Kim and Anne walked past under the gaze of everyone around them. They were out in the air.
However, she felt trapped. Ryan smiled at them, as if everything was fine.
But Anne knew that he was just trying to comfort her in the only way he could at that moment. Not
knowing why he would be willing to help her in these desperate times, it was safe to say she felt a little
relieved. As long as she could break free, the rest could be solved step by step.
"Mr. Kim, nice to meet you here. Anne, long time no see." Ryan reached out his hand to greet the lady,
giving her a knowing look.
Kim, on the other hand, replied indifferently. He didn't hesitate to show his unhappiness in his facial
expressions. However, Ryan wasn't bothered in the slightest by his display of arrogance. In his heart,
he knew this man could never be considered a friend.
"Go this way." Kim was not afraid to give Anne's handbag a strong pull and drag her to the place they
were heading.
It was at that moment that someone stopped Kim out of nowhere and stood in front of him, blocking his
and Anne's way. "Hello, Mr. Kim, there is an important matter to be discussed between you and me."
He was utterly unaware of what this mysterious man's intentions were. This whole situation left Kim a
little confused.
The arrogant man furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "We don't seem to have anything to talk
about. Excuse me."
Much to his chagrin, the man didn't take a no for an answer. "We are talking now, aren't we, Mr. Kim?"
he said without batting an eye, "Just give me a chance and I'll be more than happy to reciprocate, what
do you say?"
He tried to convince Kim, giving him a meaningful look to show how serious he was about this.
"How interesting. To this day, no one has ever told me they would give me a chance." Having said that,
Kim decided to loosen his strong grip and let Anne go.
"Take good care of her,"
Kim said to Ryan and followed the man out, disappearing from Anne's sight. She was holding her
breath almost the entire time, but now she was finally free of his grip.
Without wasting any second, Ryan immediately pulled Anne to the side and whispered, "Everything is
ready. Come with me." Due to his height, he was practically towering over her.
He grabbed her hand in a bid to show her the way, but she stayed in her place refusing to move. "Sally
and Simon are not here, though. I want to take them away, I have to," the poor lady insisted.
Ryan frowned and pushed back his hair trying to figure out a solution. "Where are they now?"
"In the Courtney Hotel." Anne lowered her head. Ryan saw how helpless she seemed, almost in the
verge of crying. He realized the hotel was still far from here.
"Listen to me." Ryan appeared decidedly in order to calm her down. "You must go with me first,
because we don't have much time left, okay? If we don't take advantage of it now, I'm afraid we won't
have another chance in the future." he said grabbing her shoulders and shaking her slightly. "So, you
get in the car first and then I'll figure the rest of it out as we move forward." Ryan came to this decision
on his own, which consoled Anne in her desperate state.
She looked at him and thought his words were credible. She could trust him. After going over the plan
once again, she nodded.
"So, did you arrange that person over there to distract Mr. Kim?" Anne was still unsure about what
happened a few minutes ago.
However, Ryan sneered and shook his head. "No, I did arrange a person before, but I don't know why
this man appeared out of the blue and disrupted my whole plan," he complained and rolled his eyes in
disbelief. "Let's not waste more time. Hurry up, let's go."
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, Kevin had been watching them for a long time. Without giving it
much thought, he approached them wearing a frown on his face.
"Ryan!" Kevin yelled sharply to get his attention. "How could you say that you didn't hide Anne? Leave
her here. I won't hurt you." Having recognized that voice, Ryan and Anne turned on their heels at once.
They glanced at each other, afraid of what was soon to come.
Anne began to grow anxious again and wanted to cry. She had been waiting for this day for a long
time.
Despite already feeling completely overwhelmed, she was struck dumb by what happened next. Kevin
stepped forward and grabbed Ryan by his collar.
"Kevin, are you crazy?" he shouted. "I'm not here to cause any trouble, I don't want to hurt Anne.
Believe me!" If looks could kill, Ryan would be dead right now. Nevertheless, he was sure that her
husband's arrival would get the situation a hundred times worse.
Indeed, it was safe to say that Kevin's actions attracted the attention of people nearby. But this didn't
stop him from tightening his grip.
Much to their chagrin, Kim's men also figured there was something wrong here.
