Chapter 5

Jackson went into the living room and messaged his secretary, Ashley.

"She agreed. Decorate the wedding venue in the next two days."

While Jackson was away, Lumina quickly found her nude videos on his computer. With trembling hands, she deleted them and replaced them with evidence she had gathered over the years—proof of Celia's bullying of her and the truth behind the rooftop fall.

Finally, she renamed the new file to match the original nude videos.

Just as she finished, she received a call from a courier. He said her package was at the door.

After Lumina opened the door, someone struck her hard on the shoulder, and she instantly blacked out. In the darkness, two men dragged her away.

An hour later, in an abandoned factory…

When Lumina came to, she found herself hanging five meters above the ground. The floor beneath her was covered in a dense layer of sharp, broken glass. Three thugs stood on the ground below.

Suspended next to her was Celia, who burst into terrified tears when she saw the glass beneath them.

"Who are you people?! Let me down! I don't want to die!"

Lumina gripped the rope tightly, her face pale. She wondered, who would plan to kidnap both her and Celia at the same time?

The ringleader looked up and said coldly, "We're going to play a game. Whose man brings a million dollars to save you first gets to go free. The other one will get her rope cut!"

He paused, then dramatically gestured downward. "Smack! Fall! Ground into mince!"

Celia's face went completely white with fear; she immediately called Jackson, her voice shrill and panicked. "Mr. Hunter! Help me! I've been kidnapped! The thugs say you need to bring a million! You have to get here before Lumina's boyfriend, or they won't let me go!"

On the other end, Jackson's eyes turned cold and sinister. "Wait for me. I'm bringing the money now!"

The thugs looked up at Lumina, who hadn't moved, and barked impatiently, "Aren't you going to make a call?"

Lumina gripped her phone so hard, her knuckles turned white. Jackson had never loved her. He would probably show up as Mr. Hunter to save Celia instead.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Celia Guards was already reporting back to Jackson.

"Sir, we checked… Those three thugs contacted Lumina two days ago!"

Jackson's grip tightened, his expression darkened.

So, Lumina…

She had teamed up with the kidnappers to set Celia up!

No wonder the ransom was a million! It was all just a ploy to make him pay off the loan!

"Lumina, you really are getting more and more malicious!"

Just then, Lumina's call came in. Jackson rejected it, his face stone-cold.

Back in the factory, Lumina stared at her phone in disbelief. Why wouldn't Jackson answer?

Suddenly, Celia's phone rang, and she accidentally put it on speaker. In the quiet, abandoned warehouse, Jackson's angry voice came through, loud and clear.

"Celia, I'll get there before Lumina's boyfriend! Tell the thugs to just cut Lumina's rope! If they're willing to punish her, I'll give each of them an extra hundred thousand!"

All of Lumina's hope shattered in that instant. She forced a smile. Jackson didn't just refuse to save her… He actually wanted her dead.

He hated her to the bone.

No love… He had absolutely no love for her!

Twenty minutes later, Jackson stormed into the warehouse wearing a black mask and sunglasses. He carefully rescued Celia, holding her in his arms, then shot a look of utter disdain at Lumina, who was still hanging in the air.

His icy eyes were filled with loathing. Before leaving, he kicked the box of cash he had brought over and turned to the thugs.

"Like I said—if you mess Lumina up as badly as possible, I'll pay each of you a hundred thousand extra!"

Lumina's gaze followed them as they left, her fingers trembling. The warehouse soon fell silent again. The thugs cut her rope, and Lumina plunged five meters down.

Crash!

She landed on her back. Sharp shards of glass stabbed into her skin, making her scream in agony as tears streamed down her face. She staggered to her feet, blood soaking her white T-shirt as it dripped steadily to the floor.

Drip…

Just as she tried to step off the bed of glass, the thugs blocked her way.

Lumina frowned, her voice cold. "Celia got what she wanted. You have your money. Why won't you let me go?"

Exposed, the thug sneered. "You're smart, but your love life's a total mess! You almost died, but the guy didn't even answer your call. He treats you worse than a stranger! Now, I'm short a million because of you!"

"Finished insulting me?" Lumina kept her expression blank and tried to leave, but was blocked again.

"Who said you could leave? Sure, our deal with Miss Price is done, but we're not going to let Mr. Hunter's money go to waste."

The three thugs exchanged glances. Then, one tied Lumina up while another forced a burning cigarette butt into her mouth.

Lumina was forced to look up as she let out an agonized scream. She trembled from the pain, tears and sweat pouring down her face.

The thugs grew even more excited as they watched her suffer.

"Miss Price told us that three years ago, she fell by accident because she was trying to force you to swallow a cigarette for a photo and you refused. That's why she fell from the rooftop. Now, she wants us to help her get closure after she gets her money. Time for you to relive your experience of getting bullied all over again!"

"Look at you cry! Haha! Swallow it!"

"Hey, we're running out of cigarettes. How about some sand next?"

The two men pried Lumina's mouth open and shoved in burning cigarette butts and cup after cup of fine sand, forcing her to swallow them all with her eyes red.

As the thugs' mocking laughter echoed through the warehouse, Lumina's tears streamed down her face and fell onto the blood-stained glass beneath her.

She didn't know how much time had passed before the three finally let her go.

Lumina got up, her body still shaking. After only a few steps, her vision blurred, and she slowly lost consciousness.