Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

What really perplexed Jean was the fact that the worried and anxious expressions on Joy's face weren't mere play-acting but real.

However, now was not the time to dwell on real or fake. The launches had already been docked on the shore now. And several young men jumped on to the shore one by one, led by a man with a beard.

"Where is Shirley?" Joy asked as she ran towards the bearded man. She had taken the lead in rushing out and was now staring closely at him standing in front of the crowd. "I thought we agreed that I would get Shirley back as soon as I brought the ransom! Where is she? What have you done with her?" Joy questioned him once again.

"I told you to come alone. But you brought these guys with you! Doesn't that violate the terms? Clearly you broke our agreement first." The young man who seemed to be the leader glanced coldly at Zed who was standing behind Joy, following which, his roaming eyes came to a halt when they fell on Jean's face for a few seconds. He seemed unhappy with the grouped arrival.

"You demanded a ransom of a hundred million dollars from me. If I hadn't asked them for money, where else would I have gotten such an outrageous amount? Besides, how else could I have felt safe?" Joy didn't seem afraid of him though, and she retorted immediately in an equally angered voice.

By that time, both Zed and Jean realized that things hadn't turned out as they had expected. They glanced at each other in confusion.

'There is no way that the anger and worry on Joy's face are pretentious or make-believe. They are genuine!

Do we guess everything wrong? Does Joy really have nothing to do with the kidnapping?

Have we all misjudged her this badly?' They both thought in unison as

Zed gave Jean a soothing look. He shook his head gently, motioning her to wait and see what would happen next.

Jean suddenly understood what Zed had actually meant and moved forward to stand near Joy.

"Don't get anxious, Joy! They are here now and I think they will bring Shirley soon." She soothed and calmed her stepmother down.

"Oh?" The bearded man was surprised on her sudden entry into the discussion. "You seem quite confident. It seems like you have really brought the ransom money!" Looking at Jean in an interesting way, the bearded man responded.

"Of course we brought the money. We want to save Shirley's life and we aren't going to take any risks with that. All the money is here. If you want it, just take it but let Shirley go first." She looked up at the bearded man with a serious face.

"You are Jean Wen?" the man asked. He had been looking at her for quite a while now and suddenly laughed out loud. "We've heard from our sources that you don't have a good relationship with Shirley. I don't believe that you're going to pay a hundred million dollars for a woman you despise."

"Oh you don't believe it?" Jean instantly let out a sneer as she heard his words. "Of course, someone as cold-blooded and heartless as you, with as much mercy as an animal will certainly not believe it. Who I like or dislike is none of your business! So why don't you cut the crap and give us Shirley?"

Jean had gotten impatient.

"Of course we'll give her to you. But we want to see the money first! Who knows what tricks you're going to play?" The bearded man looked at Jean and mocked her.

His beard had given him a solemn, almost religious look, but he was in fact, as cunning as a fox.

Jean, on the other hand, had almost lost her temper because of his attitude. But now she could only hold it back and look at the man. "Are you the leader?" she asked.

"Yeah. Everyone calls me Brother Carlos and I lead their ranks!" Carlos Hu replied proudly.

His triumphant expression was comical to the point of laughter but Jean let it slide. She couldn't understand, as just an ordinary kidnapper, what he was so proud of when he announced his name.

And looking at his high and mighty complacent expressions, she was almost tempted to punch him a smack in the face.

"Well, Brother Carlos. You can send one of your subordinates over here. He can count the money right here in front of us and then we can exchange. How does that sound?" Jean looked at Carlos Hu and offered a treaty.

"That sounds like a good idea." Carlos Hu nodded in satisfaction upon hearing the proposal, which seemed reasonable. He called a subordinate to come over and count the money they had brought.

