"Whether she is good enough for me or not, that is for me to determine after I get to know more about
her on a deeper level. I think it is worth a shot." Eric liked the thought of it and his mind roamed into a
distant future. Brian could tell that he was yearning for a romantic relationship with Molly; he could see
it in his eyes.
Looking at his self-absorbed face, Brian's face turned grim. He knew well that Eric was trying to elicit
his true feelings towards Molly. But somehow he could really read the passion and love he had for
Molly in his eyes.
Eric was back in the present and avoided direct eye contact with his brother. He put down the milk
bottle and tried to figure out his honest feelings for Molly. He had only wanted to bring the truth out of
Brian as to how he felt about Molly by pretending that he had a romantic interest in her. However, after
putting it out there in words, he sort of really felt it. Did he really want a romantic relationship with
Molly? When had this terrifying thought crept into his mind?
"Mr. Richie Long."
Tony respectfully called out from the other end of the room. At the same moment, the front door was
pushed open and a gust of cold air blew into the room. Both Brian and Eric looked towards the door as
two men walked into the room. They looked totally different, with respect to both their appearance and
their temperament.
Richie and Frank entered the room with an air of authority. Richie had on a full-black dust coat. He
showed no emotion on his stone-cold face. His eagle-like eyes were the picture of a silent lake without
any ripples on its surface - like a mirror which reflected every truth in the world while hiding the
powerful undercurrents beneath its surface at the same time.
As for Frank, he wore a suitable tailor-made suit with the mark of 'Z' on it, which represented the
highest status in Dragon Island. Frank no longer looked young and naughty, he had mellowed down
from the looks of it. His calm and mysterious demeanor drew people towards him, allured by the desire
to explore his secrets.
"Uncle Frank?" Brian was taken aback by Frank's arrival. He did not expect that Frank would be
accompanying his father.
Eric turned stiff when he saw Frank walk in and the smile on his face disappeared. He clutched the fork
in his hand tightly, it almost broke. After the brief moment of surprise, he decided to ignore Frank and
jerked his head towards Richie, greeting him. "Uncle Richie."
Richie nodded slightly in response to Eric's greeting. Richie's every move showed his spirit and
temperament, his need to dominate and control everything. It was almost as if he was born with that
temperament.
Although Brian was Richie's son, they had very different personalities because of the varied experience
in their childhood. One was cold and calculating and the other was cruel and arrogant. However, when
it came to their likeness, they were both aggressive and ruthless. Those characteristics seemed to
have been engraved into their genes.
"Why is dad here too?" Eric asked, confused by his sudden arrival. "Wasn't there a congressional
proposal yesterday which needed to be dealt with?"
Frank threw a nasty glimpse at his son who always went to the trouble of annoying him. He answered
in a matter-of-fact tone," The Shadow Organization reported that Shirley had gotten into trouble. So
obviously, I came to help her."
While speaking, he turned his head slightly towards Richie. A smile formed on his face - the same
naughty smile which he had used when he was younger. "If I had known that my elder brother would
rush here to rescue her, I wouldn't have come all the way here too."
"Do you not believe that I am capable of solving this and saving Shirley, Uncle Frank?" Brian asked in a
humor-laced tone. It was rare to hear him speak casually with someone.
Frank smiled at Brian. The last time he saw Brian was when Shirley had come back from South Africa.
He still remembered how small he was as a baby and the way he used to sleep on his chest. And now,
that little baby had grown up to be an omnipotent man, someone who could rule a whole region by
force, manage a plethora of casinos and control the stock market worldwide.
Time had passed by in the blink of an eye and everything that was his life was now a good and
satisfying memory. The next generation was all grown up and had become mature adults. It seemed
like it was the right time for him to retire and hand over the power of his empire to the next generation.
"The woman you keep around you. Is Shirley with that woman now ?" Richie asked in his low and cold
voice. The only reason he was here was to find Shirley.
Brian pursed his lips at his question and tried to correct him. "It was Shirley who invited my woman,
Molly, to go out with her. Not the other way around."
"If you want to play your stupid game of cat and mouse, you should ensure that the people around you
would not be hurt!" Richie spit out those words angrily, turned away from his family and left the villa
without another word. He had traveled a thousand miles just to belittle his son with a single sentence.
Brian knew that his father had come all the way to his villa just to reprimand him. He also knew very
well that his mother was his father's greatest priority. He always gave precedence to Shirley over
anything else. And this time, because of Brian's fault, Richie's honey wife was kidnapped. So he was
bound to make sure to blame Brian for what had happened.
Brian's face fell and he felt worse than before. He was belittled in front of Eric and Frank. He murmured
to himself," Shirley is not only your wife, but also my mother. She is very important to me too! I did not
go looking for her last night because I wanted to give you the opportunity of finding her yourself. I
thought she would be very glad if you went in person to save her."
After a glut of self explanation, he said in a deep voice," I am going to look for my woman too." He left
the villa after his father.
Frank decided to leave them on their own and sat down beside his son, Eric, to enjoy the delicious
breakfast prepared by Lisa. There was no one else in the room besides the father and son. However,
the aura in the room was awkward and strange rather than comfortable or warm.
Eric finally decided to break the awkward silence. "Is Mom back?"
"She had come to Dragon Island," Frank replied softly. "After that she went to Sun Island to sign the
media contract for the next five years."
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