His Mistress is His Ex-Wife
Chapter 98: The Suspect

Chapter 98: The Suspect

"What?! Athena got into an accident?!" Vladimir burst out, slamming his table.

"Hey! Don’t shout! You’re breaking my eardrum!" Lanny distanced the phone from her ear. She already expected her brother to react like this.

"Tell me! Where is she? Is she just fine?! I want to see her." Vladimir didn’t waste his time as he dashed off, leaving his office. He was still holding his phone, waiting for Lanny’s response.

"Calm down, Bro. Athena is just fine. She didn’t get hurt at all." Lanny reassured him. "I called you because I need your help."

"How can I calm down after knowing about her accident?! Who is responsible for this? We have to sue that company for negligence!" Vladimir refused to listen. He wouldn’t feel at ease without seeing Athena right now. "Where are you? Give me the address. I’ll go there!"

"Vladimir Ivankov! For goodness’ sake, listen to me first. My goal is to catch the culprit who caused this accident. And I’m gonna need your help with this."

"WHAT?! Someone intentionally caused this accident!! I’m going to kill them!" He declared through his gritted teeth.

Lanny facepalmed, shaking her head helplessly. "Will you help me or not?"

"Of course, I will!" Vladimir promptly responded.

"Good. But it’s not you whom I need. Just send your subordinates. They have to capture someone for me. I have a suspect in mind," Lanny informed him, her lips curling up into a sly smile.

"No. I’ll catch that guy myself. Tell me who is the target!" Vladimir insisted. He didn’t want to give this task to his subordinate. He preferred to catch the culprit by himself.

"Are you sure? I don’t want your hot temper to ruin this. Besides, who knows you might do something to this person? Let me remind you. We have to capture this person and get a confession." Lanny was hesitant to give this task to her brother, given his personality.

"I said I’ll do it. I won’t promise anything but I’ll try my best not to kill him." Vladimir was stubborn.

Lanny could only sigh deeply. "Fine. Just follow my instructions. Oh, don’t worry about Athena. You’ll see her later. Remember... Our top priority is to find out the mastermind for this. Understand?"

"I know. Just trust me. I know what I should do," Vladimir said before hanging up the call.

Back at the resort, the police officers were done interrogating the crew. They didn’t find anything suspicious among them. They let them go without telling them that the accident was intentional.

Lanny requested the police officers to keep what she had discovered about the harness. She had her own plan for catching the culprit.

Meanwhile, Bella and her team apologized to Lanny over and over again. They felt that it was their fault for not securing the safety of the harness.

"Miss Lanny, I admit this is a shortcoming on my part. Please don’t sue my team members. I’m going to take responsibility for this accident and bear the consequences." Bella didn’t know how to face Athena and Lanny after the accident.

She felt like she was going to be suspended or penalized for this. Or worst case, she might lose her job.

"Hey, don’t say that, Bella. I know you don’t have ill motives toward Athena. This is not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. If your company will punish you, come to me. I’ll defend you." Lanny gave Bella moral support. She also liked her sincerity.

"Thank you for trusting me, Miss Lanny."

"Alright. You should go and assist the other celebrity endorsers. The shooting will be rescheduled, right?"

Bella’s face brightened up when she heard that. "Does it mean you and Miss Athena won’t quit? Will you still continue this project?"

Lanny bobbed her head. "Yes, we will."

"Thanks, Miss Lanny for giving us another chance. Next time we will ensure that accidents like this won’t happen again."

As Lanny and Bella talked, someone was eavesdropping from behind. He was glad that the police investigators didn’t catch anything suspicious.

’Hmmm. I’m so lucky. We can go home now unscathed. They didn’t suspect anything.’ He was rejoicing inwardly.

Soon, Bella announced that the crew could finally go home. Melody’s accomplice was over the moon when he left the resort. He earned a lot of money today.

The guy waited for the taxi cab to pass by. But to his surprise, a black BMW stopped in front of him. He thought the driver would just ask him for directions. However, he received a different question.

"Do you need a ride? Hop in." A handsome stranger offered him a ride.

The guy just stood in his spot, getting confused. He even pointed his finger at himself and asked the driver, "Are you referring to me?"

"Yes! You." The man responded with a serious tone.

’Eh? He looks suspicious. What does he want from me?’

