After Charles left, Andrew immediately pulled his son's body and gave him a light punch out of annoyance. "Why did you come to the company when Charles came, huh? If you hadn't come, Dad could have lied to him and Dad wouldn't have had to pay a penalty for getting you out of jail!" Deon, who heard his father's anger, just shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care. "So what if I came here? After all, sooner or later he'll find out and will ask Dad to pay the fine. So, why the delay?" "Tsk. This is business. If we can make more profit, why not?" Andrew exhaled a harsh breath. "But, is it true that the man you said hates Charles will help us pay for all these losses? Including the money Charles has invested?" Andrew confirmed. He didn't want to lose, let alone lose significance. He didn't like Charles because he had put his son in jail. Besides, it was also because of Charles that his girlfriend dumped him. Although he was grateful for not being used by Isabella for too long, he w
"How? Do you have any clues as to where my grandson is?" Michael looked at Rose, who had just walked into his room. "I'm sorry, Sir. For the time being I haven't found any clues from Mr. Charles' apartment. Everything is clean, there are no signs of violence or traces of coercion that could be used as clues. Also, the CCTV in the apartment is not working." "I know about that too!" Michael was very mad and breathing heavily. Someone took away his grandson, and the people supposed to protect him didn't know where he was.Michael was feeling very confused and couldn't think clearly. It had been a long time, and many things could happen. Especially because Charles was recently announced as the main person to inherit the Duke family, it was clear that the people who took him must want to harm and take him away forever."I don't want to know. You must be able to find information on where my grandson is now within 2 hours. Otherwise, you will be responsible for his disappearance!" Michael
"Ugh! Where am I?" Charles winced. He touched his head where it hurt. "Are you awake, Sir?" Rose immediately approached Charles. "Awake? Did I faint?" asked Charles in surprise. "Have you forgotten the events of yesterday, Sir?" Charles shook his head. He was still holding his head which felt increasingly throbbing as he forced himself to remember what happened yesterday. "Don't push it, Sir. You'd better drink this first." Rose handed Charles a glass of water and the medicine prescribed by the Doctor for him to take after he woke up. With slightly trembling hands, Charles took the medicine and drank it. "What happened yesterday, Rose? Why can't I remember anything?" Rose smiled slightly. "Yesterday, you disappeared, Sir. We were all looking for you, from the office to some of the places you frequent. But strangely, you were found in the apartment unit next to this one. Did you buy a new apartment, Sir?" Charles was pensive. As he recalls, he didn't buy another apartment. "No,
Charles came to the Duke family's main mansion in Washington. Many things confused him, especially some of the events that happened to him a few days ago. "Why did you come without telling Grandpa first, Charl?" Michael greeted his grandson's presence with a question. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I came here to ask you a question." Michael allowed his grandson to say the question. "I'm confused, Grandpa. There are many strange events happening. Apart from the kidnapping that happened to me yesterday, there is another, more shocking event happening." "What was it?" asked Michael curiously. "Deon... Deon was found dead, Grandpa. His body was very gruesome, it looks like he was tortured before he was killed." Michael gasped in shock. "Really?" Charles nodded. "Yes, Grandpa. Is that incident related to the kidnapping I experienced yesterday?" "Is that why you came here?" "Yes.""You shouldn't have come, Charl. You could have asked Grandpa on the phone. But that's okay, Grandpa likes you
Dominic sat in his work chair, drinking coffee leisurely. Not a hint of regret could be seen on his face. "Looks like I'll have to find a new subordinate." Dominic muttered to himself. Deon's death was never premeditated. Everything happened spontaneously. He still needed Deon's power because Charles was still not dead. So if his attempt to kill Charles using poison failed, he could order Deon to kill him directly. For a split second, he remembered what happened yesterday. Right when Deon refused his every command. A few hours before Deon died..."I don't want to come with you! So what if I peeked at what you did to Charles? I'm the one who kidnapped him, so I should know what liquid you injected him with!"Dominic's teeth chattered. This was the first time someone had directly contradicted him. "You should feel grateful that I didn't take issue with you kidnapping Charles without telling me! But your peeping at what I was doing was out of line! You should be punished so that you
On the way home, Charles was pensive for a moment. He was still thinking about what made Erick willing to give him the pen drive. Although he didn't know the contents of the pen drive, he was sure that the contents must be very secret. "Rose, why do you think Erick was willing to give me this pendrive? He even took the initiative first, even though I didn't know that he knew the secret about my kidnapping and Deon's death." Charles opened the conversation. "In my opinion, there must be something that makes Erick willing to do that, Sir. It could be that he feels that only you can solve all the problems that happened, especially about Deon's death. Aren't the two of them best friends? He must have been very hurt when he found out that his best friend died and his body was found on your campus." Charles nodded several times. The answer given by Rose was enough to satisfy him. "But I still don't understand, why wasn't he with Damian earlier? Did they have a fight? Usually they are alw
