Chapter 165

In the darkness, Darcy mysteriously emerged from the nearby bushes. Behind her were two others...

Startled, Winnie instinctively shielded Melissa behind her, her mind racing in all directions. She furrowed her brows in disbelief and asked, "Darcy, how did you end up here?"

Regardless of Darcy's reason for being here, Winnie was certain that she had ulterior motives. She speculated on the purpose behind Darcy's unexpected appearance.

Darcy stared at her pale face and let out a cold laugh, forcefully pushing Winnie to the ground onto the grass.

"Ah!" Winnie, carrying a child and exhausted from an entire night's ordeal without food or drink, couldn't endure it any longer.

Having fallen into the bushes, she struggled to get up, drenched in cold sweat.

"Winnie! Darcy, what are you doing?!" Melissa weakly shouted, gasping for breath, trying to sit up.

Darcy signaled to one of the men, who immediately walked towards Melissa, forcefully pulling her away from Winnie.

"Darcy, don't touch my mother! Let her go. I need to take her to the hospital for treatment. She's in danger."

Winnie widened her eyes, her anxiety rising as she continued to struggle to stand. Darcy stepped on her wrist, preventing her from doing so.

Crouching down, Darcy's eyes radiated a chilling coldness, though her lips curled into a smile. "Godmother is indeed in danger, so I came to save her. Who would believe that you would be the one attempting to save her? You and your uncle conspired to kidnap her. Such despicable acts. Guess what? When Mr. Rodriguez finds out, how do you think he will react?"

Winnie's heart was filled with pain.

But in a sudden burst, she countered, "How do you know that my uncle kidnapped my mother? It happened so suddenly, yet you arrived even faster than the police!"

Darcy remained silent, a strange smile playing at the edges of her lips.

She raised her hand, forcefully pinching Winnie's cheek, revealing the self-inflicted scars on her wrist. "When you forced me to leave Lymington, I paid a heavy price to come back. This scar will always remind me of how repulsive it is. I bear the burden of being violated by a man. Back then, I swore to get Lawrence back and crush you under my feet."

Winnie found her accusations unreasonable. "You left Lymington because you harmed my innocent child multiple times, attempting to kill me. The punishment you received from Lawrence has nothing to do with me. You can't blame me for not winning his heart. Even without me, he would have ended the engagement with you long ago. He doesn't want to marry you."

"You're talking nonsense. Without you, he would have been mine eventually! But soon enough, thanks to your uncle's help, I will make sure you watch as I take him away."

"To give birth to his child, to love him, and stand by his side? You won't have that chance in this lifetime!"

Darcy's cold scorn and unyielding smile caused a surge of unease within Winnie. "What do you mean by that?"

Darcy stood up, towering over her, and stared at her belly with an envious gleam in her eyes. "What do I mean? You'll understand soon enough."

With that, she kicked Winnie's abdomen with all her might!

Winnie convulsed in excruciating pain, writhing in agony. She was about to scream but stopped herself.

Swiftly, another man approached, brandishing a silver needle, and struck her neck forcefully.

"Winnie! Winnie!" Melissa desperately wanted to rush forward, coughing up a trace of blood out of sheer worry.

"Mom..." Winnie's vision began to darken, feeling intense pain in her abdomen by a sensation of blood flowing downwards. She managed to crawl a bit, sinking into the darkness of her final moments, and saw Darcy taking her mother away!

Her mom needed to be sent to the hospital as soon as possible, or something bad would happen...

"Ugh!" Winnie woke up in a state of urgency.

The darkness still enveloped her. Was she being moved by someone? She trembled slightly.

"Winnie?!" Elliott's voice, laced with pain, called out to her.

"Uncle? How did you find me?"

Elliott held her, stumbling through the bushes. "A man in glasses from the police chased after me. I barely managed to escape. I saw you in the bushes just now. Why were you so foolish? Why did you run away with that woman? Where is she?"

"Mom was taken away by someone." Winnie's anxiety deepened as she worried about whether Darcy would hurt her mother or get her to the hospital.

"Your stomach is bleeding!" Elliott's face turned pale. "And my leg is injured. That man, the one with the police, is searching for me. I have to find a place to hide you first."

Winnie's complexion turned ashen as she clutched her throbbing stomach.

Limping, Elliott eventually found a house in the mountains.

He gently set her down, and Winnie breathed heavily, immediately asking her uncle to retrieve the packet of needles from her pocket. She took a hemostatic pill.

The baby inside her belly was restlessly moving, likely to hurt Darcy's kick.

Winnie's eyes welled up as she gently touched her belly, unsure if everything was okay. Anxious, she took out some first-aid supplies and hurriedly had her uncle tear open his trousers.

His stump was a bloody mess, trembling in pain. Winnie looked at him with anguish, struggling to move herself, and then carefully applied medicine to his wound.

Elliott passed out from the pain.

Winnie stroked her belly, waiting anxiously with beads of a cold seat on her forehead.

The next morning, her uncle regained consciousness. His wound had become infected and he was running a fever.

In a low voice, Winnie tried to persuade him, "Uncle, you should turn yourself in. The man you mentioned should be Jeremy, Lawrence's friend. If he's bringing the police, it means we can't hide this anymore. I originally wanted to take Mom back home for treatment last night, but I was worried about you getting into serious trouble. However, now-"

"The police have likely taken the case, it's too late for everything. Your leg needs medical attention, and I'm unsure if something is wrong with my stomach. Plus, there's also Mom, she was taken away by Darcy. She's not a good person, and I'm very worried about her. I really want to go out and find her, okay?"

As she spoke, tears streamed down Winnie's face.

Elliott's expression was one of despair, marked by a profound send of hopelessness. "I've endured suffering for ten years and gained nothing. Lawrence is merciless! Your cousin is still in his hands!"

"I will plead with him. After all, I'm still carrying his child. He won't completely disregard any feelings."

"Do not ignore it, Uncle. We need to stop making mistakes. This is the point of no return, and it's a real threat to your daughter's life!"

With the failed kidnapping, Elliott fell silent, visibly frightened by the turn of events. He didn't expect the police to arrive so quickly! He buried his face in his hands.

Ultimately, as if resigned to his circumstances, he nodded.

Winnie took a deep breath and said, "Let's leave now."

"Oh, by the way, why did you kidnap Mom yesterday?" Jasmine Manor had many bodyguards, and Lawrence always ensured his mother's safety.

Elliott explained, "Someone provided me with Lawrence's mother's phone number. After I found out that the villa was heavily guarded, I deliberately lured her out. When she came out, I kidnapped her."

"Who provided you with the number?" A sudden change came over Winnie's face.

"It was a woman's voice I hadn't heard before. She used a disposable number. I had no other choice at the time!"

Winnie suddenly froze. A woman? She remembered Darcy, who had appeared the previous night, locating her and her mother so accurately.

Could it have been Darcy who told her uncle, using Mom as a way to deal with Lawrence?

This woman clearly harbored ulterior motives. She had no good intentions for Mom!

"Uncle, we need to move quickly. I need to find Mom as soon as possible..." Winnie supported herself against the wall and stood up.

However, Elliott seemed lost in thought. He looked at her and, after putting on his prosthetic limb, he slowly walked outside the cabin and suddenly closed the door!

"Uncle?" Winnie paused and immediately rushed over, attempting to pull open the door!