On the other hand, Dan felt that he was really in luck today. After he had hung up the call from the old man, he had dilly-dallied for a while to make them anxious before finally boarding his convertible to go to the Golden Homes which was where the Anderson's lived.However, mid-way, he noticed an obviously faulty car parked by the road that led out of the Golden Homes with a woman's figure standing beside it. At first, he had no intention of stopping to help even though he had felt puzzled as to why someone coming out of the Golden Homes had no chauffeur, after all, he was driving in not out.Luckily to him, just as he drove past the car, the woman beside it raised her head slightly and he caught a glimpse of her side profile."F*ck! It was her?", He cursed out loud as he violently parked the car to stare heatedly at the woman. He couldn't believe he would coincidentally encounter the woman who had constantly been on h
Anderson's Residence. Patriarch Anderson and Luke who were still waiting for Dan got increasingly impatient as time went by. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Slam! A fist slammed the table angrily, shaking it violently. With a dark expression on his face, Patriarch Anderson gritted out. "Is he taking me for a fool by making me wait for so long?" Luke who also had a dark and hateful expression on his face replied with false calmness. "He should be coming..., right? Let's wait for a while more...", He told his furious father though his tone indicated that he also wasn't sure of himself. "Wait?! That is what you have been telling me for the past few hours! Even if he is living somewhere remote, he should have gotten here by now!" Of course, Luke also knew that, but he still found i
In the coming days days, Dan no longer had the time to pay attention to Ariana's situation(both at work and home), due to the frequent assassination attempts on Ryan's life. However, he did keep in mind, the promise he had made to her in the car as he raced to the Hudson's Company.Probably because of his guilt in respect to the way he had coerced her into agreeing to be his woman and also because he was also trying to prove that she had made the right choice in agreeing, he had promised her his full support in getting back her birthright.Fortunately, she also didn't turn out to be a stubborn person who obviously had no true ability to speak of, yet insists on not accepting what is considered 'handouts' from someone who could help her.In fact, Ariana herself was aware of the extent of her personal ability and also knew that although she would be able to accomplish her goals without any external help, that would only be
The thirteen-year-old him hadn't wanted to leave his mother after finding out her plans of leaving him with the father he had never met and had no affection or attachment to.However, Mary had been cruel and ruthless to both herself and him back then by telling him that his existence was a burden to her and it restrained her from having her own personal life.She had told him that she planned on getting married and her partner said he couldn't tolerate his existence. Even now, he still remembered clearly how his mind had gone blank as he listened to the words that sounded harsh in his ears as it came out of her mouth. At that time, he couldn't fathom where something had gone wrong - why his loving and caring mother suddenly turned hateful and wanted to abandon him.Yet, she gave him no time to understand as she left without saying goodbye after entrusting him to Anderson. He could only watch her leave with a blank expression on his face whilst he couldn't
"Knowing Luke, I knew he would have definitely be unwilling to let go of the piece of the pie that is almost in his mouth, which how the election. And usually in that kind of situation, his brain tends to work a whole lot faster... which brings you into the equation.""And according to my knowledge, there is a probability that he would remember your existence and that you were also a member of that gang and in the end, mention it to his father. They would then be thinking along the lines of tempting you to switch to their side possibly with the position of the leader. Of course, this is also due to their personal belief and mentality, that everyone or everything has a price", A sneer appeared on Ryan's face as he said this. Those pair of father and son are always thinking everyone are power-greedy like them and could not resist its allure.Meanwhile, Dan gaped dumbfoundedly at his words as he wondered out loud."They really dare to think of anything! Me? S
So when Selena caught a glimpse of the people who entered, she felt increasingly panicked though the exact reason she felt this way eluded her.On the other hand, Mr. and Mrs. Preston who came in paused in surprise after having a clear view of the situation in the living room.Their gazes then moved back and forth between the duo who were standing, not knowing what they were thinking of and the room fell into a strange silence, which Mrs. Preston quickly broke after coming back to her senses."Nathan! What a pleasant surprise!", She said with a wide smile on her face.Nathan glanced at the woman standing beside him whose face has changed slightly after seeing her parents and something flashed in his eyes.However, nothing could be told from his face as he faced the older woman in front of him who was an exact replica of Selena making it almost impossible for the two of them to be told apart if not for the obvious
