Despite trying to kill my entire family, he still insisted that he loved me. At that moment, I was lost as to what his definition of love was.
“But I didn’t,” Nathaniel rebutted stubbornly. “Even the law has a lighter sentence for attempted crimes. And yet, you couldn’t wait to find me guilty before I did anything.”
I found his argument ridiculous. “If you really did it, I wouldn’t even have the opportunity to protest. Nathaniel, let’s be clear, you intended to kill me and my family. Do you need me to remind you of the number of people who died in your hands? In fact, killing you wouldn’t be enough to make up for it!”
“In that case, you should just do it.” Suddenly, Nathaniel vented his frustration. “After all, dying in your hands makes me happy.”
“You’re mad!” I snapped. Not wanting to continue the argument, I headed upstairs instead. Just as I did, I heard two gunshots echo through the house.
Thinking that it was Garrett’s men attacking, I turned to look. Instead, it was Anthony’s figure that greeted me.
Nathaniel too had noticed his presence. After the two of them exchanged glances, Anthony turned away first and called out to me. “Letty, come to my side.”
Although he was holding a gun, I couldn’t sense any animosity from him. As if he was worried that I would be frightened, he even slowed down his speech on purpose.
I nodded and hurried to his side.
Opening his arms, he embraced me tightly.
After being apart for such a long time, I was finally reunited with the familiar warmth and scent.
Having noticed Nathaniel’s piercing gaze, I was suddenly struck by a thought. Letting go of Anthony, I warned, “Run! Nathaniel has planted bombs all over the house!”
Just as I spoke, I grabbed Anthony’s hand and sprinted outside without giving Nathaniel another look.
Unexpectedly, Anthony pulled me back. Closing his eyes, he signaled for me to calm down. He then turned his attention toward Nathaniel with a darkened gaze.
Standing there, Nathaniel’s eyes were bloodshot at the sight of his rival. Not bothered to hide his emotions, he was filled with enmity toward Anthony.
“The police are on their way. Hence, you still have a five-minute window to flee.” Anthony broke his silence.
When I realized he had come prepared, my fears began to ease.
“Flee?” Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. With an indifferent expression, he spread his hands. “What’s the point of that? We might as well all go down together and end it all right here.”
When I saw how he was on the brink of lunacy, I grew increasingly worried. Tugging Anthony by his sleeve, I reiterated, “Let’s go. Now that Mr. Jensen’s men have been scared away, there’s no shame in leaving. Given how hard it was to reach this stage, I can’t bear for any more accidents to happen.”
In spite of my words, Anthony shook his head and calmed me down. “They don’t understand Nathaniel. He won’t do it.”
“No, he will really kill us all in a suicide attack,” I pleaded with Anthony to trust my judgment. After all, it was pointless to understand someone who was brutal and insane.
Watching us with a hidden smile, Nathaniel looked like he was enjoying a drama.
When I saw the confident look he had, I felt a shiver down my spine, causing me to tug harder at Anthony.
In the end, Anthony gave in to my pleas and followed me out of the villa. It wasn’t until we were about a hundred meters away that we finally stopped.
I heaved a sigh of relief once I was sure we were safe. Patting myself on the chest, I stared at the villa and admonished Anthony, “You were too reckless just now. So what if you were right that he was just trying to scare us? You of all people know how much he hates you. What if he really did it? What would happen to me or the children? Have you ever thought about that?”
After observing me for a long time, Anthony didn’t retort. Instead, he reached his arms over to hug me.
“It’s all right now. Everything is fine. Nothing else will happen.”
Instead of resisting, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back, as if that was the only way to prevent us from being separated again.
It wasn’t until the police arrived that we let go of each other. Together with them, we reentered the villa.
By the time we did, Nathaniel was no longer there. Moreover, closer examination revealed that there were no explosives around the house. Nathaniel’s threat was nothing but an empty lie.
I asked Anthony, “How did you know that he was bluffing?”
Anthony smiled at me. “All the credit goes to you.”
“Me?” I pointed to myself, puzzled. Nonetheless, Anthony didn’t elaborate.
Now that I could drop my front, I no longer had the mood to guess what Nathaniel was thinking. Hence, I put it at the back of my mind and changed the topic. “Since you led the police here, why didn’t you wait a while for them to arrest Nathaniel?”
“That was my initial intention, but Mr. Jensen and his men left earlier than expected. We can only lure him out again using Nathaniel.” Now that he could drop the act, Anthony’s tone was relaxed. Smiling, he added, “Even if they were there, I still wouldn’t have done it, as I couldn’t risk putting you in danger.”
Anthony was worried for a legitimate reason. Hence, I guessed that everything had turned out for the best.
Anthony had almost gathered all Nathaniel’s incriminating evidence. The latter had also exposed his identity, so he would not escape for too long.
Although the police would patrol the villa, Anthony still felt that the place was unsafe for us to stay in. Hence, he sent us to John’s house late at night.
John was staying in Louis’ precious yard. The place was kept under strict surveillance by the security guard there. Moreover, there was a military base not far from the place, so Garrett’s people would not get near.
The moment we entered the house, I jolted when I heard a loud voice. “Mrs. Featherstone!”
When I regained my senses, I finally noticed that Joseph was right in front of me.
He’s alive!
“Joseph!” I exclaimed. “Y-You’re not dead! You’re alive!”
Joseph smiled as he explained awkwardly, “Yes. I’m still alive. I went into hiding for detox and recuperation. I must’ve embarrassed Mr. Anthony since I’ve recovered so slowly.”
“It’s not embarrassing.” I felt warm inside as I stretched out my arms to hug him. “Give me a hug. It must’ve been hard on you.”
