268 Ch. 268 Elliotâs Fear
After confirming that Song Lei had returned to Loraine Shuâs mansion and not pursued him anymore, Richard infiltrated Elliotâs room to ensure his sonâs well-being. He realized that Elliotâs roomâs doors and windows had been locked tightly, making Richard barely hold back his anger again.
Elliot must be scared and traumatized at this time, forcing Richard to wait in front of the balcony door to calm himself down. He didnât want Elliot to be afraid of him or scream hysterically, which would rouse the othersâ attention.
But he also couldnât bear to leave the boy alone without consolation. He didnât want Elliot to have nightmares, and Richard wanted to give his son strength.
If Anxia were here, Richard would surely let his wife comfort and support their sonâs mental strength. But he knew that Anxia had gone to infiltrate Diegoâs house at this time, and he knew Anxia wouldnât be back soon and would probably only see Elliot the next morning.
After ensuring his anger was under control, Richard used the multipurpose key to open the balcony door. He opened it very slowly and activated his glasses to see where Elliot was.
Richard felt his heart breaking when X-sharp eye told him that Elliot was sitting leaning against his bedroom door. He went inside, closed the balcony door again, and locked it before approaching his son.
Little Elliot didnât know that someone was coming into his room. Even if he heard the sound of the door opening, Elliot didnât dare raise his head and hid his face even more between his knees.
Richard crouched in front of Elliot and then touched his sonâs head.
Elliot gasped as he felt a large hand on his head. He thought Song Lei had returned, and that hand was going down his neck to choke him again.
.....
Little Elliotâs body was trembling with fear, and he didnât dare to raise his head, so he didnât know that the person in front of him was his father.
âElliot, itâs me.â
Elliotâs body stiffened at the gentle voice. The boy slowly raised his head to look at the person who had called out to him. His eyes filled with tears welled up when he saw his fatherâs face looking at him worriedly.
âPa⦠papaâ¦â
âHmm. Iâm here. That man wonât hurt you anymore.â
Elliot surprised Richard by jumping straight at him and wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. The child immediately cried hysterically, and his fatherâs black clothes drowned out his cry.
Richard also hugged his son while gently patting the boyâs back to calm him down. Hearing how heartbreaking his sonâs crying sounded and seeing Elliot having been so depressed living here made Richard want to take his son out of this place immediately.
At first, he didnât mind letting Elliot stay here because he thought Loraine Shu treated this child well. But it turned out that his assumption was wrong. If this kid were to get even more depressed and hurt by living here, Richard wouldnât let that happen.
âElliot, come with me now. I donât want you to stay here.â
Elliot let go of his hug and walked backward while shaking his head.
âWhy? Are you going to let that woman continue to torment you? You might let it, but I canât. I want you to come with me now.â
Slowly, Elliot stepped back as if he feared being forced from this place.
Why are all adults the same? Everyone was imposing their will on the child who had no power. Thinking Elliot is a helpless child, they threaten and plant fear and trauma to make him do what they want.
All the adults in this place always forced him to do what they wanted.
If his father and mother forced their way too⦠Elliot didnât know if he could accept them into his life. Heâd rather live alone, but no one would force their will on him.
Elliot closed his eyes, waiting for his fatherâs grip to force him out of this place. He wouldnât be able to fight against it if his father decided to take him out, and all he could do was close his eyes and lower his head.
Seeing his son no longer wish to look him in the eye, Richard exhaled a heavy sigh. If there had been no door or barrier behind Elliot, the boy would have run and hidden somewhere no one would find him.
Richard gripped Elliotâs hands gently without pulling them. He would approach the boy if his son shied away from him.
âEl, Iâm sorry. If you still want to live here, I wonât force you to leave.â
The little boy looked at his father with a questioning look, but there was a light of relief in his eyes.
âBut can you give me a reason I can accept? Why do you still want to live here? Why did you let that person hurt you like this?â
âAunt Jamie and Sister Mei Yin are here. Only the two of them are nice to me. If I go⦠theyâ¦â
âThey will be fine. Your mother and I will find a way to get them out of this place. What else are you worried about? What did that person say to you? He canât just use those two to threaten you.â
It was precise, as Richard had guessed, because Song Lei had used something else to threaten little Elliot.
âLori... he said if I left, he would bring Lori here to take my place.â
Richardâs eyebrow shot up at this.
âI donât want Lori to experience the same fear I have here, and I donât want her to cry alone in this room.â
Richard smiled faintly at that. âI see. Then, you have nothing to worry about. No one will be able to touch your sister,â he continued in a reassuring tone while stroking the top of his sonâs head gently. âRight now, Lori is with my dad, and you can be sure no one will be able to find them.â
Because now Stanley has brought Lori and Meisya to one of his secret houses in Holland. Even if Master Yu or Loraine Shu wanted to track down Lori, they wouldnât be able to find her.
To this day, no one has defeated Stanleyâs skills at erasing traces and hiding. Even the Cerberus team didnât dare to challenge the abilities of the legendary âHunter.â
No one would have thought the legendary âHunterâ who retired dozens of years ago was now back in action.