Twenty minutes ago.
The Larson Group executives were in a conference with another high-profile company.
Ethan’s phone had been vibrating for quite a while, but he chose to ignore it the first couple of times.
When the phone buzzed again and he finally glanced at the caller ID, his frown relaxed.
He raised a hand to signal a halt to the meeting.
"I’m sorry, but I need to take this call,"
he said, proceeding to answer his phone without waiting for the other men’s response.
As Ethan listened to Janet’s words, his face slowly darkened.
His body grew tense, and a heavy pressure was palpable in the air.
Garrett turned to Ethan and noted how tight his grip was on his phone, as well as the slight tremor of
his hand.
"What happened?" Garrett asked as soon as Ethan hung up.
But the latter barely acknowledged him.
"Sorry, this meeting will have to be postponed," Ethan announced.
He stood up and walked out of the room.
The men looked at each other, dumbfounded, but none of them dared to raise a question.
Garrett hurried after Ethan and asked him again, "What’s wrong?"
Ethan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Send out all our helicopters to look for a maple forest in the periphery of the city."
Garrett needed no further explanation.He nodded and rushed to do as he had been ordered.He knew
that something had happened to Ethan’s wife.
Moments later, five helicopters hovered over the city, scouring for a particular patch of woods.
Ethan was on one of the machines, siting with back ramrod straight and his eyes straight ahead.
He was barely keeping his anger in check.
Just then, the radio crackled, and Garrett’s voice came through the noise of the propellers in full action.
"We’ve found it.There’s a maple forest just outside the main highway into the city.I’m sending the exact
location to your phone."
Ethan cursed under his breath and instructed his pilot to turn around.
The helicopter took sever seconds to make a turn, and then it was speeding toward the southeast part
of the city.
– Meanwhile… After being slapped and then running for a long time, Janet now had no strength at all,
but she was still struggling.
She stared up at the sky in despair, and thought she heard the distant rumble of a helicopter
approaching.
"You bitch, I’m gonna fuck your brains out," the driver said with an evil grin on his face.
He undid his belt, took it off, and used it to tie Janet’s hands together.
Before he could tighten the binding, however, someone pulled him by the shoulder and sent him falling
on his back.
Dazed and disoriented, the man had to blink a few times and collect his bearings.
When his vision finally cleared, he found himself surrounded by a group of people wearing all black.
"Cut his balls off," Ethan commanded, his voice cold as steel.
He stood against the light streaming through the trees, so the driver only caught his tall, suited
silhouette.
"Who are you people?" the driver demanded as he cowered and tried to crawl away.
No one answered him, but one of the men in black stepped forward, brandishing a knife.
Shortly after, a howl of agony rang out in the woods.
Ethan strode over to a barely conscious Janet.
He crouched beside her and untied her hands before carefully wrapping her in his suit jacket.He
gathered her close in his arms and whispered, "Don’t be scared, baby."
Janet’s eyes were still glazed, and she instinctively panicked at his sudden proximity.She flailed in his
embrace.
"Let go of me! Somebody, help! You bastard! If you dare to touch me, I will kill you!"
The sheer desperation in her voice made his heart ache.
Ethan grabbed both of her hands and tried to soothe her.
Although his voice was calm and comforting, his face was the complete opposite.
His brows were knitted, his lips tight, and a deadly storm was brewing in his eyes.
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