Time passed slowly, but no sign of the kidnappers appeared at the café. During this time, the “Mu Wan” undercover officer pretended to check the time and make phone calls. Mu Wan also synchronized by calling Kuang Shuyu, but there was no answer on his end.

In the on-site command vehicle, Mu Jianhua watched the surveillance footage and spoke into his radio.
“Leave the café. Wan wan wouldn’t just wait in one place. Walk along the street—our people are stationed at the intersections. If anyone tries to abduct you by car, I’ll block the roads.”

Inside the café, the undercover officer touched her earpiece and stood up, signaling for the bill.

After the server came to settle the bill, the undercover officer suddenly acted as if she had a stomachache and asked the server, “Excuse me, can I use the restroom?”

The server smiled and gestured. “Of course, this way, ma’am.”

The undercover officer hurried toward the restroom.

From the command vehicle, Mu Jianhua could hear her voice and initially assumed she genuinely needed to use the restroom after drinking too much coffee. However, a loud “thud” soon shattered that assumption.

At that moment, the server unexpectedly hung a “Temporarily Closed” sign on the door.

“Everyone near the café, move in now! The kidnappers are inside,” Mu Jianhua ordered.

The plainclothes officers stationed outside immediately stormed the café and subdued the server. However, when they reached the restroom, it was empty. All that remained was the undercover officer’s portable radio and locator device on the ground.

One officer, furious, grabbed the server by her collar. “Who’s your accomplice? Where did they take our colleague?”

The server turned pale, visibly terrified. “What accomplice? What colleague? Who are you people? What do you want?”

The officer produced his badge. “Still lying? If you weren’t involved, why did you close the café at four in the afternoon?”

The server pulled out her phone. “I was the only one working today. My boss told me to close early and sign for some cups that were being delivered.”

The officer’s face darkened, and he immediately reported through his earpiece, “Lock down Shui Jiang Road immediately. No vehicles in or out. The kidnappers are stalling for time.”

Traffic police swiftly sealed off the entire street, and officers began inspecting vehicles one by one. However, after a thorough search, there was still no trace of the undercover officer.

Subsequent analysis of the coffee she drank revealed traces of a drug on the cup’s interior. When questioned, the server adamantly denied drugging the officer. A full inspection of the café later revealed that the cleaning cloths used for the cups had been laced with chemicals.

“You wash the cups after each use and dry them immediately for the next customer?” one officer questioned.

“Yes, that’s what we did today,” the server replied. “Yesterday, a rat infestation broke all our cups, leaving us with only five. That’s why my boss ordered replacements to be delivered.”

Mu Jianhua cursed, slamming a hand against the command table. “Damn it! No matter how many precautions we took, the kidnappers still managed to pull this off.”

An aide chimed in, “We found evidence of a lock being forced at the back door. The kidnappers likely took her out that way.”

Mu Jianhua gritted his teeth. “Keep searching!”

Though relieved that Mu Wan was unharmed, the thought of the undercover officer—a daughter to another family—being in danger weighed heavily on him.

—

Five hours of intensive searching and a public reward yielded no new leads. Suddenly, the landline in the Mu family villa rang.

The butler answered, and a frantic, distorted electronic voice echoed through the living room.
“Mu Jianhua, if you want the person I’m holding back, trade me your daughter.”

Mu Jianhua was still out in the field, but Mu Yanci was home and immediately took the phone.
“Why are you targeting Wan wan? What’s your goal?”

“If this is about the bank robbery years ago that ended in deaths, that was an internal dispute. It had nothing to do with the Mu family,” Mu Yanci stated.

The kidnapper’s voice grew agitated. “Bullshit! If it weren’t for Mu Yecheng, my father, mother, and sister wouldn’t have died!”

Hearing this, Mu Yanci was almost certain the kidnapper was Zhao Binhai’s son. The voice on the other end fell silent for a moment, then resumed with chilling calm.

“I didn’t plan on dragging anyone else into this, but since the Mu family is heartless, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“You have one day to hold a press conference admitting that Mu Yecheng embezzled funds during the robbery years ago. If you don’t, I’ll live-stream the slow, brutal execution of this female officer on the dark web.”

Mu Wan’s face paled. She knew the kidnapper’s cruelty and had no doubt he would carry out the threat.

She immediately spoke up, “Impossible! My grandfather was a man of integrity and loyalty. He would never embezzle funds.”

The kidnapper sneered. “You must be Mu Wan. Fine, if you don’t believe me, come here, and I’ll tell you in person.”

“Trade your life for this officer’s. Do you dare?”

Just hearing the voice of the man who had killed her in her past life made Mu Wan tremble uncontrollably. Yet, she gritted her teeth and replied, “Fine!”

Mu Yanci, Kuang Ye, and Wang Lan immediately objected, “No way!”

After hanging up, Mu Wan gave them a weak smile. “I can’t let an innocent person die in my place, can I?”