Anne took notice of this and hurried forward. She rested her soft but shaking hand on Kevin's. "Darling,
Ryan is here to save me. Don't worry. Kim is our real enemy."
As Kevin heard her words, his eyes widened. He wasn't entirely sure about this, however he didn't
have another choice but to believe his wife.
"Are you controlled by Kim?" he questioned with a confused tone. "I thought it was Ryan." He realized
he was still holding Ryan by the collar, so he loosened his grip. Kevin smoothed his suit back into place
to recover his self-possession, but continued to look at Ryan with hostility.
"Let's talk about that later. Right now I have to go out and save our children. They are in the Courtney
Hotel," Anne explained quickly. It was rare for her to show any sign of weakness. She was always in
control of herself. However, her voice gave it away. She was a little worried.
"They?" Kevin frowned. It was definitely not the right time to ask these questions. He tipped Ryan a
wink.
The three of them quietly went out from the back door. Luckily, Kevin's car was parked there.
At the same time, Kim's men noticed the abnormality of the situation and immediately caught up.
However, Kevin had already left.
He didn't waste any more time and called Sam to ask who was near the Courtney Hotel in order to
rescue the children.
As soon as he hung up the phone, Kim's men caught up with them in a car. Kevin realized they were
getting closer and with a deep voice he warned Anne, "Fasten your seatbelt."
The car sped up in an instant and made its way through the traffic at the speed of light, leaving behind
a large number of vehicles.
It was supposed to be an hour's drive, but Kevin managed to arrive in only twenty minutes. At this time,
Sam hadn't taken the children out yet, since he didn't expect their arrival so soon. Helplessly, the three
of them got out of the car as fast as they could and broke into the Courtney Hotel without thinking it
twice. The angry men behind them stopped at the gate of the luxurious building two minutes later,
getting gradually fed up with the whole situation.
"We have to catch up. Quickly," they said to each other.
When Kevin, Anne and Ryan began their quest to find the kids, Simon and Sally put their heads round
the door. Anne gave a quick glance around the place, when she finally spotted them. She let out an
audible sigh as she was overjoyed at the sight of her children.
She hugged both of them tightly and looked for any signs of possible bruises. "Are you all right? We
need to leave immediately, kids."
Having just woken up, Sally rubbed her eyes and let out a big yawn. "Mom, what's wrong?"
"Everything is okay, darling," Anne said in a bid to not worry them. She turned around and whispered to
Kevin, "Kevin, let's go now." Kim's men were known to be very tough and Anne felt terrified at the
thought of her children being hurt by these horrible people.
However, as the group was walking through the halls, towards the entrance of the building, they soon
came to the realization that the Courtney Hotel had been surrounded by Kim's bodyguards. There was
no way out of this place. In other words, they were trapped.
Kevin tried to look for another exit. He didn't want to give up. In the hope of finding one, he turned to his
wife, but she had stopped dead in her tracks. She wasn't expecting this at all. Nevertheless, being next
to her husband, she knew deep inside she had nothing to be afraid of.
He reassured her, "Anne, don't be scared. Take good care of the children, don't let go of them." In a
serious tone he continued, "Ryan and I will get out of here to lead the way. When push comes to shove,
you must drive away as soon as possible. Don't think it twice." Kevin gave her the key and squeezed
her hand so as to show he trusted her. He knew Anne was going to do the right thing.
Out of the blue, something interrupted her train of thought and she started to feel doubtful about
everything. In an effort to distract herself, she asked, "What about you?"
"We will all come back." Kevin patted Anne's shoulder. He intended to embrace her, but he didn't want
to be the cause of her worries. Instead, he gave Ryan a meaningful look and both of them prepared
themselves to walk towards Kim's men.
Then, what happened scared Sally into tears. It was too much for her to handle. "Mom, this is horrible."
Anne could tell from her daughter's muffled voice that she was crying. She stroked her small forehead.
"Sally, don't be afraid. I will make sure you are safe at all times. Simon, follow me. Be aware of your
surroundings."
Without hesitating, she picked her up and held the small girl in her arms. She tried to hide Sally's face
with her hand so that she wouldn't witness what was going on outside the hotel. Simon followed her
closely, holding on to her pants. Meanwhile, Kevin and Ryan were beating up several bodyguards.
Anne took the chance to run out. They couldn't be controlled now.
