Love Me Back (Amelia and Daniel) novel Chapter 158

Daniel’s grip tightened around his phone. “Explain yourself!” he demanded.

Sophia’s voice trembled, her words stumbling over each other in panic. Before she could finish, several new messages flashed onto his screen.

He wasn’t the only one. Mogan’s phone chimed at the exact same moment.

“Violet!” Mogan glanced at his own screen, and the color drained from his face.

A sinking dread settled in Daniel’s chest. He hung up on Sophia and pulled up the messages.

An unknown number had sent two photos.

One showed Amelia sprawled on a couch, her long dark hair obscuring most of her face. But Daniel recognized her instantly from her silhouette.

The other was of Violet, huddled in a bare concrete room, her expression a mix of fear and confusion.

Horace snatched Mogan’s phone, his face clouding over. “What’s going on?” He looked up at Daniel.

Daniel’s jaw clenched. He said nothing, zooming in on the photo of Amelia, searching for any clue.

Horace stormed across the room and grabbed Daniel by the collar. “I said, what’s going on?”

Daniel’s thoughts were in chaos, held together by a single thread of reason. He shoved Horace off him. “I got a couple of pictures. How the hell am I supposed to know what’s going on?”

“Do you have any enemies? Anyone you’ve crossed?”

The truth was, Daniel had made plenty of enemies. In the business world, rivals came and went, each one more ruthless than the last. But this—this was different. None had ever gone so far as kidnapping.

Still, there was that one recent grudge…

Daniel was about to make a call when Horace interrupted, “Or does the Scott family have any enemies?”

Daniel’s eyes flashed cold. “Isn’t the Brown family the Scott family’s greatest enemy?”

Horace froze, caught off guard.

Just then, a bodyguard hurried in. “Mr. Campbell, there’s a drone on the deck. It dropped off a flash drive.”

Daniel’s eyes darkened. “Play it.”

On the laptop screen, a man in a clown mask appeared. His voice, distorted through a voice changer, oozed with sinister glee.

No one but a monster could come up with such a vile, twisted game.

Half an hour. Two directions. One at sea, one on land. Pure evil, nothing less.

Samuel shut off the screen, his eyes glinting with amusement as he watched Amelia’s reaction.

“So, Amelia, what do you think? Who will Daniel save—you, or Deceptive Lily?”

Amelia’s face was drained of color. The instant she’d heard, “Both women are in my hands,” every last trace of blood had vanished from her cheeks.

She clenched her fists, feeling her nails dig into her palms. The pain was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

“It’s like your dad and your mom both have bombs strapped to them. Who do you save first?”

Samuel burst out laughing. “Amelia, I find you more and more fascinating.”

He nodded at the clock on the wall. “Five minutes down. Let’s wait ten more and see what Daniel chooses.”

There was no suspense. Daniel would never choose her.