Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled

Chapter 80
“Ms. Finch, did I do something wrong? Why have you suddenly gone cold on me?” Garnett looked genuinely puzzled.
I didn’t respond, just checked the time on my phone. It was already 11 at night. The streets were noticeably less crowded and deserted.
Neil’s call came through again. As I was about to answer, my hand was seized tightly. Garnett, usually smooth as silk, was suddenly seething, “Come with
me!”
“Let go of me!” I jumped, shocked at Garnett’s sudden change. He was strong, almost dragging me towards his car.
Occasional passersby didn’t dare to intervene. I had never encountered such a situation before, and my mind was a whirl. Remembering the call I had answered, I yelled out for help.
Garnett roughly shoved me into his car and grabbed my phone, “Behave yourself!”
In the driver’s seat, Norman was smoking. He glanced back at me, his smile cruel, “Irene, surprise or not?”
“Norman, what are you up to?” I tried my best to stay calm.
“You bit ch, you cost me my job and my fiancee. You left me with nothing. How could I let you off the h ook? Tonight, you’ll pay the price.” Norman flicked his cigarette away and drove off.
After who knows how long, we ended up at a dock. Norman and Garnett dragged me into a container warehouse. Before I could steady myself, a slap landed hard on my face. I felt a burning pain on my cheek, and everything went a bit dark.
Garnett brought over a chair. Norman tied me to it tightly, hurling obscene insults at me.
“You have two choices.” Norman held up two fingers, “First, give me five million dollars as compensation. Second, we rape you, kill you, then dump your body into the sea.”

How did I never notice how ruthless Norman was?
“Norman, you were with Barbara for so long, and she was so good to you. You wronged her. Don’t you think she deserved freedom? You screwed up, why blame me?” I stared at Norman.
“What I do is none of your business!” Norman seemed provoked by my words. He suddenly kicked me to the ground. My head hit the floor hard, everything went blurry.
Garnett had no grudge against me. He was probably in this just for the money, so he stopped Norman from hitting me again, “Easy. Her money is better than her life.”
They helped me up again. Norman aimed my phone at me, unlocked it with face ID, opened the banking app, did some operations, set the amount, then asked for my password.
“There’s a transfer limit. Can’t send five million at once.” I gritted my teeth against the headache, trying to buy time, “I can only send fifty thousand each time. It would take multiple transfers.”
I was lying to Norman. He didn’t know the real limit of my bank account.
Norman’s financial situation was modest and probably hadn’t made any large transfers, so he might take my word for it. Sure enough, he changed the transfer amount to fifty thousand. He would have to do this a hundred times.
“Transfer some to me too.” Garnett said to Norman.
They began to concentrate on the transfers. When they accidentally locked the screen, they had to ask me to unlock it again. Every second they wasted was a glimmer of hope for me.
I fixed my eyes on the warehouse door, my heart pounding, repeating a name silently: Neil.
That last call I had with him was my only hope. Norman had lost his mind. Even if he got the money, he might still hurt me.
Suddenly, Bonnie’s voice could be heard from outside, “Irene? Irene?”
She spoke quietly, as if she was deliberately lowering her voice.
“I’m here!!” I seized the opportunity and shouted back with all my strength. Norman and Garnett, startled by the sudden turn of events, rushed to cover my mouth.
The footsteps outside got closer, stopping right at the door. I couldn’t control my tears, hoping someone would kick open the door.
But after a two-second pause, the footsteps hurriedly retreated. I heard Bonnie’s voice, “Mr. Whitmore, Dr. Russel, there’s no one here.”
I was shocked and my whole body was stiff. What was Bonnie talking about?!
“Search somewhere else! What are you standing there for?” Neil’s voice was full of rage.
I wanted to speak, but my mouth was tightly covered. I was almost suffocating, let alone shouting.
My hope was like a fire in the dark, slowly dying out.
Suddenly, a shrill ringtone broke the silence. Norman fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket, hung up the call, cursing, “F uck!”
I seized the moment to scream, “Neil!!”
Garnett slapped me furiously. I was on the verge of collapse. My mouth was split and bleeding.