Caroline’s POV
I had never seen the man before.
"You ruined my family. I won’t let you escape!"
As he screamed those horrible words, he ran straight for me, the knife clenched tightly above his head.
There wasn’t time to dodge the knife.I could only watch, frozen in fear as the shining knife got closer.
Terror, pure and unadulterated, gripped me so fiercely that I forgot how to breathe.
The man slashed down viciously with his knife.
But a split second before the knife made contact with my chest, Simon put himself between me and the
wicked looking knife.
Instead of me, the knife flayed Simon’s skin open.
Blood gushed out in heavy rivulets, making a puddle on the floor.
A low, pained growl escaped his throat at the cut.
Elena, whom the man hadn’t noticed, crept closer to him and kicked at the man’s wrist.The man let out
a cry of pain as he lost his grip on the knife.
Elena took the opportunity to kick him again and twisted his arm behind his back.
"Ah!" The man yelled out in pain as he struggled to free himself from Elena.
"Don’t move! Do you think you can escape?" Elena growled threateningly as she exerted more
pressure on the arm she was holding captive.
The man trembled with fear at the dangerous look in her eye.
Vanessa ran to Simon.
"Simon, are you okay? Does it hurt?" she fired off one question after the other, her eyes full of concern.
"You don’t have to fret.This is a minor injury; it’s nothing serious," Simon replied softly, trying to ease
Vanessa’s worry.
"You are way too impulsive! Thank goodness the knife didn’t cut any vital parts." Vanessa’s eyes turned
red and she patted her own chest, her lingering fear evident in the way her hand shook.
The interaction between the two of them had my brows rising in surprise.
Turning around swiftly, I took out the first aid kit from the car and bandaged Simon’s wound.
"I’ll give you a first aid treatment, but it would be best if you went to the hospital and got it treated
properly, in case of an infection." I reminded him gently.
It was something of a shock when Simon used his body to protect me from the knife.
I never expected that he would do something like that.
A mix of gratitude and guilt swelled in my heart and I dared not look into Simon’s eyes.
"No, it’s not safe here. I will be worried about you if I leave you here."
Simon refused my suggestion outrightly, shaking his head for emphasis.
"I don’t think that’s a good idea.I have to stay behind and interrogate that man and it will probably take
a while."
With a frown, I tried to explain my point to Simon.
"I’ll stay with you.It’s just a small cut.There’s no need to be so nervous."
Simon was determined and stubborn.
Sighing helplessly, I had no choice but to concede to his demand, Elena found a rope and tied the man
up.
Realizing that his struggle was in vain, the man decided to throw caution to the wind.
"You can kill me if you want.I don’t want to live anyway!"
Ignoring his rants, I asked the first and most important question.
"Who are you? And why have you attacked me in such a manner?"
"You wanted to build an amusement park on the east bank and my house is here on the east bank.One
of your men wanted to buy my house for a low price and I refused to sell it.Do you know what he did?
He framed my son so he could force me to agree to the sale!"
The man gritted out through clenched teeth as his eyes flashed with anger.
"That’s a lie! All the procedures we take for this project are absolutely in accordance with the
standards!" I retorted harshly.
"In accordance with the standards? What a big joke!" The man snorted, sarcasm rife in his tone.
"Simon, do you know anything about this matter?" Simon shook his head.
"Vanessa and I are only responsible for design work. We don’t know much about the other aspects of
the project."
"I haven’t heard of it either."
Elena muttered, confusion evident in her gaze.
My heart sank.
Turning to the bound man, I asked in a low voice, "Who forced you to sell your house? Do you know his
name?"
"His name is Charles and he said he works for you.In order to save my son, I had to agree to his
demand.But I can’t let this injustice go unanswered!"
Shock had my eyes widening.
"Charles? How is that even possible? Are you certain you aren’t mistaken?" I muttered in disbelief.
Although he was ruthless, he absolutely detested using illegal and despicable means to make a profit.
"It’s Charles! I would never mistake the name of the man who took my house!" The man spat angrily.
Several conflicting feelings ran through me, but I chose to concentrate on the problem at hand.
Keeping my voice soft, I did my best to reassure the man.
"I will get to the root of this matter and I am assuring you that if the fault lies with us, we will
compensate your family for the trouble and also help you to settle down somewhere else." I nodded at
Elena.
With a small grunt, Elena loosened the ropes and freed the man.
After the man left, I checked the construction site and made sure there was nothing wrong.
Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Elena, drive me to Moore Group." I ordered.
Simon came over and said hastily, "I’ll go with you."
"Simon, you have to go to the hospital to get your wound treated."
With a shake of my head, I denied his request.
"Simon, I will drive you to the hospital."
Vanessa smiled and pulled him away.
Staring at their departing backs, I couldn’t help but be surprised once again.
"Elena, since when did Simon and Vanessa start getting along so well?"
"For a while now, Simon has been contacting Vanessa about the modifications they need to make on
the blueprint."
"I see." I nodded knowingly.
"Caroline, a handsome, young and charming man like Simon is what ladies look out for.Don’t lose
him."
Elena warned me in a teasing tone.
"Why do you always put in a good word for him? Does he bribe you or something?" I asked, staring at
her reproachfully..
"No.I just think Simon is more suitable for you than Charles."
"What’s suitable for me and what I really want are two entirely different things."
A bitter smile graced my lips at my announcement.
If only I could convince myself to settle with what was suitable for me, I probably wouldn’t have been so
hurt right now.
Simon was a good man, but he was not the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
When I arrived at Moore Group, no one stopped me. Soon enough, the elevator stopped at the top
floor.
With a flourish, I marched towards Charles’ office. My feelings were all jumbled when I pushed the door
to Charles’ office open. He was working When the door opened, his head snapped up and surprise
flashed in his eyes when he saw me.
"Caroline, I didn’t expect you to come to me." He walked to me in a hurry with a smile on his face.
"I’m here for the project on the east bank."
"Well, I also have a surprise for you.A few days ago, I asked Richard to purchase the land near the one
you purchased." Charles smiled and handed a document to me.
Anger clouded my vision as I glared at him.
So it was true after all.
Charles really was involved in the underhanded deal.
Snarling, I snatched the document from him and flung it away.
"Charles, I can’t believe you would do something like this! And for what? Just to make a quick buck?
How could you use unscrupulous means to get the residents to move from their house?"
Confusion was the only emotion Charles projected at my angry yell.
"What are you talking about? When was I unscrupulous?"
"Are you still denying the truth? I’m aware of everything, so there’s no point pretending.The victim of
your underhanded deal came to me and told me everything himself!"
Charles’ blatant denial disappointed me.
I thought he was a decent man who would always stick to his bottom line.But I didn’t expect that I was
ridiculously wrong.
Charles approached me slowly, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Caroline, would you rather believe a stranger’s one-sided statement than mine? Am I so untrustworthy
in your heart?"
The disbelief in his eyes gave way to sadness, his voice hoarse with a quality I couldn’t immediately
name.
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