"Mom?" Sophia muttered in disbelief. She couldn't believe her mother would also give her the same threat that her father had done. None of them was showing her any mercy or any way out. "What?" Clara snarled with contempt. "You're the one who brought us into this mess in the first place, so it's up to you to fix it!" She retorted. "But you agreed and you supported me in everything that I did..." Sophia muttered. "Humph... Just because we didn't say anything all this while didn't mean we agreed with your playfulness." Clara replied and eyed her daughter. "...who knows, it might be because of you that even Tommy is in jail." She continued. Sophia was utterly dumbfounded. "That's not true!" She said in an aggrieved tone. "It totally is!" Oliver butt in with ferocity. "I don't remember having offending anyone in this city who would do such a thing to me by implicating my son." He said in an accusing manner. Even though Oliver and Clara weren't entirely sure if the accusations that
Sophia froze on the spot. Her pleading expression immediately contorted into a digested look. "What?!" She snapped. "Have you lost your mind?!" She growled. All the traces of her pleading and repentance had disappeared immediately.'As I thougt...' Ethan thought inwardly. He already expected Sophia to react violently to what he would say. His face remained indifferent to her. What was Ethan telling her to do? The same thing she had ordered him to do for her to release the kidnapped Sophia. She had told him to go half naked and apologize whole wearing nothing but an underwear!"You're crossing the line!" Sophia said again on seeing Ethan's lack of reaction. "Well... Suit yourself." Ethan replied indifferently and wound up his car to zoom off. Hadn't she already crossed the line when she asked him to do the same thing? Moreover, he didn't even get the chance to argue and complain. "It's not like I expected you to go along with it in the first place." Ethan muttered to himself as he
In a separate house, a good distance away from Ethan's house and office, Maya was sipping on her cup of coffee as she scrolled through the internet. "Hmm?" Maya was surprised as she saw a strange headline on a video. "Sophia Walton begs Ethan!"Without hesitation, Maya opened the video and began to watch it immediately. In the video, she saw Sophia dressed in slightly skimpy clothes, revealing a bit of her skin as she tearfully apologized to Ethan for what she had done to him. Maya frowned. "What the hell is this bitch doing?" She snapped in anger. "How is this the same thing that you asked Ethan to do?"In the video, the things that Sophia said were quite different from what was expected. She tried to somehow twist the blame on Ethan for what she did before she apologized. It was clear that Sophia was too arrogant. From this point alone, even Maya had to commend Sophia's acting skills because the tears looked quite genuine. Apart from that, the clothes that Sophia wore didn't ev
"I'm back!" Maya announced with a bubbly voice as she returned to Ethan's office. She had abruptly excused herself because she felt that the way Ethan had been looking at her felt somewhat different. Naturally, Maya became embarrassed and went to regain her bearings. "So..." Maya said with a faint smile as she threw glances at Ethan. "...what are you doing to do next?" She asked. Ethan was a bit tense and fidgety until he heard Maya's question. He exchanged a quick glance with Andrew and spoke. "I'm going to continue with the case." He declared decisively. Maya frowned slightly. "You are?" She asked.Ethan stared at her. "Sophia didn't do as I asked her to do. It's natural that I continue with this case." Ethan replied stubbornly. Andrew sighed loudly in exasperation. 'Young Master Ethan is pushing himself too far...' Andrew thought inwardly. Andrew cleared his throat loudly. "I think what Mr Ethan is trying to say is that he will resume with the case after some time." Andrew
Andrew watched in a slight daze and confusion as Maya walked away. All he had told her was that Ethan was shy and now she already had a plan to counter it. "Women..." Andrew muttered with a sigh. There was a little skip added to Maya's steps as she walked away. Maya got into her car and drove off. "I think I'm going to take a brief detour..." Maya muttered to herself with a mischievous smile. That afternoon, Ethan received a call. "Big brother Ethan!" A young crisp voice sounded out. It was Sylvie. "Sylvie?" Ethan was surprised. "What's up? How are you?" "I'm not feeling very good." Sylvie replied with a subdued tone. "Why? What is it?" Ethan asked with a very concerned tone. Ethan loved Sylvie very much. He still felt guilty about what she had gone through just recently. She was one of the major reasons that her was so pissed with Sophia and was bent on taking his revenge on the Waltons. "I'm bored!" Sylvie replied. "You're bored?" Ethan echoed with confusion. "Why are yo
Maya was overjoyed to hear the news. Ethan had called her to ask her if she wanted to come for the trip. Not that he had to ask her because the kids had already told him that she agreed. But Ethan still asked her due to etiquette and as a show of respect. "Will you be able to leave your office for a few days?" Maya asked Ethan. "It's not a problem. My boss already approved of it immediately I told him." Ethan replied. He himself was his own boss. But Maya didn't know about it yet, he just had to come up with a convincing lie. "Alright!" Maya was ecstatic. "How about you? Can you really afford to leave your company? You don't have to force yourself or create troubles for yourself." Ethan said with a tone of concern. "It's perfectly fine." Maya replied immediately. She was lying, she was already getting into some little trouble at work for not being available most of the time and also using the company resources to look for information about the Waltons. Maya didn't really care
The next day, Ethan pulled up at an address that Maya had sent to him. Sylvie and Mark were already inside the car with enthusiastic expressions on their faces. Most especially Sylvie. She was simply delighted and in high spirits. "So this is her house..." Ethan mumbled to himself as he stared at the apartment block Maya had described. He got down from the car and spoke to the kids. "Wait here for a minute, let me go get Maya." He said. "Okay!" Sylvie replied between mouthfuls as she chewed on the chips Ethan had bought for her just some minutes ago. Ethan gave a wry smile and walked towards the apartment. Then he knocked the door gently. Meanwhile, Maya had seen him coming already. "He's here!" She yelled with a whisper. She was excited. She had already seen Ethan pull up with the kids and watched him through the window as he approached her door and knocked. Maya quickly adjusted her gown and bust while looking at the mirror. She also gave her hair a few pats before nodding in
Not long after, Ethan drove up to a beach side. "This is the place?" Ethan asked with furrowed brows. "Yeah." Maya replied delightfully as she stared at the scenery with a smile. Sylvie also beamed with a smile as she stared out the window. "Brother Ethan, let's go! Let's go!" She shouted with excitement and twinkling eyes. "Calm down Sylvie!" Mark grumbled as he tried to calm his restless sister. But Sylvie couldn't be calmed so easily, she was full of energy. Ethan simply shook his head wryly as he watched the drama. Then he drove Maya to the entrance with the kids. After a brief inspection at the security posts, they went in and registered for their brief tour of the beach. "Hehe.." Sylvie was all smiles as her eyes kept darting around inquisitively. She was almost pulling Ethan along to run. "Careful Sylvie, you've not been here before so you might get lost." Ethan cautioned with a sigh. The little girl could not be blamed, she hadn't ever had the opportunity to go to an