"Adrian Holloway, your wife’s in my hands. Get five hundred million ready and wire it to my account. If you don’t, then in twenty-four hours, you can come collect her corpse!"

A rough, overbearing male voice blasted through the phone, making Adrian’s brows knit in irritation.

He had no idea who the caller was. The only reason he even paused was because the call had come from Sophia Ellison’s number.

Then he remembered the cold war between him and Sophia lately. She had been trying every trick in the book to get his attention, desperately making her presence known, all just to make him respond to her.

Honestly, the only reason this call had gone through was because his finger had slipped and he had accidentally hit accept.

"Tell Sophia Ellison this: I don’t care whether she lives or dies. I have zero interest in dealing with her. Tell her to quit pulling this childish nonsense."

His voice was icy, clean-cut, merciless.

The second he finished speaking, Adrian hung up without hesitation and went right back to work, as if none of it mattered.

At that same moment, in a dim warehouse out in the outskirts where even daylight seemed afraid to enter—

Marcus Yanis, face twisted with hostility, glared viciously at Sophia, who had her hands and feet bound tight, trapped and unable to move.

The phone had been on speaker.

So of course, Sophia had heard every single word Adrian said.

A wave of bitterness surged up from the bottom of her heart. The desperate hope that had filled her eyes just moments earlier now felt ridiculous, almost laughable.

Marcus had kidnapped her to extort money from Adrian. Ever since she was dragged here, fear had wrapped around her like ice, and all she could do was pray Adrian would come save her as fast as possible.

But she had never expected that at the edge of life and death, Adrian wouldn’t care about her safety at all.

To him, this was just another one of her little self-directed dramas.

The extortion call had failed. Furious, Marcus hurled the phone into the corner with a violent smash.

Right then, the warehouse door was suddenly shoved open.

Marcus turned his head and looked over.

Two men walked in carrying a huge woven sack, the shape inside clearly that of a person.

Sophia’s gaze was instantly pulled toward it too.

Had Marcus kidnapped someone else as well?

"Boss, we brought the person over!" The two men strode up to Marcus, grinning, their voices buzzing with excitement.

"Nicely done." Seeing his lackeys handle things so efficiently, Marcus gave a highly satisfied nod.

Good thing he had prepared a backup plan.

Otherwise, this whole thing would’ve been a total waste of time.

Marcus Yanis barked an order at his men and had them drag the person out of the sack.

The second the figure inside was fully exposed, Sophia Ellison’s eyes widened on reflex.

Lydia Sinclair!

Even if that woman turned to ash, Sophia would still know her at a glance.

She had to admit it—whenever Lydia was involved, Sophia couldn’t help feeling on edge.

In A City’s upper-class circle, everyone knew Lydia Sinclair was Adrian Holloway’s one true white moonlight.

They’d grown up together, the classic childhood-sweethearts setup, and their engagement had been settled when they were still young. If Adrian hadn’t briefly lost out during the brutal heir selection in the Holloway family, if Lydia’s parents hadn’t forcibly broken off the engagement and shipped her overseas, the title of Mrs. Holloway would never have fallen to Sophia.

And now Lydia was here.

Sophia couldn’t stop her thoughts from spiraling. When had Lydia come back? Had she already seen Adrian? Had Adrian been distant with her for so long because of Lydia?

Lydia had finally been pulled back into the light, and just as she was about to struggle, she noticed Sophia was there too. The panic on her face instantly shifted into cold disdain.

The next second, Marcus Yanis dug a phone out of Lydia’s handbag.

Forcing her to unlock it with her fingerprint, he flipped through the contacts and found Adrian’s number.

Then he glanced at the call log.

Back and forth. Frequent calls. Constant contact.

So the so-called white moonlight really was the real deal.

Marcus let out a smug laugh.

Good thing he’d had the brains not to bet everything on Sophia alone.

He pressed call. The moment it connected, he ripped the tape off Lydia’s mouth and signaled for her to speak.

Lydia had already realized she’d been kidnapped, but she clearly hadn’t expected the kidnappers to call Adrian instead of her parents for ransom.

