The Prison-Made Queen novel Chapter 524

Judie bit her lip nervously, shaking her head as if trying to physically dislodge the terrifying thoughts. "She'll be fine... Leilani is incredibly smart. She definitely won't let anything happen to her."

Yet, despite her brave words, Judie's hands were trembling uncontrollably.

Who on earth had kidnapped Leilani?

...

It was a question that even Leilani herself couldn't answer at this exact moment.

Inside a pitch-black warehouse, the suffocating stench of damp mold mixed with the sharp metallic tang of rust assaulted her nose. Leilani slowly opened her eyes. A sickening, dull ache throbbed at the back of her head, and her vision remained blurry for several agonizing seconds before finally coming into focus.

Leilani tried to move her hands slightly, only to quickly realize the grim reality of her situation. Her wrists were bound securely behind her back with thick, abrasive rope, and her ankles were tied tightly together. She was lying sideways on a freezing concrete floor, surrounded by towering, heavily rusted metal shelving units.

She gave the bindings an experimental tug, but the coarse rope immediately bit viciously into her flesh, leaving a burning trail of pain. Judging by the deep stiffness in her joints, she had been tied up like this for quite some time.

Knitting her brows together, Leilani swiftly swept her gaze across her surroundings. Based on the decaying environment, it was blatantly obvious she had been dumped in some abandoned industrial sector. Through a broken window, she could see dilapidated, corrugated iron factory buildings leaning haphazardly against one another. Overgrown weeds thrust themselves violently through deep cracks in the surrounding concrete.

The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and an extremely faint, lingering trace of gunpowder—a glaring red flag that this particular location had seen violent conflict not too long ago.

Just outside the heavy warehouse door, she could spot a few armed men slouching lazily against a battered shipping container.

Suddenly, the memories came rushing back to her like a tidal wave. She remembered driving to the gala. She had one hand draped over the steering wheel while her other hand lightly tapped her Bluetooth earpiece, listening to Yvonne's endless barrage of excited nagging.

"Leilani, you look so incredibly gorgeous tonight, you absolutely have to stun the entire crowd!"

Leilani had smiled faintly, glancing up at her rearview mirror entirely out of habit.

And then, her smile had instantly frozen on her face. A black, heavy-duty SUV had materialized behind her at some point, mirroring her every move and maintaining the exact same trailing distance.

Having dealt with stalkers and sabotage before, Leilani's survival instincts were razor-sharp. She pressed down on the gas pedal, smoothly and covertly accelerating while simultaneously assessing the chaotic city traffic around her.

In her earpiece, Yvonne was still babbling enthusiastically. "Let me tell you..."

Leilani desperately locked her arms, stabilizing the steering wheel. Her tires screeched against the asphalt as the car skidded several meters forward, barely managing to pull over to the side of the road before stalling out.

Her eyes turned positively glacial. Unbuckling her seatbelt in a flash, she snatched her purse from the passenger seat and forcefully shoved her door open.

The street was nearly deserted. The doors of the black SUV swung wide open, and four burly, heavily muscled men stepped out onto the pavement. They were all wearing surgical masks, and their eyes glinted with cold malice.

The hulking man leading the group flashed a sinister grin beneath his mask. "Sorry about that, Miss. The brakes failed."

Leilani stared at him with absolute zero degrees in her eyes. "Your brakes miraculously failed, yet you still managed to hit me with such pinpoint accuracy? Looks entirely intentional to me."

Her hand was already submerged in her purse, her fingers tightly wrapped around the hilt of the folding knife. She was primed to strike at a moment's notice.

The burly man simply shrugged his massive shoulders. "There's no need to speak so nastily, Miss. After all, we did rear-end your car. However you want to settle this... we are completely at your service!"

Despite the man's overly casual tone, his actions spoke volumes. As he slowly and methodically closed the distance between them, the other three men quietly fanned out, subtly cutting off her escape routes and forming an inescapable perimeter.