Clarence stared at him without any expression, “I am married.”
Elaine looked like she didn’t buy his reasoning, “Then why aren’t you here with your wife?”
“She’s looking after our kid.”
“This is getting ridiculous. You don’t even look like a married man. Anyway, I don’t believe that.” Elaine
pulled his arm as they moved forward, “Get going. Aren’t you looking for Darnell? He’s just up ahead.”
Clarence pulled back his arm and said with a chilly tone, “Walk properly.”
Elaine pouted again, but she didn’t respond with any words. She led her into a small courtyard just
ahead of them.
In that courtyard, two fully-suited bodyguards were flanking the entrance.
Upon seeing Elaine, they simultaneously nodded and greeted her, “Miss James.”
Elaine had her hands behind her back as she asked, “Where is Darnell? I need to see him.”
“The young master is just inside. You can come in, Miss James.” One of those men replied as he
studied Clarence who was behind her, “He can only wait here.”
Elaine said, “He’s my boyfriend, so why can’t he go in with me?”
The man simply said, “Miss James, you know the young master’s style. Please don’t make things
difficult for us.”
Elaine’s face visibly darkened, “Then do you know my rules?”
The two men maintained their stance, “You’re the only one allowed to enter, Miss James.”
Elaine stomped the ground furiously, “You…”
Clarence checked the time and was getting impatient. He proceeded to enter the courtyard with his
legs striding forward.
The two men exchange a subtle glance before standing in Clarence’s way.
Clarence hesitated in his steps but his tone was demanding and cold, “Get out of the way.”
“You can’t go in.”
Clarence didn’t heed them at all as he continued to march forward.
The two men hastily followed and cried out, “Mr. Conrad…”
Clarence swept his gaze over them and said, “Since you know who I am, then you should know why I
am here.”
Elaine tilted her head in confusion as she watched the scene in front of her develop. She jogged after
them too.
Clarence went all the way to the door and pushed it open only to find no one inside.
Elaine let out an audible “Oh” as she asked, “Didn’t you say that he’s here?”
“He’s indeed here… just a while ago.”
“Then where is he now?”
The two of them stayed silent. It’s hard to find out whether they just didn’t know about Darnell’s
whereabouts or they simply chose to say nothing.
Clarence snorted coldly, “Why is he playing this meaningless hide and seek with me now?”
At this moment, Clarence’s phone rang. It was a call from Nathan.
Nathan whispered, “Mr. Conrad, I have found out where Darnell is.”
Clarence managed a vague response before hanging up and turning around to leave.
Elaine scurried around the house for a minute but there was no sign of Darnell. She turned around only
to see the disappearing Clarence. She jogged while instructing his two underlings, “Tell Darnell that I
am kidnapped by someone. Ask him to save me!”
The two bodyguards were speechless.
This was the first time for them to witness someone getting abducted intentionally while jogging after
the “abductor”.
Nathan was waiting outside the hall, and upon seeing Clarence, he rushed forward, “Mr. Conrad,
someone saw Darnell escaping from the back door twenty minutes ago. He was said to be heading
towards a private club in Sunshine Road.
“Let’s go.”
After getting off the stairs, Nathan opened the car door, and he saw a smiley-faced girl greeting him
with a smile.
Nathan took a step back, “Mr. Conrad.”
Clarence glanced inside the car and frowned, “Come down.”
Elaine inched even deeper inside the car, “No way, I want to be with you.”
“I repeat, come down now.”
Elaine protested, “Aren’t you looking for Darnell? Then you should bring me along. I can act as your
hostage and you can use me to threaten him. I will be useful.”
Nathan whispered by Clarence’s ears, “Mr. Conrad, I have run a background check, her great-grandpa
and the deceased Bancroft James are cousins. Ever since his passing, this girl’s great-grandpa is the
one commanding the most power in the family. The rumours out there say that Darnell would eventually
marry her to solidify his position in the family.”
Elaine’s flashy smile seemed to say, “I am not lying, you see.”
Nathan lowered his voice even more, “Now, with the high chance that the young lady and Little Noah
getting ahold of Darnell’s men, we can have this girl with us to ensure the other party won’t do things
carelessly.”
Clarence looked at Elaine and after some time, he said, “Go sit at the front seat.”
Elaine reluctantly agreed to it before getting of the car and going into the passenger’s side.
While they were on the way, she said, “Why are you looking for Darnell? Can you spill some of the
inside news to me?”
Clarence who was seated in the backseat had his eyes shut. He only said, “No.”
…
In a private club on Sunshine Road.
Stella had been sent here since ten or more hours ago. Besides her and the little one, there was only a
maid with them.
She tried to pry some information from the maid, but it seemed she was possibly mute. That maid
never spoke a word.
That man had visited them twice, and he had brought with him different people every time to check on
the child’s condition. They didn’t overstay every time.
Stella didn’t have her phone, so she could only know the time by looking at the clock on the wall.
After some unknown amount of time, she heard a door opening downstairs. That prompted her to
check out the situation outside her room.
The moment she arrived downstairs, she saw a man dressed in a white suit and black pants standing
on the porch. One of his hands had a phone, and he was speaking in a cool, magnetic voice, “Got it.
Don’t mind her.”
Stella was stunned a little as she watched this man’s towering figure.
If she wasn’t very aware of the fact that this was Riverside City and that she was abducted by a group
of unidentified people, she would have a momentary illusion that the one standing there was Clarence.
The man hung up and turned towards a wardrobe shelving some wine. He took out a bottle of red wine.
Stella noticed that he had brought two glasses with him.
In the whole episode just now, he didn’t even raise his eyes and look elsewhere.
Did he see her yet?
Stella walked towards him, and the man coincidentally finished pouring the red wine. He pushed
forward a glass in her direction.
Stella looked at him, “Are you the one ordering those people to kidnap me?”
The man sat on a chair and took a sip out of his wine. Then, he lazily answered, “I just asked them to
bring the child over, but it seemed that things didn’t go as planned.”
Stella slightly frowned, “What do you plan to do?”
The man put down his glass and looked at her, “I think I just have too much time on my hands.”
Stella recalled that just before the flight, this man had a message for her. From the looks of things, they
didn’t seem to have any malicious intentions.
What’s more, they seemed to want to save her child.
Stella probed further, “Then who are you guys?”
The man curled his lips and his gaze fell on the glass in front of him. After a few seconds, he asked,
“Are you asking about me?”
At that moment, the door was opened, and someone looking like his underling came in to report, “Mr.
James, Clarence is making his way here.”
“He is indeed fast on his feet.” The man got up and said to Stella, “I am off now. Are you going to wait
for him here, or are you going with me?”
Before Stella could answer, the maid had carried the child downstairs.
Stella pressed his lips slightly and found that she had no say in this.
She walked to the maid and said, “Give me my child.”
The maid looked at the man who nodded, which allowed her to hand Noah to
Stella.
The maid looked at the man who nodded, which allowed her to hand Noah to
Stella.
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