Unfortunately, about to step a foot inside the car, she saw Kim's car rushing over them. Anne was
scared stiff by this. Once he caught up with her, all her previous efforts would be in vain. At this
moment, she had nowhere to run. She felt absolutely helpless.
She didn't give up entirely though. "Kids, get in the car." With Sally already inside, the little boy
followed.
Simon was very smart and climbed into the car without giving it a second thought. Kim's car was only
thirty meters away from them. They didn't have much time. Gritting her teeth, Anne got in the vehicle.
Her regained confidence was soon to be shattered.
She didn't expect that Kim's bodyguards would be so bold and aggressive. When she started the car,
one of them proceeded to break the window and intended to pull Sally out through it. However, Simon,
like the brave young little man he was, bit the guy's hand. Almost immediately, he was beaten
vigorously by them and soon fainted on his own seat. The man took advantage of this and snatched
him.
To say that Anne was shocked was an understatement. But most of all, she was furious. Kim had
stopped the car and, when Anne was about to get out of the vehicle to rescue her child from the man's
hands, Kevin rushed over and opened the door.
"Anne. Let's go."
"But Simon… he is still with that man! He took him from me!" She was almost shouting as if she was
calling for help. The poor lady couldn't handle the thought of Kim hurting her dear son.
Kevin thought about the situation. He was also anxious. He just met his own children for the first time
today, and now one of them was taken away.
But Kim's men were too presumptuous. They were too strong. If it went on like this, no one would be
able to get out.
"We have to go, Anne, I'm sorry," Kevin said with a shaky voice. He felt like nothing could be done at
that moment, otherwise, it would take too much time.
Simultaneously, Ryan approached them with a wound in his arm. When Anne was about to ask Kevin
to turn around, she saw Ryan get in the car and start it.
Seeing her child was taken away, Anne insisted on getting out of the car, her eyes full of tears.
"Anne, listen to me. If you insist on getting out, our daughter will also be in danger. Listen to me, okay?"
Kevin's voice sounded painful. He knew how hard this was for his wife, for himself. He felt powerless
that he failed to protect his loved ones.
For the sake of Sally, Anne endured the pain in her heart and nodded. She couldn't let Kim hurt her
family even more.
In the East Mountain Villa.
With the setting sun came a sky of fire. It was as red as blood. In spite of being in a quiet place, Anne
could not forget the chain of heart-wrenching events from the day. With her son taken away from her,
she couldn't get rid of the pain that invaded her heart.
Overwhelmed by everything, she failed to realize that Ryan had been missing.
"Where is Ryan?" Anne frowned. She had been immersed in the pain of losing Simon and didn't notice
where he had gone. 'Had he been taken away by Kim?' she thought to herself, still unable to process
what had happened.
"Mom." An innocent voice was heard. Anne felt a pair of short arms trying to surround her. It was none
other than Eddy, who was trying to comfort her.
"Mom, Mom, I missed you so much," he said looking up at her. "You're finally back. I thought I was
going to have a stepmother, if you didn't come back," Eddy complained.
According to his guess, after what he just said, his father would definitely pick him up and tell him that
he was talking nonsense, however it didn't go as planned. The tiny child was suspicious. He looked up
and saw Anne's red and swollen eyes and Kevin's cold demeanor. He sensed that they were probably
in a bad mood, so he stopped holding onto his mother.
"Whoa..." the little girl's voice came through. Kevin came to his senses and took Sally out of the car.
Eddy rubbed his eyes to make sure that he had not made a mistake. His eyes widened. "Mom, is this
my sister?"
He suddenly felt a long pair of arms embracing him. He was finally comforted by the warmth of his
mom. Anne snapped out of her current state and said, "Eddy, I'm back. I'm sorry that I haven't come
back to see you. I promise I will be with you every day from now on."
After Eddy heard her words, his eyes were filled with tears, revealing the unique sadness of a child.
He rubbed her shoulders so as to stop her from worrying. "Mom, I don't blame you. I overheard Dad
before, saying that you were hidden by a bad man. But you are okay now." With that, Eddy raised his
head and looked up at his poor mom. He might be a child, but he knew when something was wrong. At
that moment, he only wanted to be by her side and console her. He gave her a smile, which showed a
child's innocence and tolerance.
"Come here, let me show you. This is your sister. You can call her Sally."
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