Chapter 11
Natalie’s wide eyes filled with shock as her mind raced. ‘Why is he talking about cutting my tongue again?”
Realizing she hadn’t introduced herself yet, she hurriedly spoke up, “My name is Natalie Reed. Thank you so much for rescuing me…”
Her voice trailed off as she stole a quick glance at Jonas. His expression remained stormy, etched with unmistakable displeasure, and it made her second–guess if she should even continue.
When Jonas’s cold, assessing gaze flicked toward her lips, Natalie felt a phantom pain at the back of her tongue, as though he might actually follow rough an his earlier threat.
In a panic, she hastily added. Nocriudor. He runs a hotel bu
She emphasized summer break carefully, calculated to seem as
as kidnapped from the airport. I’m here for summer break, visiting my grandfather in
in the Northern District…”
urpose, trying to paint herself as an ordinary, harmless student. Her words were chosen on threatening as possible.
But as the last syllable left her lips, the atmosphere in the car took on an unmistakably tense and uneasy edge.
Jonas was now watching her with a probing intensity that made her skin crawl. Even Myla, who seemed perpetually nonchalant, was sneaking side glances at her through the rearview mirror.
Natalie’s hands fidgeted nervously at her sides, balling into small fists as a growing unease settled over her. ‘Did I say something wrong?‘ she thought, her pulse quickening.
“Northern District, huh?” Jonas echoed, his voice steeped in a meaning she couldn’t quite decipher.
Natalie hesitated, then nodded, her mind spinning. ‘Does that mean they’re not headed that way?‘
Scrambling to fill the awkward silence, she rushed to clarify, “If it’s out of your way, could you drop me off at the nearest embassy? I can leave my contact information, and… and I’ll compensate you for your trouble.”
Her voice wavered slightly as she continued, “If the embassy isn’t convenient either, maybe we can wait until there’s phone service, and I can call my grandfather to pick me up.”
Right now, the atmosphere seemed peaceful. Her request was polite, almost timid, with just enough humility to sound sincere. The compensation she referred to, of course, was the money she’d hinted at earlier.
She deliberately avoided mentioning Jonas Lawson’s name, thinking, ‘No point in poking the bear!
At first, Natalie thought she’d handled it well–her tone measured, her words tactful. But with every additional word, the air inside the car seemed to thicken, growing heavier, darker.
Her chest tightened, her fingers trembling faintly in her lap as she pressed her lips together. A deep, gnawing anxiety crept over her, leaving her completely at a loss.
Myla caught Jonas’s amused expression out of the corner of her eye and, with a sly grin, decided to spell things out for him. “Nocriudor has only two American embassies. One’s in the Northern District, and the other’s in the capital–back the way we
came.”
The implication was clear. Whether Natalie wanted to see her grandfather or seek refuge at the American embassy, her final destination would inevitably be the Northern District.
Natalie, however, hadn’t quite grasped what was so amusing about this information, wondering to herself, ‘What’s making these two look at me like that?‘
Jonas, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, added in a languid tone, “Convenient, isn’t it? We’re heading to the
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15.40 PM, 11 Apr N
Chapter 11
Northern District ourselves. If any outsider learns about this confidential info, they’d get…”
He trailed off without saying the word executed, raising his hand in a deliberate motion, forming a gun with his fingers.
Seeing how terrified the trembling Natalie was, he paused for a moment, his eyes glinting with mischief as if relishing the suspense, then mimed pulling the trigger and whispered with a wicked smile, “Bang.”
He continued, “So, it seems it must be, how do you say in American English?” He tapped his chin with exaggerated deliberation before throwing out a word with a deliberately uncertain lilt. “Fate, huh?”
Jonas was deliberately playing up his lack of fluency in American English to tease and unsettle Natalie.
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AD
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19:40 FR 11 ABEBAS
Chapter 19
