Smith sat in the back seat, his face shadowed, while Annie clutched at a trashcan, frantically digging at her throat with her fingers, on the verge of throwing up her stomach yet unable to expel the so-called "capsule bomb".
Looking at the acid she had vomited, she lifted her face, crying as she looked to her father.
"Dad, please think of something, or I’ll die!"
Marquis Smith’s face turned ashen, his tone icy, "Shut up!"
Having two daughters, one in prison and the other whom he had hoped would restore a bit of dignity, now ended up being a huge disgrace, and what’s more, even he might face imprisonment.
Thinking of what he would have to face, Marquis Smith’s head was already throbbing.
Feigning unconsciousness, he had played a trick to escape; he now had to think carefully about what to do next.
"I beg you," Annie, still preoccupied with the idea of the capsule bomb, only worried about being blown up, reached out to grab her father’s arm, "Let’s plead with Gan Yuan, she will surely spare me; at worst, we could support her campaign..."
"Get away from me!" Marquis Smith pushed her away forcefully, "Don’t bother me!"
"I’m going to die!" Annie yelled.
"If she truly wanted to kill you, would you be alive now?" Smith turned his face, seizing his daughter’s collar, "If you don’t want to die, then shut up right now, you who are of no help but always causing failure!"
"You... you’re scolding me?" Annie felt unwilling and wronged inside, "How is this my fault? If it weren’t for you insisting I run for election, things wouldn’t have ended up , it’s all your fault... I... I want to get out of the car... Stop the car!"
She reached out to tug at the car door, failing to open it, then turned to pull at the driver.
"I told you to stop the car, do you hear me?!"
The driver, caught off guard, flinched, and the steering wheel immediately swerved, causing the car to veer sharply and crash into the side barrier, but fortunately, the driver reacted quickly and managed to steer the car back on course.
"Miss, please don’t move around, it’s too dangerous..."
But Annie was beyond control, leaning out again to grab at him.
"I don’t care, just stop... I have to go back, I have to go to the hospital..."
The thought of the bomb inside her had her unable to calm down; at this very moment, her mind was consumed only with her own survival, not caring about anything else.
Marquis Smith raised his hand and delivered a fierce slap across her face.
As the driver was about to curse out loud, an eerie yet dulcet male voice devoid of emotion suddenly erupted from the car radio beside him.
"You... who are you?" barked Marquis Smith, clearly irritated.
"Can’t you recognize my voice, Marquis, sir?"
"It’s... it’s Moses!" Annie said.
"Indeed, Miss Annie is the smart one."
"You... what do you want?" Marquis Smith roared.
"Marquis, sir, I just want to remind you, your car is about to explode. If you don’t want to die, it’s not too late to get out of the car now."
"You..." Marquis Smith froze on the spot, "You think I would believe that just because you say it?"
"Believe it or not, it’s up to you!" On the phone, Moses paused briefly, "You have 20 seconds left, now, the countdown begins! 20, 19, 18..."
Listening to the counting down on the other end of the phone, all four people in the car panicked.