Joseph turned to look at Anthony for permission before he gave me a brief hug.
“Thank you, Joseph,” I mumbled gratefully.
Joseph smiled without uttering a word.
Just then, Audrey and Gregory ran down the stairs and threw themselves at me.
“Mommy!”
“Mommy!”
“I missed you so much…”
“I missed Daddy too!”
“I miss you too!”
Seems like my senses have malfunctioned. Why do my tears taste sweet today? The next morning, Benson was dressed in his military uniform when he visited us.
“Congratulations, both of you. The darkest days are already over.”
Lying in Anthony’s arms, I looked at him to exchange glances with him before I smiled. Then, I invited Benson into the house.
After serving the tea, Anthony asked Benson the question I was concerned about the most. “Did you get any news about Nathaniel?”
Benson had just sipped his tea as he heard Anthony’s words. He slowly placed his cup down as he shook his head with remorse. “We’re still investigating. The same goes for Mr. Jensen and his men. It’s like they’ve disappeared into thin air. There’s absolutely no news about them.”
“Does that mean that Nathaniel might have escaped?” I frowned my brows worriedly.
Putting aside his identity, Nathaniel was highly intelligent. Once he had avoided the police, with his capability, it would be a matter of time for him to make his comeback.
Anthony and our family had never owed him anything. We did not deserve to live under constant threat and endless harassment.
“Mrs. Featherstone, don’t be pessimistic. You should trust us. Those who I’ve intended to capture have never gotten far. Please don’t worry and enjoy your time with your family and forget about this issue.” Benson did not even see Nathaniel as a threat.
I did not blame him at all.
One would only be terrified when mishaps befell him.
Looking at the children who were playing in the living room, I could not stay calm. Anthony is suffering now because of all the grudges from the previous generation. I can’t let history repeat itself and have my children suffer from hurting each other. I can’t let that happen.
As my heart sank, I looked at Benson and said, “Mr. Zimmerman, we can’t be on the passive side. There are almost a hundred billion people in K City. It’s impossible to find a needle in the haystack. Why don’t we change our plan, and try setting up a trap?”
“Oh?” Benson raised his eyebrow, looking interested. “How do we set a trap?”
Glancing at Anthony, I explained sternly, “I can’t guarantee that my method will definitely work, but we can give it a try…”
The next morning, an ambulance drove into the Stanhope residence and sent me to the best private hospital in K City. After a diagnosis, I was sent to the emergency ward.
The social media was soon awash with news, and some netizens predicted that I only had a month left to live.
That was actually a trap to arrest Nathaniel. Yet, the person who appeared was Rylee.
In order to let Nathaniel get into the hospital, all the patients on my floor were transferred away. Instead, soldiers came to disguise themselves as patients and their family. Rylee managed to get in because the guard was slacking.
Right at that moment, I was lying on a bed in the isolation ward. Breathing through the oxygen mask, I saw Rylee’s reddened eyes when I opened my eyes.
Rylee chuckled when she noticed that I was taken aback by her presence. “Haha! Are you shocked? Sienna, don’t you think that you deserve this? After going against me for all your life, you’re going to die anyway. What a waste of time!”
Since I was a patient who was close to death, I could only widen my eyes to glare at her.
Since I could not move, Rylee started pacing around my bed. She took the oxygen mask off my face and threw it on the floor. “You’ve always depended on others for protection. Back then, you needed Anthony and the other men, now you’re depending on this lousy mask. Come on, show me what you’ve got. Let’s see how long you can go without this thing.”
While speaking, she walked closer to the expensive medical devices and started to mess around with them. She mumbled, “Let me pull all these out and break them and see how you can keep glaring at me! Since you’re dying, why didn’t you just give me Anthony? You’ve destroyed me! I’ll kill you now and watch you suffer a terrible death!”
In the end, a flat line appeared on the heart rate monitor.
Since the truth was going to expose soon, I quickly pressed the emergency button under my blanket. That should send all the police who were hiding in the room next door to arrest Rylee.
However, before I could even press it, Rylee hugged the heart rate monitor and exclaimed, “Haha! She’s dead! Sienna is dead! I finally killed her! I’m the happiest person in the world! There is no more Sienna Stanhope!”
She lunged herself at me, and her expression became nervous. Putting her index finger on her lips, she shushed me. “Shh! Sienna is dead! Anthony is dead too! This is my world. I can do whatever I want! I’m the queen, so everyone loves me! I want everyone to love me!”
After screaming hysterically, she kept repeating her words. “I want everyone to love me. I want everyone to love me…”
While murmuring to herself, she walked out aimlessly. It seemed like she could not see me, and she looked like she was possessed.
After some time, someone disguised as a nurse came to ask me, “Mrs. Featherstone, Mr. Featherstone sent me in here. Are you all right? That crazy woman has probably escaped from the psychiatric ward. Did she scare you?”
“I’m fine.” I shook my head and ordered, “Send someone in to repair the medical devices.”
“Sure. Please hold on.”
I did not pay attention to her at all as I was busy thinking about Nathaniel.
What if he doesn’t come? What should I do? If he managed to escape, I would live in fear for the rest of my life.
Finally, in the middle of the night on the next day, footsteps rang on the entire floor of the hospital. I opened my eyes and found that everyone who was prepared for the ambush, was running downstairs.
Without a doubt, I knew that the scene was caused by Nathaniel.
I hurriedly yanked the IV tube which was stuck onto my body before I put on my jacket and went after the people.
Upon arriving at the back entrance, I saw Nathaniel being surrounded by the police in the middle of the road.
Although Nathaniel did not have any weapons in his hands, all the police still ran for cover. They dared not to confront an outlaw recklessly.
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.
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