Mrs. Preston watched Nathan's figure disappear at the door before taking back her gaze to look at Selena who sat beside her.Initially, she had wanted to make Selena see Nathan off but observing the awkward atmosphere surrounding them and together with the fact that the two weren't really that familiar with each other as they should be meeting for the first time today, she had decided against it. Yes, she had noticed since she came in that the two were acting wrong around each other, especially her daughter who obviously couldn't wait to be as far as possible from Nathan.This particular wrong feeling, she observed, hadn't originated from ambiguity but rather from the fact that Selena was trying to distance herself away from him.All this together had made her arrive at a conclusion as to why her daughter was acting this way, however, this only made her feel an oncoming headache.She had always thought that even
Mr. Preston who had been silent all along suddenly reacted and took his wife into his arms, patting her back comfortingly.He had been a witness to the mental torture his wife had suffered after losing their daughter, constantly blaming herself for losing her. This self-blame would have almost evolved into full blown depression if it wasn't for the timely discovery by him and his sons.To be honest, he wasn't considered an affectionate persons, in fact, normal people would even call him indifferent. But when it came to his family, he tried to remedy that, especially after their daughter was lost.Taking this into consideration, he had gradually delegated his responsibilities to have more time to accompany his wife after she showed the signs of mild depression.Back then, although he was also in deep pain he couldn't show it because for one, his personality was just like that and two, he knew he couldn't afford to
Inside the presidential, both sides of people sat facing each other in silence, with Selena, Ryan, Dan and Justin sitting on a single lounge chair and Ethan and Tyler sitting on another opposite them.Selena stole a glance at her brothers with had no intention of speaking to them since she had no idea what to say. But the current atmosphere was really awkward and for some reason, it made her tense...Thankfully, the heavens must have heard her pleas as someone finally took the lead and spoke up. "So.. were these the people who rescued you?", Ethan suddenly asked, sounding particularly curious.Selena who was a bit absentminded didn't realise at first that he was speaking to her until she felt several gazes on her. Only then did she finally react, "Yes.. they were the ones who came to rescue me."Ethan nodded at her words and when he looked at Ryan, Justin and Dan again, there was additional sincerity and gratefulness in his eyes."Thank you. You really did our family a great favor t
Around the same time as when Selena was hung up upon, in the most noble and central part of the Nova City, Mrs. Preston lowered her hand in which she held her phone with obvious joy and relief on her face. Her husband, Mr. Preston sitting right next to her had been able to grab bits of her conversation with the other person while she was on phone, and already had an idea on the reason for her happiness. But even so he still asked just to be sure."She is fine?"Mrs. Preston snapped out of her happiness and turned to face her dear husband to share the news with him excitedly, "Yes! Our daughter is fine. She is safe!"On hearing her his wife's affirmation, Mr. Preston's hanging heart finally fell back into place. But even though he was feeling relieved and light-hearted inside, nothing changed on the surface as he still had the same bland expression on his face as he nodded and said, "It's good that she is fine."Already used to her husband's inability to himself go and express how he t
At the same time, Ryan, Selena, Dan and Justin's group arrived at the space where the cars have been parked. The group separated and was about to get into their respective cars. However, right before she got into the car, Selena suddenly remembered that she hadn't called her parents since she left for Nova! A long time had passed since then and she knew her parents would have started to worry by now. But when she thought of taking out her phone to call them, only then did she remember that she hadn't seen her bag and suitcase at all after getting captured and to be honest, neither did she have the time to think about it at that time. "Ryan!", She quickly grabbed the corner of Ryan's shirt and said with some urgency in her voice. "Have you seen my bag and suitcase? I want to make a quick call to my parents to tell them that I have arrived back here safely."Justin who was about to get into the car alongside Dan paused on hearing Selena's words and finally remembered that he still had
The scar-faced man while feeling stunned watched as the woman who should still be in the abandoned warehouse swaggered towards him. However, the surprise on his face only lasted a few seconds as he was able to quickly collect himself before shifting attention to the men walking alongside her while putting her in a protective circle and immediately had a guess as to how the woman had been able to leave that place.Also, observing the men further, he noticed the familiar aura on their beings and immediately turned back to look at Dan and Justin who didn't look surprised at all to see either the woman or those men, in fact, they had an expression of relief on their faces instead.On the other hand, Ryan had long since lost his calm on seeing the woman. He stared fixedly at her as he took tentative steps forward towards her while clenching and unclenching his fists with a complicated expression on his face.Guilt, remorse, self-blame, anxiety and some expectation among others.He wanted t
