Lady Misfortune: Daddy, I'll Be A Righteous Villainess!

Lady had to take it in for a moment.

Unless their kidnapper was capable of teleportation or brought a flying car or something, he and Fallon could not have reached the rooftop yet – if ever that was where they were headed to while she ran off to get some help, in the first place. The flower garden where they had been was too far from that place, considering how massive this five-star hotel was and how tight the security ought to be here.

To put it simply, there must be something wrong here. They could not be on the rooftop. 

"Ummm… Excuse me…" Lady tried to chime in while Maximilian and Calixtus talked with the security staff.

"H-Hey, I don't think Fallon is-"

Right when she was about to hold her father's hand to catch his attention, though, someone from behind her suddenly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of the way. Taken aback, she spun around to see who it was. That's when she found a hooded pair of eyes glaring down at her – maliciously.

It took a second more before Lady realized that it was one of the security staff who barged in unannounced.

"I'm sorry, kid, but you have to leave this matter to the adults…" he whispered with a taunting tone, making her shudder in trepidation.

"Stay at the sideline and stop being a pain in the ass, okay?"

Now, that's something.

It hit her like a red flag. There's no need to guess anymore. She finally understood – 

These security staff was probably working together with the kidnapper.

"Lady, what are you still doing here?" Maximilian called out of nowhere.

"Listen, Daddy…!" Lady said then trailed off after realizing that doing it now could be a bad move.

"I-I… May I talk with you for a moment-"

"Oh, my! Are you alright, dear?!" Penelope suddenly exclaimed in worry, rushing in their direction. 

"Come here, child. It will be fine. Your father and uncle will go get Fallon," Benedict chimed in from the back, looking just as concerned.       

Lady caught one final look at the security guard's menacing expression as Penelope and Benedict took her to their table. As soon as she was out of the way, Maximilian and Calixtus shared their last exchange with the hotel staff before dashing off to the rooftop where they thought Fallon was. 

"Oh, my poor baby! You must've been so scared!" her grandmother cried out as she lunged in to pull her in a tight embrace.

"I-I'm fine, Granny. I'm more worried about Fallon," she said with a frown.

"Everything will be alright. Let them handle this," her grandfather reassured her while patting her head.

Lady had to tell them. They had to know that Fallon was at a different location. But with how tight Penelope was holding her, she doubted it would be easy. Benedict also seemed to be going to be focused on calming everyone in the event hall. She could see that he was about to go and do just that. 

But before he could leave, she grabbed the hem of his suit jacket.   

"G-Grandpa, w-wait…!" Lady called out to Benedict, much to his and Penelope's surprise.

"Listen, we were not at the rooftop! I could not tell Daddy because that security guy scared me! Fallon and I were chased at the flower garden!"

Their eyes widened at that.

Penelope let go of her and turned her so they were facing each other. Lady looked back at her seriously, hoping that she and Benedict would believe her.

"You were at the garden?" her grandfather questioned, regarding her contemplatively.

"But, honey, the guards said that he was at the rooftop. They even have the camera footage with them," her grandmother said with creased brows.

"I also don't know how they did that! But I swear they're not there! That's unless a magical circle popped out of nowhere and brought the two of them all the way up there!"

They both blinked at her in sync, flabbergasted. That last part must have wasted her effort to gain their trust – she must have appeared like she was kidding around. Still, she kept a serious face, but no matter how hard she tried to do it, she failed to earn her desired response in the end.

"There must be some reason why they're at the rooftop right now," Penelope said, dubious.

"Indeed. The security staff at this hotel couldn't have made a mistake," Benedict seconded.

"No! You've got to believe me!" Lady insisted, already starting to get desperate.

To her dismay, her grandfather's cellphone rang all of the sudden. That completely stole his attention from her. He answered it and learned that it was an urgent call. Left with her grandmother, she tried her hardest to convince her again. But that's only until her aunts and uncles stepped in.   

"Child, you should go join your cousins over there."

"Stop getting in the way. Everyone's busy."

"Behave, okay? Just stay put and listen."

"Let the grown-ups take care of this, child."

Lady is beginning to get frustrated.

She couldn't persuade her grandparents, much less these relatives of hers. What's more, they're pushing her away, seeing her as nothing more than a nuisance – as nothing more than a child who kept spouting out nonsense. 

Even so, she had to get back to Fallon - in one way or another.

'Fine! You won't believe me? Then, I'll do it on my own!' she boldly proclaimed even though she was well aware that she could not save him by herself. 

Perhaps, she should at least find proof that he was at the flower garden and not at the rooftop. That would most probably take some time. Yet, in this situation, she didn't have any other choice. No one there was willing to hear her out, and at that moment, no one could help him more than she could.

'What should I do, though…?' she wondered, looking around for clues.

'Of course, I should go back to where Fallon is after I-'

Then, Lady came to a pause. Her eyes fell on Benedict who was still on the phone.

'That's it!'

Without further ado, she rushed all the way back to where he was and stood right in front of him. It was a good thing he spotted her right away. She made a gesture with her hands, telling him to bend down a little. He did as he was told despite his bafflement.

"Hmm? What is it?" Benedict questioned, totally not expecting what Lady would do next.

She snatched his cellphone from his hand and sprinted away as soon as she had it. 

His eyes bulged wide right then, his jaw dropping in shock. For a whole moment, he couldn't utter a thing. He could only watch his granddaughter run out of there with his cellphone.   

"Lady! Where are you going?!" Penelope bolted out right when Benedict was just about to call out to Lady too.

Even though she could hear her, she did not stop. She just spared them one final glance and shouted back, "I promise I'll give this back to you! But you have to follow me first!"

And with that, Lady was out.

---

Fallon has no idea what's going on anymore.

Contrary to what he was expecting, he didn't last that long. He was only able to buy time for almost three minutes before he found himself struggling to get out of his pursuer's grip. Fortunately, help was already on the way at that time, but unfortunately, he was already caught and could not get out.     

Then, before Fallon knew it, he was being taken away.

"Let go of me!" he kept yelling at his captor as he got carried all the way out of the flower garden then to one of the gates at the back of the hotel that would lead them outside.

As much as he doesn't want to show it, he's extremely horrified right now. But he already let his emotions take over him earlier, and he nearly lost his concentration. If he allowed that to continue, he would not be able to come up with a plan –

And he would not be able to get Lady out of danger.

'Huh? Why am I still thinking about her…?' he thought, a little surprised at himself.

'I'm the one who's in trouble here. This ain't about her.'   

Now that he was onto her, he wondered when exactly she would show up with the others. He does hope that it'll be at any moment now. It's already been approximately fifteen minutes, and if he estimated right, it'd only take almost ten to finish that job.

"Still thinking she'll come…?" his captor spoke out of nowhere as he carried him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Don't hold your breath. There's no one who can save you now."

"You…" he hissed underneath his breath, tensing up in perturbation as he realized how confident he was when he made that claim. 

"You did something, didn't you?!"

"Look, boy, just so you know, I'm no ordinary kidnapper. The fact that I was able to get in here was enough proof that I'm-"

"A pro assassin? Yeah, right. I know."

The man narrowed his eyes, seemingly not pleased with how gutsy Fallon was even at this situation.