Ten minutes before Chloe fainted, a black Bentley came to a stop outside the house, and one of the windows was rolled down to reveal a long-haired woman in sunglasses looking out of it.Priscilla Wilton stared at the shabby, run-down house for a long time before she tore her eyes away from it to look at her assistant, who was behind the wheel."Are you sure this is the house?"The man nodded his head seriously."I've been looking into it like you asked. Indeed, there was a family with the last name Black, but they had some trouble and ran into a fraudulent scheme where they lost all their money and assets.""Astoria Corporation belonged to the last surviving daughter of the Black family. There wasn't much information about her, but rumors say she was involved with the Wellington family 32 years ago.""Get to the point, Lustre," Priscilla shot her assistant a stern look."Of course, ma'am. After she died of cancer six years ago, Astoria Corporation was swiftly taken by the Wellington f
"I'm not an enemy; I'm a friend," Priscilla Wilton, who was sitting on the couch at the end of the room, voiced out.Ethan straightened up his back and slid his free hand into his pocket. Then he pulled a nearby chair towards him and sat down on it."I don't care who you say you are. I find it very disturbing you're alone with my unconscious wife."Priscilla didn't realize her body was trembling as a result of the cold aura Ethan had the room engulfed in until her palm grazed her arm by mistake, and she felt the goosebumps on it.She lowered her eyes to it and tried to smoothen it over with her palm but discovered it was also trembling. After trying to stabilize it for ten seconds and not succeeding, she clenched it into a tight fist and looked away from it.She looked towards him and laughed lightly, "So I'm right. You're not the good-for-nothing son-in-law who toiled away and was a common Corporal in the army. You're really the man I think you are."The cold in the room suddenly di
Instead of the tense atmosphere continuing, Ethan suddenly laughed and turned to look at her in amusement. "Am I being threatened?" Priscilla Wilton swallowed hard and hid her nervous eyes from him. She parted her lips to say something after staying mute for for a brief moment but the door was suddenly kicked open. Scott William rushed into the ward and strutted straight to Chloe's bed where he dropped to his knees and began sobbing loudly. "Chloe! Ethan, what happened to Chloe? It's ally fault. I should've helped you look for it. I promised not to drink anymore, but I couldn't control my longing for it and left to drink a street away. Forgive me, Chloe." Seeing the middle-age man having a moment, Ethan suddenly thought of something. "What do you mean? What was she looking for?" Scott had his head lowered to the floor as he responded. "Sh-she was looking for money. According to her, she had been saving money to get a new inhaler. Hers finished this morning, so she was going to
Chloe, unaware of the thoughts going through Priscilla Wilton's mind, smiled innocently at her and waved Ethan aside."If Ms. Wilton hadn't seen me on time, the surgery would've put me at more risk of dying due to being brought in late. I still have to thank Ms. Wilton for her help in saving my life.""It's fine, Ms. William. Me being there was just something that was bound to happen. Like your father said, it isn't your time to die yet." Priscilla stepped forward and smiled back at Chloe."That's true. I don't think I've seen you before. Are you a new friend Claire made?" Scott William suddenly asked.Priscilla shook her head slightly. "What? No, I'm not. I just happened to be passing by when it happened."Scott looked her over for a moment before he smacked his lips together loudly."You don't look like you're from this part of the town. It doesn't even look like you're from Springdale. Plus, the road is pretty far from our house. You must've gotten pretty close to hear my daughter
"What? The least of those gifts is worth more than the total amount in question. How could I give you something so expensive?" Matilda immediately snorted at the person.The man who had raised the thought of Matilda planning to run away with their money quickly stepped forward and scoffed loudly."Hmph! I told you guys she plans to run away with our money. She could easily sell one of those gifts and refund us our money, but for some reason, she has refused to do so.""Th-those gifts are betrothal gifts from Charles Wilkins to my daughter. It shouldn't even cross my mind to sell one of the gifts without their approval. Stop talking nonsense!" Matilda glared hard at the man."What are you being so strange about? Isn't Charles Wilkins your future son-in-law and your daughter the soon-to-be daughter-in-law of the Wilkins family? I'm sure they'd understand that you had to sell one of the gifts to clear your debt!"His suggestion made a little sense to Matilda. The Wilkins family had given
She stopped in front of Chloe and raised her hand to slap her when someone suddenly held her arm midair."You piece of rubbish, let go of me!" The woman rasped angrily when she saw the person holding her arm was Ethan.Ethan stared down at her coldly before flinging her hand away. It appeared as if he tossed it away leisurely, but he had applied a little bit of force that sent the sturdy woman stumbling into the arms of the people behind her.The woman's face heated up in anger as she was helped to her feet.She then turned towards Matilda and waved her arm around furiously."What is this, Matilda? Will you stand aside and watch your pathetic excuse for a son-in-law treat us like this simply because we came to get back our money?"Recalling that Ethan was physically strong, having been in the army for five years, Matilda's confidence returned, and she walked forward with shoulders raised high."Hmph! I said I'll give you back your money. What happened to me was a bad investment, which
"Is this a joke to you? What can someone like you do to find the money-doubling man when the police have made it clear to us it's impossible to find him?"As expected, the woman whom Ethan prevented from touching Chloe by shoving her away immediately shot him a stern look as soon as the words left his mouth."Is this a new tactic to gain our trust so you can run off with our money when we least suspect? If it is, you shouldn't put any hope in it working!" The man whom Ethan had locked eyes with snorted in disdain.Claire, who had lowered her eyes to the ground the whole time, quickly raised it in relief when she heard Ethan's promise.Ethan knew Charles Wilkins and Josiah Haworth. She chose to believe it wouldn't be hard for him to find the money-doubling man if he had both influential men searching for him.Fearing that he'd change his mind about finding the money-doubling man after being insulted by these people, she shouted back at the man and woman defensively."If my brother-in-l
In the warehouse belonging to the Reese family:After Killian Reese, Hermes Reese, and Jethro Reese's father were informed of the people who had been caught lurking outside the warehouse, he had every member of the Reese family assemble inside.Everyone assembled inside the warehouse, but ten minutes went by with no sight of Killian Reese."Andy, did father tell you anything? He said to be here ten minutes ago. Did we get it wrong, or is he really running late?" Jethro Reese inched closer to his cousin and inquired.Andy didn't answer immediately, but when he did, he didn't bother to look at him."Your brother woke up. Everyone knows already. Your father will be coming with him. And I'm sure there's a reason they are both running late."Jethro's brows knitted together into a tight frown. "Hermes woke up? And everyone knew, but I didn't?"Sensing his frown, Andy turned to look at him, the corner of his mouth curling up in disdain as he sneered, "Why do you look so surprised? You're no
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