The window was open, letting in the chilly air of the beautiful night. Inside the house was cozy and
comfortable.
"Sir, the meals you ordered will be delivered in five minutes." The waiter handed the receipt to Kevin.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Kevin?" No sooner did the waiter leave than he heard a gentle feminine voice
addressing him from somewhere, probably outside, making him frown.
Without getting any response from Kevin, Kate Chen walked in without waiting any longer and the
moment she saw him, she was astonished.
She studied him. The man's tall stature made him look very sharp and no doubt his handsome figure
was even more enhanced by the well-fitted black suit and black collar. Kate Chen was immediately
captivated by him.
"Mr. Kevin," she called again.
Kate Chen had known that she would be meeting Kevin so it wasn't difficult for her to recognize him.
It was a known fact that in the entire A City, Kevin was the most attractive man. But it was unusual to
see him on a blind date advertisement.
"Yes?" Kevin turned around to the source of the voice before taking a seat at the table.
"My name is Kate Chen. I am the daughter of the chairman of Chen Group," she introduced herself with
a polite smile. She stretched out her hand hoping for a handshake, but he crushed that hope by being
unresponsive.
"Let's eat," he suggested calmly, almost indifferently.
Kate Chen's mood soured. It seemed that the CEO of AN Group was incompetent when it came to
communicating with people. Now she understood the reason behind Kevin's desire to go on a blind
date.
However, before in the city everyone was aware of his immense love and affection for his wife but,
unfortunately, she had disappeared.
"Mr. Kevin, are you happy with me? With this date?" She lowered her gaze as she inquired with a shy
smile.
Kevin remained silent. Instead, he tapped on the table thrice. Soon a child zoomed in and yelled, "I
don't approve".
Kate Chen choked on the juice that she had been drinking, startled by Eddy's sudden arrival.
"Where did this wild child come from? Get out of here quickly," she said in a miffed tone.
Being called a "wild child" did not sit well with Eddy. It made him furious, but when he noticed Kevin's
disappointed look, he immediately directed his anger at him.
"How dare you go on a blind date behind my and my mother's back? Are you even worthy of her?" He
forced out a few tears after he said those words, as if he was the one being wronged and bullied.
"Your mother? Are you Mr. Kevin's son?" Kate Chen asked curiously.
She only knew that Kevin was an outstanding man, but she had no knowledge about his life.
"And you are?" Although Eddy was young, he was good at jab and retort.
"I..." she trailed off, seemingly at a loss of words. This was completely unforeseen. It seemed
impossible for her to deal with the kid or get along with him.
"Is your mother Anne?" she inquired with hostility laced in her tone.
"Who are you talking about? Dad, who is the woman she is talking about? Didn't you promise that you
would marry my mother after you divorced your ex-wife? Why didn't you keep your promise?" implored
Eddy.
Kevin remained impassive.
However, he was just trying to control his emotions. He felt an oncoming headache as he looked at
Eddy who was focused on his performance. Kevin guessed that the kid must have considered himself
as a lonely and miserable child whose mother was abandoned by his father.
His gaze then traveled towards Kate Chen, whose face had already darkened with anger.
"Mr. Kevin, I wasn't aware that you have a child. I'll leave now." Without another word, the lady stormed
out of the place.
Back in the private room, the tense atmosphere dissipated as soon as Kate Chen left.
Eddy's pitiful expression immediately transformed into a proud one. "Dad, how was my performance?"
The child's hopeful expression of earning praise made Kevin smile. He picked the child up and said
gently, "Our job is done here. Let's go home".
But Eddy scowled, "Dad, Uncle Sam has been waiting for you. He is very persistent."
"Let him wait. When he came around, he won't be begging for my forgiveness in this manner. I have
never blamed him," he replied thoughtfully, ruffling Eddy's hair.
For the past two years, Sam had been asking for Kevin's forgiveness, because he was responsible for
Anne's disappearance.
Sam repeatedly regretted his decision of not sending Anne home at that time. He should have insisted
a little more. But Kevin wasn't naive, he knew that even if Anne managed to get away that time, Kim
would find other opportunities. It was his fault for not guessing the fact that Kim wasn't after his
company but after Anne.
He had been searching for Anne for the past two years. However, he always collided into a dead end.
By now, everyone believed that she was dead, but Kevin did not. He believed that she must be alive
somewhere safe.
Eddy had fallen asleep before they reached home.
The East Mountain Villa used to be filled with warmth and love but now, with Anne gone, Kevin felt that
it was a mere place that sheltered them.
"Take good care of Eddy," he told the servant before he left the East Mountain Villa.
