The man murmured a quick apology before slipping a note into Jessica’s hand.Jessica clutched onto the note, not having the nerve to open it in public. She looked around and saw the sign for the nearest toilet. Following the signpost, she went into the ladies’ room and opened the note for a look. The note wrote, “We will cause a distraction during an aquarium show and take the child amid the chaos. Your task is to lure them to the aquarium.” Jessica shredded the note and flushed the pieces down the toilet. She thought those people would not carry on with the mission since a large group of the family came along. Plus, Serenity brought two bodyguards to the trip. It never occurred to Jessica that they had no intentions of giving up. They planned to strike during a show at the aquarium. Would they succeed? Jessica was not with the Brown family now, much less Serenity and her sister. Coming out of the ladies’ room, Jessica gave Hank a call. She told Hank to send his loca
Liberty clung tightly to her son. Jessica knew the plan would fail when Liberty held Sonny, and the York family’s bodyguards escorted the group out of the aquarium. “Lucas! Lucas!” Chelsea’s shrieks snapped Jessica out of her thoughts. A big man grabbed Lucas and made a run for it. Jessica was dumbfounded. Did they grab the wrong child? “Honey! Hank! Go after them! That person took Lucas!” With no time to watch the fight, Chelsea tried to pursue the man who took Lucas while calling her husband and brother for help. Realizing that Lucas was kidnapped, the Browns tried to go in pursuit, but they could not get past the crowd. “A kidnapper! My child was kidnapped! It’s that tall man there. That’s him! He took my child!” Chelsea went pale in panic. Unable to elbow her way through the crowd, she cried out loud. Hearing a kidnapping was taking place, all the parents, who were here for the show with their kids, stuck with their children and ran out of the aquarium. It o
Liberty would have lost her son to the kidnapper if she had loosened her grip even by a tiny bit. Now that they were inside Elisa’s car, Liberty continued to clutch onto her son. Color drained from her face. The lingering fear had not left Serenity. Elisa called her brother and the moment her brother picked up, she said, “Clive, send all our bodyguards to fetch us from Wiltspoon Zoo. There’s a kidnapper on the loose. Sonny was nearly taken.“I don’t think I can drive now. What if someone stops the car and kidnaps Sonny?” This was Elisa’s first encounter with such a chaotic and dangerous situation. Sure, she was cocky and acted as if nothing scared her, but her legs went weak when Sonny was almost taken. It would be hard to catch up to the kidnapper amid the chaos if Sonny was really taken… The thought of it drained the color from her complexion. Her limbs were still shaking as she could not settle down. She was not in a position to drive right now. The last thing she wan
Serenity ran into the two bodyguards at the zoo entrance as they were carrying Lucas out. “Mrs. York.” The two bodyguards brought the kid, who was screaming for his mom, to Serenity. Putting Lucas on the ground, the bodyguard uttered in distress, “Can you give his family a call to pick him up? He’s been crying the whole time.” “Serenity.” Lucas wailed out of fear. He had never met the York family’s bodyguards. The boy was taken by a stranger and rescued by another pair of strangers. While Lucas was a wild child, he was only four years old. It was normal to be frightened to tears. Serenity was someone he knew. Lucas immediately clung to Serenity’s leg, asking to be picked up when he saw Serenity. “It’s okay now.” Although Serenity was not fond of Lucas, she needed to soothe the poor child. Serenity dialed Hank’s number and said, “We got Lucas. We’re at the entrance of the zoo. Come out here.” The Browns were crying on their knees after Lucas was kidnapped. Mrs. Bro
Serenity answered, “My sister got a good hold on Sonny, and I gave the man a kick. The kidnapper gave up on Sonny and ran away.” She turned over and looked in the direction of Elisa’s car before adding, “Sonny is in Elisa’s car.” Through the conversation between Serenity and Zachary, the Browns realized that Sonny was nearly taken too. Mrs. Brown cried and shouted to see her grandson. It was then Liberty took Sonny by the hands and got out of the car. “Sonny! Sonny!” Mrs. Brown held onto Sonny, making sure her grandson was fine before choking with sobs. “Thank goodness you’re okay. Thank goodness.” “Grandmom.” Seeing that the old lady had tears on her face, the little man reached out to wipe away her tears. Mrs. Brown had never looked after Sonny, but Sonny was her only grandson, so of course, she adored him. With Sonny’s caring gesture touching Mrs. Brown’s heart, she cuddled Sonny and had another bout of crying. The Browns gathered around Sonny. “Stop crying, Mo
Even Serenity suspected foul play. They simply did not raise their suspicion in front of everybody.“Okay.” The fun ended too soon for Sonny. He found the show at the aquarium entertaining, but it was a shame that his mother brought him out before it was over. The York family’s security team stood in two rows, clearing a way to the Rolls Royce. Carrying Sonny in his arms, Zachary walked alongside Serenity to the car. Liberty hitched a ride in one of the cars driven by his bodyguard. Elisa took her brother’s car while a bodyguard drove her car back. Soon, the two CEOs left Wiltspoon Zoo, escorted by their security teams.Once they were gone, Jessica could breathe a sigh of relief. She was afraid everybody might suspect her. On their way back, Serenity said to her husband, “Zachary, something about today doesn’t sit well with me. I feel like it’s more than just a kidnapping. They created a distraction and kidnapped the children amid the chaos. “No one was holding Luca
