Subsequently, he called made a call and arranged for someone to tamper with the car.
Soon, a noise came from inside. We watched from our car as the truck started to catch fire, emitting smoke. “Make use of this messy situation and get someone to see if there’s anything wrapped in the quilts.”
Joseph nodded and spoke into his headset. Shortly after, he looked at me and replied, “There’re weapons wrapped inside!”
“Call the police and the fire department. Also, get some men to surround the area. Don’t let anyone get out.” As long as this succeeded, Armond would be called to come back, therefore leaving him no time to deal with Anthony.
Shortly after that, I heard police sirens and the fire engines then arrived. As I watched the horde of men rush into the hotel, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I turned to Joseph and said, “Come on, let’s go and meet Dillan!”
However, Joseph did not drive and simply looked toward the front of the car. Following his gaze, I was stunned when I saw that familiar face. “Abe? Didn’t he die in Moranta?”
Joseph was also taken aback and frowned.
Seeing that man hurriedly enter Imperial Hotel, I was about to get off and follow him in before Joseph stopped me. “Mrs. Featherstone, wait in the car while I go down to check on the situation. Don’t get out of the car no matter what!”
I furrowed my brows, but as soon as I thought of Anthony’s words, I simply nodded and waited in the car.
However, not long after Joseph went in, I heard gunshots from inside the building. I instantly tensed up. What’s going on? They’re actually acting so savagely in this country?
I dialed Joseph’s number, but it would not connect. Just as I wanted to get off the car, I hesitated. If I get down now, not only would I be unable to do anything, I’d also be putting myself in danger. But if I don’t get off now, I wouldn’t know anything about Joseph’s situation.
In the end, I could only sit in the car and wait. Feeling helpless, I gave Boris a call for help.
His background seemed to be very noisy. As soon as he picked up, he asked, “What’s wrong, Ms. Stanhope?”
Listening to the flustered voice on the other end of the line, I suddenly had a bad feeling. “Boris, are you okay?”
He coughed for a while before he replied, “Mr. Moore and I were tricked by Dillan. We’re trapped in his villa now, and the house is on fire. Mr. Moore has lung disease and the situation isn’t looking too good right now!”
Panicked, I hurriedly replied, “I’ll call for help right away. You should call the police!”
After I hung up, I got out of the car and hid beside it. I wanted to enter the hotel to search for Joseph, but there were constant sounds of fighting coming from inside. Since Abe was a fugitive, naturally, human life would not mean anything to him.
Before I even entered the hotel, I noticed two dead bodies beside the truck that was on fire. They appeared to be the drivers of the truck, which was still burning and could accidentally explode.
Luckily, not many people were around this area. When I still did not see Joseph, I started to get anxious. I wanted to give him a call, but again, the call did not get through. Soon, special forces soldiers had surrounded Imperial Hotel, which only made me more anxious. If they arrested Joseph, things would become troublesome.
However, if I entered then, I would be shot right away. I tried to call him again, and it finally got through this time. Joseph said anxiously, “Mrs. Featherstone, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Hurry and come back out. There’re special forces outside Imperial Hotel now. My dad and Boris were tricked by Dillan and are trapped there right now, so we have to hurry over.”
“Okay, but I can’t get out right now. Imperial Hotel has a back door, so you should drive away first, and I’ll come out to meet you.” As soon as he was done, he hung up.
As I studied my surroundings, I noticed that the special forces were closing in on Imperial Hotel and quickly ran back to the car and started the engine. Suddenly, a man appeared and blocked the car. I barely stepped on the brakes in time before I hit him.
When I raised my head to look at the person, I was stunned for a moment. “Danny, why are you…”
He hurriedly got into the car while bleeding and said, “Go now!”
Without thinking too much, I quickly drove out of the area and left the scene. Then, I looked at him and asked, “Why are you here? Are you still working with Abe?”
