Chapter 5

Ethan stepped backward after saying that much to the excitement of Kane. "Am I permitted to beat him up?"

"Half-dead. Then deliver him to the Kendrick family house." Ethan nodded and turned around to look at everyone in the room.

For the first time in six years, Ethan's heart raced. His heart never raced when he cut off the head of the enemy's commander while on the battlefield neither did it race when he was ambushed by 700 highly trained assassins sent to kill him.

His heart was actually racing because of the thought of seeing the precious human he made with Chloe.

Kane waited until he and Chloe were out of the building before he got to work.

As Jonas' high pitched scream tore through the quiet afternoon, Claire who was walking right behind them couldn't help but hiss.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but the Kendrick family will never let you off for touching Jonas. What am I saying? Chloe, your husband broke Lewis' legs and is having his goon beat up Jonas Kendrick. Do you think we're going to escape being kicked out of the family by grandpa?"

Chloe immediately halted.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. He's not going to let this opportunity slide by to…what the hell!" Claire halted as well when her eyes met the scene in front of her.

On one side of the compound was a severely beaten up Stellar Corporation's security team. They all had a black eye and were in too much pain to get up. Hence, they were still heaped on each other, exactly the same way Kane left them.

On the other side of the compound were big and burly men with one gnarly scar or the other. If Chloe and Claire saw them on a normal day, they'd be intimidated. But this group were lined up on a wall, all having their eyes tightly sealed shut while their body trembled in fear.

"Grandfather and the Kendrick family will never overlook this." Claire stated the obvious and turned towards Ethan with bloodshot eyes.

"Putting aside the fact you brought your wretched self back to Springdale, what is your intention asking your goon to do this?! Do you know what your actions six years ago cost my family?"

"You're not authorized to say another word until we get back to the house!" Chloe ordered sternly.

Claire pressed her lips together tightly, eager to say something else, but couldn't. She kicked the air furiously and hurried ahead of them.

Finally, Ethan found himself alone with Chloe. However, while he was thinking of a way to make his story sound believable, she turned to him and said, "You should leave."

"What? Did you think I'd accept you back with open arms when you left without telling me where you were headed? Do I look like a fool to you? Is that what you take me for?" Chloe had a lot of pent-up anger towards Ethan.

Although she never thought she'd see him again, she hoped he'd return back to Springdale if he ended up alive so she could hit him for every suffering and humiliation she went through because of him.

"While you were gone to god knows where, I was carrying and taking care of our daughter while dealing with the trauma your betrayal brought me. You made me the subject of mockery to the whole of Springdale. Now you waltz back into my life and expect things to go back to the way they were?!"

It didn't take long for Chloe to break down. And the more things she said, the harder she slammed her fists against Ethan's chest.

The man stood still filled with guilt and letting her hit him. He knew he shouldn't have left without saying goodbye, but that was the only way for her to be safe. But If he had known she was pregnant, he would never have left.

At a point, Chloe got tired of hitting him and almost fell to the ground in exhaustion, but he caught and tightly embraced.

"I apologize for everything. I promise to be a good father to our daughter and a supportive husband to you." He consoled, gently resting his jaw on her head.

"Where were you?" He heard her ask.

"The army. I wanted to be strong for you and myself. I didn't want to be the weak and gullible husband who would do nothing when his wife was insulted in front of him." He merely replied, knowing she wasn't in the right mood for him to explain deeper.

Chloe bit down hard on her lower lip. She tasted metallic liquid which flowed into her mouth almost immediately.

So he was a soldier for the past six years. She didn't know a lot about soldiers, but it was clear to her they weren't paid as much as they were said to be honored.

Once they were out of the field and were hale and hearty, she wasn't sure they were paid anything. Either way, the only way for him to make use of his skills was to be a personal bodyguard to someone wealthy and important who was willing to splash around a few hundreds of thousands.

Given his identity and the fact he just provoked the Kendrick family, she doubted he'd be able to get jobs.

She had no idea that the man who held her tightly was a commander. Not just any commander, but the number 1 commander in the entire world. He had different forms of earnings where money flowed in every minute. Even if he spent them buying every expensive thing he came across, it wouldn't even take his twentieth generation their whole life to finish the money.

"I haven't forgiven you." She sniffled as she got out of his embrace and walked out of the compound only to meet Claire surveying a black, but sleek car.

