Orphan To Unbreakable Queen - Chapter 105: Chapter 105

At Horizon Plaza, the emergency stairwell was nearly empty. On a level stretching around a corner, the two men lunged to subdue Aubree without warning.
Aubree whirled around to see two burly men lunging at her. Without a second thought, she flung the phone in her hand straight at them. Beside her, Isla, not to be outdone, swung her bag and smashed it into the head of the nearest attacker.
The two attackers recoiled in pain, giving Aubree and Isla a precious moment to catch their breath.
Aubree wasn't familiar with this mall. When she finally made it out of the emergency exit, a wave of despair hit her again. Horizon Plaza's emergency exit didn't lead outside, but straight into the underground parking garage.
To make matters worse, their path ahead was also completely sealed off.
Trapped from both sides, they had nowhere to run.
"Who are you guys? What do you want?" Aubree gripped Isla's hand tightly, stepping protectively in front of her. She was determined to keep Isla safe no matter what.
Isla clung to Aubree's arm, her expression composed despite the situation. As a daughter of the Matthews family, she was no stranger to such attacks and kidnappings, having faced them before in Odionland.
The garage was freezing. A creeping cold seeped into Isla and Aubree's bones, wrapping around them until their blood seemed to turn to ice.
"What do we want? Can't you tell? Of course, we're here to make your life hell," one of the men sneered and said.
The Timberlake family sent these four men here. With Jacob almost fully recovered and the police poised to take him away, Gareth couldn't take it anymore. Ronald had promised to work with him against Aubree, but kept dragging his feet. Gareth couldn't wait any longer.
So he simply hired four desperadoes to kidnap Aubree.
Since Bowen has thrown courtesy out the window, he shouldn't blame me for dropping all pretenses,' Gareth thought. 'Bowen is unwilling to let my son go just because of that woman named Aubree, right? Fine, I'll just kidnap her for an exchange. Let's see if he can still stay composed.'
The four men closed in. They'd been watching Aubree for quite some time, and today, they finally seized their chance.
"Damn, these two are gorgeous, and this one's a foreign chick!" one of the men leered, flashing a mouthful of rotten teeth that made one's stomach turn. His lecherous gaze shamelessly raked over Aubree and Isla's bodies.
He then said, "Well, that person only said to bring Aubree. He never mentioned we couldn't have some fun first, right?"
Aubree's heart clenched, thinking about how to protect both of them.
Isla tugged at Aubree's sleeve. "Don't worry, Aubree. I'm tougher than I look."
The four thugs couldn't understand the foreign language, but they knew that the longer they waited, the more likely it would go wrong. "Enough talk," one of them growled. "Let's grab them first. Once we've got them, what happens next is up to us."
With that, one of them lunged forward, reaching out.
Aubree released Isla's hand. Thanks to her ongoing self-defense training, she slipped aside in a flash.
Isla was even more impressive. She grabbed the man's arm and executed a textbook-perfect over-the-shoulder throw, slamming him hard to the ground. Though she dressed to appear deceptively sweet and cute, she was tall. As the daughter of the Matthews family, self-defense was part of her training.
The four men rushed at them all at once. Aubree and Isla knew they were no match for them, so they bolted.
"Stop, Aubree! Don't move!" one of the thugs shouted.
Ethan and Samson were the first to arrive with reinforcements. They quickly deployed teams to secure the mall, then split up to search for Aubree. Ethan led his team up from the underground garage via the emergency stairwell, while Samson conducted a sweep through the mall interior.
By sheer luck, Ethan heard someone yelling Aubree's name when he was approaching the underground garage. As he was about to lead his team inside, a group of men brandishing iron rods emerged from the shadows and blocked their path.
"Hey, buddy, we're handling some business here. Mind staying out of our way?" His words sounded polite enough, but the ominous scraping of the iron rod he dragged along the ground told a different story.
Ethan wasted no words. "Get them," he commanded.
These men were trained thugs, but against Ethan and his team, they stood no chance at all. In just a few moves, they were all knocked flat on the ground.
The burly thugs lay sprawled all over the ground, every bone in their bodies screaming in pain. 'Where the hell did these monsters come from?' they wondered. 'Damn! Our intel never mentioned Aubree had backup like this!'
