Third person's POV
After being injected with some drug by Matilda, Tabitha felt as if all her strength had been instantly drained.
Her body was limp, like a pile of mud, making it extremely difficult to even stand.
Overwhelmed by intense drowsiness, she felt groggy, her head unusually heavy, her thoughts mired in a dense fog, and her reactions severely slowed.
She could hear Matilda speaking clearly, but her brain, like a rusty machine, took several seconds to respond with effort.
In her heart, she was screaming, wanting to escape this terrifying place, but her limbs seemed to be under a spell, refusing to obey.
She was deeply worried. If she had been injected with drugs, she didn't know what had happened to Ayla or where she was.
Had those perverts done something terrible to her?
Tabitha was roughly dressed by several rude individuals in a gorgeous yet humiliating outfit.
Then, someone meticulously applied makeup to her face and styled her hair.
Matilda stood by, looking at Tabitha in her splendid attire, her eyes gleaming with a twisted light, as if admiring a rare treasure.
She murmured to herself, "God has been too generous to you, giving you such a face that could captivate a nation."
With that, she reached out and, like a pervert, gently caressed Tabitha's face. The cold touch of her fingers on Tabitha's skin made her feel nauseous, and goosebumps covered her body.
Tabitha mustered all her strength and said in a voice as faint as a whisper, "Let us go, or you will regret it. My ex-husband will not spare you..."
"Ha, you said he's your ex-husband. You should worry about your lover," Matilda sneered dismissively.
"We are just friends," Tabitha hurriedly explained.
"I don't care what you are to each other. He angered me, and I hold grudges. I will make him suffer," Matilda's eyes flickered with mad hatred.
"What do you want to do?" Tabitha's heart was filled with fear, and her voice trembled involuntarily.
"You will find out soon enough," Matilda said coldly.
Then, Tabitha's eyes were covered with a black cloth, and she was carried to a place.
She could feel that this place was very cramped, with hard bars all around, as if she was locked in a cage-like structure.
"Let me go!" Tabitha struggled desperately, but her struggles were so weak under the influence of the drug.
Under the strong influence of the drug, Tabitha completely lost her sense of time. There was only one thought echoing in her mind: Where is Ayla?
She didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly, a childish voice rang in her ear, "Where is Wilmot?"
"Good kid, you will see Wilmot soon," a strange voice said.
"Ayla! Ayla, where are you?" Hearing her daughter's voice, Tabitha frantically called out.
"Mommy!" Ayla's voice came through.
Then, the restraints in front of Tabitha were untied, and she felt blurry before her eyes, taking several seconds to gradually adapt to the surrounding lights.
She saw Ayla, like her, wearing a beautiful silver princess dress.
However, they were each locked in two adjacent cages.
"Mommy!" Ayla clutched the bars with her small hands, her eyes glistening with tears.
Tabitha carefully observed her daughter and was relieved to see that her mental state seemed fine. At least she hadn't been drugged.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here," Tabitha quickly soothed Ayla with a gentle voice, even though she herself was in danger and filled with fear.
Although she didn't know how much time had passed, the one thing she could be sure of was that it must have been past dinner time.
She silently prayed that Forrest would realize she was missing and wondered if Wilmot would be able to find her.
"How touching," Matilda said as she sat on the table with her legs elegantly crossed, her black fishnet-clad calves looking sexy and tempting under the light.
Her red-nailed fingers held a bottle of medicine, and her face wore a twisted smile as she said, "I have a bottle of medicine here with the same effect as that night. Would you like to drink it or have your daughter drink it?"
Tabitha struggled to get up from the cage, clutching the iron bars tightly with both hands, her eyes revealing despair and anger, "We have no grudges against you. Why are you doing this to a child and me? I said if you let us go, I will give you any amount of money you want!"
Matilda reached out, gently lifting Tabitha's chin with her finger, and sneered, "You shouldn't feel wrong. There's a reason for every grievance. He tormented me, and today, I will take all my revenge on his woman. You should blame yourself for being blind and choosing this man."
Seeing that things were getting out of control, Tabitha knew that even though she was reluctant, mentioning Derek might be the only chance for survival at this moment.
"My ex-husband is Derek, and this is his daughter. If you harm us in any way, he will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and tear you into pieces!"
"The Greenwoods?" Matilda, who had been abroad for a long time, was not very clear about the news in the States.
She had only vaguely heard that there was a powerful family in Seattle with the surname Greenwood, who held immense power locally.
If the woman in front of her was indeed the ex-wife of the top tycoon, then she indeed could not be harmed.
"Yes, I am his ex-wife," Tabitha said firmly, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.