Once the fear had passed, Grace felt that no matter what, Irvin was still a law-abiding man. He would take her down with him only if he didn't want to live anymore. Otherwise, he wouldn't end her life so lightly, especially when she hadn't even done anything.
And besides, if I really had been kidnapped by Timothy, Irvin would need time and energy to rescue me. This meant he wouldn't have the bandwidth to come after Grace.
Irvin had treated Grace so terribly, and yet she was still defending him. Seeing this, Agatha couldn't help but ask, "Grace, don't tell me you've fallen for him?"
Grace laughed incredulously upon hearing that. "You're overthinking things, Agatha. I'm telling you not to rush into taking action against him because someone else is going to. All you have to do is sit back and wait. There's no need to get your hands dirty."
Naturally, Agatha asked, "And who is this someone?"
"The leader of a criminal organization," Grace answered.
Agatha had her own intelligence network. So, it didn't take long for her to figure out who it was and for whom.
Realizing Irvin had used violence against Grace because he had mistakenly believed she had kidnapped me, Agatha let out a sound of disgust.
Then, she said, "His ex-wife is about to marry someone else. Yet, he's still treating her like a treasure. What an idiot."
…
"Irvin's" life was still in danger, and I needed to ensure his safety. But even with that aside, speaking from the perspective of a captive, my life was in danger too.
And in this circumstance, my best option would still be to pretend to agree to work with the criminal organization first. Then, I would figure something else out.
Hence, I pretended to struggle with the decision for a night before finally "agreeing" to join their research project. I also told them I would fully dedicate myself to helping with their research and development.
Simon took the USB drive from me. Once again smiling, he said, "You really are prepared, Ms. Quill. Please, allow me to take you to our research wing so you can meet your future colleagues."
Simon was the criminal organization's top authority on all things research-related. He might greet every researcher in this compound with a warm, friendly smile, but in truth, he was a ruthless man.
He had a knack for spotting people's weaknesses and using them to force them into a lifetime of loyalty to the organization.
Simon brought me to the research lab's discussion room. When we entered, the researchers who had been talking inside all froze in surprise.
I did too. I never would've expected to see these people here.
But on second thought, this wasn't the least bit surprising. This criminal organization had kidnapped me because I could give them the research results they wanted. So, naturally, they would've gone after other relevant researchers too.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love You Like I Used To Forget It (Millie Bridge)