2023-03-27 22:19:22Ethan was certainly suspicious of them, strangers who suddenly asked him to go along. The dark-haired man had heard the news about human trafficking cases. Perhaps in the back of his mind, what they were about to do was part of a human trafficking plan.
"I-I'm not going. Maybe you have the wrong person; there are many people named Ethan in this world," Ethan explained, stumbling while trying to walk slowly away.
After seeing an opportunity, Ethan ran quickly away from the place, which was suddenly chased by them. Unlike the woman who seemed silent while sitting on a sidewalk chair, the men in black suits ran quite fast.
Ethan didn't run out of ideas; he entered a narrow alley that only he knew. According to Ethan, the men in black suits would not pass through this dirty, muddy, smelly alley. So, Ethan thought he was safe from them.
The alley connected to the other side of the apartment block where Ethan lived. When the young man made it out with his breath ragged from running fast, he was surprised by the crush of a man wearing the same suit as them, a black suit.
"AKH!"
"Let go of me!" groaned Ethan, trying to rebel.
Ethan's body was on the bottom, crushed by the man in the suit and sunglasses on top of him. Not only him but the people chasing Ethan earlier also came.
"What are you going to do to me?" asked Ethan, sharpening his eyes with a heart full of anger.
The five of them didn't answer Ethan at all. One of the men was actually seen speaking while raising his right hand. Ethan saw a small microphone connected to the man's suit sleeve.
"All right. We got it," said the man.
The man in the suit who was over Ethan surprisingly hit the man on the back of the neck, making Ethan hurt and fall unconscious quickly.
"He's quite troublesome," snapped one of the men. They were the bodyguards who used to always guard Kingsley.
"It's natural because he doesn't know who he really is," another man said, taking off his sunglasses and standing away from the unconscious Ethan.
A luxury sedan convoy arrived in the area. The beautiful woman with shoulder-length hair got out and told the bodyguards to put Ethan in the car.
"Bring him in. We cannot make Madame Sara wait," the woman pleaded.
They obeyed her words as if her position was much higher than the bodyguards. Unfortunately for Ethan, the incident became the centre of attention of many people, including Darren. David's friend clearly saw the incident because he was in a coffee shop close to the scene.
Darren captured the moment Ethan fell limp and sent the photo to David with false information. He wrote that Ethan was arrested by the city mafia because he was in debt and intended to run away.
Darren's caption made David happy. He had something that would bring down Ethan's pride on campus. David planned to spread the information to every student and make the news viral.
"Poor bastard. Well, it's better if he's not seen on campus," Darren snapped, sipping his coffee as he watched the black car convoy leave.
The shoulder-length-haired woman sitting in the front seat began to remove her sunglasses and picked up her ringing phone. Her eyes immediately read the name of her contact, Sara Kingsley.
"Hello, Madam Sara," the woman said.
"Hello. Have you met him?" asked Sara, her voice quite high because she was annoyed at the wait.
"Yes, Madame. He's on the way with us," replied the woman, occasionally nodding as if she was speaking directly to Sara.
"That's good. Bring him quickly; everyone has already gathered here," Sara pleaded.
"Yes, Madam."
Sara Kingsley immediately hung up the phone call, followed by the shoulder-length-haired woman who placed her cell phone on the car dashboard.
A driver asked the woman about Ethan's identity, but she was under no obligation to tell the man. She only gave him the big picture.
"He's part of the Kingsley Family. I didn't expect Mr Kingsley to get this complicated," replied the woman with shoulder-length hair, known to most as Astrid.
"But he looks like the kind of gloomy young man we often see along the city streets," the driver said, still not believing that a shabby man like Ethan was part of a wealthy family in Lancaster City.
Astrid was silent. She didn't respond to the driver's words and preferred to watch the trees pass by. The convoy of cars was already passing through the urban forest area, a sign that the Kingsley residence was near.
Just before arriving, Ethan began to open his eyes. With a faint gaze, he saw the car furniture before him. When he looked wide, the young man discovered that they had caught him.
"Where am I? Let go of me!" Ethan moaned, trying to break free.
Astrid, who was in the same car as Ethan, whipped her head around to see the young man helpless. His hands were cuffed, so he couldn't do anything.
"I'm not letting you go," Astrid replied.
"Then I'll choke-"
"If you do, I won't hesitate to put a hole in your head. Don't you still want to live?!" interrupted Astrid harshly.
The woman suddenly pulled out an FN Five-seven gun and pointed it at Ethan, and when his head was pointed at it, the young man fell silent. He certainly still wanted to live, even though his life was probably already a mess.
"That's good. Now shut up and be quiet. You've made plenty of trouble today," Astrid complained, re-holstering her gun.
A convoy of black sedans emerged from the urban woods, revealing a five-story, European-architecture mansion. The walls surrounding it were three meters high, with iron gates painted white.
The gates of the Kingsley residence opened immediately, realizing that the black sedan was Astrid. Seeing the splendour of the Kingsley house made Ethan's thoughts of human trafficking begin to fade.
"You're not going to sell me, are you?" Ethan asked.
The sedan stopped right in front of the steps connected to the house door. The door was exquisitely carved, made of expensive wood with a doorknob that looked gold.
"What are you talking about?" Astrid asked briefly as she got out of the car. Several bodyguards who had attacked Ethan quickly opened the passenger door and took Ethan with his hands still cuffed.
Ethan stood in line with the men in black suits. He raised his head and saw that many people at the house's entrance seemed to be waiting for his presence.
Almost all of them didn't show a happy expression; only a few of them smiled to welcome Ethan's arrival. As Astrid walked up the steps to approach them, she was seen conversing with a woman.
From Ethan's eyes, the woman looked youthful, although small wrinkles were visible at the corners of her eyes. She was wearing a knee-length maroon dress, high cream heels and a headpiece adorned with flowers in the same colour as the dress.
Beside her, the people around her were dressed quite fashionably, ranging from suits, shirts, coats, blouses, and so on. The beauty and good looks they possessed were truly displayed with the luxury goods.
"Ethan. This is Madame Sara," Astrid said, introducing the woman, who was none other than her boss.
Ethan nodded slowly, bowed his head slightly and smiled, even though he didn't know the meaning of all this yet.
"You must be confused, right?" asked Sara, walking down the steps alone.
"Of course. You all got me here by the skin of my teeth," said Ethan, Sara chuckling at Ethan's straightforwardness when talking to her.
"I like your confidence," Sara replied.
The woman stood gracefully in front of Ethan. The look in Sara's eyes was so strong as if she wanted to show her hierarchy in this residence. Ethan realized Sara's attitude; she was so superior to the people here.
"Prepare yourself. There will be more surprising things coming your way," Sara said, extending her right hand wrapped in a white glove with a ring on her finger.
One of the men in suits removed the cuffs from Ethan's hands, leaving his hands free to move. He shook Sara's glove-wrapped hand gently. It felt warm and small.
"Welcome to the Kingsley Family."
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