“Adrian, I’ve been kidnapped! Please, save me!”

Adrian had only just hung up when his phone rang again. His first instinct was that Sophia was calling one more time, and out of habit he was about to reject it. His fingertip was already hovering over the decline button when he noticed it wasn’t Sophia.

It was Lydia.

The second he heard her desperate cry for help, his brows drew together.

“What happened?”

Learning from last time, Marcus Yanis didn’t speak first. He just raised his hand and slapped Lydia Sinclair hard across the face.

The crack of it was sharp and clear. Adrian Holloway heard it instantly.

He dropped the file he’d been reading halfway through, his whole focus snapping to the call. "Was that the kidnapper? Put him on."

"Adrian Holloway, Mr. Holloway himself, don’t sound so shocked. Yep, it’s me again." Marcus gripped Lydia’s chin and forced her face up. "Your wife isn’t worth much, but your white moonlight has to be worth something, right?"

At first, Sophia Ellison hadn’t understood why Marcus had kidnapped both her and Lydia. But now, hearing that he was still calling Adrian for money, the cold misery in her chest turned into the tiniest thread of hope.

At the very least, Adrian should realize now that she really had been kidnapped. This wasn’t some stunt she pulled for attention.

He would come save her, right?

"Five hundred million? Send me the account number." Adrian’s gaze shifted slightly. He caught the key point fast.

"No, no, no." Marcus sneered. "Price went up. Your white moonlight? She’s worth at least one billion."

He tightened his hand a little. Lydia’s jaw hurt so badly she let out a shrill cry.

"You heard that, yeah? If you’re too slow, your precious girl here is young, soft, and pretty, so maybe we’ll—"

Marcus paused on purpose, dragging the silence out.

"Maybe we’ll rape her first, then kill her."

"Don’t hurt her. I’ll transfer the money to your account right now."

The man’s voice came through the phone, faintly tense, edged with panic.

And in that instant, every last bit of Sophia’s hope died cleanly.

It vanished so fast it was like never having existed at all. Her blood seemed to run backward. A chill spread through her whole body, freezing her to the bone.

So Adrian did believe it now. He believed both she and Lydia had really been kidnapped.

And still, he didn’t care whether she lived or died.

He didn’t even say "them." Not once.

In his eyes, there was only Lydia.

"If you lay a hand on her, then even if you run to the ends of the earth, I’ll still find you and tear you to pieces."

The man’s voice kept going.

But the panic from before was already gone. What remained was icy calm, absolute confidence, and that same familiar superiority he always carried, like he was born above everyone else.

In that moment, Sophia felt her heart shatter all over the ground.

So this was the truth.

She had never been anything to him.

Even after being Adrian’s wife for three years, she still couldn’t compare to a single strand of his former fiancée’s hair.

They had both been kidnapped.

But he had erased her completely, just like that. He agreed to the ransom without hesitation, only afraid Lydia might get hurt, while Sophia herself was nothing but a joke.

The second the call ended, Marcus immediately sent over the account details.

While waiting for the money to come in, Lydia kept up her proud rich-girl act and tried to negotiate with the three kidnappers. She told them that as long as they didn’t hurt her, they wouldn’t just get Adrian’s money. The Sinclair family would also pay them a very generous sum.

Kidnapping was about money in the first place. Who would ever complain about getting more?

So Marcus turned around and started extorting the Sinclair family too.

Compared to Lydia Sinclair, Sophia Ellison was way too quiet.

But that silence wasn’t calm. Underneath it, her heart had already gone cold, like the last bit of hope had been crushed into dust.

Half an hour later, both transfers came through. Marcus Yanis flicked a look at the chubby lackey, the kind of signal that said, get it done.

The fat guy caught on instantly. He bent down and picked up the stick they’d prepared long ago.

When Sophia saw him step behind her, saw him lift the club high and aim it straight at the back of her head, pure fear swallowed her whole. Her throat felt dry and raw. She forced her lips apart and spoke with horrible difficulty. "You... you’re going to si..."

Kill the hostages?

Before she could get the last words out, a brutal force slammed into the back of her head.