“Seren.”
Zack came running with his security detail.
Clive arrived on the scene with his bodyguards too.
“Where’s Sonny?”
Looking solemn, Zack asked with concern, “Is Sonny alright?”
Serena answered, “My sister got a good hold on Sonny, and I gave the man a kick. The kidnapper gave up on Sonny and ran away.”
She turned over and looked in the direction of Elisa’s car before adding, “Sonny is in Elisa’s car.”
Through the conversation between Serena and Zack, the Browns realized that Sonny was nearly taken too.
Mrs. Brown cried and shouted to see her grandson.
It was then Liberty took Sonny by the hands and got out of the car.
“Sonny! Sonny!”
Mrs. Brown held onto Sonny, making sure her grandson was fine before choking with sobs. “Thank goodness you’re okay. Thank goodness.”
“Grandmom.”
Seeing that the old lady had tears on her face, the little man reached out to wipe away her tears.
Mrs. Brown had never looked after Sonny, but Sonny was her only grandson, so of course, she adored him. With Sonny’s caring gesture touching Mrs. Brown’s heart, she cuddled Sonny and had another bout of crying.
The Browns gathered around Sonny.
“Stop crying, Mom. All is good now.”
Hank consoled his mother.
Rising to her feet, Mrs. Brown wiped her tears and turned around to give her son a push. She pointed her finger at her son. “It’s your fault. This wouldn’t have happened if you two didn’t take the kids to the zoo.
“It was a good thing Sonny asked Serena to come along. Otherwise… I would suspect that you brought the children to the zoo to be kidnapped if you weren’t Sonny’s father and Lucas’s uncle.”
Mrs. Brown’s accusation washed the color off Jessica’s face.
When Mrs. Brown’s angry eyes were fixated on her, Jessica struggled to refute, “I was only trying to bond with Sonny. No one would want this to happen.”
Mrs. Brown gave Jessica the stink eye, believing that the woman was bad luck.
Since her son married Jessica, nothing had gone well for the family. A simple trip to the zoo with Sonny ended up in a kidnap attempt.
These people were brazened to abduct children in public.
Embarrassed, Jessica hung her head low.
She looked hurt.
Feeling bad for his wife, Hank stood up for her, “It’s an accident, Mom. No one wishes for it to happen. I told Sonny early on that I would take him to the zoo. Why are you putting the blame on Jessica?”
“You always come to her defense. Well, you’ll regret it one day.”
Mrs. Brown glared at her son.
“Let’s go home, Liberty.”
Not one to stay for the Brown family’s circus show, Serena told her sister and went to pick Sonny up.
Zack took Sonny from Serena’s arms.
“Uncle Zack.”
Sitting in his uncle’s embrace, the little man happily shared his experience at the zoo without knowing that he had escaped a disaster moments ago.
Zack kissed the boy on the cheek and dotingly uttered, “I’ll go with you when you want to see the animals again.”
With him around, no one would dare harm Sonny.
Today may look like an accident to the public, but Zack and Clive suspected something more sinister.
Even Serena suspected foul play.
They simply did not raise their suspicion in front of everybody.
“Okay.”
The fun ended too soon for Sonny. He found the show at the aquarium entertaining, but it was a shame that his mother brought him out before it was over.
The York family’s security team stood in two rows, clearing a way to the Rolls Royce. Carrying Sonny in his arms, Zack walked alongside Serena to the car.
Liberty hitched a ride in one of the cars driven by his bodyguard.
Elisa took her brother’s car while a bodyguard drove her car back.
Soon, the two CEOs left Wiltspoon Zoo, escorted by their security teams.
Once they were gone, Jessica could breathe a sigh of relief.
She was afraid everybody might suspect her.
On their way back, Serena said to her husband, “Zack, something about today doesn’t sit well with me. I feel like it’s more than just a kidnapping. They created a distraction and kidnapped the children amid the chaos.
“No one was holding Lucas at the time, so the kidnappers saw their chance to take Lucas. However, my sister was holding Sonny, but they tried to snatch him out of my sister’s hands. I think their target has always been Sonny.
“Lucas’s kidnapping might be the diversion because I had bodyguards with me. They couldn’t get with the bodyguards around, so they abducted Lucas. Although I’m not fond of Lucas, that doesn’t mean I’ll just watch him get taken away.
“I sent the bodyguards to rescue Lucas, leaving us without one. We’re adults, but we’re also three defenseless women. The kidnappers would face less resistance if they tried to kidnap Sonny then.
“It’ll increase their success rate at kidnapping Sonny. Some parents didn’t manage to cling to their children amid the chaos, and the kids were wandering about. These people did not after these other children.”
Serena did not want to read too much into the situation. Yet, she could not help herself. She got the feeling that today’s incident was more than met the eye.
Looking sullen, Zack gave it a thought before responding, “I see your point. I’ll get Josh on it. The possibility that Sonny is the prime target is slim.”
He stared at Serena.
Serena got the message. “They’re either after you or me?”
Zack answered in a husky voice, “It’s more likely that they’re after you. Sonny is your nephew. You have a great relationship because you raised him. It would kill you if anything were to happen to Sonny.
“Would you go after Sonny if he was taken? Of course, you would. They might use Sonny to lure you into a trap.”
Zack’s facial lines tensed up.
Serena had a heart of gold and rarely upset anybody. The people she had a conflict with were her relatives, but the Hunts were not capable of such an elaborate scheme.
The only other people left were Mrs. Newman and her daughter.
Ms. Carrie was still in police custody.
Zack kept Mr. Newman and his wife on surveillance, and the couple was busy bailing their precious daughter out. Despite their resentment toward Serena, the couple would not be able to pull off the scheme in such a short amount of time, unless the plan had been in the works for a while.
Nevertheless, it had not been long since Serena and the Newman ladies crossed paths.
If Serena was not the prime target, these people must be using Serena to get to Zack.
Zack was leaning toward his latter theory.
He was the mover and shaker in Wiltspoon. Apart from Clive, many others would try not to get on Zack’s bad side even though they could not rub shoulders with him.
Nevertheless, there were still people who found Zack an eyesore and hated his guts.
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.