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.Ten minutes after the man was gone with Honey, Ethan and Claire arrived at the scene. "This is the place?" Ethan asked, his brows furrowing into a frown. "It appears you refuse to acknowledge how fucked up you made us." Claire scoffed and knocked at the door. While she knocked, Ethan took a quick stroll towards the corner just behind the house. He didn't know what his daughter looked like, but he just had a feeling he'd recognize her once he saw her. "What do you mean she isn't inside?!" Claire's angry tone prompted him to return to the scene where he saw a heavily tattooed chubby short man leaning against the doorframe. "Look, your mother brought her here hours ago, but she only paid for two hours. Once it was two hours, I asked the little girl if she could go home and she nodded her head. So I let her leave. Move away from my door, I have customers to atten—" he choked on the remaining words as Ethan suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Despite being lanky, Ethan
The time was a few minutes to 8 in the evening. Naturally, the day was getting darker.Due to the estate's houses reduced price, it was home to a lot of criminals and dangerous ex-convicts. Even the police didn't dare to frequent the area once it was dark.Furthermore, the flickering streetlights and the chill in the air made the estate, which was usually vibrant during the day, to lack a single soul on the streets.In a dimly lit corner, the chubby man Ethan had roughed up just an hour ago was in a heated discussion with a sinister figure."What do you mean the cops visited you? How's that even possible?" The man who had kidnapped Honey sneered."I'm telling you what I saw, Gauche! Return that kid to her family, and maybe the cops can let this slide!" The chubby man hissed."What are you so scared of? The cops? They won't be here again until morning, and she'd be long gone by then. Don't mess this up for me, Paul. I already have someone willing to pay so much for that kid." Gauche sc
Gauche Stokes opened his eyes again and sat up. ''Why are you here by this time of the night?''He didn't hear from Paul for three seconds, and just when he was about to grow suspicious, Paul's voice came up again.''I can't stop thinking about the guy who visited earlier. What if he returns again while I'm asleep and smothers me to death?''Gauche, who had instinctively reached for his gun, paused and laughed mockingly. He got up from the chair and relaxed his grip on the weapon before proceeding towards the door.''It's good you're back, though. I could use a little help. This kid is giving me a hell of a time. She kept screaming some minutes ago and only shut her stupid mouth when I hit her. You–''He pulled the door open, but got flung backward when a leather boot came in contact with his face. Ethan didn't waste time stepping into the room. Kane kicked Paul inside the apartment and locked the door behind him.Gauche found it difficult to get up, so he crawled backward in fear, h
Matilda Brown, oblivious to what happened the night before, was in a very good mood when she woke up the next morning. The reason being that she had won a lot of money while playing cards the day before.However, her good mood immediately turned sour when she saw Ethan walking out of the balcony with his phone in hand."What is this nonsense? How dare you return to this family after everything you've cost us?!" She hollered, pointing a finger at his nose, her face turning beet red from anger.Ethan, who didn't think the first voice he'd be hearing first thing in the morning was that of his loud and unreasonable mother-in-law, paused and looked up at her.He didn't know much about her since he only stayed with her a few days after his marriage with Chloe, but he did know that the one thing she cared most about was money.Matilda Brown would do anything for money."Good morning," he greeted, recalling this was Chloe's mother, and it'd be rude to simply ignore her."Keep your stupid gree
"Bye, daddy! Bye, mommy!" Honey happily waved Ethan and Chloe goodbye before scurrying into her school's building.This was the happiest Chloe had seen her daughter since she was born.Her grip on her bag tightened when she sighted a middle-aged man hurrying towards her. It was a bald figure with a protruding stomach. His spectacles rested firmly on his nose. Gordon Foster, the Director of Bright Hearts Montessori, had a frown on his face as he got closer to Chloe.He forced on a tight smile once he was in speaking range with her. "Ms. William, I'm glad to see you after a very long time."Chloe swallowed and forced on a smile as well. Usually, Honey came to school everyday with the school's bus, so the school rarely saw her. But even when she made it to the school to drop her daughter off, she would turn and literally run out of the environment once she caught sight of Gordon Foster.Once, the man had shouted her name from his office, and she still left, acting like she didn't hear
Ethan stopped his car outside Pink Petal Hotel, a four star hotel. Kane, who was resting on one of the hotel pillars, walked towards the Koenigsegg Jesko as soon as he saw it drive in."Bad news, Commander. The auction is an exclusive one, and an invitation is only extended to people from top families," He reported as Ethan got out of the car."Oh?" Ethan parted his lips a little and said. He knew he could get one in less than thirty minutes if he made a call, but that would only bring him the attention he didn't want."What atrocity are you cooking up now?" Ethan naturally felt suspicious seeing Kane suddenly grin."When I found out there was no way I could get my hands on an invite, I found a way to get the list of families who have been invited to the auction," Kane revealed, staring behind Ethan.Ethan followed his gaze and settled it on a man dressed in an expensive silver suit. His blonde hair was brushed backward in a boyish way, and he dragged a struggling woman with him."Yo
