The phone rang for more than ten seconds, but Credence didn’t pick it up. Jonathan curiously stole a glance at the screen, and the words “Mrs. Scott” flashed on it.
Obviously, Dorothy was the one who was calling.
Jonathan looked at Credence’s expression, then answered the phone and put it on loudspeaker.
Belle’s lively laughter came from the other end of the line. “Daddy, Mummy Germaine secretly told me that it’s your birthday today! I went and begged Mommy for a long, long time before she agreed to celebrate your birthday with us. I even begged her to pick a really pretty cake for you on her phone!”
“Daddy, when are you coming back? Mommy said we can only eat the cake once you’ve come back and blown the candles out.”
She was as cheerful and quick-witted as usual.
All the men present heard Belle’s words clearly, and they looked at each other, feeling complicated. They suddenly felt an urge to have as cute a daughter as her.
Jonathan was especially so. He smacked his lips and smiled cheekily. “Credence, you’re a true winner, having such a beautiful wife and adorable daughter. It hasn’t been easy for you to get to this step though, so don’t you dare give that ex-lover of yours a chance to ruin everything.”
“What do you know? Credence didn’t even kiss Melanie, let alone sleep with her. What kind of ex-lover is that?”
Marvin narrowed his eyes and kicked Jonathan in the knee as he spoke. He then raised an eyebrow at a silent Credence and smiled, saying, “Credence, you were always cold to everyone in the army, and you kept your distance with all the women. Yet Melanie wasn’t interested in anyone but you, and she wasn’t afraid to show it.”
It wasn’t appropriate for Benjamin to stick his nose in his boss’ affairs, so he just walked to one side and started arranging the files on a shelf.
At the same time, he secretly watched Credence, who still hadn’t responded, out of the corner of his eye.
Credence sat there motionlessly, and nobody could tell whether or not he’d even heard Marvin. His handsome face didn’t give off anything, and he just stared at the photo of Melanie, his gaze cold and sharp. It was hard to tell what was going through his mind.
In fact, the only thing that was on his mind was how Rosalie had gotten into contact with Melanie.
In the past, he’d been the captain of a special forces team, and Melanie was the vice captain. Her true identity, however, had been a spy from Jenciga’s largest syndicate, and she’d hidden her identity extremely well.
She was always the most proactive person in all their missions, even the small ones.
Everything changed on the day the higher-ups of Horsburg’s police force gave them a top-secret mission. Credence was ordered to lead his team to the country’s border to bust a large illegal exchange.
As it involved a huge profit, the bandits viewed the transaction very importantly, and the mercenaries involved were all top-notch. Each of them had plenty of blood on their hands, and the only thing that they wanted was money.
They were all desperadoes, and the battle was extremely tough right from the beginning.
However, Credence shot those villains to the ground with his excellent marksmanship and combat skills.
Just as victory was in sight, Melanie suddenly turned her gun on him and shot him right in the chest.
Credence hadn’t expected Melanie to turn the tables right at the last moment, and he’d fallen off a cliff because of the bullet’s force.
By the time Marvin rescued him from the bottom of the cliff, it had already been three days since the end of the mission.
The mission had failed, and Melanie had gone missing. Every other member of the team had died, except for Credence, who was half-dead.
In that instant, all the blame and punishment were pushed on to Credence’s shoulders.
He was kicked out from the special forces team, expelled from the army, and his merits canceled. He had to carry the burden of failing the mission, and had no choice but to leave behind a career that he was full of passion for.
Even worse than that was the fact that he’d somehow gotten injured when he’d fallen off the cliff, resulting in him being unable to be aroused.
Regardless of how seductive or attractive the woman was, even if they stripped naked and sat on his lap, he couldn’t get it up.
This lasted till that night ten years ago, when he and Dorothy had fallen for his father’s tricks and had to spend the night in the same bed.
When he came into contact with Dorothy’s fair, slender body, a fire immediately started to burn in his groin…
At that time, he swore to himself that he wouldn’t let go of this woman that had cured his unspeakable illness.
It was just that he found it impossible to trust any woman after Melanie’s betrayal.
As a result of that, a rift formed between himself and Dorothy, finally leading to them missing out on the best ten years of their lives.
So what if Melanie had appeared again?
He would never allow anyone to destroy his relationship with Dorothy, let alone endanger their lives.
After a long moment, Credence abruptly looked up, his sharp gaze piercing Marvin. He asked bluntly, “Where is Melanie? Is she near Jenciga or already in Talco City?”
“She’s most likely still in Jenciga.” Marvin frowned and pondered carefully. His expression turned serious, and he said, “Credence, with Melanie’s slyness and cruelty, she would’ve gone for Dorothy and Belle a long time ago.”
“She’d dangerous and terrifying. I bet she’d rather get her hands on your corpse than allow some other woman to have you!”
“No! On the contrary, I would say that she is already here, and she’s probably extremely close to me!”
Credence pulled on his tie and narrowed his eyes. His gaze was razor sharp, and his voice was frosty as he said, “Bring all of your best men and send them over to the hospital to guard Dorothy and Belle. They have to be there round-the-clock, and nothing can go wrong.”
Marvin nodded. “I’ll get it arranged right away.”
Jonathan hurried over and asked, “What about me, Credence?”
“You and Benjamin are in charge of clearing my wife and her mother’s reputation.” Credence lit a cigarette and took a few drags, his sharp gaze returning to the photo of Melanie. “I’d like to see what she and Rosalie’s backer want to get from me after joining hands.”
On this night, one matter came after the other, and they were kept occupied.
None of them mentioned anything about going home to get some rest. They quickly worked on their respective tasks.
…
In Belle’s ward.
Dorothy couldn’t resist Belle’s adorable pleading and ordered a huge, ten-layer cake for Credence.
The deliveryman could only leave the cake at the gates of the hospital.
When she received the deliveryman’s call, Dorothy was bemused. She asked one of the captains of the bodyguards standing guard at the entrance of the ward whether she could go out to collect the cake.
The captain was a responsible man. For fear of her safety, he didn’t allow Dorothy out, but instructed his subordinates to handle the matter.
Soon, the cake was brought in by two young, strong bodyguards. They placed it on the coffee table, and the table was immediately swamped by the cake.
This was Belle’s first time to see such a huge cake, and she couldn’t be more overjoyed. She stared at it and kept asking Dorothy, “Mommy, when’s Daddy coming back? I’ve already called him so many times and he said he’s really busy.”
“Mommy, can you call Daddy? I think he will listen to you.”
Dorothy wanted to ignore her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it when she met Belle’s expectant gaze. She suppressed her own feelings and called Credence.
The first time she called, the call went through, but he didn’t answer. Perhaps he was busy.
Dorothy put down the phone in inexplicable disappointment.
After ten minutes, under Belle’s urging, Dorothy called him again.
This time, he answered the phone.
However, his charming voice and words weren’t aimed towards her.
Because the first thing he said was, “Melanie, you’re really here!”
It was a woman’s name.
This meant that there was a woman looking for Credence at his office, at such a late hour.
He’d probably answered her call by accident.
He probably wanted to reject the call, but had accidentally answered it. Hence, Dorothy had clearly heard him calling out another woman’s name, his voice gentle and low, even carrying some tenderness.
For some reason, Dorothy’s heart felt as if it had been stung by countless bees, and it made her gasp in pain.