When she returned to Bernstein Mansion, she alighted with a giant bag, but there was no one inside even as she carried it in.
She called Sheryl, who told her, “I’m taking a stroll with Tommy outside. We’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Abigail replied, and hung up.
She then sorted everything, putting the cold stuff in the freezer, and allocated some for a pot of oxtail soup
She put the ingredients in a pot and let it stew with minimum heat, while she took a nap on the living room couch.
She then vaguely heard her phone ringing, and answered it.
When she heard Moneypenny’s voice, she rubbed her eyes, her head quickly clearing just then. “What is it?”
“Mr. Althoff is asking for you at the manor.”
Abigail frowned. They still had the gall to summon her after they basically cut ties with Diarmuid?
Did they forget that she was his wife?
The cheek!
“Sorry, I’m busy with work.” She refused right away.
“I heard you’re on leave.”
Monepenny clearly tried the hospital earlier and knew that she was not at work.
Still, the prospect that he was checking on her left her heart skipping a beat.
Feeling even more repulsed just then, she said impassively, “I’m not working because I’m sick, so I can’t go.”
“If you’re sick, Mr. Althoff can send a car and someone to help.” Moneypenny appeared insistent on getting her to Althoff Manor!
Doing it the hard way now, were they?
As such, she had to resort to name throwing.
“Whatever it is, you can take it up with Diarmuid,” she told him.
“You are Master Diarmuid’s wife and therefore a Althoff. That is why you have a responsibility to be here… that is, unless your husband is not actually a Althoff.”
Monepenny’s words left Abigail fuming–it was the worst thing that ever came out of that man’s mouth!
“You insist that I am a Althoff, but is this how you speak to your masters? If you want me to go, fine, but tell the old man to fire you first!”
With that, she hung up, and her irk had yet to subside when the doorbell rang.
Thinking that it might be Sheryl returning with Tommy, she went to answer it, but… “What are you doing here?”
James Cross said, “Mr. Althoff sent me.”
“Where is he?” Abigail asked.
“He just arrived in Franconia, so he won’t be returning soon,” James replied. “I’m your protection detail in the meantime.”
Abigail frowned-by all accounts, Diarmuid should have arrived in Franconia already. “He just arrived? Are you sure?”
James averted his eyes.
Diarmuid certainly should have arrived at Franconia sooner, but he had delayed his flight after receiving Mrs.
Watson’s call.
Now, he was going to need time to take another flight back to the country.
In reality, Diarmuid had his people keep a constant watch on his estranged family, because he knew they would not give up so easily. He told them to inform him the instant they were on the move, and they just did.
Worried that Abigail would be in danger, Diarmuid sent James, who just happened to be staying in the country.
It was certainly fortunate he did, or there would be real trouble.
Still, to Abigail, James’s evasiveness made it clear that Diarmuid was refusing to see her.
“If he doesn’t care enough to show up, why bother pretending to care at all? Is he even concerned if I’m alive or dead?!”
For some reason, all the pent-up frustrations she had been keeping inside burst out right then.
James quickly tried to explain, “It’s a misunderstanding-”
“How is that a misunderstanding?” Abigail laughed despite herself. “He knows that the Althoffs might harass me, or even threaten me, but he still refuses to show his face! And here you are, lying for him, telling me that he just arrived and can’t return so soon? What, are you going to tell me now that he’s late because he went by car instead of plane?!”
“He was just delayed. Mr. Althoff actually boarded the flight this morning-
“Quit it. I don’t want to hear a word. He sent you, right? Just watch the door!”
With that, she shut the door in James’s face, and leaned against it as her tears started to flow, but stubbornly wiped them away!
James was left standing outside.
He thought about knocking, but gave up at the thought that Abigail was seeing red, and directed the protection detail he brought to watch the compound of Bernstein Mansion.
Soon, Abigail’s phone rang again-it was not Moneypenny this time, but lan Althoff.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. I was just going to invite you over for a little chat.”
Abigail snapped right then, “Are you crazy!?”
“About that, you can ask your son and mother.”
Abigail tensed up right then. “What did you do?!”
“Nothing much. I just thought that I should invite them over too.”
Abigail’s fingers clenched on her phone. “Don’t you lay a finger on them.”
“Sure, if you comply.”
Abigail’s heart was pounding and her lips trembling. Forcing herself to stay calm, she told herself to stay composed or she was not going to save Sheryl and Tommy.
She opened the front door-James was still there.
“Ma’am-”
Abigail put a finger on her lips and pointed at her phone, and wrote on a paper to tell James that lan was on the other end, and that he had abducted Tommy and Sheryl.
James realized with a start and promptly directed his people to track lan’s caller ID, while Abigail tried to keep lan on the line. “I’ll do anything you want. Just tell me what you want.”
“Good. In ten minutes, a MPV with the license plate 90026 will arrive to give you a ride.”
Abigail replied, “Fine, but I must have assurance that my mother and son are fine.”
Abigail had barely finished when she heard a ruckus on the other end, followed by Sheryl’s voice, “Abigail! Don’t do what they say-”
Tommy’s cries can be heard too. “Mah-mah!!!”
Abigail’s heart skipped a beat, and her whole body trembled with apprehension… just as Tommy’s cries left her heart in pieces!
Her eyes bulged as they turned red and she snarled, “You better not have hurt them, lan Althoff, or I’m going to kill you!”
lan snorted and laughed icily. “You can’t even if you want to. Don’t forget that I have the upper hand here.
“No, we are on equal terms right now,” Abigail growled in return. “If you hurt Tommy, my mom is going to make you suffer. You can’t lay a finger on them even if you have them, and while you have leverage against me, I’m only complying because I would rather they not get hurt at all.”
Her retort only drew more laughter from lan. “No, you’re mistaken. Diarmuid killed my mother, left my father a cripple, and took Light Group away from me. I have nothing, and therefore fear nothing-all I want right now is for Diarmuid to have a taste of losing everything too.”
Abigail panicked right then-there was just no arguing against a man who had lost everything.
Since there was nothing holding him back, lan was truly capable of anything.
And that makes him utterly terrifying.
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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