Due to the injury on his arm, he frowned as he looked at me. I continued, “I’ll send you to the hospital!”
“You can’t!” he shouted. He was already pale because of the pain.
A while later, I realized that if he went to the hospital then, the police would question him very soon. Since there was a shooting case in Imperial Hotel that day, even if Danny said he was not at the scene, his gunshot wound would still arouse suspicion.
Thus, my only option was to take him to meet Joseph first.
As soon as he saw Danny, Joseph’s expression instantly darkened. The only thing he did not do was to take a knife straight to Danny’s neck and ask him what exactly was going on.
Without too much delay, I gave Joseph a brief explanation then drove straight to Dillan’s villa. The firefighters were already there when we reached, and Zachary had just been carried into the ambulance.
I looked at Boris and asked, “What exactly happened? Dillan actually set fire to such a huge villa?”
Despite it being in the suburbs, the villa was still worth tens of millions. What was he planning when he set it on fire?
Boris sighed and replied, “You head to the hospital to check on your father first. I’ll take care of the rest.”
We were indeed surrounded by many people, making it inconvenient for me to continue asking him questions. Thus, we headed to the hospital together as Boris suggested. The doctor concluded that Zachary had inhaled too much smoke but would be okay after resting for a while.
Joseph had to settle the matter with Imperial Hotel, and Boris was handling the issue with Dillan.
Meanwhile, Danny and I sat on the seats along the corridor for ages. After a long while, I said, “I know you are with Abe, so I won’t ask too many questions. But considering that I have helped you today, can you tell me why Abe isn’t dead?”
Danny’s injury had already been treated by a doctor, and he was sitting beside me silently the whole time.
After a long while, he replied, “The man who died in Moranta wasn’t Abe. Imperial Hotel is jointly operated by Abe and Armond, and the operating room in that factory you went to is also theirs. However, Armond had transferred everything over to Abe these past few days.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
He looked at me as he said, “I know you’ve been trying to find evidence of Armond’s illegal activities. Armond knows it too, so when you went to the village to find that family, he made a deal with Abe. They’d been doing business for so long that many of their things were old and damaged. Armond was worried since there was no way to openly get rid of them, but you gave him an opportunity. The things you managed to find out are all true. Armond wanted you to make them public since Abe would be punished in the end, not him.”
I was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Why does he think he can use Abe as he pleases?” They were both proud men, so things were definitely not as simple as just shifting blame.
“You probably don’t understand Abe as a person. It’s true that he’s cruel and only thinks about profiting, but he actually treats his men very sincerely. After the issue in Venria was revealed, we were at a dead- end. We came over because Abe wanted to work with Armond so that his men could settle down. He would then help Armond clean up his mess.”
I froze. “So right from the beginning, Armond purposely led me on to investigate this matter just so that when I finally exposed everything, it would put an end to all these dirty businesses.”
He nodded in reply.
There was an unexplainable feeling of shock in me. From the beginning, everything that Armond did was to lead me to this point. He had taken the initiative to call me, revealed that there was an organ trade going on in A City, and even gave me his name card. His ultimate motive was to let me discover those dirty secrets and expose them.
I hesitated for a long while before I replied, “Was he also the one who planned everything that had happened to me at Imperial Hotel?”
Danny nodded. “He purposely used the child to provoke you so that you would become determined to take action on Imperial Hotel.”
Does it mean he has planned the whole thing step by step, just waiting to lead me into his trap and eventually making me the person who would help him succeed in his plan?
At that moment, I did not know if I should laugh or cry. After all this time, I was just someone’s puppet?
Noticing my grim expression, Danny pursed his lips slightly as he apologized. “Sorry!”
I shook my head, feeling a little tired. After dealing with the matter for so long, everything just turned out to be a well-planned conspiracy.
Just then, I thought of Anthony and widened my eyes as I said, “Danny, have you left Abe?”
He frowned slightly but did not answer me.
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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