Preston Wilton stiffened in his seat. The transaction was approved?His darkened eyes followed Ethan back to his seat. He'd glance back every now and then to see if Ethan raised his hand again."You're not going to compete with him, are you?" His sister, Priscilla asked without sparing him a glance."If news of this gets out, everyone will talk down on me and our family. I'm doing this for our family," he replied and clenched his jaw tightly."And for our final item before the auction comes to a close is Astoria Corporation, a renewable energy company that went bankrupt two years ago. The starting price is $1,000,000," the auctioneer's voice rang out, and Ethan's eyes shot towards him.Astoria Corporation…It was the top grossing company in Springdale for more than twenty years until they made some bad investments and ran into a debt of hundreds of millions. They had to liquidate everything they had to pay up but still couldn't meet up. In the end, the manager ended up selling it two
Honey quickly hid her face between her legs, waiting to feel the pain from Cara's hit."Who the hell are you? Let go of me!" Cara Radford screamed in pain as a tall and lanky man appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her hand mid-air.Ethan narrowed his eyes coldly at the woman. If he had been ten seconds late, his daughter would've been hit by another stranger. Another reason to kill Preston Wilton."I said, let go of me!" Cara Radford got desperate when Ethan's grip on her wrist tightened, and she felt excruciating pain from it."Do you know who I am? My husband is Jeremy Radford, and I tell you, you do not want to get into the bad books of the Radford family!"Three seconds later, Ethan realized he was prioritizing the wrong person and released his grip on her. Then he walked to Honey and scooped her into his arm."D-daddy!" The little girl shuddered in delight and held onto his neck tightly.Cara Radford massaged her red wrist for a moment, then laughed arrogantly thinking she scare
Wexford That evening, Declan Wellington felt cooped up at home, so he left the house to spend the day golfing with a close friend of the Wellingtons who owned a golf course. They golfed together for three hours before they got tired and drove to his house to rest. Marvin Phelps poured him a drink before asking politely, “This may be out of place for me to ask, Mr. Wellington, but you seemed out of it throughout today. Is anything the matter?” “What?” An absent-minded Declan didn’t know when he blurted out, glancing at him. Marvin Phelps sat up, now fully convinced there was something on Declan’s mind. With a serious look on his face, he cautiously continued, “What is the problem? Is anyone troubling you? Say the word and I’ll have that person’s legs crushed to bits and forcefully drag them here!” Declan raised his eyes to look at him. Even if he said nothing, his eyes lit up a little when he recalled who Marvin was. The Phelps family was headed by this man despit
Scott William was instantly taken aback. Then he gritted his teeth in rage and resisted the urge to grab her by the collar as he yelled at her angrily. “What do you think you’re doing? He’s your son-in-law, how could you think of doing something so despicable to him!”“I know you’ve been looking for ways to get rid of him, but he’s having a psychotic breakdown? Matilda Brown, are you out of your mind?!” However, the woman ignored him and reached into her bag for a file. She placed it on the counter and continued speaking to the officer with a straight face. “Here. This is the result of the psych evaluation. You can check with the hospital he took it at just to be sure.” Scott closed the distance between them and grabbed her arm firmly, “If you have nothing better to do, then turn around and go back home.” “I know you’re scared of this affecting our family, but you don’t have anything to worry about because I’ll take care of this!” “Ethan didn’t do what they’re accusing him of
The sergeant and the other officers were slightly taken aback by his sudden compliance. Given that Charles and Kane were questioning their every word, they assumed they would have to use force to get him out of here. However, not only was he complying, but he was even flashing them a faint, non-aggressive smile. It was as though he had the situation under control which caused them to wonder why. They were yet to be reached by anyone from the higherups, so what was this guy doing. Since Ethan was coming with them willingly, there was no need to cuff him at all. So the sergeant nodded and led him to the station. The reception was decvoid of people, but those who were in their rooms before a few minutes ago, were all standing beside their windows watching who was getting arrested. Ethan walked to the passenger side of the car and glanced around him with an unbothered smile before proceeding to get in. In Wexford County, in the Wellington family residence, Declan Wellington was w
