Chapter 79

As the blindfold was slowly removed, his vision returned. However, before he could make out his surroundings, a blinding light pierced his eyes, forcing him to shield them with his hands.  

The next moment, someone kicked the chair he was tied to.  

“Ugh!”  

He fell to the floor with a groan of pain. Watching him writhe on the ground, Lennox Diorne asked in a slow, deliberate tone,  

“Who are you?”  

“Y-you don’t even know who I am, and you did this to me?”  

“At least I know what you’ve done.”  

Lennox pressed his foot down on the man’s shoulder, pinning him to the ground.  

“Ahhh!”  

“I’ll ask again. Who are you, and why did you kidnap Harriet Coco Diorne?”  

The man instinctively realized there would be no second chances.  

Harriet Coco Diorne? 

He had heard that name before. Faced with the threat of death, his mind raced.  

The man, now pale as a sheet, stammered with trembling lips,  

“A-are you… the Duke of Diorne?”  

Lennox nodded in response. The man’s mouth fell open in shock. Spitting out the blood in his mouth, he slowly raised his head.  

The man who had kicked his chair and pressed his shoulder to the ground was far more formidable than he had imagined.  

As the man sat there in stunned silence, the Duke frowned and pressed down harder with his foot.  

“I told you to answer, not to ask questions.”  

“Ugh!”  

The man let out a scream under the Duke’s merciless pressure.  

“If you don’t answer within three seconds, I’ll start with your fingernails.”  

Fingernails? Start with what?  

Before the man could process the threat, one of Lennox’s attendants entered the room, carrying something.  

The man’s hand was forcibly fixed to the strange device the attendant brought. It was then that the man realized what the Duke meant. He gasped and pleaded desperately,  

“W-wait! I think I’m starting to remember! Please, just give me a little more time!”  

No response came. The man frantically searched his memory.  

A woman. A woman…  

Come to think of it, there had been a strange request from a woman not long ago. It had seemed like an easy job, so he had accepted it without much thought…  

“It seems you’ll need to lose at least one nail to jog your memory.”  

“I-I remember now!”  

As Lennox narrowed his eyes, the man flailed desperately like a fish out of water.  

“I didn’t know she was the Duchess! I don’t read newspapers much, and both women kept their faces hidden…”  

“…Both women?”  

“Yes! There were two women. They were similar in build, but one seemed taller.”  

“What did the other one call her?”  

Lennox pressed the blade closer to the man’s throat. Swallowing hard, the man stammered,  

“I think… she called her ‘Senior.’”  

Leaning in closer, Lennox muttered coldly,  

“Yvonne.”  

The Duke’s jaw tightened as his anger became palpable. While the man cowered in fear, Lennox interrogated him further.  

“So? Where did you take my wife that night?”  

“If the person you just mentioned is Yvonne, then the woman I took wasn’t the Duchess.”  

“What?”  

“The woman I took was Yvonne. It wasn’t a kidnapping; she hired me for a job.”  

The air froze as if doused with cold water. The man, bewildered by the sudden silence, was startled when Lennox grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up.  

“What do you mean? Explain.”  

“That… well…”  

The man, now properly seated again, stammered. He wanted to continue speaking, but his throat felt as if it were on fire, and the thirst was excruciating. His parched lips moved soundlessly.  

Lennox, noticing this, gestured toward the attendant standing behind him.  

“Bring water.”  

“Yes, Your Grace.”  

The attendant responded politely and promptly brought a glass of water. Slowly, he tilted the glass to the man’s lips, allowing him to sip just enough to wet his lips and alleviate his thirst. To the man, it was as sweet as water from an oasis in a scorching desert.  

As he leaned forward to drink more, the glass was mercilessly pulled away. His face twisted in disappointment.  

Lennox coldly proposed, 

“I’ll give you another sip every time you speak properly. Understand?”  

“Y-yes, I understand…!”  

The man, blinded by his thirst, nodded eagerly, willing to do anything—even offer up his soul—just to quench it.  