As they waited for him to count the money, Carlos glanced at Zed who was standing next to several money boxes and then looked at Jean. "Is that the famous Mr. Qi? How come he is so willing to stand like a mere guard behind you?" he asked curiously. Jean rolled her eyes as she heard the words. "What does that have to do with you? It's not your business to know his thoughts! You just take the money and give us back Shirley. And you better keep your nose out of anything else," she rudely retorted. "Oh! Somebody's got a hot temper! You didn't seem like the type!" Carlos burst into laughter. "Hey, I heard that Mr. Qi is not good to you? Honey, what do you think of me? You can come and be with me. I promise you that I'll be really good to you!" "Oh shut up and stop daydreaming! You guys are cruel and heartless. In my eyes, even beggars and harlots are better than you," Jean shouted angrily.

"Hey, hey, hey... how dare you talk to our boss like that?"

A man from the group suddenly moved out and shouted at Jean. He seemed offended on Carlos' behalf.

"What's wrong? Am I not telling the truth, you monsters? First of all, you killed Winner, and then you guys kidnapped Shirley. What on earth did the Wen family ever do so wrong that you want to hurt us so much? You killed the only son in the family to start with, and now you have also kidnapped their daughter. You're not humans! You're monsters, all of you!" Jean had burst into curses now.

However, Carlos didn't seem to be affected by her words. "Winner's death was his own fault, that stupid person!" A look of disdain instantly appeared on his face.

Jean stared at him nervously, waiting for his next words. She was wondering whether Winner's death really had anything to do with Shirley or not.

But when Joy heard that they knew of Winner's death which meant that they were behind it, she began to shake and cry in great anguish. "You've already taken my son from me. Please... please let my daughter go!" she shouted sorrowfully. Stirred up by Joy, the topic changed. Jean could not help frowning and sighed quietly. She still didn't know how Winner died.

"As long as you've brought the money we asked for, you'll certainly get your daughter back." Carlos Hu looked at Joy, who was crying with a runny nose and a tearful face, and then looked aside in disgust, unmoved by her pain.

"Boss, we're done! It's the whole amount!" Right at that moment, Carlos' man came to report.

Carlos Hu looked at Jean in some surprise. Then he glanced at Zed who was still standing in the distance with an afraid expression. "You are a straightforward, honest businessman and so am I. You! Go and bring that little bitch here!" he barked an order. "Yes boss!" Several of his men responded in unison and a launch sailed into the sea immediately.

Jean still admired the meticulousness of the man standing in front of her even though he was evil, and she could not help clapping her hands in praise. "Brother Carlos, now I finally know why you have so many people under your command." "Oh? And what, according to you, is the reason behind that?" Carlos seemed interested on hearing his praise.

"Well! First of all, it's clearly because you're a smart man. You are as sly as a fox and no ordinary will dare to be your opponent as they can't compete with you when it comes to tricks and ideas." It looked like Jean was trying to flatter him with praises and smiles. "What you're saying feels lovable and interesting." Carlos looked quite proud on hearing his praise.

"Brother Carlos, you just told us that Winner's death was his own fault. Now, I know that bastard Winner very well. He must have done something really bad for you to make him pay so dearly in return. Isn't that right?"

Jean continued flattering him with a smile, while serving her ulterior motive.

"That bastard Winner was a black sheep in reality. And when I killed him, I did a favor to the Wen Family. Otherwise, in a few years, he would have ruined the entire family name, reputation, and business all at once." Carlos seemed even more proud as he discussed his so-called service.

"You..." Joy's face was filled with anger at once.

Jean had already anticipated her reaction and she immediately reached out a hand and pinched Joy's arm. Carlos was slowly opening now. She didn't want Joy destroying all her efforts.

"But Winner was just squandering money of the Wen family. Why would you kill him over that? I mean, that doesn't hurt you, does it? And as for Shirley, you just called her a bitch, and although she has a very bad temper and even worse moral character, as far as I know, she is still a virgin!"

Jean looked at Carlos and smiled.

"What did you say? Do you really think Shirley could keep her zipper in check?" The idea seemed like an enormous joke to Carlos, as he looked at Jean and laughed disdainfully. "It was that bitch who climbed into my bed and let me set a trap for Winner. And Winner hadn't paid back my money, which was why I killed him! It was Shirley who framed Winner behind his back. I pulled the trigger, but she planted the gun!"000000