Two years was more than enough time for Anne to realize that she was no match for Kim. She had
exhausted all means possible to get away, but she couldn't find even the slightest chance of doing so.
Her guards and babysitters would be replaced at regular intervals—that was how cautious Kim was.
But then again, thinking back to those times, she couldn't really say that she wasn't treated well.
Though Anne couldn't figure out what was going on in Kim's mind most of the time, she understood that
he was a dangerous man. Because of that, she had no choice but to act meek and obedient, or else
she would never have the chance to free herself from his grip.
"Mom, I want to go out and play." A little delicate boy staggered towards Anne. He looked longingly at
her with his big watery eyes. Anne was sure that no one in this world would be able to resist him.
"Where do you want to go, Simon?" she asked him as she held him in her arms.
The little boy perked up and smiled widely. The twinkle in his bright eyes made Anne happy, but also
extremely guilty. If it weren't for her, such a sweet child wouldn't be confined in such a space.
"Uncle Nicholas! Come pick me up!" Behind little Simon was a little girl. She looked like Kevin so Kim
wasn't fond of her, but the kid, on the other hand, adored him and always wanted to be with him.
'Maybe it was because Kim was the first person she saw when she was born,' Anne thought.
Kim complied with Sally's request immediately. Though his face was devoid of emotions, his eyes
showed some tenderness towards the child. His skillfulness in lifting up the child proved that he did this
often.
Anne sighed inwardly. Though she knew that Kim wouldn't hurt her children, she still didn't want them
to have too much contact with him. It was mainly because of his temper. She knew him, and she was
sure that it would be a disaster if he just got angry at them one day.
"There will be a banquet in two days. You have go with me." Kim was obviously not trying to asking
Anne out nor was he consulting her about the event—he was giving her a command.
Anne raised her eyebrows and looked at Kim in confusion. There must be a reason for him to make
such a decision.
He hadn't let her see anyone else for two years. Why would he suddenly decide to not only let her out,
but also to meet people? Deep inside, she felt that something was going to happen.
"Why?" After hesitating for a while, Anne decided to ask. She knew that he was unlikely to answer, but
she just couldn't let it go.
"Don't you want to go out?" Kim shot her the question instead of answering.
Of course Anne wanted to go out, but she wanted it to be permanent. She wanted to be free!
"Of course I want to. But since you have no intentions of letting me go, you must let me know what your
purpose is. I think I deserve that from you." Anne tried to bargain with Kim. Never had she done this,
and so her heart was already beating fast.
Kim, however, just gave her a meaningful look before going out and basking under the sun with Sally
happy in his arms.
Anne frowned. It had been two years. She didn't expect that she would be under house arrest for such
a long time. Some people she knew might have started thinking she was dead!
Kevin was not one of those. He had never given up looking for Anne and had tried everything in order
to find her. He exhausted himself, but nothing he did ever produced a significant result.
Gradually, he had to conduct his search in secrecy so as not to be found by others with ulterior
motives.
As for Sam, he had never been able to recover from Anne's disappearance. As a result, his wedding
with Emily had been postponed indefinitely.
Actually, neither of them had even mentioned anything about marriage since everything happened.
They even promised that until they found Anne, they wouldn't get married.
Apart from the grief he felt because of Anne's disappearance, Sam also felt guilty because of how the
whole thing had affected Emily and their relationship. He had been thinking too much that he was a lot
thinner than he was two years ago.
In the office of the CEO of the AN Group.
Standing before a large French window, Kevin had a panoramic view of the whole city. Despite that, he
could not find the person he was looking for.
'Where the hell are you, Anne?'
More than once Kevin dreamt of her, but he always woke up just as he was about to seize her.
He didn't expect that Kim would be so meticulous. In the past two years, he hadn't had any run-in with
Kim, but he was still able to sabotage him.
The moment Sam came into the office, the first thing he saw was Kevin's lonely figure. He had never
seen him smile genuinely ever since the love of his life was forcefully taken away from him.
"Kevin, this is the list of participants of the business and political exchange meeting. It has Nicholas'
name on it."
Kevin frowned. His intuition told him that Kim's purpose in wanting to attend the meeting was not
simple. Despite that, he really wanted to see him.
"Tell them to keep an eye on Nicholas. Don't alert him."
