Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

"What did they say when they called you?" Jean enquired once more.

Zed, on the other hand, was simply sitting there sipping his coffee peacefully, with a tint of admiration in his eyes for his wife.

He had overlooked her abilities before and had wrongly thought that she was weak, especially because Jean had followed Henry's order to marry him just for a piece of land.

After their marriage, Jean's real temperament was revealed slowly and gradually. To his surprise, she had even succeeded in getting the land back for him.

Now she was completely calm and composed when enormous problems had come up, acting logically and meticulously as she inquired about the details, just like a well-trained policeman.

It was really amazing to see her wisdom and mindset.

Zed was excited. He had seen Jean grow all the way

and she was his wife.

'Wife!'

Zed savored the delicious word in his mind meticulously as a satisfied smile appeared across his face.

"They used a burner phone or the internet to call me. They said Shirley was in their hands and if I want to keep her alive, I'll have to pay a hundred million dollars! They said that if I called the police, they will kill her immediately. And I won't be able to see my daughter ever again."

Joy got worked up again, as she spoke about her daughter's kidnapping.

"A hundred million?" The amount was completely beyond their imagination. Secretly, Jean stole a glance towards her husband and they tactfully shared a suspicious glance.

Everyone on the street actually knew what the Wen Group was actually worth in its stock or funds, but

the kidnappers had easily demanded a sky-rocketing price of a hundred million dollars.

With a sudden smile, Jean fixed her steady eyes on Joy sitting across her. "So you agreed to their demand without thinking? Do you believe that they will really set Shirley free after you pay such a hefty ransom?" She asked.

"What else was there for me to do? If I hadn't agreed, they would have killed her instantly!" Joy had completely broken down and was now dabbing her eyes as she cried.

"You know that Wen Group does not have that kind of money at all, don't you?" Jean reminded her ruthlessly.

"I know." Joy glanced at Zed who was sitting besides Jean as she heard the bad news. "Wen Group doesn't have the money, Jean. But you can try and raise the amount, can't you Jean? Just to save Shirley? After all, she is your sister Jean...."

"Stop it!" Jean roared. She had flown into a rage the instant that Joy had tried to reuse the old clichéd family relation excuse. To her, Joy was still trying to act and play even at such a delicate moment. "Look, I want to save Shirley as much as you do, and its not like I don't want to raise the money. There's just no way we can get such an insane amount! If you really want to save her, you go talk to my father first. If he agrees to save Shirley even if it means having to sell the Wen Group, then you come to me and I won't turn you down. All I can promise you is to use Wen Group in saving her. Any other ways are out of the question."

"But..." Joy got totally hopeless and dejected when she heard Jean's words. "How can Wen Group take out so much money? Henry is completely heartless. He wouldn't even try to save Shirley one single bit!"

"Have you even been there and seen him about it?" Jean questioned her instantly as she caught on to the hidden implications behind Joy's words and her eyes brightened.

"Yes. I went to the hospital to see him as soon as I got the call. I thought that since Shirley was his own child, he wouldn't be so cruel and merciless, and would try to show at least some sympathy. However he turned me away the instant he heard that Shirley had been kidnapped. He didn't even wait for me to tell him the ransom!" Joy was now in tears as she discussed the story. She looked at Jean piteously and pleaded her, "Jean, I was wrong. Everything I did was wrong. But please help me find a way to save my daughter. She is your sister, Jean, do it for that relation if nothing at all! All my hopes lie in that child. If she dies, I won't have a reason to continue living anymore."

Joy collapsed and burst out crying as she came to the last word.

The racket she was creating attracted the attention of the neighboring tables.

"Stop crying. This is public place!" Jean snapped with disapproval.

Joy muffled her cries with her hand, but her sobs were still loud enough to be heard by a few neighboring diners.

Jean got impatient and edgy. "Oh for God's sake Joy! What are you crying for? Things are not hopeless and irreversible yet. You haven't even tried to figure out what to do and have only been crying all the time. Do your tears hold some magic power to bring her back?" Jean's reproach at least calmed Joy down, if only slightly. She raised her red eyes and looked at Jean pathetically, holding her breath to prevent anymore sobs from escaping her mouth.

There was no way Jean could see her like that and she closed her eyes for a moment.

Truly, a mother's love lies beyond all other feelings. Joy had been so ruthless and cruel towards Jean until now. But nevertheless, her love for Winner and Shirley was beyond imagination and her hateful plans.

"Well..." Jean raced her mind, trying to come up with some sort of workable plan. "I will talk to my father first and try to get his consent. If I fail and we can't get the money, then we'll have to call the police." "No, we can never call the police." Joy cried out in terror.

"Do you really think if we give the money to them, they will not kill Shirley anyway?" Jean sneered as she watched Joy. "Don't be so naive. I haven't seen anyone asking for such an insane amount of ransom money. A hundred million dollars! I almost admire them for quoting such an enormous price."

Joy became silent at Jean's snapping. Hopelessness was continuously growing exponentially on her face.

"You can rest assured that I will do whatever I can to save Shirley. That much I promise you." Jean couldn't help softening her voice to try to comfort her. "If they call again, you try to delay the deadline with the excuse that the amount is too huge and you need time to procure the money. I will go see my father and try to persuade him to help you. Let us hope he agrees."

Joy nodded with gratitude, "Jean! Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me! I am not doing it for you!" She snapped back and this time, her tone was harsh once again which embarrassed Joy. Jean continued, "All right, I know pretty much everything now. You go back home and first of all, try to calm down a bit. Don't panic and don't let them detect your fear. Otherwise they will blackmail you once again."

"Okay." Joy nodded hurriedly.

At this point, she was so distraught that she didn't know what to think or do at all.

"Very well! We'll leave now." After saying that, Jean stood up and looked at Zed who was sitting besides her.

Zed nodded, took Jean's hand, and they walked out together.

"What do you think about it?" After they got into the car, Jean asked.

"A hundred million dollars. The amount is astronomical even for the entire Wen Group. Unless you sell the entire company, all shares alike, you can't even get half the amount," Zed said as he drove towards home.

"Yeah. Why would the kidnappers be so confident that Joy would be able to have such an insane amount of money for ransom?" Jean asked in suspicion. "And if Joy can't pay that amount, they will kill Shirley immediately."

As she spoke, her mind suddenly saw the light. She looked towards Zed immediately.

Zed seemed to have thought of something at the same time and when he saw the excitement on Jean's face, he smiled bitterly. "I hope it is not as you imagined, or it would be really bad."

"No. The kidnappers don't want the ransom at all. If I guessed it right, what they really want is Shirley's life. But this still doesn't make sense. It would be really inconceivable that they kill Shirley just because Shirley couldn't pay for them after they killed Winner."0000000