Chapter 380

Luis let his mouth curl into something that was neither smile nor frown, his voice sharp as broken glass. "Tell me, what did Howe dangle in front of you that was worth your soul? Forged papers, swapped infants,you played God like it was child's play."

His words cut short as his eyes slid toward Reginald,dangling upside down like a slaughtered beast.

He continued with a bite of contempt, "And you,Reginald Todd. Sherwood painted you a dream of quiet days and easy living. That fantasy ends tonight."

Luis' brow tightened, and his tone shifted,pressing harder. "Was there really nothing more? Did you sell yourself just to keep driving trucks, or..."

He leaned in, voice dropping low,each word dripping poison. "...or is Sherwood holding your son's life overseas as ransom?"

The mention of his child sent Reginald into a fit of panic. He thrashed wildly, rope biting deeper into his flesh until blood streaked his ankles, his eyes wide with desperate terror. Luis watched the spectacle with cold detachment, lips twisting into a cruel line. "I have time," he murmured,almost amused. "So start talking. I'll listen to every word."

A deafening crack of thunder tore through the night sky.

Rain hammered against the warehouse roof, sheets of water racing down the walls.

The storm rattled the building until the hanging bulb swung violently, shadows jerking across the captives ' faces in grotesque shapes.

In the shifting glow, Luis' figure towered, the outline of a predator circling its prey. He rolled the cigar between his fingers, the ember pulsing in rhythm with the glint of steel in his gaze.

Bohumil shook so hard the chair rattled beneath him.When the thunder rolled again, he flinched, his swollen eyes lifting just enough to lock on Luis with raw fear.

Reginald writhed harder with every crack of thunder,his body swinging like a pendulum. His eyes, veined and wild, brimmed with terror. The rope dug mercilessly into his ankles until fresh blood spilled down, dripping onto the concrete and blending with the rainwater swept in through the slightly open window, forming a grotesque crimson pool.

Luis broke the silence with a voice that cut colder than the storm outside. "Do you hear it? That thunder is the echo of my sister's screams twenty-five years ago,the helpless cries no one answered. It is also the mourning of my parents. Tonight, it is your turn to pay for it all."

Another violent crash of thunder rattled the rafters,making the bulb sway madly.

The warehouse seemed to shrink in on itself, thick with suffocating dread that pressed against every chest.

Unable to endure the weight of it any longer, Bohumil cracked. His wrists strained against the ropes, his swollen eyes rolling in panic before his voice tore free.

"I'LL speak! I'll confess everything!" The words spilled out,ragged and desperate, flecked with spit and blood."It was June 15th, twenty-five years ago. A woman in my care started hemorrhaging during childbirth. The baby... the baby was already gone."

Luis' gaze locked on him, unblinking, and Bohumil lowered his head as though scorched. "I was about to report it," he whispered hoarsely, "when Howe stormed in. He shoved his phone in my face, a video of my daughter. He said if I didn't do as he asked, she'd suffer."

Rain whipped harder against the metal roof, water dripping through in erratic streams. The light flickered,buzzing like an electric warning, throwing the scene into a stuttering nightmare.

Luis dropped his half-burned cigar onto the wet floor,grinding the ember out beneath his shoe. "Keep talking."

Bohumil darted a glance upward, caught the icy blade of Luis' stare, and immediately looked away again.

"He told me to switch the Sampson baby girl with the dead child and to falsify the records. In exchange, he handed me two million. But his warning was worse than the bribe; if I breathed a word of it, I'd never live to see forty."