"Go in and find her. Ensure Miss Miller is unharmed," Ethan ordered.
The bodyguards fanned out in different directions. Fortunately, the pursuing thugs' relentless shouting gave them crucial clues to Aubree and Isla's whereabouts.
Unfamiliar with the mall, Aubree and Isla panicked and ran toward random directions, turning down any passage they saw, until their luck ran out and they found themselves cornered in a dead end.
The four thugs closed in, panting heavily. "Run? Try running now!" one of them snarled.
Aubree clenched her fists nervously as she faced the four men. "Who hired you to do this? The Wilson family?"
One of the thugs sneered, "Wilson family? Never heard of 'em. Quit playing games. You've only got yourself to blame for pissing off the wrong people."
Not the Wilson family?' Aubree's expression darkened. Even with the self-defense moves she and Isla knew, four trained thugs seriously outmatched them.
Aubree pushed Isla behind her, whipped out a foldable pocket knife she always carried, and held it out in front of her with a trembling hand. "Stay back!"
Aubree was gasping for breath, her knife-wielding hand trembling. She was already a mess from their frantic dash, let alone Isla, who had even kicked off her high heels in desperation.
One of the thugs sneered, "Hey there, sweetheart, think you can handle that little knife? Don't get yourself hurt." The four of them showed not a hint of fear. They even broke into mocking laughter.
The folding knife was compact in Aubree's hand, yet its blade gleamed razor-sharp.
Just as Aubree got caught in a desperate struggle, Ethan arrived in the nick of time.
Unlike the guards at the entrance, these four were genuine desperadoes, some even on the wanted list.
The four thugs exchanged glances. Three of them charged straight at Ethan, while the last one lunged fiercely at Aubree, intent on subduing her. Aubree reacted swiftly, throwing up her hands in defense.
Isla didn't just watch. She rushed forward to help Aubree.
Outside the mall, Alvin and his team met Bowen. Without a word, they locked eyes and rushed together toward the underground parking garage.
They sprinted over, only to watch helplessly as the accident unfolded before their eyes.
In the chaos, Aubree's hand slipped, and the knife plunged deep into the man's abdomen. A torrent of crimson blood gushed out, coating her trembling hands.
The burly man howled in pain and, with a desperate surge of strength, flung both women off, sending them crashing to the ground. Clutching his bleeding abdomen, his face twisted in utter disbelief. He glared at Aubree with murderous eyes, like a vengeful demon.
"Clang!" The knife hit the floor.
Aubree's entire body trembled uncontrollably, a bone-chilling dread seizing her. "I... I killed someone," she choked out.
Isla immediately wrapped her arms around Aubree in a tight embrace. "Don't be afraid," she soothed. "Bowen's here now. Everything will be alright."
The other three, realizing the tide had turned, tried to flee. But Ethan moved like lightning, ordering his team to intercept them.
"Mr. Turner!" Ethan stepped aside and called out.
One thug lay sprawled on the ground, his fate unknown, while the other three stared up in terror as Bowen advanced toward them.
'Turner? Bowen Turner?' One of the thugs panicked, thinking, "Damn! That guy never said that girl had someone like Bowen backing her!'
Bowen had just rushed over from a meeting, clad in an impeccably tailored suit. His features were a mesmerizing blend of ethereal and devilish charm. With a slight tilt of his head, he gazed down at them as if they were nothing more than insects beneath his notice.
His features were almost sculptural, his posture tall and straight, but his expression was far from pleasant now. With lowered brows and a piercing gaze, he radiated suffocating intensity.
A bone-chilling aura sliced through the air.
At that moment, Bowen was beyond reason. The sight of Aubree desperately defending herself with a knife ignited a murderous rage in him. He wanted nothing more than to slaughter every last one of these men.
Still, Alvin, fearing that the man on the ground might die and leave Aubree facing murder charges, immediately ordered his men to stop the bleeding and rush him to the hospital.
'As for the other three? Well, they'll naturally be "persuaded" to reveal who was pulling the strings,' Alvin thought.
Like uncle, like nephew. Alvin and Bowen had that same chilling and terrifying gaze.