Kidnapped with My Mom【1】

Chapter One

My mother and I had just finished shopping at the supermarket and were walking back to the parking lot. To take a shortcut, we had to cut through a narrow alley.

Suddenly, a man’s loud laughter rang out behind me. “Hahaha…”

Two men stepped out from the corner of the alley. They wore short-sleeved shirts and faded jeans, their skin dark and tanned. Both stood a little over five-foot-seven, but their bodies were solid and powerful. Their arms were thick and corded with muscle, chests bulging—clearly men who had spent years doing hard physical labor.

The one on the left was middle-aged, around fifty or sixty, with a simple, honest-looking face.

The one on the right was a young guy in his mid-twenties, a worn canvas bag slung over his shoulder. He was the one who’d been laughing.

I immediately stepped forward, putting myself between them and my mother.

The two men walked toward us slowly, spreading out to either side, boxing us in.

I watched them carefully, every muscle tense.

The younger one smirked at my mother. “Lawyer Anne. We finally meet.”

My mother pressed her red lips together and gave him a professional smile. “Oliver, if you have something to discuss, you can come to my office. We were opposing parties in court. We shouldn’t be meeting privately like this…”

The middle-aged man gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Lawyer Anne. We didn’t have a choice. You’re known as a dedicated, justice-minded lawyer in the industry. So why the hell did you defend Bright Properties? They’re bloodsuckers. Scum of society…”

From his words, I pieced together what had happened. The middle-aged man was Oliver. The younger one was Liam. They were workers for Bright Properties. The company had withheld four months of their wages.

They had filed a complaint with the labor board, but after endless red tape they still hadn’t seen a single dollar. In the end they sued Bright Properties—and my mother was the company’s attorney.

I felt a flicker of sympathy for them, but my mother stood beside me completely expressionless, unmoved.

She spoke coldly. “Bright Properties withholding your wages was illegal. That’s true. But that doesn’t give you the right to commit other crimes. You smashed the model displays, furniture, appliances, and decorations in their sales office. You have to pay for that damage.”

“I already made that very clear in court.”

Her defense had been simple and fair: Bright Properties would pay Oliver and Liam the back wages plus an equal amount in damages. In return, Oliver and Liam would pay for everything they had destroyed.

Both sides had accepted it.

But after the court’s appraisal, the wages and compensation still weren’t enough to cover the damage. They were short several tens of thousands of dollars.

Now Oliver and Liam were the ones facing a possible lawsuit from Bright Properties for destruction of property.

Of course they couldn’t accept that.

Oliver clasped his hands together and bowed. “Please. If we appeal, will you refuse to represent Bright Properties again?”

My mother actually laughed, the sound sharp with anger. “Bright Properties pays my fees. Why the hell wouldn’t I represent them?”

Liam’s voice turned arrogant. “So that’s a no, then?”

My mother glanced away for a moment, thinking, then shook her head. “Oliver, Liam. I only defend what’s fair under the law. The current ruling is already the best outcome you’re going to get. My advice is don’t appeal.”

Oliver’s eyes grew complicated. He looked at Liam.

Then he spoke again, voice low. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Are you going to agree to my request or not?”

My mother let out a cold, angry laugh. “Are you threatening me? Threatening a lawyer? You’d better think very carefully about what happens next.”

Suddenly, a vicious look flashed across Liam’s face. He spread his arms and lunged at me. One thick arm hooked around my neck and slammed me hard onto the ground. The breath left my lungs as my back crashed against the concrete. Pain exploded through my body.

He pinned both my wrists against my chest with one rough hand, crushing me in place so I couldn’t move. With the other he yanked a coil of coarse rope from his canvas bag and bound my wrists tight, yanking the knot until it dug into my skin with a sharp, burning sting.

“Help—!”

The moment I opened my mouth to scream, Liam stuffed a towel deep between my lips, then grabbed my collar and hauled me up like a rag doll.

My mother’s face went white with fury. She swung her handbag at him again and again, screaming, “Let go of my son!”

“Shut the fuck up, Lawyer Anne! Keep it up and I’ll choke the life out of him right now!”

Liam’s thick, calloused hand clamped around my throat.

“Okay! Okay! Just let him go!”

The second she saw my face turn crimson and my breathing turn shallow, the fight drained out of her. Maternal terror won.

“Lawyer Anne,” Liam said, voice almost casual, “we’re going somewhere quiet to talk.” He shoved me forward by the neck like a prisoner.

My mother was shaking with rage, but she had no choice. She followed. Oliver stayed right behind her, ready to grab her if she tried to run.

Liam dragged me roughly down the far end of the alley and onto a dirt path overgrown with weeds on both sides