The second Logan saw Horace standing at the door, anger welled up in his heart. Logan strode forward and asked, “What are you here for? This is the Hutchinson family residence. We don’t want to see you here.”
Horace didn’t take Logan’s hostility to heart and explained, “Clara was with me just now. She said there is an emergency and was in a hurry. That’s why I’m waiting here to see if I can help…”
Before Horace could finish his words, Logan went up and gave his face a punch. “Do you remember what did you do five years ago? You abandoned her, scumbag! Just save it. No one will believe your crocodile tears!”
The sudden force almost made Horace fall to the ground. However, he simply wiped away the blood in the corner of his mouth with his hand and he didn’t fight back. He knew Logan was trying to protect Clara, so he chose to swallow it. But Logan was not moved by his concession at all.
“Clara seems to be really anxious. You should go in and check on her. If you need my help, just let me know,” Horace glanced in the direction of the door and said, gritting his teeth against the pain on his face.
“Just drop your pretense!” Logan’s animosity wasn’t softened by Horace’s attitude. He would beat up this bastard for Clara if he could.
But Logan’s mind was preoccupied. All he wanted to do was to find Neo so he really didn’t have time to deal with Horace right now. He pointed at Horace angrily and said, “I’ll square up with you later!”
With that, Logan hurried inside, leaving Horace standing there alone with a bitter smile on his face. It looked like the road to getting back together with Clara would be really bumpy.
Clara was sitting on the couch crying with the phone in her hand when Logan entered the living room.
“How is it? Any news?” Logan briskly walked up to Clara and asked anxiously.
“Logan.” Clara instantly straightened up from the couch at the sight of Logan. She wiped away the tears and shook her head, worry and fear written all over her face. “Logan, what if Neo is in danger right now?”
“Neo will be fine. Don’t be so pessimistic,” Logan gingerly patted Clara on the shoulder and comforted her. He was just as worried, but he could only force himself to remain his composure.
“What on earth is going on? How did this happen? Tell me now. Don’t miss any details,” He turned to the nanny and asked solemnly.
Hearing that, the nanny retold the story to Logan, “So that’s how it happened. I really didn’t hear anything in the kitchen and didn’t see anyone else coming in..”
After the nanny finished, Logan fell into contemplation, going through everything that might be wrong.
“Logan, is it possible that someone kidnapped Neo? Or else, why is he still not back yet?” Tears streamed down Clara’s cheeks. The more she thought about the possibility, the more scared she became. Neo had always been a docile and amenable kid. If he ran out to play, he should have been back by now. “If Neo never comes back, what should I do! How can I live without my precious boy!” Clara thought.
“It can’t be. Neo is a clever kid. If someone really came in and kidnapped him, he would have let the nanny know. Don’t worry.” Logan tried his best to comfort Clara. “He must run out to play. He is probably still in the neighborhood. Do you know any place he might go to? Let’s split up and look for him. ”
Clara tried to recall what Neo said to her in the past few days. Then, her eyes lit up. She turned to Logan and said, “Neo told me he wanted to go to the skating rink just two days ago. But I was too busy to go there with him. Do you think he went there by himself?”
“Let’s go.” Logan headed out the second Clara finished her words and Clara hurriedly followed.
Just then, Clara’s phone rang. She didn’t recognize the caller ID and a bad hunch flashed across her mind.
“Hello, who is this?” Clara answered the phone, her voice a bit shaky. Why would she receive a stranger’s call at this time? Could it be that Neo…
“I’ve got your son in my hands. Bring 10 million dollars to Mercielo Village by tomorrow if you want him to live.” The man’s voice was deep. “Don’t call the police. Or I’ll kill him.”
Knowing that her son had indeed been kidnapped, Clara finally broke down. She cried into the phone, “Who the heck are you? Don’t you dare hurt my son!”
Hearing Clara’s words, Logan’s face darkened. “Neo was really kidnapped?” He stared nervously at the phone in Clara’s hands.
“Your son is fine. But if you don’t bring the money by tomorrow morning, I can’t guarantee what will happen to him,” The man threatened.
“I will get you the money. But you have to make sure that my son is safe,” Clara cried as she said. “What’s the name of the village again? Mercielo Village, right? Is my son there? ”
“Yes, Mercielo Village. Just you and the kid’s father Horace Kirkland. If I see one more person, I will kill your son.”
“Where is the village? Also, how do you know he is Horace’s son? ” Clara asked. She had never heard of this location.
The man didn’t answer her questions and straight up hung up the phone.
“Hello? Hello?” Staring at her phone, Clara was burning with anxiety. She figured that since the kidnapper knew who to call to ask for ransom, he definitely had done some background check about Neo. However, now was not the time to ponder on how he found out that Neo was Horace’s son.
The grudge she harbored against Horace overwhelmed Clara again. “Maybe the abductors kidnapped Neo just to blackmail Horace! He is indeed the nemesis of Neo and me!”
“What did he say? Where is Neo?” Logan asked.
“Logan, Neo was really kidnapped,” Clara said with tears in her eyes, “He asked me to bring 10 million ransoms to a place called Mercielo Village. And he said that I can only go there alone. Otherwise, he threatens to kill Neo.”
With that, Clara hurriedly took out her phone and entered “Mercielo Village” in the search engine. She then found out that it was a remote village in Stratmont.