Chapter 423 Who Killed Winner (1/2)

What really perplexed Jean was the fact that the worried and anxious expressions on Joy's face weren't mere play-acting but real.

However, now was not the time to dwell on real or fake. The launches had already been docked on the shore now. And several young men jumped on to the shore one by one, led by a man with a beard.

”Where is Shirley?” Joy asked as she ran towards the bearded man. She had taken the lead in rushing out and was now staring closely at him standing in front of the crowd. ”I thought we agreed that I would get Shirley back as soon as I brought the ransom! Where is she? What have you done with her?” Joy questioned him once again.

”I told you to come alone. But you brought these guys with you! Doesn't that violate the terms? Clearly you broke our agreement first.” The young man who seemed to be the leader glanced coldly at Zed who was standing behind Joy, following which, his roaming eyes came to a halt when they fell on Jean's face for a few seconds. He seemed unhappy with the grouped arrival.

”You demanded a ransom of a hundred million dollars from me. If I hadn't asked them for money, where else would I have gotten such an outrageous amount? Besides, how else could I have felt safe?” Joy didn't seem afraid of him though, and she retorted immediately in an equally angered voice.

By that time, both Zed and Jean realized that things hadn't turned out as they had expected. They glanced at each other in confusion.

'There is no way that the anger and worry on Joy's face are pretentious or make-believe. They are genuine!

Do we guess everything wrong? Does Joy really have nothing to do with the kidnapping?

Have we all misjudged her this badly?' They both thought in unison as

Zed gave Jean a soothing look. He shook his head gently, motioning her to wait and see what would happen next.

Jean suddenly understood what Zed had actually meant and moved forward to stand near Joy.

”Don't get anxious, Joy! They are here now and I think they will bring Shirley soon.” She soothed and calmed her stepmother down.

”Oh?” The bearded man was surprised on her sudden entry into the discussion. ”You seem quite confident. It seems like you have really brought the ransom money!” Looking at Jean in an interesting way, the bearded man responded.

”Of course we brought the money. We want to save Shirley's life and we aren't going to take any risks with that. All the money is here. If you want it, just take it but let Shirley go first.” She looked up at the bearded man with a serious face.