The Substitute Bride

Melissa walked out of the Shining Company building with a grin. 'The plan is in motion, ' she thought.

She needed a ride home, so she looked around for a taxi. Just in time, one appeared and began approaching. She waved it down.

The driver obediently pulled over beside her. She was about to open the door when, all of a sudden, several guys in masks grabbed her and forced her into a minibus.

The taxi driver looked at the men in utter fear. His eyes met the kidnappers' venomous stares. In that moment of fear and panic, he realized he should get himself out of trouble while he still could. He stepped on the gas and sped away without looking back.

Everything happened so quickly that no one else even witnessed the kidnapping.

Afternoon came.

Charles had been run off his feet the whole morning. In fact, recently, he had been extremely busy dealing with company matters. He could barely cope with the business. After lunch, while he was reading reports, his cellphone buzzed. He picked it up without checking who the caller was.

"Hello?" he mindlessly responded.

"Charles Lu, if you don't want your mother to die, prepare ten million dollars. We'll talk again in three hours," said the voice on the other end of the line. It sounded distorted, clearly disguised, probably to hide the identity of the caller. The voice sounded tough and resolute. The person immediately hung up after talking.

Charles assumed this might just be someone's dumb prank, but part of him worried about his mother. He immediately called Melissa.

Her phone was off.

Charles couldn't help but think that something might have indeed happened to her.

He then called their home number.

"Hello, Mr. Lu. Do you need anything?" Nancy asked. She felt quite surprised. Charles seldom called at this hour.

"Has my Mom gotten back home?" he asked, his voice filled with urgency. The seriousness of his tone worried Nancy.

She looked around and replied, "No. Mr. Lu. Mrs. Lu hasn't returned from bringing you soup. Is there a problem?" she asked.

Now, Nancy was also worried that something bad might have happened to Melissa.

"No, thank you," Charles said curtly and hung up.

Still holding the phone, Nancy felt uneasy. 'Is Melissa in tr

id it yet. I don't have much time. I have to raise the money first," Charles answered.

"How much did they ask for?" Sheryl knew that Shining Company was big enough to produce money right away. But Charles said that he had to raise the amount they demanded. It seemed then that the kidnappers were after a sum which was huge, even for Charles.

"Ten million dollars!"

"What? Ten million dollars? Do they think you're running a bank?" Sheryl exclaimed in amazement and frustration. Charles did not respond. She knitted her eyebrows tightly, feeling worried. But right now, they had no choice but to follow orders.

"Don't worry, Charles. If all they want is money, that means Mom should be safe at present. Let's try to save her first," Sheryl, noticing Charles' silence, tried to comfort him.

"All right. I'll try to find Mom. You take care of the children," Charles finally answered. He did not say anything about it, but he was also afraid. He realized that someone might also try to hurt Sheryl and their kids.

"Don't worry about us. I'll take care of them. You go ahead and rescue Mom. We can also call the police if we run out of options," Sheryl proposed. But she also knew that calling the police was going to be the last resort.

Charles was a man with plenty of resources and connections in the city. He was capable of finding the kidnappers.

"Okay!" Charles answered.

After ending the call, Charles started to raise the needed funds while Sheryl drove the kids home.