Charles asked Rose to tell the bodyguard who was with Erick to evacuate him. "Rose, ask the bodyguard who was there to take Erick to the hospital. Also, ask the other bodyguards to find a replacement body so that no one will know that we took Erick away from there." "Yes, Sir." Rose immediately informed the bodyguards who were there about Charles' order. "It's better to go to the hospital now. Let those bodyguards clean up the scene." Rose nodded. She immediately turned the car around and continued driving towards the hospital closest to where Erick was found. This time she had to be very careful because she was sure the person who had harmed Erick would return and check whether he was dead. Arriving at the hospital parking lot, Rose asked Charles to wear a mask, glasses, and a hat. She deliberately did that so no one would recognize her boss' face. "Erick has been handled by the hospital, Mr. Charles. In addition, I have also asked everyone involved to keep it a secret that he
"How are you, Erick? Did you tell me everything in person?" Charles asked Erick, who was lying on the bed in the hospital room. Today Charles took the time to visit Erick. It had been a week since the shooting incident, and Erick's condition was getting better. Although his condition was critical during surgery to remove the bullet in his head, he was lucky to survive. "Didn't I explain everything in that video? What else do you want to know?" Erick replied in a whispered voice. His strength still hadn't returned ultimately, and he could only lie on his bed as he was not allowed to do strenuous activities by the doctor. "I think there are many things you haven't told me, Erick. You only told me the gist of my kidnapped, but you didn't tell me the reason why Dominic do that. Also, I wonder why you didn't tell his father the reason for Deon's death." Erick looked at Charles seriously, then exhaled a few times to calm his racing heart. Dominic's attempted murder had traumatized him d
Will stares at the tombstone with Michael's name on it without blinking. His mind went blank momentarily as he stared at the word and then exhaled loudly.Two years had passed since Michael's death, and Charles was not doing well. The events of two years ago made Charles sickly and weak.The breeze distracted Will, who was transfixed for a moment. He was concerned about Charles' condition and the man's company, which needed a successor."It's all because of that damn woman. If only Elizabeth-""There's no need to regret what happened," Will said quickly. He stares at the headstones of Michael and his parents without blinking.Charles let out a long, hard breath."I even made things easier," Charles said.It was Will's turn to exhale. He had often heard Charles express his guilt, which only worsened his condition. Will gripped the handles of Charles' wheelchair tightly."At least, in this situation, you still have hope," Will said, and then he turned his gaze to stare at the sky mixed w
"Bugh...." The sound of falling objects was heard so loudly from inside Michael's room that it startled everyone, especially Charles who was arguing with Isabella. "What is it?" Charles immediately ran to his grandfather's room followed by everyone who was gathered earlier. Charles headed for his grandfather's room after hearing a loud noise. This was followed by Isabella. When he opened the door, Charles was very surprised to see Elizabeth in his grandfather's room which was already unlocked. "Elizabeth, what are you doing here?" Charles was really surprised when he saw the scene that was presented in front of his eyes. There, Charles saw his grandfather slit his own throat and seemed to have died when he came because his grandfather's body looked very pale."Grandpa ...." Charles was in shock. He looked at Elizabeth with a look of disbelief in his eyes, as did Isabella who apparently followed Charles."Elizabeth, why are you here." Isabella wondered. "Elizabeth ... you...." He
Isabella carried out her plan well. She approached Michael, visited often and gave many gifts to her grandfather to smooth the way of her plan. However, the plan that had been drawn up could not run smoothly because now Charles lived in the Duke's family mansion. Isabella tried to be careful when approaching Michael. "Grandpa, would you like me to make you a drink?" "Yes. Would you mind making a drink for me? You can just tell the servant to make it for you." "That's fine. I don't have anything to do anyway. I just want to make you happy."Michael, who felt that Isabella was very attentive, did not have the slightest suspicion. He thought that Isabella was craving for affection because she had no one but him. "Yes. Make me some orange juice. It seems that drinking fresh juice like that, can make my day more colorful." "Okay Grandpa, I'll make it first." Isabella with her sweet smile made Orange juice for her grandfather. Arriving in the kitchen Isabella took the ingredien
