Chapter 53
Am I supposed to be a mind reader? Without being told, how would I know?
On the other hand, I could guess he kept quiet out of concern that I might worry, so I couldn’t really say anything and just looked around, taking in the surroundings.
The dust swirling in the air indicated that it was an abandoned mountain lodge. It seemed like it was their hideout; as soon as they entered, the kidnappers finally lowered the knife they had held close to my throat and began inspecting me.
Then, they asked me to extend my arm, and before I knew it, they were tying my wrists.
“Uhh, is this how you do it?”
“Oh, that’s clumsy. Give it here.”
“Damn, you don’t even know how to do it yourself.”
From the start, they seemed amateurish. It felt like I was their first customer. I already had doubts, considering how they were trembling as they held the knife to my neck, and I could even feel the blade graze me, leaving a slight sting.
As I shook my head, feeling the sting on my neck, the three men who had been focused on tying my wrists suddenly turned to look at me.
Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have moved. They say rash provocation when being kidnapped is worse than useless.
I must’ve let my guard down, too relieved by the assurance that they’d contact my husband. Who would’ve thought anything serious could happen in that short time? So… a s*x crime? Attempted assault?
‘Surely, it’s not murder, right?’
I don’t think my life’s genre would go quite that hardcore, but here I was, on my second-life crisis—the kind of experience you’d be lucky to go through even once in a lifetime in Korea—so I couldn’t help but feel a foreboding sense of doom.
So, in other words…
“I’m pregnant!”
By the way, I’m not pregnant.
I repeated it with a serious tone toward the three kidnappers staring at me in confusion.
“I’m twelve weeks along!”
Of course, there are no ‘weeks’ to count because, once again, I’m not actually pregnant.
Still, I’d learned that in situations with a risk of s****l assault, claiming pregnancy or menstruation can greatly reduce the odds of being targeted.
Though, some would still go ahead regardless.
Anyhow, those kinds of bastards should have their you-know-whats sliced clean off.
Just as I thought of that, I caught myself and closed my mouth.
‘My husband.’
Tall, handsome, and with a high social status—it’s easy to forget, but he lost his mind in a moment of madness in the beginning too.
I recalled the first night of my previous marriage when my current husband dragged me off to the stables, and things got chaotic.
“Julie, cry for me. Beautifully.”
At the time, I was terrified of getting caught by others and even more scared of getting pregnant, yet my body still responded. We were unbelievably compatible in bed, and though it had been my first time, I climaxed multiple times.
I wonder, if it weren’t a life-or-death situation, would I still have resisted so fiercely? Wouldn’t it have been better to close my eyes and just…?
“…Ahem.”
I cleared my throat and wiped my mouth. Ah, I shouldn’t be thinking of this, but it keeps coming back.
The memory of that time—my legs pulled against his strong hips, his movements pushing me to my limit—flashed through my mind, making my heart race. The feel of his rippling abs pressing against me with every thrust… it was unforgettable.
They say that things start to get intense after a woman has given birth, and maybe that’s why. Even after everything this morning, I still hadn’t quite come to my senses. A part of me wondered, does he still desire me that much?
So there I was, grinning like an idiot, oblivious to my surroundings.
“Hey, lady! Get it together!”
My thoughts snapped back to the present when Kidnapper 1 clapped his hands in front of my face. My eyes refocused, and Kidnapper 2 let out a breath of relief as if he’d nearly had a heart attack, urging Kidnapper 3.
“She says she’s pregnant. Shouldn’t we call a midwife?”
“It’s not even her due date, you halfwit. Why call a midwife?”
“Still, what if something goes wrong because we startled her?”
Was it just my imagination? For kidnappers, they seemed awfully naïve. They didn’t seem like they had any real intention of doing harm. Their innocent reaction to my lie actually made me feel a bit guilty.
Then again, this area is a remote rural village. Maybe that’s why the people here seem so naive.
‘Why are they so innocent for kidnappers?’
Trash recognizes trash, and here I was, feeling like garbage for assuming the worst. Have I really become that cynical? No matter what, there’s no need to sympathize with criminals trying to kidnap people for ransom.
“Ugh, what rotten luck. Why the f**k did we have to end up with a pregnant woman?”
“That’s no way to talk in front of a pregnant lady. Apologies, ma’am.”
“We’re doing this because we’re desperate to make a living. Haah…”
Watching them slump to the floor in despair left me speechless.
Really, they looked no different from farmers in a small village in the countryside.
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