"Hehe. No thanks, sir." He refused the offer. He was about to ignore the driver of the black BMW when suddenly the car door was pushed open. The handsome stranger alighted from the car, grabbing his arm.

"Where do you think you are going? You are coming with me," the man said in his commanding tone. His aura was very intimidating. He couldn’t help but feel scared.

"Hey, are you going to force me to ride in your car? Are you a member of a syndicate that kidnaps some random men? A human trafficker?!" Melody’s accomplice felt alarmed.

Sensing some danger, the man tried to struggle against his grip. His gut feeling was telling him to run away.

To his disappointment, the handsome stranger was very strong. He gripped his hand tightly and punched his stomach.

"Arrgh!" He groaned in pain.

"If you dare run away, I’m going to beat you and knock you down. Run or Ride? Choose wisely." The man talking in front of him was none other than Vladimir.

"Oh, don’t shout for help, or else, I’m going to kill you here," he added, threatening the guy.

Melody’s accomplice turned pale. His body trembled with fear when he heard Vladimir’s warning. At that certain moment, he knew that he was doomed!

’Damn! What have I gotten myself into? Am I going to die?’ Fear was visible on his face. He lost the ability to speak. He was too frightened to fight back. That was the effect of Vladimir’s aura on him.

But the man found hope when Lanny approached them. "Miss Lanny!" He called her, his eyes seemed to ask her to rescue him from this tyrant.

Lanny smiled at them. "Hey, there!"

"Miss Lanny! This guy is a bad guy. Hurry! Call the police." The man warned Lanny. He thought Lanny would be his savior.

On the other hand, Lanny just tapped his shoulder. "Relax. As long as I’m here this guy won’t kill you."

He didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not. ’It looks like Miss Lanny knows this crazy guy.’ He thought to himself.

"Let’s go!" Vladimir said, gesturing for Lanny to open the car door.

He could no longer wait. He pushed the guy toward his car, forcing him to get inside. The man was helpless in front of Vladimir. He didn’t know what this guy wanted from him.

When the man settled down in the back passenger seat, Vladimir handcuffed him inside the car while Lanny stepped into the front passenger seat.

He even blindfolded the man so that he wouldn’t know the way to his headquarters. Capturing the suspect, Vladimir sped up to his hidden barracks together with Lanny and the suspect.

*At the hidden barracks*

"Miss Lanny, what is the meaning of this? Why did you kidnap me?" Melody’s accomplice had a bad feeling about this.

’Did she find out something?’

Lanny removed his blindfold. The man’s eyes widened in horror when he saw the place. It looked similar to the torture room he could see in the movie. His body broke into cold sweats, afraid for his life.

His fear intensified when Vladimir grabbed the chair and sat in front of him while holding a dagger.

"You are not allowed to ask questions. We are the ones doing the questioning here. I’m warning you... I hate liars. I tend to cut off their tongues," Vladimir sternly said, looking daggers at him.

The man gulped hard, feeling so nervous.

Lanny let out a soft giggle before starting the interrogation. "It’s you who tampered with Athena’s harness, am I right?"

The man was taken aback for a moment. ’How did she know?’

"I don’t know what are you talking about–"

Slam!

Vladimir slammed the table to intimidate him further. "No lying."

"D-Do you want me to... c-confess something I d-didn’t do?" he stammered yet he continued to feign innocence.

"Among the crew, you are the most suspicious one. And you know what? I got something from your stuff."

Lanny picked up something inside her bag. The man was shocked when he saw the envelope containing cash.

’Oh no! That’s my money! When did she take that from me?’

"Haha. I guess your Boss is a newbie. He left clear evidence of your transaction. Is he old-fashioned? Seriously, he doesn’t know how to fund transfers?" Lanny mocked the mastermind.

"Miss Lanny, that’s my money. My hard-earned money. Why are you accusing me of this crime? I’m innocent," he continued to deny it.

Vladimir was feeling impatient. Without further ado, he grabbed the man by his collar, pointing the knife at his neck.

"Who paid you to cause the accident? Who wants to harm Athena?!! Give me a satisfactory answer or else..."

"Alright! Alright! I’ll speak up. Please don’t kill me. I’ll tell you the truth!"

Lanny: "..."

’Damn. Vladimir beats me. He made him talk easily!’