"Wh- What do you mean?" words escaped Jacqueline's mouth with difficulty. That guy's harsh eyes were still glued to her. Fearful of making the man angry, which would cause more trouble to her, Jacqueline continued, her voice shaking slightly, unable to hide her fear, "Sorry, I didn't understand what you said."
That guy just laughed, "Were you Benjamin's b*tch?"
"What?" Jacqueline was surprised.
"So what I guessed was right," that guy said, laughing loudly. "Josh, it seemed like Benjamin was quite interested in this b*tch; we found the right person."
Only then did Jacqueline realize that someone was right outside.
The man with fierce scars on his face walked up to her again, grabbed her chin, and warned, "I knew what you were doing before I entered this room. If you didn't want to get into more trouble, you shouldn't be stupid."
Then he walked out of the room, closing the wooden door firmly. The rays of light from the electric lights outside the hallway were blocked by the door. In the room now, there was only her, trash, and moonlight.
Jacqueline maintained her posture, not daring to move. The harshness of one of her captors had caused her to abstain out of fear.
Through what that guy had said, Jacqueline understood that this bad luck had come to her through Benjamin. It seemed they had a grudge against Benjamin, and they wanted to kidnap her as a hostage. Jacqueline guessed that the kidnappers wouldn't kill her that night; they needed her to negotiate with Benjamin.
Jacqueline understood that she was not really as important to Benjamin as they thought. She was just Jasmine's doppelganger.
But -
She still had a chance to be saved if Benjamin still thought she was Jasmine.
Thinking of her twin sister, another fear rose in Jacqueline's mind.
What if - Benjamin, in his search for her, discovered she was not Jasmine?
Benjamin would have to investigate her to find the kidnappers, right? And Rosemary too. She would definitely report it to the police. And the secret would no longer be a secret.
And her father -
Remembering her beloved father, Jacqueline clenched her fists. That's right, there would be no one to take care of him if she died. Even if everything was revealed and without Madam Claire's help, she could still do something to continue paying the hospital bills. She could do anything, as long as they paid her money.
But when Jacqueline moved, invisible fear and pain plagued her mind. The scar-faced man had lived long enough to know how to make an ordinary girl like Jacqueline obsessed.
No one had ever treated her so harshly. Jacqueline's breathing had been rapid, sweat pouring out.
But remembering her father, Jacqueline had ordered herself to boldly suppress her fear and take action.
"Jane, take a deep breath and calm down, watch carefully," Jacqueline had whispered to herself.
She had slowly and carefully made small movements.
Jacqueline had carefully observed the room, finding no cameras there. Using the moonlight, she had observed the walls again, even more carefully. There had been a few cracks in the wall, and the paint had peeled off.
Jacqueline had speculated that this was an old house in the suburbs. Perhaps there had been no one living around.
Walking close to the window, it hadn't been difficult to guess that it had been locked tightly.
Looking outside, Jacqueline had seen a lot of grass. They had grown close together, thick and tall. She hadn't been able to figure out where this place was, but she thought that if she could get out of this house, she could take advantage of the thick grasslands to hide and escape.
Jacqueline once again looked around the room for useful things but had been more careful.
There was only trash.
Just when Jacqueline was discouraged, she saw a small piece of wood lying in the corner of the room, covered by trash. It was part of a larger piece of wood that was broken, with sharp edges that could help her cut ropes.
She didn't think it would work, but it was the only option she had had.
The piece of wood was too thin and fragile. It took Jacqueline a few minutes to figure out how to use the piece of wood without breaking it.
It was an arduous process, requiring extreme concentration and patience.
Sweat broke out on her forehead, back, and hands. Her dress was almost wet from sweat, but Jacqueline did not notice it.
Suddenly, Jacqueline was startled when she heard someone opening the door. She had quickly thrown the piece of wood into the trash in the room.
A man entered the room. That was not the guy who had hit her. He had looked at her with dull eyes. When he had walked closer to her, Jacqueline had smelled a strong smell of alcohol coming from him.
"Damn, he's so drunk," Jacqueline thought.
Looking at his muscular hands with many visible veins, Jacqueline had swallowed her saliva. She had been afraid that he would use violence against her.
Jacqueline backed away warily. That man suddenly rushed towards her, immediately raising his hand and forcefully making it connect with her cheek.
Jacqueline screamed in pain, the slap was so hard that it turned her face to the side.
The skin on her cheeks burned, and Jacqueline felt her teeth were about to fall out. She felt the taste of blood on her tongue.
The man's eyes were open, streaked with blood, like the eyes of a cruel and ferocious predator.
"Son of b*tch," he yelled. "I will kill you."
The guy kicked Jacqueline's fragile body hard. She fell to the floor, clutching her body and unable to change what she was suffering.
"You took everything from me," he growled while still glaring at her. Jacqueline felt his saliva splash on her face.
The man grabbed her hair and pulled her up. She felt like all her hair was about to be ripped from her scalp by this man.
The man shouted at her, "How can you live a life of wealth and power when you took everything from me? Tell me, you b*tch of that f*cking *sshole. Why can you still live like a queen after Benjamin did those things?"
The man threw her to the floor, and then continued to assault her. Until Jacqueline reached the limit of her endurance, she begged in tears.
Those words don't make him sympathize, they make his desire for revenge more satisfied.
"You should have known karma would come to you when your man took away my wife and children. You deserve it."
1 hour later…
The only sound in the room was Jacqueline's sobbing. She was lying on the floor, her face and stomach bruised. Jacqueline's tears still ran down her cheeks. It hurt too much for her to move.
Jacqueline wondered why she had to endure all this.
The snores of the man who assaulted her echoed in the room. To her, it was the sound of hell.
Jacqueline tried to think of her father, of her once-good life so she could continue fighting.
She sat up, saw the sleeping man, and saw an opportunity in a dangerous situation. Maybe he carried a knife in his shirt or pants pocket.
Jacqueline carefully searched his pockets. There was nothing she needed. This was strange, did not he keep his weapon with him? Wasn't that what kidnappers did when on alert?
But she found a small photo.
In the photo was a family, parents, and a daughter. On the back of the photo were the handwritten words 'To Maria and Lily, I love you'.
It reminded her of the man's words while assaulting her. He always said that Benjamin stole his family.
Jacqueline had never been curious about Benjamin's work, she knew he was a mafia don and that was that.
But now, there was more than one thought about his work on her mind. Jacqueline carefully left the photo where it belonged.
Carefully moving to the door, Jacqueline's heart jumped when she realized the door was unlocked.
Until the door was completely opened, she squinted her eyes at the light of the electric light outside the hallway. Her arms and legs were still tied, so she was in danger when she tried to move, especially since she wasn't allowed to make any noise. Jacqueline understood that if she was discovered, she would have to endure much more terrible things than she had experienced tonight but she would still bet that she could escape the rope without tying her legs before she was discovered.
Jacqueline carefully searched the hallway and saw a knife on the floor. Perhaps it belonged to the man sleeping in the other room. The guy dropped it. She immediately adjusted her position to untie herself.
Finally, luck smiled on her. It didn't take Jacqueline long to free herself from the thick ropes.
Jacqueline endured her pain, carefully approaching the stairs. The hallway has windows, but they are all locked. The stairs are the only way for her to escape the house.
Standing right next to the stairs, she heard the sound of the TV on the first floor.