Chapter 339 - Lured

Sean arrived at Hangang park where Mrs. Song was having her evening stroll. Every evening, after dinner, she would go for a walk along the river here to aid digestion and to watch the sunset. 

A moment ago, Sean had called urgently and told her she was in danger, so she was currently sitting on the grass among some families that were having picnics and barbecues. It was a common weekend activity for Korean families to set up a tent at the park and enjoy a picnic or barbecue with their family. Mrs. Song looked around and admired their happy smiles. It had been a long time since she did something like this with her daughter. Avaleigh was always so busy, and on the rare occasion that she wasn't, it wasn't convenient for her to be seen in public. But, she couldn't blame her daughter. Avaleigh knew she had lived a tough life, so she wanted to make enough money for her to live comfortably and she succeeded. She helped her leave behind her sad memories and sponsored her over to Korea, she bought her an apartment in a safe and convenient neighborhood, and she gave her enough money to buy the clothes she wanted and eat the food she craved. However, comfortable didn't mean happy...

As she sat there, a young man suddenly ran over to her in a panic and asked, "Have you seen a little girl wandering around on her own? I lost my daughter. She was next to me one moment and gone the next!"

Mrs. Song immediately stood up worriedly and looked around. "No, I didn't take notice. How old is she and how does she look like?" she asked with concern. She had raised her daughter on her own so she could imagine how worried this father felt.

"She's only five. Her name is Evie. She was wearing a pink dress and her hair was in pigtails. If you see her, I'm just over at that tent," he said as he pointed to a solitary tent under a bridge.

Mrs. Song nodded her head and scanned around as the father kept searching. 

Not long after he wandered out of sight, Mrs. Song spotted a little girl crying near the river. She looked exactly how the young man described so she walked over to her and asked, "Are you Evie?"

The little girl sniffed and nodded her head.

Mrs. Song grabbed her little hand and walked her over to the tent that the man had pointed to earlier. "Your Daddy went to look for you. He will be back very soon." She then knelt down and wiped the girl's tears with a tissue from her pocket.

The little girl had puffy cheeks and round eyes just like Avaleigh did when she was young and it melted Mrs. Song's heart.

"I'm cold," the little girl shivered. "Can you keep me company in the tent while I wait for Daddy?" she asked as she pointed to the tent.

Mrs. Song smiled and nodded her head.

As she entered the tent, Sean arrived at the spot where she was sitting earlier and looked around. From the description that the woman had given him, she was supposed to be nearby, but he did not see anyone that resembled her.

"Excuse me, are you Mrs. Song?" he asked a middle-aged woman that was sitting down to have a rest on a bench, trying his luck even though the woman was wearing completely different colors to what Mrs. Song told him.

The woman looked at him blankly and shook her head. Of course, she was not the woman he was looking for.

Sean helplessly picked up his phone and called the number that Jackson had given him earlier to check where she was.

But...no one answered.

He had clearly spoken to her earlier, so she definitely had her phone with her. Knowing this, he tried again. But, he still didn't get through.

Left with no choice, he quickly ran around the area to see if he could find the woman. Mrs. Song said she was wearing a teal and black tracksuit with matching teal sneakers. It couldn't be too hard to find her, right?

Wrong, he did not see anyone with that description at all.

At that moment, Mrs. Song was actually busy playing with the little girl inside her tent. She reminded her of her daughter so much that she was completely in a daze and didn't hear her phone.

As she waved a teddy bear in front of the little girl, she giggled in response and it lit up her heart. Her giggle was contagious, so she waved the bear again and the girl giggled louder. But, the girl suddenly pointed to something behind her and continued to giggle. It turned out, she wasn't giggling because of the bear but because of something else.

With curiosity, Mrs. Song turned around to see what was behind her.

That was when she noticed a pair of cold-blooded eyes looking down at her. In his hand, he was holding a belt.

A man had entered the tent without her knowing.

She had met this man earlier.

But, he looked a lot different from the concerned father she thought he was.

"Daddy!" the little girl cheered. "I caught her. I win!"

Mrs. Song immediately sensed that something wasn't right and tried to stand up. But, without warning, the man wrapped his belt around her neck and covered her mouth so she couldn't make a noise. Mrs. Song subconsciously tugged at the man's arm, but all she managed to do was move his sleeve a little. As she did so, the end of a tattoo could be seen wrapping around his wrist...

"Good job, my darling. Now, go outside and play," the man said calmly as he pulled the belt tighter.

The little girl nodded her head like the scene in front of her was normal and walked out obediently.

Mrs. Song's eyes opened wide in horror as she realized what had happened.

She couldn't believe it.

This man had used his own daughter as bait and lured her into this tent! Was this the danger that Sean was warning her about? How was she so careless? 

Mrs. Song's head began to get dizzy from a lack of oxygen and her body felt weak. She wasn't strong enough to resist.

As she almost ran out of breath, the man leaned beside her ear and said, "Don't worry, your death will be a lot more pleasant than your daughter's. After you blackout, I will throw you into the river and everyone will think you committed suicide from grief. No one except your ex-husband will know that this was all his fault!"

People often said, "The love of a mother for her child is undeniably the strongest emotion in the human soul."

Just as the man thought the woman had given up, she heard him mention her daughter and a rush of emotions woke her up. What happened to her daughter? What did he do to her? Before the man realized what was happening, the woman bit him on the hand and he flinched instinctively. This momentary shock gave her just enough time to scream and call for help.

She screamed at the top of her lungs. But, it was only for a short moment before the man covered up her mouth again. "No one will hear you, I specifically chose a spot that's far away from everyone else," he snickered.

As the tent fell back into silence, Mrs. Song's heart sunk. Was this the end? Was she never seeing her daughter again?

At that moment, a soft melody could suddenly be heard coming from her pocket.

Mrs. Song glanced at her pocket and felt a glimmer of hope as she tried to scream again. It was her phone. Someone was calling...

Unfortunately, it was impossible for her to pick it up as the man tightened his belt around her neck again...