Chapter 965

The pain of a wound being prodded was, without a doubt, far greater than being scratched by a dagger.

Even so, Rosalie gritted her teeth and endured the agony. She refused to let her enemies take pleasure in her pain, nor did she want those who cared for her to be affected by it.

However, the more she tried to tolerate the pain, the more aggressive Madeline became at gouging the wound with her finger.

“Weren’t you very full of yourself, Rosalie? Weren’t you trying to stand up for your best friend? Well, now you know the price of playing the hero,” Madeline said viciously.

By then, Rosalie was sweating bullets, and the pain and loss of blood had drained all color from her face. Upon seeing her friend in such a state, Lillian burst into tears. “Rosalie is innocent, Madeline! As you said, she’s only helping me. Am I not the one you’re after? Come at me, then! You can torture me however you like, but don’t do this to Rosalie again…”

Alas, Lillian’s suffering made Madeline laugh out loud. “Do you want me to let her go? Okay… If you jump down right now, our slate will be wiped clean, and I’ll set her free.”

Even though Lillian trembled, there seemed to be a gleam of determination in her eyes. “Do you mean that…”

“Lillian, don’t listen to her…” Rosalie muttered strenuously as every word sent a jolt of pain through her.

“Lillian… If you do as she says, I’ll never forgive you or myself for the rest of my life… Do you really think she’d let me go if you jumped down?”

Upon hearing that, Lillian cried even harder at how useless and powerless she felt.

“This is all my fault. I misunderstood Callum and refused to trust him at all. To make matters worse, my friends have been dragged into this mess and are suffering because of me!” she thought.

“Lillian… Don’t cry…” Rosalie choked out before taking a deep breath and turning to Madeline.

“Madeline, you must’ve never had a real friend.”

“Shut up!” Madeline retorted. “If you say one more word, I’ll make it so that you can no longer speak.”

“You must have a death wish, Madeline!” Jonathan suddenly shouted, his expression cold and solemn.

“Yes. So what if I do? Are you worried? Tell you what… Since Lillian won’t jump down to save Rosalie, shall we see how far you’d go for her?”

Jonathan narrowed his eyes as he waited for Madeline to continue. Rosalie, however, couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.

When she heard what Madeline said next, her heart instantly turned cold, as though her worst fears had been confirmed.

“I want you to remove all your clothes now and let your subordinates appreciate your figure. Haha! It’s common knowledge that Mr. Youngblood of Strico is famous for his dashing good looks. From what I’ve heard, not only do the socialites in Strico adore you, but many men are also interested in you.”

After a pause, Madeline added, “I just don’t know how you’d deal with the subordinates who’ve seen you naked, Mr. Youngblood. Once everything is over, will you keep them around or wipe them out?

After all, their existence is a constant reminder of your humiliation, Mr. Youngblood!”

Her words were undoubtedly scathing, and both Jonathan and his subordinates felt the effect of it.

Meanwhile, Rosalie found Madeline’s behavior rather bizarre and abnormal. The latter seemed to have lost all desire to flee and thrown caution to the wind. Then again, that might also be her way of looking for another means of escape.

Jonathan stared coldly at Madeline, “You want me to take off my clothes, huh?”

“That’s right. I want you to remove every single piece of clothing. Once you’re done, why don’t you take a selfie and post it online, Mr. Youngblood? How does that sound, Mr. Youngblood? If your photo receives over 10,000 likes in a minute, I might just let Rosalie go!”

Needless to say, it was evident that Madeline wanted Jonathan to be publicly humiliated. She merely wanted to make him a disgraced laughingstock!

10:35 “Don’t do it, Jon!” Rosalie pleaded through clenched teeth, the wound on her neck still oozing blood.

Alas, Jonathan had already raised his hands to begin unbuttoning his shirt. The buttons came off one after another until the clothing was removed, revealing the thin undershirt beneath.

A heavy silence promptly filled the air. Apart from the sounds of the wind and the rotating blades of the helicopters in the sky, it seemed like no other sounds could be heard.

Jonathan’s subordinates merely looked on as their boss peeled off his upper garments and moved on to unbuckle his belt.

“Jon, stop… Stop it right now. She’s just playing with you. She doesn’t mean what she says…” Rosalie said. with difficulty.

By then, Jonathan had fully unbuckled his belt.

“Mr. Youngblood will have to do what I asked of him before he finds out whether I’m keeping up my end of the deal. I must say I’m envious of you, Rosalie. Look how far Jonathan is willing to go for you!”

Madeline uttered coldly, her voice laced with undisguised jealousy.

Try as she might, she couldn’t understand why a man like Jonathan would go to such an extent for Rosalie. How many men could bear the shame of stripping naked before a crowd and being seen by their subordinates?

Furthermore, Jonathan was a man of immense power and authority!

In that instant, Madeline was pretty proud of herself. When even the city’s wealthiest and most powerful man had to obey her orders, it truly felt like she was on top of the world.

At the same time, however, she couldn’t shake off a nagging feeling of sadness. Jonathan and Callum were willing to humiliate themselves for Rosalie and Lillian, so why couldn’t she meet a man who was just as loyal and affectionate?

Feeling somewhat distracted, Madeline stole a glance at Jonathan, and in that split second, the latter pulled out the belt on his pants and struck it hard at the hand she was holding the dagger with.

Madeline noticed something amiss and was about to react, but unfortunately, it was too late. The dagger in her hand immediately fell to the ground, and Rosalie also took the opportunity to hit the woman with all her strength.

“You guys can all forget about escaping! No one’s getting out of here…” Madeline bellowed before reaching out for her pocket. The next second, however, a muffled sound rang out, and she instantly crumpled to the ground. Soon, a spot of blood on her back spread rapidly and turned into a bloodstain.

As it turned out, one of the five helicopters hovering in the sky had its door open at that moment…