Chapter 277: Chapter 277: The Tears Won’t Stop Falling

A chill ran down Rory Linden’s back when she heard him.

Charlotte Rhodes’s insistence that she perform the surgery had indeed been full of inconsistencies.

She’d also noticed that Evan Hollis had seemed to believe in her throughout the whole affair.

She had considered that Evan might have been the one orchestrating it.

His goal might have been to produce some agreement to divide Charlotte Rhodes’s inheritance if the surgery failed.

But she had never imagined...

"You went to all this trouble, even gambling with Auntie Rhodes’s life, just to kidnap me? To use me to threaten Sean Harrison? Or the police?"

Rory Linden was still filled with confusion. "The police are after you for your crimes. What does that have to do with Sean Harrison? He hasn’t done anything."

"That’s right. Of course he doesn’t have to do anything. He was born with everything, so what more would he need to do?"

When Evan Hollis mentioned Sean Harrison, his tone changed noticeably. "As Auntie Rhodes’s son, he never once made her happy or proud his entire life. After he grew up, he didn’t even do the most basic things a son should do!"

He was highly agitated.

The pale moonlight washed over his face, making his expression especially unsettling.

He seemed like a completely different person from the cheerful, friendly Evan who always wore a smile for everyone.

Rory Linden tried to move, but her body was still weak.

In truth, she still didn’t know Evan’s motive for kidnapping her, nor did she know what was happening outside.

She had only one conviction: survive.

She couldn’t let Leo lose his mother so young.

"Yes, Sean Harrison is a piece of work. He abandoned me after that car accident, and we didn’t speak for years. If he hadn’t found out I was pregnant with his child, he never would have given me a second glance."

Rory Linden was just playing along.

Her primary goal right now was not to provoke Evan Hollis.

’I have to survive.’

Evan Hollis looked at her. "Dr. Linden, are you trying to say Sean Harrison has no feelings for you?"

"If he had any feelings for me, would he have let me live like that abroad?" Rory Linden gave a bitter smile. "If you’d done any real digging, you’d know what kind of life I had overseas."

Evan Hollis sneered. "Dr. Linden, you can’t fool me on this. If I wasn’t absolutely certain, I wouldn’t have given up on the easier target, Leo Linden, and chosen you."

He paused, then added, "It’s also my fault for being so incompetent. I failed to kill Sean Harrison several times."

"What I wanted when I came to Celestria was simple. I just wanted to be by Auntie Rhodes’s side. I wasn’t asking to be her son. I just wanted to be with her, to feel what it’s like to be a child who is cherished and loved. But even that small wish became an extravagant hope. So now, I’m going to make Sean Harrison experience what I’ve been through!"

Evan Hollis spoke word by word, his expression twisting into a snarl under the moonlight.

Rory Linden couldn’t comprehend his logic at all. "Evan, none of this was caused by Sean Harrison."

"Of course it was! Back then, Auntie Rhodes didn’t abandon him out of respect for their blood ties, but he didn’t act like a proper son at all! He even kicked Auntie Rhodes out of the house! He has all that wealth, yet he let her live in such a tiny place!"

The night was unnervingly quiet.

Evan’s voice echoed in the space.

It could probably be heard from far away.

Rory Linden finally understood why Evan was doing this.

It was simply a case of dragging someone down with him in a last, desperate act.

Unfortunately for her, since he wasn’t capable of killing Sean Harrison directly, he had chosen another way.

"No matter how you look at it, you made the wrong bet by kidnapping me."

Rory Linden curled her fingers, confirming she hadn’t regained her strength before conceding again.

But Evan Hollis seemed to suddenly recall something. "Sean Harrison is so capable, and the police are helping him. He’ll definitely find us soon. I need to act quickly."

Rory Linden didn’t move her body, only her eyes, which followed Evan Hollis.

Evan turned and went downstairs. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

In the overly quiet environment, Rory Linden waited until she heard him go downstairs before trying to get up.

’No matter what, I can’t just sit here and wait to die. I have to at least check out my surroundings.’

Rory Linden struggled to push herself up, only to find her body felt disconnected from her nervous system, completely unable to follow her brain’s commands.

Just as she was about to try again...

TAP, TAP, TAP.

The sound of Evan Hollis coming up the stairs echoed from the stairwell.

The footsteps grew closer, and Rory Linden finally gave up struggling for the moment, falling back limply onto the sofa.

After returning, Evan Hollis pulled the wooden stool over to Rory Linden’s side and sat down.

"Dr. Linden, get some rest. I’m about to get to work."

As he spoke, he took out a syringe. Liquid sloshed inside the barrel.

There was only a little bit.

But...

If it was an anesthetic, that small amount would be enough to knock her out for a day!

"You, what are you doing?!"

Seeing the syringe, the hair on Rory Linden’s arms stood on end!

She wanted to struggle, to run.

But her body wouldn’t obey.

Evan Hollis pulled the cap off the needle.

The silver tip of the needle glinted in the moonlight.

Evan grabbed Rory Linden’s arm. "Dr. Linden, don’t move. If I slip and hit a blood vessel, it’ll be all over."

His tone was completely different from before, so much so that it felt like even the quality of his voice had changed.

It was devoid of all emotion, utterly terrifying.

"Evan, if—if you just want revenge on Sean Harrison, you can go after him! I wouldn’t care if you killed him! I have a child! My child can’t lose his mother!"

Rory Linden watched the needle get closer, her voice trembling as tears streamed down her face.

She didn’t know what was in the syringe.

But she was afraid of dying.

She couldn’t die.

Only when the cold tip of the needle touched her skin did Evan Hollis look up. "Don’t be afraid, Dr. Linden. It’s not poison. It’s just some medicine to help you rest well."

As his words fell, he slowly pushed the plunger.

"No, I don’t need to rest! I can cooperate with whatever you want, I..."

Rory Linden’s plea was cut short as she lost consciousness.

Only her tears, born of fear, continued to fall.

-

「Meanwhile」

As Evan Hollis had predicted, the police were already tracking his car through surveillance footage.

However, due to several blind spots in the camera coverage, they couldn’t yet pinpoint where Evan had taken Rory Linden.

Sean Harrison remained in constant contact with the police.

And Leo Linden was sitting right beside him.

With Rory in danger, he didn’t dare let Leo out of his sight for even a second.

After Sean Harrison hung up the phone again, Leo said obediently, "Dad, if you have work, you can go. I’ll be okay by myself."

Leo Linden was fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube in his hands.

It was a gift from Rory when they were abroad. He played with it almost every day, and the colors on the cube were already slightly faded.

Sean Harrison gently squeezed Leo’s hand and hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Leo, Mom and Dad have to go out for work. I need to take you to your godmother’s place, is that okay?"

With Rory in trouble, he couldn’t keep Leo with him the whole time.

And the only person he felt he could entrust his son to was Rory’s good friend, Sherry Walsh.