Unmasking Mrs. Newton's Secret Identities novel Chapter 2118

Hugo gritted his teeth, holding back the urge to speak.

Taylor's beating had been nothing more than a facade, a mere attempt to appease Aiden's fury.

Despite the venom in his words, Hugo never truly intended to kill. The spiked club was too dangerous—one wrong move could end in a fatal blow. The risk was too great for him to take.

Seeing the turmoil within Hugo, Aiden couldn't resist speaking up, "If you're so willing to gamble with Lucy's life, I'll be more than happy to help you send her off."

Without a second thought, Aiden severed one of the ropes, sending Lucy into a sudden fall.

"No!"

In a panic, Hugo reached out to stop her, but fortunately, she only fell about two feet before the rope caught her. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he gripped his chest, fighting to calm his racing pulse.

Aiden crouched down, tapping the blade of his knife against the floorboard to get Hugo's attention.

Raising two fingers, he issued a chilling ultimatum. "You have two minutes. If you don't kill Taylor by then, I'll cut the other rope. When that happens, Lucy will be nothing more than a corpse."

As Lucy descended a short distance, she ended up closer to Hugo. Their gazes met, and she looked at him with tear-filled eyes, shaking her head desperately.

Hugo understood her silent plea. She didn't want him to harm Taylor because of her, and Hugo felt the same reluctance.

With their bedridden grandfather being the only other family he had, Lucy was everything to him. He couldn't ignore the fact that her life was hanging by a thread.

"One minute remaining," Aiden called out, starting the countdown.

"Do you even know how to count? A minute doesn't go by that fast!" Hugo snapped, his anger boiling over.

"I said it's been a minute, and there's nothing you can do about it," Aiden taunted, his voice laced with malice as he started the countdown. "20 seconds. 19, 18, 17…"

"Why you—"

Furious, Hugo stood frozen, unable to speak. His eyes tracked Aiden as he rose, the knife pointed at the last remaining rope. Instinctively, his gaze shifted to Taylor.

Hugo was nothing but a fool—bursting with ambition but empty within, drowning in his own self-serving indulgence.

Meanwhile, Aiden had labored for years, only to be blamed and scorned by everyone.

It was utterly unfair!

"Very well. You've made your choice. You'd better keep your eyes wide open and watch as she plummets to her death!"

With that, Aiden raised the knife, prepared to bring it down.

"Wait!"

Just as the blade was about to strike, Taylor staggered to his feet.