The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 74: Chapter 74

Victor staggered out of the hospital and looked around. The street was full of traffic and people. He shouted Leon's name loudly but got no response.
"Leon? Leon!" Victor's voice was hoarse from anxiety and physical exhaustion.
He bent over and searched for Leon in the dense crowd, and soon big drops of sweat rolled down his forehead.
A child as young as Leon couldn't have run far. He might be on a nearby street, or maybe he'd stopped in fear and started crying. However, no matter where Victor looked, he couldn't find Leon's figure.
Just as he was extremely anxious, his phone rang with an unknown number. Victor hesitated for a moment and answered the call.
A rough-voiced man said, "Your son is in our hands. If you want him to stay alive, prepare one million dollars in cash."
Victor was stunned, then asked, "Who are you? Why did you kidnap my son?"
"Cut the crap. One million dollars, deliver it to the abandoned factory in the north of the city by twelve noon tomorrow." Then the kidnapper hung up.
Victor held the phone and couldn't stop trembling. The fact that Leon had been kidnapped left his mind blank. He really didn't know what to do.
Standing at the hospital entrance, Victor almost went crazy as he dialed Serena's number, only to hear a prompt that his number was blocked by her.
He cursed fiercely, then threw the phone hard to the ground. Then he panickedly picked up the broken phone and stopped a passerby.
He said, "Can I borrow your phone? I have something extremely urgent."
The passer-by looked at him hesitantly, feeling uneasy at the desperation in his eyes, but finally nodded.
Victor almost pressed the wrong number, his hands shaking uncontrollably. Finally, he heard a familiar voice.
Serena answered with a hint of confusion, then casually took the bag from Keith's hand.
When her fingertips touched Keith's palm, he was slightly taken aback, then placed the bag firmly in her hand.
Serena recognized the hoarse voice as Victor's.
Victor said, "Serena, it's me."
"Victor?" Serena frowned, her tone unfriendly. She turned to hang up on this call but suddenly heard Victor's urgent plea.
He said, "Leon is in trouble. He's been kidnapped."
Serena's hand holding the phone froze, and she almost fell over. However, she was afraid this was just a new trick for Victor to bring her back.
Her reason warned her not to believe this easily, but she didn't dare to risk Leon's life to verify if Victor was lying again.
Victor had never joked about Leon, and his voice was so flustered and urgent that it didn't sound like he was faking.
Serena said, "Victor, if you dare to lie to me—"
Victor said, "Serena, please, please don't hang up. I'm really not lying. I—"
"Where are you?" Serena interrupted him anxiously, clutching the phone tightly.
"I'm at the hospital," Victor said in despair. "Serena, please come quickly. I really don't know what to do."
Serena's heart clenched, and her voice clearly trembled. "Wait there, I'm coming right now." Without hesitation, she hung up, turned around, and grabbed Keith's arm. "I'm sorry, something's happened to Leon. I have to go."
"What's going on?" Keith looked at Serena's pale face in confusion.
Serena gripped her phone, too anxious to speak coherently. She was shaking all over, her legs weak, barely able to stand. "Leon's been kidnapped. What do I do... What do I do?"
Keith's gaze sharpened, and he calmed Serena, who was on the verge of crashing out with the most direct action.
"Don't panic. I'll handle it." He took out his phone, quickly dialed a number, and ordered clearly and crisply, "Confirm the whereabouts of a boy for me immediately. He was kidnapped near the hospital. The faster, the better."
After hanging up, he said gently to Serena, "Relax. Leon will be fine. I'll take you to find Victor."
Serena nodded. Although her face was still pale, she held onto her last hope and tried to calm down.
Half an hour later, Serena rushed into a café next to the hospital and asked Victor, who was sitting in a corner in a daze, "Where's Leon?"
Victor looked up in a daze. The bruise on his lip was not yet fully healed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Leon ran out after arguing with me, and when I... I chased after him, but I couldn't find him."
Serena was so angry that she shook. She slapped the table furiously. "Victor, did you have to argue with a child?"
Victor lowered his head and sat dejectedly in the chair. Self-blame filled his heart. He shouldn't have quarreled with Leon, and he shouldn't have failed to chase after him when he ran out in a fit of pique.
If he had chased after him, Leon wouldn't have been kidnapped. Victor couldn't bear to think about what might happen to Leon next.
"I'm sorry, I didn't protect him well," Serena choked out. "Leon is still so young and unfamiliar with this place. Didn't you think he might have an accident?"
"Alright, Seri, the most important thing now is to find Leon," Keith suddenly said. He stood between the two, his cold gaze sweeping over Victor before turning to Serena. "My people are already searching for clues."
Serena bit her lip and silently calmed down.
Keith continued, "Seri, calm down first. Since Leon was kidnapped, the kidnappers probably just want money, so his life isn't in danger for now."
Victor stared at Keith's hand gently resting on Serena's shoulder.
He stared fixedly at that hand, but none of this mattered now because Leon was still missing.
Victor said, "Yes, they're asking for one million dollars, to be delivered to the abandoned factory in the north of the city by tomorrow noon."
"Money isn't a problem," Keith said with a stern expression, but his tone was unusually calm. "As long as we can rescue Leon, we can spend any amount."
Serena was taken aback, then said, "Thank you, but we should pay this money. I can't let you sacrifice so much for my child."