Chapter 211: Evelyn was kidnapped.

"Evelyn, wait. Don’t go..."

Ian immediately went after her. Before he could take another step, Maya grabbed his wrist.

"Ian, I am so sorry. I didn’t know she would be furious to see me here. If I had known, I would have stayed away. I wouldn’t have asked you to dine with us."

Ian slowly turned toward her. His expression was cold.

"Didn’t know?" His voice dropped. "Or did you do it on purpose?"

Maya’s breath caught. Her legs almost gave way.

’Does he know?’ A terrifying thought crossed her mind.

Her face went pale.

"I told you I was waiting for someone," Ian grumbled. His anger was now impossible to hide.

"But you deliberately ignored me and kept pressuring me to join you and your friends. Don’t you understand that people need privacy?"

Maya’s eyes filled with tears. This time, they were genuine.

"I always considered you a friend, my junior. But you mistook my kindness and generosity for something else. I didn’t notice it before. But now I see it clearly."

Maya’s heart sank. She had never seen such hostility in his eyes. The thought that Ian might truly hate her tore through her.

"You are deliberately making Evelyn angry. You are trying to drive her away from me."

"No..." Maya denied it immediately. She tried to explain herself, but Ian stopped her.

"You already ruined this evening I prepared for Evelyn. But I won’t let you ruin my relationship with her."

He threw her a warning look. "Stay away from me. Otherwise, I won’t be polite with you."

He stormed out.

Ian searched desperately for Evelyn. He rushed to the parking lot, hoping to find her there.

"Evelyn." His voice echoed through the parking area. "Evelyn, come out. Talk to me."

He hurried between the parked cars, his eyes scanning every corner.

A car suddenly sped past him. Its tires screeched violently against the concrete floor.

Ian instinctively jumped back.

"Hey. Are you blind?" he shouted angrily.

The car slowed for only a second. The rear window rolled down. A hand emerged, holding a gun.

Ian’s breath caught. His eyes widened. Before he could react, gunfire exploded through the parking area.

Bang-Bang

He ducked. His heart slammed against his ribs as the bullets struck the concrete nearby.

"No... Ian..." Evelyn cried out.

Ian’s head snapped up. Through the rear windshield, he saw her tear-streaked face.

A sickening knot formed in his stomach.

"Evelyn?" For a second, his mind refused to understand what he was seeing.

The car accelerated.

Horror struck him.

She was inside the car. They had taken her.

"No." He scrambled to his feet. Before his brain could process, his body moved forward.

"Stop the car."

He ran as fast as he could, but the car had already run away. His legs eventually gave out beneath him.

He stumbled and fell hard onto the concrete. He lifted his head just in time to see the car disappear around the corner.

His breathing became rapid and shallow. For several seconds, he remained on the ground, completely frozen. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think.

Evelyn’s terrified face through the rear windshield still flashed in the back of his mind. Then the truth finally sank in.

Evelyn had been kidnapped.

"No..." Ian pushed himself to his feet. "I can’t let them take her away. I have to save her."

He ran back toward his car. Jumping inside, he started the engine and sped out of the parking lot. He grabbed his phone and immediately dialed Elias.

At that moment, Elias was still at the office when his phone rang. He frowned when he saw Ian’s name on the screen.

Ian rarely called him.

’Why is he calling me? Is everything okay?’

A sense of uneasiness settled over him. He quickly answered.

Ian’s panicked voice exploded through the speaker.

"Elias, help."

Elias immediately straightened. "What’s wrong?"

"Someone kidnapped Evelyn."

"What?" Elias sprang to his feet. His heart dropped. "Kidnapped."

"They took her from the parking lot. I saw them. I tried to stop them, but they fired at me and drove away."

Ian gave him the license plate number of the car. "Find the car and come quickly."

"Where are you?" Elias grabbed his jacket, already hurrying toward the door.

"I’m following them."

"Don’t go after them. It’s dangerous. You don’t know who they are or where they are taking—"

But the line went dead before he could finish.

Elias stared at his phone in disbelief.

"Damn it."

He immediately ran out of his office while making another call.

Inside the car, Evelyn struggled desperately.

"Let go of me." She tried to pull her arm free. "You bastard. You have no idea who you are messing with."

Her voice shook with fear, but she forced herself to sound defiant.

"My brother will find me and kill you all."

"Shut up, you bitch."

The slap came so suddenly that Evelyn froze.

Tears immediately filled her eyes. Slowly, she raised a trembling hand to her cheek.

It burned. The pain shocked her almost as much as the fear.

No one had ever hit her before, not once in her entire life.

"You are not a princess anymore," the man growled, leaning over her. His yellowed teeth looked disgusting, and his breath reeked of alcohol and tobacco.

Evelyn’s stomach churned.

"You are kidnapped. Do you understand?" He pinched her chin painfully.

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut. She felt helpless, trapped, and scared.

"Help..." Her voice broke. "Someone, please help me."

The man laughed. "Cry as much as you can. No one is coming."

He pushed her away.

Evelyn’s body slammed against the car door. But she refused to stay quiet. She banged desperately against the window.

"Someone, please help me."

She hoped someone from the passing cars would see her and help her.

The man grabbed her arm and yanked her back. "Enough. Don’t keep shouting."

She sucked in a trembling breath. Her entire body felt numb.

The man’s fingers tightened painfully around her arm. "Who do you think is going to help you?"

He leaned closer. "Tell me." His voice became threatening. "Didn’t you see what happened to that man in the parking lot?"

Evelyn’s face went pale.

Ian.

She remembered him running toward the car and the man shooting at him.

A horrifying thought struck her.

What if the bullet had hit him?

"No..." She couldn’t imagine Ian lying on that cold concrete, bleeding. The thought that he might be dead chilled her to the core.

"No..."

Her entire body began to shake.

"If anyone comes after us," the man continued, "we’ll kill them."

He raised the gun and pointed it directly at her forehead. "Now stop shouting. Or I’ll kill you right here."

Evelyn didn’t move. She barely dared to breathe.

The man watched the terror spreading across her face and smirked. "It’s better this way."

He lowered his gun. "Remember to keep quiet."

Evelyn immediately moved to the farthest corner of the seat. She pulled her knees against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Tears continued streaming down her face.

She was terrified that she was kidnapped. She didn’t know where these people were taking her, what they would do, or what they wanted from her. But her thoughts remained with one person.

Ian

She pressed her lips together, trying desperately not to sob.

"Ian, please be safe," she whispered.