Chapter 531: Coercion
Chapter 531 -373: Coercion
“Let her go!”
The man fighting Marcus Monroe was the commander, and he was quite skilled. Though a cut below Marcus, capturing him alive wouldn’t be easy. However, he was extremely concerned for the woman’s safety, so when he saw her taken hostage by Paige Summers, he faltered for a moment.
Marcus Monroe seized that opportunity and wounded his arm.
The man hastily retreated behind his subordinates for protection and ordered the others to stop their attack.
He snarled, “Let her go. You might still get out of this alive. Otherwise…”
Paige Summers glanced at him and tightened her grip, drawing a trickle of blood from the woman’s neck. Paige was already taller than her captive. Tilting her head, she looked down at the woman she had met once before and said softly, “It’s Sunny, right? Tell that boy that if he keeps shouting, you’re going to die.”
Sunny’s face was deathly pale.
Still, she had the sense to murmur a few words in Rovarian to the man, urging him to calm down and not be rash.
After a moment of silence, she asked, “What do you want?”
Paige Summers cracked a mirthless smile. “I should be the one asking you that. What are you doing here?”
Sunny fell silent.
Paige Summers continued, “Fine, don’t talk. I can’t be bothered with nonsense anyway. If you want to live, there’s only one way: trade me for Summers Twelve! And remember, I want Summers Twelve completely unharmed!”
“Impossible!” The word escaped Sunny’s lips, but then she felt the cold blade on her neck sliding back and forth.
Paige Summers snorted. “Is that so? Then forget it. Killing the Island Master’s own sister… that’s a worthwhile trade, too!”
Sunny’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. Given her status, she had never been threatened like this. In truth, she only ever acted demure and gentle in front of Summers Twelve. Everyone else treated her like a princess, fawning over her and catering to her every whim.
For the first time, she felt so close to death.
The woman behind her radiated a chilling killing intent so palpable it felt like a physical force. She was certain that for this woman, killing was no difficult feat.
So, a note of compromise crept into her voice.
“No… Don’t do this… You can have anything you want, except him…”
“I only want him.”
Paige Summers’s voice was quiet, yet utterly resolute and unshakeable.
Sunny bit her lip. After a long pause, she said, “My status on this island may be high, but in my brother’s heart, I’m not as valuable as Lord Summers. Even if I agree to this, it’s useless; my brother won’t consent to the exchange. At this point, killing me won’t help your situation. It will only make it harder for you to escape. If you let me go now, I can make the call to let you leave safely. How about it?”
Paige Summers sneered.
‘Does she take me for a fool?’
‘If all we wanted was to leave after waiting this long, we might as well have just fought our way through!’
‘I don’t believe a single word this woman says!’
“You don’t want to hand him over, and you don’t want to die. You can’t have it both ways.” Her body tensed, her expression and tone growing severe. “I’ll ask you one more time. Are you handing him over or not?!”
Realizing this was an ultimatum, Sunny felt her vision swim.
‘Everything I said was the truth! Why won’t this woman believe me!’
‘My brother values me, but he would never agree to trade me for Lord Summers! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have pushed me to be with Lord Summers in the first place. He wanted to use a soft approach to tie Lord Summers down! All these years, my painstaking efforts to charm Lord Summers were for nothing but his shipbuilding blueprints. Even the help I offered was all done with my brother’s consent.’
‘My brother said that a man like Lord Summers responds to a gentle approach, not to force; you can’t push him too hard. As long as I could make Lord Summers feel my complete and utter devotion, he would one day come to trust me completely!’
‘But… I haven’t gotten to that day yet…’
‘How could my brother possibly be willing to let Lord Summers go!’
‘But… I really don’t want to die!’
‘What should I do? How can I survive this?’
Sunny’s eyes stung, welling up with tears.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
Hearing this, however, Paige Summers felt no particular joy.
Marcus Monroe, who was standing guard nearby, glanced at Sunny and said, “Now, have everyone else fall back. The leader will go back alone and bring Summers Twelve here.”
Sunny’s tears finally rolled down her cheeks. With a pitiful and helpless expression, she said to the commander, “Lord Cameron, they want Summers Twelve. They want you to go back alone and bring him here to exchange for me. I know that my brother… so, I can only entrust this to you…”
Her expression, conveying a thousand unspoken feelings, made Cameron’s heart ache with pity.
He already yearned for Sunny; otherwise, he wouldn’t have specifically invited her over today. He knew Sunny didn’t truly like Summers Twelve and was only with him because it was the Island Master’s will. The original purpose of this trip was to let Sunny witness his heroic prowess in rounding up these Astorians, after which he hoped for an opportunity to win her favor.
He never expected it to turn into a scene like this.
While his heart ached for Sunny, he remained hesitant about the situation before him.
He knew just as well that the Island Master would never let Summers Twelve go.
Over the past few years, Sunny had painstakingly managed to steal some incomplete shipbuilding blueprints from Summers Twelve. The Island Master was full of praise every time he saw them, but the blueprints were incomplete, making it impossible to successfully build the ships. The finesse of Summers Twelve’s techniques was not something others could supplement.
However, the other members of the Summers Family were incredibly resolute; they would rather take their own lives than allow their kin to be threatened over their safety. The Island Master had no choice but to feign ignorance of Summers Twelve’s secret rescue operations, hoping to lower his guard. Simultaneously, he pushed Sunny to the forefront to win more of Summers Twelve’s trust.
And Summers Twelve had indeed been gradually falling into the trap, beginning to see Sunny as his wife. But the sudden appearance of these Astorians disrupted the entire plan! The Island Master hadn’t paid them much mind at first, not until two of them abducted someone from the Sherman Family…
But even now, the Island Master still hadn’t given up on his plan to sway Summers Twelve. Setting this ambush here to capture these Astorians was all just to make Summers Twelve finally yield!
And now, Sunny was pleading with him to secretly bring Summers Twelve out…
‘I could probably succeed, but what then?’
‘If these people really do take Summers Twelve, how will the Island Master deal with me?’
His expression was conflicted for a moment before he finally made up his mind. He straightened his back, lowered his head, and said, “Yes, I will go back and bring Summers Twelve over now!”
Cameron ordered all his subordinates to spread out and then turned to leave.
Just then, a voice suddenly called out, “Lord Cameron, please wait!”
Cameron instantly stiffened.
He turned his head mechanically toward the source of the voice. Only then did everyone realize that Finn Sherman was standing in a corner near the headland, and no one knew how long he’d been there.
He was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He strolled over with an easy gait, step by step, until he was standing beside Marcus Monroe. Finn Sherman then said amiably to Cameron, “You’re planning to go back and report to the Island Master, aren’t you…”