"Get away from there!" She hollered and dragged Claire away from it.

"Relax, it's a beautiful, but not so expensive car. It's not made by a famous company. So I'm sure it won't be that expensive to fix If I were to spoil it." Claire shrugged.

The corners of Ethan's lips spasmed hearing her. He glanced at his Koenigsegg Jesko which was only 125 in the world. It was a car worth $3,000,000 and known to be purchased by Presidents and their vices.

Not a lot of people knew its name or even knew something like it existed because they were usually carted away as soon as they were produced.

"Still, it still looks expensive. Let's walk towards the road. We can board a taxi from there." Chloe said, walking away.

Ethan was in a dilemma. The Koenigsegg Jesko only had two seats. Left for him, he'd drive him and Chloe to her place and let Claire board a taxi, but he knew Chloe would never approve of it. She might even give up her space for Claire.

In that case, he'd just go with them.

They boarded the taxi and fifteen minutes later, it stopped in what seemed to be a rural estate. The houses were first storey buildings, but they were all old and looked like they'd fall anytime.

"These are the nicer houses. You should wait until you see the slum you sent us to." Claire hissed as she got out of the taxi.

Her anger towards Ethan amplified when she saw him stand beside Chloe while she paid their fare. Bold of her to assume he had some money tucked somewhere.

What she didn't know was that he did have bundles of money in his front and back pockets, but they were all in large notes. And since Chloe had everything under control, he opted to let her pay. But when none of them was looking, he slipped a bundle of money into her handbag..

As they walked deeper into the estate, Ethan realized he needed to get his daughter out of the environment as soon as possible.

When they got to the house, they were first greeted by the sight of a roughed up middle-aged man who was fast asleep on the pavement. He clutched a half-drunk beer bottle tightly to himself.

Chloe's grip on her handbag immediately tightened. "Dad."

Claire pushed open the rickety door and was met with an empty living room.

Chloe, on the other hand, helped up Scott William.

Ethan took him from her, effortlessly carrying him up the stairs as Chloe directed him. After dropping him on his bed, Chloe proceeded towards her daughter's room.

"Honey! Honey, mommy is home!" She kept calling until she got to her daughter's room. However, there was no one in it.

She checked the bathroom, but there was still no sight of her.

"Claire, did you forget to pick Honey from school today?" Chloe questioned as she rushed down to the living room, Ethan following her closely.

Claire was already settled on a sofa with a TV remote in her hand.

"I would never. She was with mother when I lef—" She suddenly paused and facepalmed herself. "Mother spends the afternoon playing games with her friends. So she leaves Honey with some kids at the end of the street."

"You're trying to tell me my daughter doesn't stay at home most afternoons when you and I aren't around? Why am I just hearing of this? And why will you leave Honey with mother?" Chloe panicked, putting on her jacket.

"She promised never to do it again and stayed true to her words, so I became fine with leaving Honey with her whenever I have an emergency place to be in. I'm sorry." Claire apologized and got up.

"You're panicking, Chloe." Ethan said, stepping in a flushed Chloe's way. He proceeded to cup up her face as he added, "Stay here while Claire and I go get her. We'd be back before you know it and our daughter will be safe, okay?"

Chloe didn't realize she was holding her breath until that moment when she exhaled heavily. She inhaled and exhaled so many times before she got a grip on herself.

"Okay. It's almost evening and the neighborhood gets dangerous once it's afternoon. You two have to hurry."

"We will." Claire assured and stepped out of the house.

Meanwhile, in a corner at the end of the street, numerous children played around. In a corner was a shivering child with striking gray eyes.

She surveyed her surrounding with trepidation and didn't dare to join the other kids in playing.

"Would you like some candy, little girl?" A man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and asked.

At first, Honey William looked up at him in fear, but then found the warm smile on his face reassuring.

Then her eyes settled on the candy he extended towards her. Her mother had warned her numerous times not to talk to strangers or take anything from them. But she had been here for hours and was terribly hungry.

Honey William didn't think it'd hurt to disobey her mother this one time, after all, this stranger didn't seem like a bad person.

With that thought in mind, the little girl stretched her hand and took the candy. She peeled off its wrapper and popped it into her mouth.

The man walked away immediately, but returned to that same spot ten minutes later to carry up the unconscious little girl.

His witty eyes flashed around before he grabbed her and stuck her into the bag he had with him.