Ethan’s eyes darkened instantly. Almost immediately, he felt a call come into his phone and checked the caller to see it was Declan calling. He was silent for a few seconds before assured her calmly, “I’ll bring them back. Chloe and Honey, I’ll make sure they come back without a scratch.” “For now, focus on getting better. Neither of them would like it if return to see you in such a terrible state.” Then he ended the call without waiting for her response and answered Declan’s. As soon as the call connected, Declan’s bubbly voice sounded in his ears, “Your little bastard is a little too pretty. Truly her mother’s daughter.” “Your genes almost lost the fight, but her eyes saved you. Hopefully, if your other bastard lives, it would put up a fight to look exactly like you.” Ethan tightened his grip around his phone, but said nothing. He remained expressionless, but his eyes beamed furious. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything in really. Declan had truly blinded him from
Ethan didn’t react immediately. He was silent for several seconds before he responded. “You’re the highly esteemed head of the Welllington family. Why resort to threatening your enemy with somsone close to them when you can face them head on yourself?”Declan yawned boredly from the other end. “What nonsense are you talking about? My enemy? You? You really think I think of you as my enemy?” “In what world did you think a bastard like you is worthy of becoming an enemy of Declan Wellington?” “We may share the same father, but to me, you’re nothing more than a confused rat. Sure, you’ve spent a few years in the army and earned yourself a few lackeys, but vagrant like you should know their place.”“Simply talking to me is a privilege you should never have. Whatever I’ll make you go through is a privilege you don’t deserve. Even if I kill you, you should be grateful I let you die by my hands!”Ethan chuckled calmly and went on to reply. “I was told you sent one of the best men your
Meanwhile, Charles Wilkins was looking into the people who crashed into Claire’s car and took Chloe. He tracked them down to their base in a nightclub. The club had lax security. Hence, he wasn’t stopped by the hefty men standing the door as he walked into the club. It was a few minutes past 7 in the evening and the club was getting filled by people. He stood in the middle of the room and glanced around before he spotted the VIP section and strutted straight to it. It didn’t take him long to find the room of the club’s own given that there were six hefty bodyguards in front of the door. Inside the room, a short and fat man was sitting on the couch with two of his colleagues while watching three unclad ladies dancing on a strip poles. Because the music in the room was so loud, he didn’t hear the tussle outside and only realized something was wrong when an unfamiliar man walked into the room wiping his hands seemingly clean hands clean. Charles didn’t look at anyone as he
As soon as Lewis William ended the call, he stood over an unconscious Chloe with a lewd look in his eyes. Ever since he knew right from wrong, he was always told of her lucky he was to have such beautiful cousins. Had Chloe not fallen out of grace with the William family and most people in Springdale, he had no doubt his life would still be filled with words of how lucky he was to have Chloe and Claire as his cousins. He never saw the beauty everyone saw, but now that he was alone with her and could see her up close, he finally saw it. Was she not his cousin, he would’ve slept with her first before handing her over to this gallery director. As he walked out of the house, he received a call from somsone. “What do you think you’re doing? I clearly told you the person I am after is Claire William!” Vivian Martell yelled from the other end as soon as the call connected. Lewis sucked in a deep breath to keep himself from screaming back at her and retorted calmly, “There’s no need to
A minute later, Charles turned to Ethan and reported solemnly, “Mrs. Black wasn’t taken by Declan Wellington. She was taken by the William family.” In the William family residence. Adam William paced to and fro in the living room, his hands clasped behind his back and brows knitted together in worry. “Grandfather, after today, I will make sure our William family will no longer be looked down on by other families!” Those were the words Lewis said to him this morning before he left the house. Ever since Astoria Corporation pulled away their investment, other companies followed suit. They were not only knee-deep in debt, but every valuable thing in their house had been taken by the bank and everyone they were owing. They took everything ranging from jewelries, electronics and furnitures. Even the expensive looking lights were not left out. Adam had run to those whom he had helped when the William family were at its peak a few months ago, but they all hung up on him the moment th
He called her three times and each time, the phone wasn’t answered. There was no denying it now. Soenthing had really happened. His brows knitted into a tight frown as he switched to calling Claire. But just like Chloe, Claire didn’t answer her phone either. As soon as the third call ended, the screen of his phone lit up with a call from Claire and he eagerly answered it. “Where are you? I’ve been calling Chloe. Did something…” He was suddenly cut off by a voice that didn’t belong to Claire. “Hello, this phone belongs to a woman involved in a car accident. Seeing that your contact is saved with ‘Brother-in-law’ I thought it was wise to return your call.” His pupils instantly dilated and he strutted quickly to the window, away from Honey’s earshot.. He pressed the phone against his ear rig heed and repeated in disbelief, “Accident? She was involved in an accident? What about the other woman in the car with her? Is she badly injured? In fact, tell me which hospital you are!” In