“Yeah, right…” Armond seemed unperturbed. He shook his finger at us in mockery. “Look how confident you are in yourself. Aren’t you afraid that you might have to bow down to me one day?”
“Go back to your swamp if you want to entertain those pipedreams. You’re an eyesore to society,” John hissed, gearing up to attack.
“I’ll go only if Scarlett tells me to. In my opinion, however, she won’t want to see me go because of her two daughters.”
Armond gazed at me with his dark eyes, which were so black that they looked like an abyss. The hellish aura radiating from him grew even stronger.
Had my worst nightmare happened after all?
Clenching my fists, I gritted my teeth and forced myself to remain calm. Knowing that I was very agitated, John turned to me quickly and said reassuringly, “Scarlett, don’t trust him. He’s lying to you. After the last time, I increased the level of security around the house, and even hired a number of mercenaries for protection. No one can get to Summer and the baby.”
Tears were already swimming in my eyes. I fought them back and clung onto John’s arm, nodding seriously.
However, Armond plodded on. He snorted and continued, “How ridiculous. Scarlett, are you really going to buy what he says? Think carefully about this. If he’s right, how did my men manage to cart your son off before?”
This jabbed at the weakest spot in my heart.
I looked up at John, begging him silently for help.
Seeing this, John shot Armond a scathing look. He looked as though he wanted to pummel him. However, he was more worried about my mental state, so he took out his phone instead and gave our house a call. “You’ll stop worrying once you hear Summer’s voice. Don’t worry.”
However, the phone rang on and on, with nobody coming to answer it. John’s grip tightened nervously around the phone, his face clouding over horribly.
Armond laughed ominously. “Scarlett, I’ll give you another two minutes to decide. If you come with me, I promise that you’ll be reunited with your children, and you can carry on living with them. If you leave…humph! You know the consequences.”
I couldn’t remain seated anymore. I grabbed John’s phone and pressed the receiver against my ear.
Ten seconds of static later, I stood rooted to my spot, completely frozen.
“Well, have you thought about it?” Armond jumped out of his seat impatiently, dusting off his suit jacket. He seemed as though he couldn’t wait anymore.
“I’ll come with you,” I promised.
“Then, come along with me. The car is already outside. Come out by yourself.” Armond let out an expression of self-satisfaction as he turned to leave.
“Stop right there!” John snapped. “I’m going with Scarlett too.”
Armond shrugged and said with mock generosity, “Do as you wish.”
The prey was already in his hands. Why would he bother with another one delivering himself to his doorstep?
“No, John, you have to take care of the Stovall family. You can’t come with me,” I retorted.
“If you don’t return home, the Stovall residence will be nothing more than an empty cage. I have watched you being brought away once, and I told myself then that I’ll never let that happen again!” John looked very calm, but his voice was pressing.
“But…”
“What a heartwarming scene between brother and sister!” Armond sneered. He stood at the doorway and pointed impatiently at his wristwatch. “Unfortunately, I don’t have so much time. If the two of you don’t come right now, you can bear the consequences yourself!”
In the end, John and I couldn’t argue over each other. We headed outside and into Armond’s car.
The moment the doors shut, Armond flung two blindfolds in our direction.
John and I weren’t stupid. Without a single word of instruction, we obeyed quietly and blindfolded ourselves.
Compared to the last time, I felt more peaceful now with John by my side, despite the fact that I couldn’t see anything. In fact, I was looking forward to meeting my son again.
After an hour, the car rolled slowly to a halt.
The bodyguards shuffled us off the car and into an elevator.
When we finally took our blindfolds off, we were standing in an office with modern decoration. Its design was minimalist, but that gave it quite an ambience.
Armond was seated in his swivel chair with a lit cigar between his fingers. I hadn’t noticed when he lit it up.
“Where are the children?” I asked boldly. I had only come with him for this reason, and thus jumped straight to the point.