The whole of Wiltspoon knew Zachary was crazy for his wife. It would be the death of Zachary if anything were to happen to Serenity. “Do you think Mrs. Newman is in on it?” Serenity’s first thought was Mrs. Newman. After a brief silence, Zachary said, “I can’t tell for sure, but I told Josh to keep an eye on Mr. Newman and his wife after your argument with Ms. Carrie. There’s no unusual activity on their end. “Seren, we can only know through an investigation if the mastermind is after you or me.” Zachary put Sonny next to him and pulled Serenity into his arms. Locking Serenity in his embrace, he vowed solemnly, “Don’t be scared. I’m here for you. I won’t let anyone harm you.” Lifting her chin, Serenity looked into his eyes with worry. “If they’re out to get you… You must be careful, Zachary.” “Unfortunately, I hold a status that tends to attract danger. I’m used to it. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” The York family sheltered their descendants from the outside world until t
“It’s a personal choice to take up self-defense if you're an ordinary person, but now… Sonny should learn to fight and protect himself.” Zachary had always held a torch for Sonny. He believed Sonny had a lot of potential and thought about taking the boy under his wing when he was older. Now, Zachary was merely carrying the plan out ahead of schedule. “That’s true. Alright, we’ll go with your idea. Thank you, babe.” For Zachary to help Sonny tap into his potential and creativity, Serenity was happy for her nephew and thanked Zachary for it. Zachary carried Sonny with one hand and dabbed on Serenity’s nose with his free hand before uttering, “You always call me Zachary, but suddenly I’m “babe” when I talk about getting Sonny a coach. Does Sonny hold a bigger space in your heart than I do?”Serenity replied with a smile, “You both hold equal spaces. No, you take up a bigger space in my heart.” Sonny was only a kid, but Zachary was an adult. Of course, Zachary took up more
Adrian and his brothers finally heard footsteps. They instinctively turned their heads, only to see a group of people, who were already very close, approaching.“Police! Hands up, don’t move!”Upon realizing they had been spotted, the officer leading the charge immediately shouted, drawing his gun and pointing it at Adrian and the others.The police had learned from the Dott brothers that the kidnappers were armed.The officers following Darren were from an armed unit and carried guns.Jason’s mind went blank. He could not form a single coherent thought.How had the police caught up?They had scouted the location beforehand, ensuring it was remote and quiet. It was somewhere no one would come even during the day, let alone at night.Adrian reacted the fastest. He immediately bent down to pick up the kitchen knife, intending to kill Caroline.All he could think then was that even if he died, he wanted to take Caroline with him. As long as Caroline died, he would consider it wor
Justin, seeing his eldest brother approach with the kitchen knife, hesitated and asked, “Adrian, are we really going to do this?”“What, are you having second thoughts at this stage, like Jason? Justin, we didn’t even cover our faces. She knows it’s us. If we let her go now, we’re the ones who will die.“Think about it. How much have we suffered ever since she came back? How much have we lost? Even Mom’s dead now.”When their mother was alive, the three brothers lived carefree and comfortable lives. Now that she was gone, they were nothing.Hearing this, Justin quickly said, “Adrian, I’m not having second thoughts. It’s just… We don’t have to use the knife. We can just throw her into the sea. With her hands and feet tied, she won’t be able to escape.“The deep sea is full of fish. She’ll be eaten by a big fish soon, which will leave no trace. That’s better than us using the knife.”The main reason was that none of them had killed anyone before. Although they had done other bad th
Her indifference, as if she did not care whether they killed her or not, infuriated her three brothers.Adrian stood up, turned around, and walked to the back of the car. He opened the trunk.Inside the trunk were two sharpened kitchen knives.“Adrian.” Jason walked over, his voice trembling slightly. It was his first time committing murder, and killing his own sister at that. Jason was a bit scared.“Adrian, are we really going to… chop her up?”Adrian picked up one of the kitchen knives and glared at Jason. “What? Are you having second thoughts? Or are you scared?”“Well… It’s my first time killing someone. I am a bit scared. Carol is our sister, after all. I... I can’t bring myself to do it.”Adrian snorted coldly. “You think of her as a sister, but she doesn’t see us as brothers. Look at what she’s done—every single thing has been a stab in the back for us.“When it comes to using a knife, once you make the first cut, the second one won’t be so hard.”Adrian handed the kit