Isabella moved restlessly in her room. Because it's been a few days since she gave Ethan some money.The man should have given news about the continuation of the plan they had arranged, but the man has not even appeared since receiving money from him.Ethan himself could not be contacted, making Isabella even worse. Apart from being afraid of being cheated, she also doesn't know how to destroy the Duke family because Ethan hasn't explained anything to her.Isabella has no plan at all. Ethan is missing will help her impose revenge by destroying the Duke family. Whether it's killing Charles or destroying the man's business.Isabella growled. She had contacted Ethan, but the man was unavailable. She was afraid that if she left the house and tried to meet Ethan, it would be bad and all plans would fall apart. However, waiting is not a good thing either.I don't know how many calls and messages Isabella sent to Ethan. She just hoped he would pick up and give her some news. She had already
Taking care of the organization made Sebastian forget some things. His busyness made him neglect Elizabeth a little. This was not a problem for Elizabeth. She was even happy because she didn't have to deal with Sebastian often.Unfortunately, because he was too busy, Sebastian didn't know that Elizabeth was secretly meeting with someone. That person was planning something on Sebastian, with Elizabeth as his ally."I was hoping you would be on my side. Are you willing?" the figure asked Elizabeth.Elizabeth flinched. Really, she did not expect to be in this position."Of course I'm willing. I will side with you," Elizabeth said with a smile. In her eyes, she immediately imagined how Sebastian's life would be.***That week, Sebastian deliberately did not take care of his organization. He deliberately relaxed at home in the company of Elizabeth. Yes, it had been a while since Sebastian had relaxed like this. It could be said that this was a very rare time, so Sebastian had to make the m
"Nooo!"Michael exclaimed and instantly opened his eyes.It was the same dream all over again. Michael sat up with a sweaty forehead. His eyes were glued to his blanket-covered feet. The dream seemed real, as he was on the edge of a cliff and someone was pushing him from behind."What a horrible dream," Michael whispered to himself.He vividly remembered how his body turned as he plunged and he saw the grin on the face of the person who pushed him. He couldn't see the face at all, as the sunlight refracted behind his body. But he knew it was the grin of someone who wanted to harm him."This is all a dream. Yes, it's just a dream."Michael tried to calm himself down. Honestly, dreams were like a scourge that haunted him lately.They say dreams are the flower of sleep. But is that really the case? What if we keep dreaming about it? Couldn't dreams be the clues that the subconscious gives to our lives?That's what made Michael depressed. Yes, the dream made the old man think about it all
Sebastian let out a short breath. He lit the end of his cigarette using the lighter, then took a deep drag, just to relax his frantic mind.There was one thing Sebastian was thinking about at the moment, and that was Ken's death. For some reason he felt something was off, but he didn't know exactly what it was. What was clear was that Ken's death made him feel uncomfortable, as if there was something he had missed."I think that's enough for me. I don't want to interfere in the Duke family's life anymore. Let them have their life, I have mine. There's no point in meddling in other people's family affairs anyway."Sebastian gave a small nod. Yes, it was better that way. He would focus on taking care of his organization. He would also live happily with Elizabeth. Sebastian thought that was probably what Elizabeth wanted from him as well.Honestly, Sebastian wanted to build a happy life with Elizabeth. He wanted her to be completely separated from the Duke's family. That's why he wanted
"Has Ken's death been confirmed?" Charles asked for confirmation.Elizabeth nodded. "Of course. The man is lifeless. There's no way he can live again. Don't you take my word for it? Do I look like someone who likes to spread fake news? Besides, didn't you see for yourself that the man was dead?" Elizabeth was a little offended that Charles didn't seem to believe her words."It's not like that. I just didn't expect him to die this easily.""What is clear is that he is already dead.""Alright. I'll tell Grandpa the news. It's good news to me. Ken deserved to die."Charles went to see Michael, his grandfather. The old man was relaxing in the den smoking a cigar. The large window in the room was open so that the smoke could escape freely.Relaxing while smoking a cigar had become Michael's habit during his leisure time. There were tons of books in the reading room. Strangely enough, Michael only liked collecting those books. Of all the books in his collection, perhaps only ten percent had
Bad statements about Charles continued to spread. He let his men take care of it all so that he wouldn't have to follow the news anymore.Charles is now focusing on the company he is managing. He can't be caught off guard by the news that is cornering him. Ken must be thinking of ways to attack him so he must anticipate all the bad possibilities that will happen. "People's statements are increasingly cornering the Duke family, what should we do?" The report came to Charles who was thinking of ways to defend his company. "Is the news spreading to the detriment of the family or the company?" Charles asked. "No.""Then, you take care of that matter. I have to take care of the company so that it won't falter and be easily destroyed by other companies." Charles gave the order. "Rose, arrange a meeting with Elizabeth. I need to make sure that she is willing to work with me and is willing to carry out the plan that I have laid out." "What can Elizabeth do?" Rose asked, she didn't