After watching the scar-faced man leave with his subordinate, Selena focused on untying the rope that that bound her hands to the back with a hundred and twenty percent concentration.She hadn't been able to find any sharp object around her to cut the rope and could only try the method she had once seen in a short video while hoping that luck will be on her side.Selena blindly touched around around the knot before she began the untying. It was very difficult trying to do so while being unable to see what she was doing but she was also fortunate that, for probably the same reason why the scar-faced was being respectful and accommodating towards her, he had tied the rope quite loosely.This made things a lot more easier for her but even with that, Selena still had a hard time freeing herself. After all, ex-mercenaries had tied the knot so it definitely wouldn't be that easy to loosen it but she, who had no idea of this fact continued working diligently on the knot.Soon after, sweat be
Ryan looked at the scar-faced man with no warmth in his eyes and without mincing words, he said to him, "The woman you captured, I want her."Short and straight to the point, the scar-faced man thought to himself. However, after Ryan finished speaking, the already tense situation got even tenser as both sides tightened the hands on their guns. On seeing this, the scar-faced man wanted to smile to ease the atmosphere but when he accidentally met Ryan's frosty eyes, Dan's demonic smile and Justin's expressionless face, the smile that was about to surface instantly stiffened.He coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment and took the chance to glance at his subordinates who looked also at him with encouragement, their gazes telling him to snap back at Ryan and prove they weren't pushovers. Of course, those gazes belonged to his men who didn't recognize Ryan and Dan or know of their reputations. The ones who did were already signalling to him with their eyes to quickly compromise.The sca
Meanwhile, back in F nation, Mr. Preston put down the phone in his hands and turned to look at his inconsolable wife with a distressed expression flashing across his eyes. He sighed softly before taking her into his arms. His tone was unbearably soft as he wiped the tears in her face with unprecedented gentleness. "Our daughter will be fine, okay? She survived years ago when we lost her. She definitely will this tine around as well. We have to believe that she would...""Besides.. crying at this time would neither solve anything nor make things better for her wherever she is. Therefore, rather than crying and wallowing in sorrow, don't you think it's better to channel that energy into finding her ourselves after going down to Country Z?"The moment Mrs. Preston heard her usually taciturn husband saying those gentle but reasonable words, her tears instantly stopped. Then, without warning, she struggled lightly and got out of her husband's embrace and just as Mr. Preston was about to
However, Dan had to admit that Luke was really vicious and inhumane.After knowing Selena's background, he knew that that was probably going to be the end for him but still, he planned not to make Ryan feel better. This was because the message he had typed out was to instruct his men whom he had ordered to kidnap Selena to take turns r*ping her!It was obvious he wanted to take revenge on Ryan by doing that and make him feel everlasting pain and regret.At the same time, Dan also felt that Luke was really stupid considering that he still did that after knowing that Selena's family was the F Nation's Preston family who even the president of this country had to give some considerable respect to. And also, didn't it occur to him how miserable his life would be after sending that message because excluding what Ryan was going to do him, would the Preston family allow someone who had humiliated and hurt their newly found princess to run around unharmed?But maybe he did know all this, Dan m
"The Anderson family?" Which Anderson family?", Selena asked uncertainly.The scar-faced man looked at her in surprise, probably wondering why she seemed not to have any idea of the identity of the person who ordered her capture. But he still answered her truthfully, "The aristocratic family made up of officials."Shock and confusion appeared in Selena's eyes the moment he said that. She had heard of 'that' Anderson family and knew that almost all the members of this particular aristocratic family held offical positions in the government from generation to generation.However...She had no memory whatsoever of ever crossing paths or offending any member of the said family and therefore, couldn't understand why she was kidnapped.Even at this moment, it never crossed Selena's mind that Ryan's surname was Anderson as well and that her kidnapping was related to him in any way or that he was even the main reason. This was because the idea that he was an orphan like her(well, until recentl