***

Ever since Harriet had vanished without a trace, Yvonne had been buried under an avalanche of work every single day.  

“You’re here, Ma’am. Please review this approval document.”  

“The designer brand we worked with three years ago has proposed a new collaboration. Could you take a look?”  

“The construction project you oversaw for the reception desk has been completed. It’s in the final stages, so we’d like you to check it…”  

“Enough!”  

As soon as she arrived at the office, Yvonne was swarmed by employees. She raised her hand to stop them.  

“While you all have multiple mouths to speak, I, unfortunately, only have one pair of ears. Talking all at once won’t help me understand anything.”  

Truthfully, she had anticipated this much. Regardless of whether the manager had been kidnapped or had disappeared on her own, the department store couldn’t just shut down.  

She wished Harriet had at least left a professional manager in charge temporarily, but she understood that Harriet hadn’t had the luxury to do so at the time. Even so, resentment occasionally bubbled up.  

“But this is urgent. We need approval to proceed with our tasks.”  

“Our department’s matters are just as pressing. Since I came first, could you please handle this first?”  

The employees were on the verge of glaring daggers at each other when Yvonne sighed deeply.  

“I’ll decide the priority of tasks myself. Leave all the documents here and leave the office.”  

“But…”  

“I don’t like contradicting myself.”  

Her firm tone left the employees no choice. Reluctantly, they placed their documents on her desk one by one and exited the office.  

Finally alone, Yvonne stretched her arms and massaged her stiff shoulders.  

“This is exhausting…”  

It truly was. Harriet’s competence felt even more remarkable now. To think Harriet had handled this immense workload daily for years without batting an eye.  

Although Yvonne had assisted Harriet for a long time, sitting in her seat was an entirely different experience.  

“How long are you planning to keep me in this position?”  

Yvonne glared at Harriet’s portrait hanging on the wall and muttered bitterly,  

“Isn’t it about time you contacted us? It’s been nearly a month.”  

A month was enough time for Harriet to have traveled far and settled down. Whether she had moved to a remote countryside village under a new identity or sought refuge in a convent with a generous donation, Harriet should have reached safety by now.  

“She could at least spare a thought for those worrying about her.”  

Yvonne grumbled at the smiling portrait for a while before sighing and picking up her quill.  

As she worked through the mountain of approval documents, morning quickly turned into noon. She only realized the time thanks to a visitor.  

“Yvonne!”  

“Aaron.”  

Rubbing her temples in fatigue, Yvonne set down her pen as Aaron entered the room with a bright smile.  

“I figured you wouldn’t have eaten anything, so I asked the chef to prepare something simple. Here you go.”  

“Thank you. I was just starting to feel hungry.”  

Aaron placed the food on the couch’s table and moved behind Yvonne, massaging her shoulders.  

“You’re really tense. Did you stay up late working again?”  

“Well, being a secretary and being a director are entirely different. I can’t just glance over things once; I have to review them two or three times, which takes a lot of time.”  

Relaxed by the soothing massage, Yvonne nodded honestly.  

“But you need to get proper sleep. What if you ruin your health?”  

“Harriet handled this workload every day.”  

“That’s because my sister was half-crazy about work.”  

Aaron’s casual remark trailed off into a murmur.  

“Aaron.”  

Yvonne, sensing Aaron’s concern without even looking, stood up and guided him to sit on the couch. She sat beside him and clasped his hands tightly.  

“You’re really worried, aren’t you?”  

“We haven’t found a single clue yet. The security forces and everyone else are doing everything they can, but…”  

Aaron, who had always been closer to Harriet than anyone else, looked visibly distressed. Yvonne gently comforted him.  

“She’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”  

“Do you really think so?”  

“Of course.”  

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.  

“Director.”  

Yvonne, reluctant to let Aaron’s presence be interrupted, firmly addressed the person outside.  

“Unless it’s urgent, do not disturb me.”  

“It is urgent.”  

There was only one thing that could be considered urgent in this situation. Yvonne instinctively stood up.