Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 228

Chapter 228: Steamy Beanery
Steamy Beanery was a coffee shop that had obviously seen better days, with oil smudges on their glass windows and the wallpaper slightly peeling at the edges. But there was a heady scent of caffeine in the air, along with the faint smell of fresh bread that put Amelia’s mind at ease.

Her eyes roved around the coffee shop, looking for a shock of red hair. However, as it was nearing dinner time, the coffee shop was quite deserted, and there was no one matching that description. She sighed and went to the counter to ask if there was someone called Leo who was waiting there.

The barista nodded and pointed to the booth at the corner. “He’s over there!”

Amelia looked over. From her point of view, she could only see the blond head of an adult man. Maybe he shared the same name as Leo?

“The person I’m looking for is a teenage boy,” Amelia said to the barista. “Did he come with the blond man?”

“No, I only saw him enter,” the barista said. “But if you’re Amelia, he’s expecting you. That man told me I should tell you to meet him there. He said he had something you would not want to miss. He also ordered drinks for you!”

Amelia frowned. That sounded awfully cryptic. She looked back at her phone; Leo still had not responded to her message― which struck her as strange, since teenagers tended to be glued to their phones.

Since she had time to spare, she might as well go and see what this mysterious man wanted from her.

Amelia walked to the booth, only to scowl when she caught sight of the man’s face.

It was Caleb. Disgusting. This whole thing was a set-up!

She turned on her heels to leave, but Caleb had spotted her and he reached out an arm to grab her before she could make her escape.

“Amelia, do you have some time for coffee? I already ordered for the both of us,” Caleb said politely as if they were only acquaintances and not exes. However, the painful grip on her wrist was something no well-meaning stranger would inflict on another.

The two cups of hot coffee on the table seemed to mock his sincerity.

“I have something I believe will interest you.”

“Let go of me or I’ll start screaming,” Amelia said threateningly. But before she could open her mouth, Caleb played a video on his phone.

The boy in the photo had a shock of red hair. But the most galling thing was how he was tied up and blindfolded on a chair, with his mouth gagged.

“What on earth?” Amelia gasped, grabbing at his phone to take a closer look. Caleb took advantage of her distraction to tug her into the seat next to him, his hand an iron grip around her waist.

Amelia flinched and tried to get away, but Caleb didn’t budge. His other hand grabbed Amelia’s own phone and kept it out of her reach.

“You were here to meet Leo, yes? So here he is,” Caleb said nonchalantly as he twirled the phone in his hands. “Not in the flesh, but I must say he looks pretty videogenic tied up like this. I’m sure there are some perverts online who would pay good money for this live footage.”

“What did you do to him?! I’m going to call the cops! You won’t get away with this!” Amelia seethed, goosebumps erupting in her arms at the darkness in Caleb’s eyes.

Caleb was a scumbag, that was true― but she had never thought he would sink so low as to hold a teenager hostage!

“Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Caleb said simply. “I have people stationed nearby. The moment you make the call, young Leo might find his life sadly cut short.”

Amelia froze. “You wouldn’t.”

“And how would you know?” Caleb asked, his voice low with warning. “Are you willing to take the risk? He is very young; it would be terrible if his blood were to end up on your hands. Poor Carlo would be so sad to see someone he grew up with die so early.”

Amelia bit her lip, enraged. “If anything, you’ll be the one responsible for his death. I’m not the one who… who held him hostage!”

Her eyes darted back to Leo in the video, and her hands were nearly shaking with rage.

Now that she took a closer look, she could spot the bruising on his face, and his hands were tied behind his back. His legs were tied to the feet of the chairs. He was slumped against the back of the chair, as though he was exhausted from struggling.

“You’ll blame yourself anyway for not being able to save him,” Caleb retorted swiftly. “I know you well enough to know that. Our three years of marriage wasn’t for nothing.”

“What do you want then?” Amelia growled out, her mind frantically searching for ways to resolve the situation. She needed to tell someone― but Caleb had his phone in her hands. What’s more, she couldn’t let Caleb find out.

As such, she could only stall.

“You,” Caleb said cheerfully enough, but there was no denying the underlying wretched possessiveness in his voice.

Suddenly, Amelia felt actual fear when facing Caleb. Her hands began to sweat, and her heart raced.

“You’ll get into my car, and we’ll take a nice drive to see Leo. If you try anything funny on the way… you’ll still get to see Leo, but he’ll never know,” Caleb explained. “Do you understand me?”

“Bastard,” Amelia hissed out, but she could only nod in agreement. She might as well go along with Caleb’s plans for now. Hopefully, she would be able to find a way to let people know. “Fine, I’ll go with you, but you’ll have to let him go.”

“I knew you’d see things my way,” Caleb said smugly. He closed the stream and tucked both his own phone and Amelia’s into his pocket. “Let’s go then before we hit peak hour traffic.”

Amelia wanted to scream. This man was out there kidnapping teens― who gave a shit about traffic?