There were still traces of blood at the corners of her mouth and under her nose.Justin and Jason worked together to pull Caroline out, and Adrian immediately tied her legs together before binding her hands behind her back.“Are you going to feed me to the fish, Adrian?”Hearing the sound of the waves and feeling the cold sea breeze, Caroline shivered.She did not stand up and remained lying on the ground.Adrian kicked her several times, venting his pent-up anger.Caroline silently endured it.After kicking her a few times, Adrian squatted, gripping Caroline's chin forcefully with one hand, and said coldly, “Caroline, there’s nothing more to say between us.“Don’t blame us for being heartless. You’re the one who pushed us to this point.“You only have yourself to blame.“Where are the passwords and keys to Mom's private assets? Tell us, and we’ll make it quick for you, so you won’t suffer too much.“If you don’t, we have plenty of time to slowly cut you piece by piece and m
“We can’t just keep giving them money, now can we?”Adrian replied, “That’s not a priority for now. We can burn that bridge when we come to it. If they do dare blackmail us, we’ll just send them on to meet their maker.“The only thing is they both have families. If we kill them, we have to kill their families too. That way, there’ll be no one who’ll report it to the police.“And it’s best to make it seem like an accident too, or else it’ll seem suspicious.”Justin and Jason both felt Adrian was right. If they were going to kill the Dott brothers, they might as well kill their families too.Caroline internally cursed how merciless they were. The Dott brothers thought they could earn some money from Adrian to live a better life but little did they know, it would bring destruction upon themselves and their families.What the Clark brothers did not know was that the Dotts were forced to say what they did earlier.It was not that they had not left yet. Rather, they could not, because
Belinda had done everything other mothers would have. She loved them, yet the three of them had gotten a smaller portion of her wealth than their own children did. Indeed, Belinda left her grandchildren with more money.After all, her grandchildren still had a long life ahead of them.Therefore, she distributed more wealth to them. The Clark brothers loved spending lavishly and kept losing money whenever they tried to establish businesses. They also had many mistresses and never hesitated to spend money on them. Belinda was partial toward her sons about their affairs and also persuaded her daughters-in-law not to get a divorce. In truth, she resented her three sons for being promiscuous and inheriting their father’s flirtatious traits. While Hunter may have been interested in other girls, he dared not cheat on Belinda because she was strict. However, he still had an affair the moment he spotted an opportunity.Later, Belinda chased the Clark brothers’ mistresses out of
Celine, whom they had cared for all long, was not their biological sister but the daughter of the previous butler. Celine’s father was ambitious. He tried making his daughter the Fisher family’s successor. Justin was speechless.“Free me, Jason. I’m already in your hands. Are you still scared that I’ll escape? Let me out. It’s too stuffy in the sack. I feel terrible.”Caroline made a request. Jason seemed to be the one with some lingering feelings for his sibling. Well, that was not really the case.If he truly had even a sliver of sibling love for Caroline, he would have stopped Adrian and Justin from kidnapping her instead of joining the plan. If Caroline had been fortunate, she could have had five brothers doting on her. Sadly, she was unlucky. None of the five brothers had cared for her. They all wanted her dead. Was she a failure as a person, or were they too cruel?Jason said, “Just stay put, Caroline. We’ll let you out when we arrive.”They could not release Car
Caroline could not beat them. Then, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and her head was covered with a sack. Someone forced her into a car. She heard Adrian saying to his brothers, “Let’s go.“Tell Celine’s brothers to follow us. Assign a few people to clean up and leave quickly.”After that, Caroline heard the sound of an engine starting. The car moved. She could not see what was happening. While she was shoved into the backseat, her arms and legs were unbound. She removed the cloth from her mouth but not the sack from her head.Someone held the sack tightly and started hitting and kicking her. “Tie the sack, Justin,” said Jason in a hurry. The person beating her up was Justin. “I know it’s you guys, Justin and Jason. What are you doing? Let me go. Mmph…”Caroline grunted in pain. She suffered a punch from Justin. She held her head tightly to prevent any injury to it. Many blows landed on her body. “It’s fine even if you know it’s us, Caroline. You better stay
“Ms. Caroline.”The bodyguards looked toward Caroline. Caroline opened her eyes and said calmly, “Stop the car, but don’t get out. Only get out when the situation gets out of hand. Remember to protect yourselves.”“Ms. Caroline…”“I’ll keep myself safe. Don’t worry. I treasure my life. There’s still a long life ahead of me. I haven’t even started enjoying good days. I won’t want to die.”Caroline chuckled, but her smile did not reach her eyes. There was sorrow in those eyes. In the end, she and her brothers could not coexist. It made her realize how bad her luck was with families. She was switched at birth and mistreated by her adoptive family. She thought her biological parents would treat her well after returning to them, but it turned out to be the opposite. Caroline had many family members, yet somehow, she was still alone. The people who truly cared about her were Darren, Liberty, and some others. Caroline’s bodyguards knew she had been waiting for that moment.