thinks it was! You know how much I love you. I will do anything for you! So what's wrong with that? Is it not enough?"
Hailey fell silent. How she could explain to Liam that love is not only about one person being happy in a relationship but two people whose hearts beat as one. This is one of many things she learned after her heartbreak with Bryan.
A relationship without romantic love from two people would never last long. She started believing that.
What kind of marriage for two people who would only treat each other as friends? Well, may they feel either pure or selfish love for Bryan and Liam, but what about her?
She wanted to be with the man who not only loves her, but she could also return the feelings, and she could not do that to either Liam or even Bryan. She could not imagine herself being intimate with them. Well, she was with Bryan in the past when she was still na?ve and knew nothing about a man's need.
She never thought it was bad. But for a man who has feelings for you, they are hopeful to have some intimacy with you. Fortunately, Bryan has control over himself. Or maybe it was what she wanted to think?
Bryan admits he battled to kill his physical attraction for her through sleeping with another woman. But through the years, as time passed, he could not remove this feeling. So instead, he's falling deeper in love even more with her, which she could not return the same way.
And that would be the same situation as Liam. So the relationship they were asking from her is a sad life.
Hailey shook her head then shrugs these thoughts. She muttered, "Liam, why don't you understand I can't return your love? You are asking for an impossible thing from me."
"I told you before. All you need to do is stay by my side, I'll assure you, I will love you the rest of our lives, so you don't need another man to love you."
"But Liam, that's not what marriage is supposed to be! Two people should love each other!"
"I don't want to take this long! If you want them to stay alive, you will get here immediately! Or do you want me to show you an example, huh?"
Hailey clenched her hands into a fist. Liam is always ready to go too far for hurting her friends! Unfortunately, this is not the first or the second time that it happens. She lost a few lives because she didn't listen to him.
Although her knights voluntarily give their lives to save hers, but not this time! It should not involve innocent people like Gigi and Fraine in her issues with Liam!
"Where are you?" Hailey asked the guy after her long silence.
Liam contorted the corner of his mouth into a smirk as he replied, "Make it sure that you come alone. I know there is someone who never left your side. Make sure not to let him know where you are going."
"No. Bruce will come with me!" Hailey asserted, but Liam is firm about what he demanded.
"Don't make things hard for us, sweetheart. The more you let things delay, the little time left for your friends. Try to provoke me. You know the consequences. So I want you to come down on the 16th floor ASAP!"
Hailey pondered while she gave information to Sandy. What was on the 16th floor? It is where the coffee shop and two restaurants are.
"What are you planning to do, Liam!?" She could tell that Liam had some dangerous tricks under his sleeves. 'Is he trying to bargain for the safety of all the people in this building?'
On the 16th-floor, the executives usually gather to have lunch, treat a client with a meal, or have coffee. Since most renters in this building are foreign headquarters, Liam knew she would become his puppet.
Shen Tower has 30 floors, and she rented the top four floors: from the 27th floor up to the 30th floor. She is paying the highest rent among the offices, but DV Gem can afford it.
Actually, Vince insisted she didn't need to pay the rent. But she insisted on settling at least in half. She knew that there would be a lot of expenses for building maintenance and other stuff.
"I'm giving you only ten minutes to get here." It was what Liam said before he hung up on her.
Hailey tried to calm down to think about what best to do at times like this. She told Sandy which floor Liam was on; the guy hacked the security cameras, and Hailey could see where Liam was seated. But Gigi or Frained wasn't in the cafe! So where did Liam keep them!?
She dialed Gigi's phone number, but Liam didn't pick it up. Later, the guy sent her a message.
"There are bombs on this building. So don't think about making me wait, sweetheart."
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om