If You're Going to Sell Yourself, Sell It to Me - Chapter 50

Through the small window, the sky was filled with stars.

This meant there were no lights around, and the night had grown deep. The silence outside indicated that there was no one passing by, not even anyone to see the ribbon tied to the window frame.

Georgiana, who had been holding her breath, could no longer delay her escape. She rose onto her tiptoes and quietly moved. If she missed the ship in the morning, there was no telling what might happen. Her current identity was already a fake, and if she lost Lockwood as well, she wouldn’t be able to prove herself in the New World.

Even if they were to part ways, it would have to be after they arrived.

Fortunately, the rough-looking men had fallen into a deep sleep and didn’t stir at her movements. The only problem was the man who had treated her somewhat kindly. He was so timid that even the faintest sound of wind outside would make him flinch.

In the end, Georgiana took off her shoes and walked past him in her stockinged feet. It didn’t take long to reach the door, though her heart pounded so loudly it seemed to echo in her ears.

Before opening the door, she took a deep, quiet breath to calm herself.

She had to push the door open all at once. There would be no second chance, she thought, gritting her teeth.

Wiping the sweat from her palms onto her clothes, she placed her hands on the doorframe.

One, two, three!

She pushed the door with all her might, to the point where blood vessels bulged in her eyes, but the iron door didn’t budge. Fortunately or unfortunately, it didn’t make a sound either, since it hadn’t moved at all.

The men were still asleep.

Please, just this once, let me succeed.

After taking another breath, Georgiana pressed herself against the side of the doorframe and pushed with all her strength.

Creak.

This time, the door opened, though only wide enough for a fist to fit through.

Just as she was about to push the door further, she had a bad feeling and quickly turned around.

Gilbert was lying there, wide awake, staring at her with wide eyes.

A chill ran down her spine. She thought it was over, her legs going weak.

Georgiana clasped her hands together and silently pleaded with him.

‘Please, just let me go. I’m begging you. If I can get out, I swear I won’t report this.’

Unable to make a sound, she mouthed her desperate plea, fearing the others might hear.

Gilbert, who seemed to hesitate, clenched his eyes shut, as if deciding to pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

He wouldn’t help, but at least he would act like he hadn’t noticed.

Relieved, Georgiana grabbed the narrow crack in the door and pushed with all her strength.

Even though she pushed until it felt like her arms would give out, the door only opened a little more—just enough for her leg to squeeze through. The frustration of the situation was unbearable.

She swore to herself that once she reached the New World, she would start strength training, repeating the vow over and over.

Just as she managed to get one leg through the door, the man called Andy suddenly sprang up.

“What the hell? When did you untie yourself? Get up, everyone!”

With a menacing expression, he stormed toward her.

Sweat slicked her palms as she struggled to push the door open faster, but her hands kept slipping off.

At that moment, just as she thought she was out of time, the iron door swung wide open, as if by magic.

Both Georgiana, who had been trying to push the door, and the man trying to grab her, froze and stared in astonishment at what lay beyond.

Though it was summer, an icy chill seemed to seep in from outside.

There, standing in the doorway, was Lockwood, his eyes gleaming like a predatory beast. His piercing blue gaze swept over her before locking onto the men behind her.

The moment felt like an eternity, though it lasted only a second.

As soon as she saw him, tears of relief streamed down Georgiana’s face.

She had never had anyone to rely on, never had a place to call her safe haven. But the moment she saw him, Georgiana realized that, at least for now, he was her only refuge.

“Locke!”

She ran to him and threw her arms around him with all her might.

Lockwood wrapped one arm tightly around her and swiftly drew the gun from his waist. As he turned his head, he aimed the barrel at the chin of the man rushing toward them.

Had the man been just a little closer, the sharp barrel would have punched a hole through his neck.

“P-please, spare me!”

The once-intimidating man dropped to his knees and begged for his life as soon as he saw the gun. The other two men followed suit, kneeling beside Andy as they spotted the armed men behind Lockwood.

