Clarence stared at him without any expression, âI am married.â
Elaine looked like she didnât buy his reasoning, âThen why arenât you here with your wife?â
âSheâs looking after our kid.â
âThis is getting ridiculous. You donât even look like a married man. Anyway, I donât believe that.â Elaine pulled his arm as they moved forward, âGet going. Arenât you looking for Darnell? Heâs just up ahead.â
Clarence pulled back his arm and said with a chilly tone, âWalk properly.â
Elaine pouted again, but she didnât respond with any words. She led her into a small courtyard just ahead of them.
In that courtyard, two fully-suited bodyguards were flanking the entrance.
Upon seeing Elaine, they simultaneously nodded and greeted her, âMiss James.â
Elaine had her hands behind her back as she asked, âWhere is Darnell? I need to see him.â
âThe young master is just inside. You can come in, Miss James.â One of those men replied as he studied Clarence who was behind her, âHe can only wait here.â
Elaine said, âHeâs my boyfriend, so why canât he go in with me?â
The man simply said, âMiss James, you know the young masterâs style. Please donât make things difficult for us.â
Elaineâs face visibly darkened, âThen do you know my rules?â
The two men maintained their stance, âYouâre the only one allowed to enter, Miss James.â
Elaine stomped the ground furiously, âYou...â
Clarence checked the time and was getting impatient. He proceeded to enter the courtyard with his legs striding forward.
The two men exchange a subtle glance before standing in Clarenceâs way.
Clarence hesitated in his steps but his tone was demanding and cold, âGet out of the way.â
âYou canât go in.â
Clarence didnât heed them at all as he continued to march forward.
The two men hastily followed and cried out, âMr. Conrad...â
Clarence swept his gaze over them and said, âSince you know who I am, then you should know why I am here.â
Elaine tilted her head in confusion as she watched the scene in front of her develop. She jogged after them too.
Clarence went all the way to the door and pushed it open only to find no one inside.
Elaine let out an audible âOhâ as she asked, âDidnât you say that heâs here?â
âHeâs indeed here... just a while ago.â
âThen where is he now?â
The two of them stayed silent. Itâs hard to find out whether they just didnât know about Darnellâs whereabouts or they simply chose to say nothing.
Clarence snorted coldly, âWhy is he playing this meaningless hide and seek with me now?â
At this moment, Clarenceâs phone rang. It was a call from Nathan.
Nathan whispered, âMr. Conrad, I have found out where Darnell is.â
Clarence managed a vague response before hanging up and turning around to leave.
Elaine scurried around the house for a minute but there was no sign of Darnell. She turned around only to see the disappearing Clarence. She jogged while instructing his two underlings, âTell Darnell that I am kidnapped by someone. Ask him to save me!â
The two bodyguards were speechless.
This was the first time for them to witness someone getting abducted intentionally while jogging after the âabductorâ.
Nathan was waiting outside the hall, and upon seeing Clarence, he rushed forward, âMr. Conrad, someone saw Darnell escaping from the back door twenty minutes ago. He was said to be heading towards a private club in Sunshine Road.
âLetâs go.â
After getting off the stairs, Nathan opened the car door, and he saw a smiley-faced girl greeting him with a smile.
Nathan took a step back, âMr. Conrad.â
Clarence glanced inside the car and frowned, âCome down.â
Elaine inched even deeper inside the car, âNo way, I want to be with you.â
âI repeat, come down now.â
Elaine protested, âArenât you looking for Darnell? Then you should bring me along. I can act as your hostage and you can use me to threaten him. I will be useful.â
Nathan whispered by Clarenceâs ears, âMr. Conrad, I have run a background check, her great-grandpa and the deceased Bancroft James are cousins. Ever since his passing, this girlâs great-grandpa is the one commanding the most power in the family. The rumours out there say that Darnell would eventually marry her to solidify his position in the family.â
Elaineâs flashy smile seemed to say, âI am not lying, you see.â
Nathan lowered his voice even more, âNow, with the high chance that the young lady and Little Noah getting ahold of Darnellâs men, we can have this girl with us to ensure the other party wonât do things carelessly.â
Clarence looked at Elaine and after some time, he said, âGo sit at the front seat.â
Elaine reluctantly agreed to it before getting of the car and going into the passengerâs side.
While they were on the way, she said, âWhy are you looking for Darnell? Can you spill some of the inside news to me?â
Clarence who was seated in the backseat had his eyes shut. He only said, âNo.â
...
In a private club on Sunshine Road.
Stella had been sent here since ten or more hours ago. Besides her and the little one, there was only a maid with them.
She tried to pry some information from the maid, but it seemed she was possibly mute. That maid never spoke a word.
That man had visited them twice, and he had brought with him different people every time to check on the childâs condition. They didnât overstay every time.
Stella didnât have her phone, so she could only know the time by looking at the clock on the wall.
After some unknown amount of time, she heard a door opening downstairs. That prompted her to check out the situation outside her room.
The moment she arrived downstairs, she saw a man dressed in a white suit and black pants standing on the porch. One of his hands had a phone, and he was speaking in a cool, magnetic voice, âGot it. Donât mind her.â
Stella was stunned a little as she watched this manâs towering figure.
If she wasnât very aware of the fact that this was Riverside City and that she was abducted by a group of unidentified people, she would have a momentary illusion that the one standing there was Clarence.
The man hung up and turned towards a wardrobe shelving some wine. He took out a bottle of red wine.
Stella noticed that he had brought two glasses with him.
In the whole episode just now, he didnât even raise his eyes and look elsewhere.
Did he see her yet?
Stella walked towards him, and the man coincidentally finished pouring the red wine. He pushed forward a glass in her direction.
Stella looked at him, âAre you the one ordering those people to kidnap me?â
The man sat on a chair and took a sip out of his wine. Then, he lazily answered, âI just asked them to bring the child over, but it seemed that things didnât go as planned.â
Stella slightly frowned, âWhat do you plan to do?â
The man put down his glass and looked at her, âI think I just have too much time on my hands.â
Stella recalled that just before the flight, this man had a message for her. From the looks of things, they didnât seem to have any malicious intentions.
Whatâs more, they seemed to want to save her child.
Stella probed further, âThen who are you guys?â
The man curled his lips and his gaze fell on the glass in front of him. After a few seconds, he asked, âAre you asking about me?â
Mr. Conrad Proposes to His Ex-wife Again ï¤Chapter 599: I Will Never Marry Him An Eight-year-old Princess ï¤Chapter 1410 Go And Return Quickly Critic ï¤Chapter 105: Missing Drake At that moment, the door was opened, and someone looking like his underling came in to report, âMr. James, Clarence is making his way here.â
âHe is indeed fast on his feet.â The man got up and said to Stella, âI am off now. Are you going to wait for him here, or are you going with me?â
Before Stella could answer, the maid had carried the child downstairs.
Stella pressed his lips slightly and found that she had no say in this.
She walked to the maid and said, âGive me my child.â
The maid looked at the man who nodded, which allowed her to hand Noah to Stella.
Critic