Niamh tightened her lips. She did not speak a word and neither did she look at Ryan.
“I hate it when people give me an awful expression, especially a lady, but you’re different. The anger you have just attracts me.” Ryan’s gentle gaze was fixed on Niamh’s elegant face. Then, he let go of her.
“I’ll come back to pick you up once I’ve settled my issues,” Ryan said, then spun around and headed to the door.
Niamh stood there without moving and saw Ryan leaving as he pleased. The sight made her clench her fists hard.
‘Ryan, I don’t believe that you, a man who has been charged with murder, will be able to walk around so freely.’
“Eveline.” She heard Sean’s voice coming from the window.
Niamh came back to her senses and loosened her grip before returning to the house with a smile.
Sean looked around at the doorway. “Has Mr. Jones left?”
“Yup.” Niamh nodded. “Dad, how long have you and Mom been staying here?”
“Since the day after the fire, Mr. Jones came to get us and settled us here.” Sean recalled the incident. “He even reminded us not to leave the house too often to prevent being spotted by the Stygian Johnson Gang.”
Niamh heard of the mention of Stygian Johnson Gang again.
Sean felt remorseful as he sighed, blaming himself. “Eveline, I should’ve listened to your words and not investigate the Stygian Johnson Gang. If it wasn’t for me acting rashly and checking on Lana, I wouldn’t have invited trouble to myself. I have to bear some responsibility for your mom ending up like this.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with you, Dad. The ones who are at fault are those cunning people who used underhanded methods.”
At that moment, Eloise coincidentally brought out the tea she prepared.
Eloise was thrilled when she saw Niamh returning. She handed the tea to Niamh, saying, “This is for you. Drink up.”
Niamh felt a pinch in her heart and took the cup. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Why are you calling me ‘Mom’ again? I only have one precious daughter and her name is Eveline. It’s not you.” Eloise denied with an earnest expression.
Niamh held onto the lukewarm cup. Her heart was feeling extremely chilly as if it was being engulfed by a blizzard.
She tasted the biscuits prepared by Eloise and drank the tea. Her tears were on the brink of flowing out, but she held them back again and again.
…
The streets were illuminated by the evening sunlight.
Kendrick was still at the scene where he heard Niamh’s shout. He was pacing back and forth while searching, but it ended up fruitless.
Nonetheless, he was positive that Niamh had appeared here.
He would never mistake that shout of ‘Kendrick’.
“Nia, I know you’re nearby.” Kendrick was very confident of it.
The street lamps lit up. The halo of the sunset shone on his handsome face, but it was unable to shine through the haziness brewing within his orbs.
Those who tagged along with Kendrick were still searching high and low. They were feeling a bit sympathetic for him. “Kendrick, it’s getting dark. Let’s head back for now.”
“You guys go ahead.” Kendrick had no intention of stopping. He would not feel good if he failed to locate any signs of Niamh having ever appeared at this spot.
“Continuing the search like this isn’t going to lead us anywhere. Why don’t we try contacting some related organizations around here and have them help us out by getting the surveillance footage? Then, we can see whether we’ll be able to get a hint from there?”
Kendrick came back to his senses after hearing the suggestion.
Had he become dull and slow? Had he lost the ability to think straight because he was way too worried about Niamh?
Without wasting much time, Kendrick immediately went and got in touch with the local departments. Soon enough, he obtained all of the footage from the nearby road junctions.
After scanning through all the footage, Kendrick’s eyes were fixed on a silver car.
Just by looking at the car’s front view, he did not find the vehicle suspicious. However, after looking at it from a different angle, Kendrick clenched his fist as veins were seen popping out from the back of his hand.
He could clearly see from the passenger seat of the car that there was a lady winding the window down, revealing her face.
Even though Kendrick was unable to hear what the lady was saying nor clearly see what she looked like from the footage, it was almost impossible for Kendrick to miss out on Niamh’s facial features and hairstyle.
He saw Niamh looking at him. At one point, she called out to him, but at the split moment when he looked up, a man had appeared behind Niamh and covered her mouth. He yanked her into the car before winding up the window again.
“Nia!”
Kendrick was heartbroken, and his eyes were brewing with anxiety he had for Niamh. In the next second, however, he was giving off a murderous aura.
‘It is Ryan.
‘The man who didn’t let Niamh speak is Ryan!’
Kendrick clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to calm down and not act rashly.
“Immediately track down all the traveling logs of this car!”
He could not afford to waste a single second. He knew that he should not allow Niamh to continue being threatened nor restricted by Ryan. He would not allow her to be in danger, never again!
Soon, all of the related footage was handed to Kendrick. Along with those men who tagged along with him as they were rather familiar with the roads of Y Country, Kendrick and the group started tracking the traveling logs of that car. They finally noticed that the car had traveled into a very deserted road where there were no surveillance cameras along that stretch of road.
Kendrick copied the footage into his phone, then they started their journey. Following the tracking logs of that car, they drove their way to a deserted place. Under the dark sky, they continued driving forth…
Ryan then received news that Kendrick was on his way to the villa.
He then calmly made a call to Niamh.
At that moment, Niamh was having dinner with Sean and Eloise when she suddenly received Ryan’s call.
She ignored Ryan’s call, turning a blind eye to it. However, a moment later, the security guard who was guarding the entrance handed his phone to her. “It’s a call from Mr. Jones. Please answer it, Madam.”
Niamh had no other option but to take the phone. She answered in a cold tone, “What?”
“In about ten minutes, Kendrick will arrive at the villa you and your parents are in.”
She heard Ryan’s voice softly passed through her ears.
Niamh held the phone, her mind becoming all jumbled and messy.
She got up and jogged to the entrance as she looked around. Her heart started pumping hard.
‘Kendrick, did you really manage to come here?
‘But even if you really make it here, how would it possible that Ryan will allow you to meet me?’
Niamh’s emotions of anticipation suddenly faded as her tone became chilly. “Ryan, what’s your motive for telling me this?”
Ryan giggled softly as if he was impressed by Niamh’s intelligence. “I have no intentions. I just have two options for you. Pick either one.”
Niamh was not surprised to find that Ryan had an ulterior motive and faced it calmly. “What are my options?”
Ryan smiled and replied.
Niamh’s grip on her phone tightened when she heard the two options Ryan gave.
He was not giving her an option at all.
Hanging up the phone, Niamh slowly lowered her hand and stared in the direction where Kendrick was currently rushing toward her. The light in her eyes dimmed as she looked down.
“Why did you suddenly run out? You haven’t finished your food yet.” Eloise suddenly ran up to Niamh and stared at her seriously.
Eloise may not recognize Niamh, but it was evident that she still cared for this daughter of hers.
Niamh felt something pinch her heart. She took Eloise’s hand and smiled. “Let’s go eat.”
“Yeah.” Eloise beamed and held Niamh’s hand.
Niamh stared longingly into the distance before she finally turned around…
Kendrick was driving as fast as possible as he closed the distance between him and the villa. The shine in his eyes brightened with every moment.
His racing heart told him that his Nia was in the villa in front.
They were moments away from arriving when Kendrick suddenly felt his heartbeat going erratic and his breathing becoming hitched.
The familiar tortuous feeling hit again.
He wanted to keep going, but the onslaught of pain that only seemed to grow forced him to bring the car to a stop.
The remnants of poison within him began a new round of torture.
“Are you alright, Kendrick?” The people with him began to feel worried as Kendrick’s complexion was downright horrifying.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.