It didn't matter to Kevin how long he would have to wait to see Anne again—he would happily wait. But
he had been in a passive position for too long now.
"Kevin, what if Anne's not with him?" Sam didn't want to entertain the idea, but they needed to be
prepared. They had to be realistic.
The more they knew about Kim, the more they knew how ruthless he was. It was because of his
ruthlessness that he became what he was today.
Kevin looked at Sam expressionlessly, a death-like stillness in his eyes. "I don't want to hear such
words from you again."
Sam didn't know what else to say. If Emily was the one who had disappeared, he would never be as
strong as Kevin. He was sorry to see that Kevin was so miserable, but he could do nothing, because
the only person who could cheer him up was Anne.
Anne wanted to go back to Kevin, but with her two children, she just could not escape. Perhaps it was
also because of this that Kim began to watch her less closely.
"Miss Anne, it's time for dinner. Mr. Nicholas asked you to go over there."
Sitting in the garden, Anne looked at the person who came up to her. It was an unfamiliar face. She
nodded, indicating that she understood.
Kim sat on the host seat. Recently, they had been having dinners together more often, but they still had
nothing to talk about.
"The event is in two days," Kim told her.
Anne looked at him suspiciously. She was trying her hardest to figure out what he was trying to do. She
had been gone for two years! Did he really think that no one would remember her, or had he found
some other use in her?
"May I ask what event is this?"
"Don't ask too much about what you shouldn't ask. You don't have a choice anyway," Kim said
indifferently.
"That's true. You've always had the last word." Anne put on a sarcastic smile. She knew that she would
never get any useful information from Kim.
"I thought you would be very happy to hear that."
Obviously, Anne didn't feel that way. The only way she would be happy was if she was finally out of
Kim's watchful eyes. But as usual, she stayed silent. She had learned that her life would be much
easier if she just let Kim do whatever he wanted.
"If there is nothing else, I will go back to my room."
"After all this time, don't you want to know what the people you care about have become?" Kim knew
that Anne was a clever woman. If she resisted him, there was no way she would have survived this
long. During those years, they remained the way they were, never crossing the line.
Anne was shocked. 'What has he found out?' she thought, close to panicking. But then... if he did find
out something, he would have changed her guards.
"If I could know what I wanted to know, I wouldn't have been imprisoned by you for two years," Anne
said coldly.
It was clear to her that Kim was only testing her—infuriating her—on purpose. If that was the case, why
not satisfy him?
As expected, Kim was not satisfied with how she reacted. In fact, he didn't know what he wanted to
hear from her—he just knew that she shouldn't be like this. She was lifeless, and there was no light in
her eyes.
Only in the face of the twins did she act like a normal person.
The maternal aura inside of her softened her appearance. Kim had never seen such aura in his mother,
and now that she couldn't recognize him at all, it was even more impossible to see that kind of aura in
her.
She often looked at him as if he were a stranger, though the good thing was she forgot her hatred of
him. Sadly, the terrible memories of the past had already become precious to him.
"Since you want me to go out with you, you should tell me what to pay attention to lest I spoil your
business."
"You don't need to do anything. Just be an eye candy." Kim looked at Anne up and down. Her visage
looked nothing like a woman who had given birth to two children. She was stunning as ever.
Anne had no choice but to give up getting something out of Kim. Now, she was back to finding a way to
get out of here by herself.
She suddenly remembered what she accidently discovered two days prior: one of her guards knew
Ryan.
She hadn't heard this name in a long time, but she clearly remembered that he was dead. However,
when she talked to this guard, he mentioned that Ryan was alive.
It was vastly different from what she knew, which aroused her curiosity. If Ryan was still alive, perhaps
she could ask him to get her out of here.
Because of that, she constantly tried to find a way to meet the Ryan the man mentioned.
She deliberately provoked the guard with words, and even promised him some benefits if he did what
she wanted him to do. She would like to see who was disguised as Ryan.
But the guard was so sure of what he said, which made her doubt her own judgment.
"Is the man you're talking about really the CEO of KIA Group? We know each other. Don't think you can
fool me by bringing just anyone to me," Anne confirmed again.
"I can assure you that what I said is true. When I bring him here, don't forget what you have promised
me!"
Of course Anne wouldn't go back on her promise, but she had never thought that she would see Ryan
again—alive! There was nothing inside of her but fear and doubt.
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