The Imposter Bride (Natalia and Magnus)
Chapter 59

"Who are you? ...Uh" Natalia stepped back, but before she could shout, she was muffled by a cloth from behind by two men and dragged into the nearby bushes.

Natalia blacked out, and the two men quickly hoisted Natalia into a nearby van. In no time, the van disappeared from where no one was paying attention.

As dusk fell, Linden had already prepared dinner, but Natalia didn't come home. He knew Natalia had been studying hard lately, but she always came home at this hour. He promptly dialed Natalia's cell phone, but it was turned off. He immediately drove to Melfort College, which was already devoid of students. After explaining his identity to the security guard, he asked if there were any students left.

The guard shook his head. "School is dismissed every day at six, and no students have been staying for night study lately."

Linden remembered Natalia had two close friends, so he immediately contacted the principal and got the numbers of Sabrina and Lexi.

When he found out Natalia wasn't with them, Linden began to panic. Where on earth could Ms. Natalia be?

He was just about to call Magnus when he arrived back at Maplewood Manor when he saw Hector's car slowly pulling up to the mansion.

Not caring about anything else, he rushed over to Hector. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here to see Natalia. Is she home?" Hector got out of the car with his hands in his pockets.

"No, Ms. Natalia hasn't come home yet. I've looked everywhere. She hasn't gone to her friends' either." Linden was frantic. If anything happened to Ms. Natalia, he'd have hell to pay when Magnus returned. Magnus had left him in Melfort to take care of her.

Hector froze at Linden's words. "Is she usually home by this time?"

"Yes, she usually comes home at this time," Linden replied truthfully.

Hector immediately jumped into his car. "Come on, let's go look for her. She can't be lost, right?"

"That's impossible, Ms. Natalia always comes home alone," Linden said confidently.

"Where's my cousin?" Hector was getting anxious. Where was Magnus? Natalia hadn't come home and he was acting as if nothing was wrong, letting a servant go out and look for her!

"Mr. Magnus has been in France for a few days. I haven't had a chance to call him yet." Linden was about to call Magnus, but Hector stopped him.

"Calling him now won't do any good! Get in the car, and let's go replace Natalia."

Linden figured he was right, so he got into Hector's car. But he couldn't help sending Magnus a message. [Ms. Natalia is missing!]

They drove back and forth several times on the road from the school to Maplewood Manor, but there was no sign of Natalia. Hector then drove to the Clarkson family.

Linden was extremely anxious. Why didn't he think of Natalia going back to her mother's house?

When they knocked on the door of the Clarkson family's mansion, the maid asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Has Natalia come home?"

"She hasn't come back since she married into the Andersen family." The maid glanced into the living room after she spoke.

"Who is it?" Addison asked from the living room.

"It's someone looking for Natalia." After the maid finished, Hector saw everyone in the living room look over.

Hector nodded at Addison and Kyler, "Natalia didn't come back to the Andersen family after school. We don't know where she is. Hasn't she come back here?"

Kyler shook his head. "Natalia hasn't been back since she got married to the Andersen family. It's impossible for her to come home."

Hector looked at the family, feeling a surge of anger. Wasn't it them who forced her to marry into the Andersen family, leaving her with no home to return to? He coldly swept his gaze over the people in the living room. Only Kendra avoided his gaze, pretending not to see him.

Hector laughed mockingly. Kendra was actually Magnus' wife! And it was this woman who forced Natalia to marry Magnus!

He stared at Kendra for a moment before turning to leave.

Hector didn't say a word. Linden, increasingly anxious, wanted to call Magnus again, but Hector stopped him. "Even if you call Magnus now, he can't get back from France right away. Let's not call him." "But where could Ms. Natalia have gone?"

Hector didn't say anything. He drove straight to the police station. Linden was stunned. "Are you going to report a missing person?"

"We can't report a missing person within 24 hours. I'm here to check the surveillance."

At Hector's insistence, the traffic police started checking the surveillance of that section. The surveillance footage showed Natalia being cornered by Kendra first, then being muffled and dragged away by two men at a turn.

When Hector saw this, he was stunned. Natalia had been kidnapped!

Linden also started trembling. He had failed to protect Ms. Natalia.

Hector immediately filed a report, and the police in Melfort set out overnight to track down the van. They soon found that the van had headed towards the coast. The van that kidnapped Natalia disappeared when it reached the docks.

Hector immediately launched the Cood family's private speedboat with the police, heading in the possible direction of the criminals.

At 10 p.m., Hector was more anxious than ever, staring intently at the sea ahead.

In the dimly-lit cabin of a ship, Natalia slowly stirred from unconsciousness. The darkness was all-encompassing, and the sound of crashing waves filled her ears.

Where was she? She fumbled in the darkness, only to discover her hands and feet were bound.

She remembered - after school, she'd run into Kendra, and then two men had overpowered her. Had she been kidnapped?

Nothing in her life had prepared her for this. The only kidnappings she'd ever seen were in movies. Fear gripped her heart, but she reminded herself that panicking wouldn't help. She was alone here. Faint voices sounded from somewhere outside the cabin. She crawled towards the sounds, replaceing a solid metal door. She pressed her ear against the cold iron, straining to hear the conversation. "Johnny, what're we gonna do with the girl? The boss said to dump her in the sea, but she's a looker, and she's young. Could still be a virgin," one voice suggested.

"What are you thinking? Don't mess with the boss' plans. We ain't playing games here," the other voice, presumably Johnny, responded coldly.

"We could stash her in England, keep her out of sight. As long as she doesn't show up in Melfort, the boss won't know. She's like a frightened bunny, she ain't gonna fight back," the first voice continued. "If we get to England, you're in charge. I'll go along with your plan this time, but if anything goes south, we're both screwed," Johnny replied sternly.

"Nah, I'll make sure she behaves," the first voice responded, followed by a repulsive snicker.

Only then did Natalia understand that they didn't intend to kill her, at least not yet. They planned to take her to England. A wave of relief washed over her. As long as she was alive, there was a chance to escape. But who was their boss? And why had they taken her?