Manny murmured a few instructions to the butler, and the latter excused himself.
He then gave Laurence a call.
Once the call connected, Manny said, “Laurence, the two Mrs. Johnsons are guests at the Longbottoms'. If you wish to take them home, you should show up. If not, I can't guarantee they will remain unharmed."
No doubt Jane and Lilian were held hostage.
Manny ended the call before Laurence had a chance to say anything.
Jane and Lilian exchanged looks.
With her eyes, Jane asked Lilian whether they should fight their way out of there or stay.
Lilian was into the idea of staying.
"Mr. Longbottom, what's the meaning of this?"
Jane looked enraged.
"Are you holding us hostage?"
Tony chuckled. “Let's not use such a crude term. We are extending our utmost hospitality to you. You are our guests of honor."
Lilian said, "Since we are the honored guests, why haven't we been offered a meal? We've had nothing but light snacks while shopping.”
"At this hour? You expect a meal?" Tony blurted.
"Of course. We're starving, so we want to eat. As the hosts, it'll be rude if you don't join your guests to eat. You need to sit with us at the dinner table."
Susan, who had kept her silence thus far, uttered, "Ladies, it's rather inconvenient to have the kitchen whip something up now, but we have a variety of delicious pastries. You can help yourselves to these snacks."
While talking, Susan instructed the staff to serve several plates of pastries to Jane and Lilian.
"Sweets at this hour go straight to your hips, so it's a hard pass on the pastries. Since we won't be served dinner, we should head home."
Lilian grabbed Jane to leave.
Tony smiled pretentiously. "“Ladies, what do you take this place for? It's not a place you can come and go as you wish."
The Longbottoms did not get to stop Jane and Lilian, but men in black came in their way the moment they reached the door.
Jane cocked her head and said in a feigned rage, “Mr. Longbottom, there is no bad blood between us. Have you thought about the consequences of taking us hostage?"
"We don't want to make things difficult for you. Just stay put until Laurence gets here. I promise that you won't have a single hair out of place.
"The manor has tight security, and the security team is highly trained. Since you are pampered in privilege, you won't stand a chance against them. You can't get out. Stop the pointless resistance and sit back down for a chat."
Lilian turned around and looked at the Longbottoms, her right hand slipping into the pants pocket to fish something out.
The men in black stared at her warily.
Lilian slowly unwrapped the tiny packet. The men in black saw the trace of white powder inside, assuming it was her medicine. To their surprise, Lilian spun around and flung the powder at them.
They kept their eye on Lilian the whole time and believed the powder was no threat. Lilian took her time anyway. However, she caught them off guard.
The men in black did not even have a chance to get away as the powder got onto their faces and necks.
The first thing that came to mind was to wipe away the powder on their skin. However, they quickly felt itchy and started to scratch.