Chapter 1

I had only just finished speaking when my wife, Jennifer Surton, let out a snort.

"If it weren't for Rick borrowing money to help me smooth things out for the project on the east side of the city, I definitely wouldn't have been able to secure it. Now that his debtors are here to collect, it's only natural and reasonable that I help him back.

"Stop calling me after this. Otherwise, if you delay me from raising the money, I certainly won't let you off!"

With that threat, she hung up.

My kidnapper instantly flushed with fury. Tossing my phone on the floor, he stalked closer to me while brandishing a knife.

"What shitty luck! You're the husband and son of Ms. Surton, the CEO of Surton Corporation, yet we can't even ransom you for a measly one million dollars! In that case, there's no point in keeping either of you alive any longer.

"You really can't blame me for this. If you want someone to blame, blame your wife for being unwilling to pay for your lives!"

As the kidnapper raised the knife high, I heard my son, Nathan Cardin's thoughts again.

[What happens next is that Daddy will offer to pay the ransom himself. While this will buy us some time, it—]

Not having the time to listen to the rest of his thoughts, I furrowed my brow and yelled, "Wait! What you want is money, right? Since Jennifer won't pay you, I will!"

The leader of the thugs stopped in his tracks and watched me with narrowed eyes, as though he were trying to detect whether I was lying.

The other thugs glanced at each other before one approached the leader, Brad Johnson.

"Brad, the Surton family is indeed wealthy, but the Cardins aren't too bad either. Maybe he really does have the money to pay us!"

For a few seconds, Brad was silent. Then, he leaned over and placed the knife on my thigh, slowly dragging it down as he spoke.

"I'll give you one chance. If you dare deceive me… I'll chop off your precious son's finger and send it to Ms. Surton as a gift!"

He abruptly exerted force on the knife, instantly causing blood to well up and flow down my leg.

The pain had me thrashing my body, but due to the ropes tied tightly around my limbs, even the slightest struggle caused me more pain.

[Daddy! As I thought, what happened in my previous life is happening again! In a while, Daddy will call his assistant, who will tell him that Mommy has transferred all of Cardin Corporation's funds to her first love. The kidnappers will become even more furious at that and will really cut off my finger! Am I unable to escape that fate in this life as well…]

The sorrow and tears I could hear in Nathan's mental voice had my heart clenching in my chest.

Ever since my father had a stroke a few years ago and fell into a coma, I've been running things at Cardin Corporation. Jennifer had said that the company was my pre-marital asset, so she definitely wouldn't interfere no matter what.

Never would I have expected that she, out of gratitude for Hendrick Lont's so-called aid, would actually seize that money for herself so that she could help him!

The agony of my wound had black spots dancing in my vision. Gulping in deep breaths to steady myself, I said, "I have 500 thousand in my bank account that I can transfer to you now as a deposit.

"As long as you release me and my son, the first thing I'll do once I return to the company is transfer you another two million!"

[Huh? Why are things happening differently than in my previous life?]

While Nathan wondered in confusion at the different turn of events, Brad curled his lips into a smirk and picked up my phone.

"Ah, Mr. Cardin, you're indeed generous with your money. You're certainly a lot more reliable than Ms. Surton."

With that, he used my face to unlock my phone before tapping on the bank app.

My heart pounded rapidly as I watched him. That 500 thousand dollars was all of my secret savings, so once I gave them the money, I would have to think of another way to get that two million I promised them.