“Why did you do this?”

“We were just following orders!”

“Who hired you?”

“A woman. A young woman.”

The men confessed that a woman’s maid had approached them that morning and paid them to kidnap Georgiana. After taking an advance payment, they had shown the woman a lock of Georgiana’s hair to receive the rest of the money.

“If you saw her face, would you recognize her?”

“She covered her nose and mouth, but I could still recognize her just from her eyes.”

“That’s your only chance of surviving, so make sure you do.”

Lockwood gestured toward Henry, who expertly tied the man’s hands with rope, ready to drag him away.

“What should we do with the other two?” Henry asked.

The local authorities weren’t aware of this place yet. Only a few pirates who had come with Henry had seen these men.

In other words, they could kill these two, and no one would ever know. Lockwood, still regretting his decision to let Willow live, decided not to make the same mistake again.

His face cold, he gave Henry a curt reply. “Kill them.”

At his command, not only did the two men’s faces go pale, but so did Georgiana’s. Her tears, which had been flowing just moments earlier, suddenly dried up in shock.

Of course, these men were bad. They had kidnapped her for money. But Gilbert had helped her several times. Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to plead for only his life.

“Just hand them over to the authorities, Locke.”

“Why? These bastards deserve worse than death.”

“They didn’t intend to kill me. They were just going to keep me locked up until the ship left. Isn’t that right?”

The three men nodded their heads vigorously, as if their necks were about to snap.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The client only asked us to lock her up.”

“They didn’t do anything terrible to me.”

At her defense, Lockwood coldly tilted his head. His gaze shifted to her dirt-streaked feet, and Georgiana suddenly realized she had been barefoot the entire time.

She had been so focused on escaping that she had completely forgotten she wasn’t wearing shoes.

Henry quickly ran over to retrieve her shoes.

“Locking you up was crime enough. And making you walk barefoot is reason enough for me to kill them.”

“Killing them would be unreasonable.”

“No, it’s perfectly reasonable.”

Talking to him felt like talking to a wall.

Still, she couldn’t entirely blame him. If Lockwood had been the one kidnapped and she had come face-to-face with his captors, she would probably feel the same way.

But that didn’t mean she could condone murder.

After much back-and-forth, she finally convinced him to settle for tying them up and handing them over to the authorities. Of course, she pretended not to notice how roughly he tied them up as punishment.

That was enough to make up for what they had done to her.

“How did you find me?” she asked, amazed. She had been certain no one was around, and she hadn’t heard a single sound.

“I guided them,” said a rough-looking man with a thick beard, stepping out from behind Henry with a proud expression. His face was covered in bruises, as if he had been in a fight.

“Thank you.”

“If you’re really grateful, how about a reward…?”

“No need to reward him,” Henry interjected. “He helped us find you, but we almost got lost because all the warehouses around here look the same. Fortunately, Master spotted your ribbon. How did you come up with such an idea? I thought you were a genius when I saw your card skills, but this confirms it.”

Lockwood pulled the ribbon from his pocket, holding it up for her to see. She glanced at the window and realized that at some point, he had taken it.

“Thank you for finding it, Locke.”

“It was your clever thinking that led us here. But it’s getting late. Let’s return to the ship and find out who ordered the kidnapping. Since this is our first time on this island, it couldn’t have been a local. The culprit must be someone on the ship.”

“That seems likely. It wasn’t anyone from this island,” Andy chimed in.

“Shut up,” Henry snapped, glaring at him with an intensity Georgiana had never seen before.

As she looked around, she noticed that both Lockwood and Henry, as well as the men who had come with them, were all clad in black from head to toe. They all looked dangerous, especially the ones she didn’t recognize.

Who were these people?

It almost seemed as if Lockwood, who appeared to be their leader, was guiding them. As he moved at the front with her, the rest of the group trailed behind without hesitation.