The woman before them fished out a stack of cash as soon as they said that. “I’ll offer you more after you’ve accomplished the task.”
Aubree tucked the money into the hands of the boy nearest to her.
The boys’ expressions changed as soon as they saw the money. “Tell us what you need to be done.”
Aubree sneered and whispered a few words into their ears.
The hooligans seemed surprised after hearing what she told them and glancing at the stack of cash they were offered. “Are you sure we’re going after two kids?”
Given the huge amount Aubree offered, they suspected she was messing with them and assumed she would have them fight some trained fighters.
To their surprise, Aubree frowned impatiently. “Are you taking on this task or not? Fine with me if you don’t!”
They agreed with it immediately and pointed in the direction that Aubree had indicated to them. “Over there, right? We’ll head over there right now!”
With that, they sprinted in Archie and Benny’s direction. Aubree was feeling self-conceited as she watched the hooligans spring into action and imagined the trouble the two young boys would soon be in.
All the while, Archie and Benny had no idea what they would soon be facing. Benny lamented with a troubled look on his face, “Archie, does this mean we won’t get to see Essie again?”
Estella was sent to the Farwell main residence, but neither of them knew where it was. Not even Benny knew what to do despite his hacking skills.
Archie furrowed his brows. “It won’t come to that. Essie is smart, so she’ll also be thinking of ways to contact us!” The brothers chatted while approaching the roads.
The Farwell residence occupied a huge plot of land and was located in a remote area, so they would only arrive at the main roads with more traffic after walking some distance.
They only covered a small distance before a few tall young men showed up in front of them.
Benny was still thinking about Estella with his head hung low.
However, Archie stopped in his tracks warily and raised an arm to stop his brother from walking any further.
Benny raised his head to check on what was happening with slight confusion.
“This is all the money we’ve got. I can get more at home if you need more.”
Archie was well aware that they stood no chance against the hooligans, so he took out all the cash he had in an attempt to strike a deal with them as calmly as possible.
The boys only took with them two hundred in cash for taxi fares, and they only had one hundred left after their first ride.
The hooligans took in the bill Archie held while approaching the boys and snickered upon recalling having been offered a stack of cash by Aubree.
“Kid, we don’t hold a grudge against you, but since we’ve taken the money…”
Archie backed away slowly while shielding Benny behind him and gave Benny a push when he heard that. “Run!”
With that, he followed suit and fled.
It was apparent that the hooligans were up to no good, especially if they were hired by someone.
They must be after us!
“Don’t run! You won’t outrun us anyway!”
The hooligans were startled by their reaction but quickly snapped back to their senses and went after the boys.
Given that they were much taller and faster than Archie and Benny, they caught the boys with ease within moments.
“What do you want with us?” Archie trashed about. “I can go with you! Release my brother!”
The hooligans found his demand funny. “You’re quite protective over your brother, kid. While we find such sentiment touching, money is far more important.”
With that, they exchanged glances and dropped the boys on the ground before encircling them.
The boys collapsed on the ground after falling onto it.
Archie was distressed when he noticed the hooligans had surrounded them.
It was my idea to sneak out to find Estella, and Benny merely tagged along. I have to bring Benny back home unharmed!
The thought gave him a surge of energy. He fumbled for a few pebbles on the ground and cast them in the direction of the hooligans next to Benny.
A furious roar rang out next to his ear the next second, “D*mn it! This runt! How dare you fight back!” The hooligan covered his eyes in pain after taking Archie’s retaliation. He was enraged.
Hearing his angry roar, the rest immediately grew wary. Despite the hooligans being wary of their little tricks, Archie and Benny still dared to resist them.
The pebbles on the floor shot at the hooligans continuously. They were afraid of being hit in their eyes too, so they instinctively dodged the rocks aimed at them.
With that, there was an opening for the brothers. Archie reacted quickly and got up, stuffing some rocks into Benny’s hand before they slipped out through the opening between the hooligans.
Behind the brothers, the hooligans snapped back to their senses before sprinting after them. Archie ran ahead while also turning back to launch the rocks at the group of hooligans to slow them down.
Archie and Benny used all their might to continue running toward the crowded place ahead of them.
They finally arrived at a crowded plaza. The hooligans dared not chase after them in public, so they could only stand some distance away and watch as Archie and Benny slipped further into the crowd.
“Archie…” Benny could not catch his breath after running for so long. “Who are those people? Why did they do that to us?”
Archie frowned at that question as he recalled what the hooligans had said earlier. They were paid, but he could not think of anyone who would have paid them.
After pondering for a moment, Archie still could not find the answer. He shook his head at Benny and said, “We should hurry up and go back now since they might be waiting to intercept us somewhere else!”
Benny recalled the terrifying scene from earlier and nodded fervently with a lingering fear inside his heart.
Just like that, Archie and Benny walked hand in hand away from the crowd and left the plaza from another exit.
They halted a cab and headed back to the mansion. The sky had already turned dark when they arrived home.
Archie and Benny tiptoed inside the mansion.
Lysa was preparing dinner in the kitchen, and she murmured to herself, “They’ve been sleeping for the whole day. I wonder if they’re hungry. Maybe I should make more food for them than usual.”
Hearing that, Archie and Benny giggled and quickly ran up the stairs.
Before they could go take a shower, they heard someone opening the main door downstairs.
Then, Roxanne’s voice was heard immediately after. She asked Lysa about the kids.
Archie and Benny exchanged a glance and quickly hid under their blankets, covering themselves tightly and only showing their heads.
They injured their arms when they fell earlier, so they could not let Roxanne see that.
As soon as they lay in their beds, they heard someone walking up the stairs.
Not long after, someone pushed open the door to their bedroom from the outside.
Roxanne learned from Lysa that her sons had been sleeping for the whole day. She did not want to wake them up, so she quietly slipped inside their room to look at them.
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.