The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains
Chapter 150 Buying Time

Sophia was chilling in her bed, enjoying some downtime, when her phone started blowing up.

Annoyed, she finally answered, "Seriously, can't you give it a rest? What do you want?"

"Miss Brown, you can't just boss us around and then act like this!" The voice on the other end was all too familiar, and Sophia rolled her eyes. "You said we could handle the situation, and if we got caught, you'd take the blame. Is that still the deal?"

Sophia could tell they wanted her to cover for them. She was curious about their plan for Veda. Were they worried about making a scene?

"Actually, it's nothing... This lady is pretty hot, so we were thinking..." they started.

"No way!" Sophia cut them off. "You can scare her, but you can't hurt her!"

Now the other end was pissed. Earlier, she had said she wanted to kill the girl. Why the sudden change of heart? The guys had been pumped all day, and now what?

Sophia snapped, "You bunch of horny idiots! Do you even know who Veda is? If you hurt her, you'll have to kill her. But whether you kill her or not, you'll leave evidence. Once her family reports it, have you thought about the consequences? They'll catch you, and you'll end up in jail, then you'll think about ratting me out!"

Sophia's mood darkened. She had only wanted to scare Veda, to show her that the world wasn't just about the Smith family's power. If she threw some money around, even the Smith heiress could be brought down a peg.

But she hadn't expected Veda's looks to catch the criminals' attention. If things went south, her own risk of exposure would skyrocket.

"Isn't that a bit much? Didn't you say you'd take responsibility for anything that happened?" they asked.

That was just her being angry. But these guys took it seriously!

Sophia was livid. "I said you can't harm Veda, and I mean it! If you push it, I'll call the cops on you right now!"

Her threat might scare a kid, but these were seasoned pros. They made a living kidnapping rich heirs and extorting them. Always on the run, they weren't afraid of the police.

The voice on the other end gave her an ultimatum. "Sophia, you told us to grab her. I recorded our call. You want to deny it? No way! The Smith family is loaded; they can pay any ransom. This is a golden opportunity, but you just want us to scare Veda!"

"But we took the risk to grab her and kept her for days. We need something out of this, either money or the girl!"

With that, the call ended.

All that was left was the rhythmic sound of the call ending and Sophia's heart pounding erratically.

"They're back, I can't talk," Veda whispered.

On the other side, the tense rescue continued. Michael was in the back seat, coordinating, while Daniel drove and Emily comforted Veda.

"It's okay, Veda, just hide the phone for now. Daniel's driving fast, and we should be there in about twenty minutes. You need to stall them, don't let them replace the phone. Got it?" Emily's calm and firm words gave Veda a sense of security.

Veda nodded, listening to the sounds outside the door. She quickly hid the phone and braced herself as footsteps approached.

"What are you doing?" A rough voice breathed in her face.

Veda trembled, tears falling. But she remembered Emily's instructions. Stall for twenty minutes. Just twenty minutes. If she could hold out, she'd be saved.

"I'm hungry," Veda said, her voice shaking. "Please, can I have something to eat before you... you know?"

The kidnapper eyed her suspiciously. This was the first time she'd asked for anything. He scrutinized her but found nothing unusual.

"Okay," he finally said. He figured it was better to keep her fed; it would make things easier later. He decided to go out and get some food.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked.

"I want macarons, black truffle pasta, and a cup of hot coffee..." Veda started.

Before she could finish, the kidnapper grabbed her chin roughly. "Miss, wake up! This isn't the Emerald City Center or the Smith Mansion. You get instant noodles. Wait here, I'll get them." Instant noodles? That wouldn't stall for twenty minutes!

Veda, under immense pressure, tried to think fast. "Please... instant noodles are fine, but can you get me some McDonald's? There's McDonald's everywhere, right?"

She remembered Emily mentioning a nearby McDonald's when she turned on location sharing earlier. McDonald's would be busy, and it had surveillance cameras. If she escaped, she could use the footage to identify the kidnapper. "I really want McDonald's," Veda continued. "I'll pay you back when you return. You must be hungry too, buy some for yourself. No, buy as much as you want! It's on me!"