CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 159 - 139: How to Contact Julian Donovan?

She got stuck after the character for "electric." The final character was too complicated; she didn’t recognize it. It seemed it had never appeared in the stories her brother told her.

Naomi Shaw pieced together the characters for "Guanghua Elec..." from what Joy had managed to read. Seeing the little girl’s face scrunched in concentration, unable to continue, Naomi guessed she didn’t recognize the last one. She quickly asked, "Joy, how many more characters are after that?"

Joy turned and held up one finger. Naomi said urgently, "If you don’t recognize it, that’s fine! Just get a good look at what it looks like so you can draw it for Mommy later! Hurry, come down now!"

Joy nodded and began to climb down from the platform. Getting up had been easy, but getting down was much harder. She crouched on the high platform, looking at the ground below, so scared that tears started to well up in her eyes.

Footsteps echoed from outside. Naomi’s heart hammered in her chest. ’If they find out where Joy went, they’ll beat me for sure.’ Her voice trembled. "Joy, get down, quick!"

Joy heard the noise too and was so frightened she stopped climbing and simply jumped. Her small body landed hard on the crate below. Naomi saw her collapse in pain, tears streaming down her face, and her own heart broke. But as the footsteps drew closer, she had no choice but to shout, "Joy, get off the crate! Run to Mommy!"

Joy wiped away her tears, scrambled down from the crate, and stumbled toward her mother. She fell several times but picked herself up each time. Just as the man outside pushed open the factory door, Joy rushed into Naomi Shaw’s arms. Naomi’s heart, which had been lodged in her throat, finally dropped back into place.

The mother and daughter clung to each other, panting as they tried to calm their racing hearts. Naomi was drenched in a cold sweat, and so was Joy. The little girl’s face was streaked with dirt and perspiration. Naomi kissed her cheek and whispered, "You’re so brave, Joy. Mommy loves you!"

’She never expected her Little Princess to be so brave and clever.’

One of the three men walked in, speaking into his phone. "You want to hear them? Fine. They’re alive and kicking. Julian Donovan, our demand is simple. Announce that you’re abandoning the acquisition of the Donovan Group, and we’ll let them go immediately!"

With that, the man switched the phone to speaker and shoved it in front of Naomi Shaw and Joy. A flash of inspiration struck Naomi, and she yelled into the phone in Thai, "Julian, there’s a billboard here—" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

But before she could finish, the man caught on. He snatched the phone back and kicked her viciously in the leg. She cried out in pain as the man snarled, "You fucking bitch! Playing tricks on me, huh? Believe it or not, I’ll end you!"

Tears of pain streamed down Naomi’s face. From the phone, she heard Julian Donovan’s furious roar, "You motherfucker! Touch her again and I’ll wipe out your entire family!"

The man kicked Naomi again, then said insolently to Julian, "Tough talk, Julian Donovan. Why don’t you try finding them first!"

With that, the man hung up. He glared at Naomi and cursed, "Damn it, you killed the mood. I was about to have a drink!"

He tossed the phone carelessly onto a nearby table, then walked over and squatted in front of Naomi. Rolling up his sleeves, he grabbed her by the collar. "You bitch, how did you know there was a billboard? What stunt did you pull? Seems I’ll have to teach you a lesson before you learn to behave!"

He raised his hand to strike her, but the sound of fighting suddenly erupted outside. The man’s brow furrowed, and he rushed out to see what was happening. Naomi, who had squeezed her eyes shut and resigned herself to the blow, collapsed back onto the floor. When she opened her eyes, she saw the phone the man had tossed onto the table. The sounds of the struggle outside grew more intense, and her gut told her it probably wasn’t Julian.

She whipped her head back to Joy. "Joy, quick, draw that character you saw for Mommy!"

Joy nodded and began tracing with her little finger in the thick dust on the floor. At that moment, Naomi was more grateful for the filth on the ground than anything else; she couldn’t imagine what they would have done without something to write on. Joy didn’t know how to write, and the character had so many strokes. She could only sketch it clumsily from memory. Naomi frowned, studying the shape. It looked like the character for "cable." She put it together with the first three she’d heard: Guanghua Cable.

’She vaguely recalled seeing that brand of cable on TV or somewhere. It must be Guanghua Cable.’ She took several deep breaths to contain her excitement, then nodded her chin toward the phone on the table. "Quick, go use that phone to call Daddy. Mommy will say the numbers, and you dial them, okay?"

She had taught Joy her numbers before, so dialing the phone shouldn’t be a problem.

Joy nodded emphatically, scrambled to her feet, and ran toward the table. Unfortunately, it was too high. No matter how much she stretched on her tiptoes, she couldn’t reach the phone. She looked back at Naomi helplessly. Spotting a discarded metal drum nearby, Naomi told her, "Push that drum over and use it as a step!"

Joy immediately turned to push the drum. Thankfully, it was empty, so she moved it with ease. She climbed on top and, trembling, finally reached the phone. Naomi quickly recited Julian Donovan’s number as Joy pressed each digit. Naomi’s heart leaped into her throat, and Joy, terrified, shivered as she stood precariously on the drum, tapping the keys.

Once the number was dialed, Naomi had Joy press the call button. Then she balled her fists and waited. "Joy, tell Daddy we’re in an abandoned textile mill under the Guanghua Cable billboard!"

She had glanced around earlier and noticed some semi-finished fabrics scattered on a machine nearby. It looked like this place used to be a textile mill.

The words had barely left her lips when the call connected. Joy’s trembling voice came through. "Daddy... Guanghua Cable... textile mill..."

By the last word, Joy was so scared she was on the verge of tears. Naomi herself was so tense that she didn’t even notice Joy had called Julian "Daddy." She just focused on encouraging her daughter. "That’s it, Joy. You did it. You can come down now, come back to Mommy!"

’She was sure that simple message would be enough for Julian to find them.’

Joy put the phone down and was about to climb off the drum when the factory door was kicked open with a loud BANG. An enraged shout filled the air. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Joy flinched, tumbling off the metal drum. A shard of scrap metal sticking up from the floor pierced her thigh. Bright red blood gushed from the wound. She let out a heart-tearing scream. "Mommy...!"