The car sped through the dim-lit highway. The star twinkled in the clear night sky. Kevin felt a little
desolate as he drove on the lonely and endless highway.
The car came to a halt. He parked it on the side of the road and leaned back in his seat. His eyes were
hollow, devoid of emotions, as if he was lonelier than the night.
After some time had passed, he suddenly saw a beam of light at a distance. It was gradually nearing. A
few minutes later, Kevin realized that it was coming from a car's headlight. However, he didn't make
any effort to investigate. But when his gaze fell on the person in the car, it left him dumbfounded. It was
Ryan!
'Ryan is dead. If so, then how was he in the car? Alive?' Kevin thought nervously.
To quell his suspicion, he started the car and directly blocked the other man's car.
Ryan did not notice the car while he was driving and when he did, the other car had blocked his way.
The consequences would have been dire had he not hit the brake on time.
"Hey! What are you doing? Do you want to die?" he yelled. But no one could blame him as anyone
would get angry when they encountered this kind of thing.
As Kevin heard this, his lips twisted into a malicious smile. "I think you are the one who wants to die.
Ryan, where is Anne?"
When Kevin had seen Ryan, a realization had dawned upon him—everything before must have been a
conspiracy. Earlier he thought that Kim had won Ryan, but now it seemed that this was not the case.
No wonder why Anne had not been found because Ryan's death had shifted everyone's attention off
him so that no one would think of investigating his case.
"Anne? You are Kevin!" Ryan's confusion turned into affirmation.
"Cut the crap and tell me where Anne is," Kevin thundered. He got out of his car and strode towards
the other car. Without warning, he grabbed the other man's collar, who was still inside the car.
"If you want to see Anne, be polite to me." Ryan was reminded of what Anne had said. Since Kevin
was no threat to the two of them, he might be able to save her.
Kevin had already made the mistake of misunderstanding Ryan. Seeing his attitude, he was sure that
Anne was in Ryan's hands.
"Tell me or I will kill you!" Kevin threatened before he threw a punch at the latter's nose.
This made Ryan's blood boil. He had just come back and managed to rebuild the KIA Group. But
Kevin's brash attitude angered him to no end.
"If you kill me, you will never see Anne again," Ryan said icily.
Kevin realized that his weakness had been detected successful by the other man. So he lowered his
hand and growled, "If you are sensible, let go of Anne as soon as possible. Do you think I don't know
the name of KIA Group has been changed to AS Group?"
As Ryan heard this, his eyes hardened. He regarded Kevin again and felt that the man in front of him
was unfathomable. He handled the company's affairs very carefully, but still Kevin had found out easily.
However, his attention was on the first half of Kevin's words.
A playful grin curled on his lips. Ryan asked, "Kevin, do you think that Anne is in my hands?"
Kevin rolled his eyes and retorted, "Isn't she?"
Knowing that Kevin was just too worried about Anne's safety, Ryan decided not to be a completely
heartless man. He divulged, "Anne is not in my hands."
"Do you want to lie to me? Let me tell you Ryan, if Anne doesn't come back, you will never be able to
gain a foothold in A City," he threatened.
The headlights bathed the road around them in its light. Both men glared at each other but neither
budged.
"Kevin, do you think I'm afraid of you? Once again, Anne is not in my hands. You'd better find her as
soon as possible rather than waste time here,"
Ryan said exasperatedly. Kevin knew that the other wouldn't confess so easily. He was ready to waste
his time on him.
Slowly, he relaxed his grip, and Ryan regained his composure.
"I won't let you go. Let's wait and see." Kevin stuck to his own judgment. He was certain that Anne's
disappearance had something to do with Ryan.
It didn't matter if Ryan didn't say anything now. He vowed to find out the truth.
Kevin sped away leaving Ryan to seethe. Ryan wiped the blood off his face and groused to himself,
"You can't blame me, Kevin. What's with the terrible attitude?"
He had planned to tell Kevin where Anne was, but he didn't expect that Kevin to hate him so much. All
his kindness had gone in vain.
Thinking that he still had something to deal with in the company, Ryan started the engine as well.
The wind picked up at the middle of the night, dispelling the clouds. It was a rare occurrence in the city
since it was usually humid. The clear sky hinted that tomorrow the weather was going to be good.
At AN Group.
All the furniture in the office had been changed to black. The cold and inhuman color reflected Kevin's
current mental state.
He sat on the sofa, looking sullen and gloomy. His all-black attire made him look like a handsome and
cool prince from a comic book.
"Mr. Kevin, this is the coffee you requested for, but you'd better not drink too much bitter coffee. You
have to take care of your kid," his assistant said after he came in.
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