Cristelle went frozen. She said that without thinking. She didn’t realize how misleading that sounded until it slipped off her tongue, “I… I’m not trying to say that. Don’t get me wrong.”
“I know,” Linford sounded pretty serious, “But I mean what I said.”
Cristelle went completely red as she hid her face under the blanket, “I don’t think we should continue this conversation. It’s getting ridiculous. Just go to sleep.”
Linford’s voice was gentle and low, “Goodnight, Cristelle.”
****
Cristelle had an extremely sound sleep. She didn’t even know she was in Linford’s arms at the moment, with one arm hooking around Linford’s neck.
Linford was the one who opened his eyes first. He felt a bit rigid, keeping the same position all night. But he didn’t want to move as he noticed how close Cristelle was to him right now.
He leaned forward a bit and took in the scent of her hair.
“Hm.… Mom.” Candace wriggled in her bed. She wanted to pee.
Linford got up carefully immediately, going to take care of Candace first.
****
When Cristelle finally opened her eyes, Linford and Candace started to eat breakfast.
“Shoot! I woke up late again.” Cristelle hummed.
She went to take a shower and left a kiss on Candace’s cheek. After she took a bath, they enjoyed their breakfast together.
And then, Cristelle’s phone started to buzz.
It was a FaceTime call from Cody. Cristelle accepted the call excitedly and saw Cody’s cute face on the screen, “Cody!”
Cristelle could hear the sea from the call, knowing they must still be on the island.
Candace took the phone instantly. She wanted to talk to her brother so much. She had so many things to tell him.
“Co- Cody!” Candace opened her mouth. She still had difficulty calling his name, but that made Cody so happy.
“Finally! Candace!” Cody smiled widely, “I know you can do this! I’m so proud of you!”
Candace smiled from ear to ear.
“I got you so many gifts this time. I’ll give them to you when I’m back,” Cody promised his twin.
Candace nodded heavily.
“Is your leg still hurt, Candace? Who did that to you? I swear that I’ll take revenge for you when I get back,” Cody said angrily.
Candace shook her head, trying to make Cody believe that this was just an accident.
The girl was too naïve. She still believed that the chest fell over accidentally. But Cody didn’t believe it, “I don’t believe it is an accident. Someone’s trying to hurt you. Whoever that is, I’ll make that person pay.”
Candace pouted, nodding confusingly.
And then, Enzo also showed up on the screen, “Candace, I’m going back as well. And I also got you some gifts. You will like them, sweetie.”
Candace gave a pleasant smile at her uncle.
“Mom, give the phone to that man. I have something to tell him,” Cody suddenly became serious.
Linford knew the boy wouldn’t say anything good, so he took the phone and walked out of the room.
“How do you take care of Candace exactly? I’ve only been away for days, and she ended up breaking her leg. Can you protect them or not? If I were there, I would never let anyone hurt them!” Cody sounded like an old man scolding his father.
Linford pulled a face, “Yeah? Did you care about them so much? Then why did you leave with Enzo in the first place?”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault?” Cody looked up at Enzo, “Uncle, did you hear what he said? He just blamed it all on me.”
Enzo took away the phone, “Shut up, both of you.”
And then, Enzo’s face popped out on the screen, “I’ve contacted the ships nearby, and we will be home in a week. This place doesn’t have any signals. We can’t contact you guys every day for safety reasons.”
Linford nodded, “Okay. Just… You guys should be careful out there, alright?”
His son was coming back soon, but he didn’t even have any real progress with Cristelle.
Things would only get more difficult when Cody got back. Linford suddenly felt helpless.
After hanging up the call, Linford gave the phone back to Cristelle, “They’ve been trying to contact a ship now. They will be back in less than a week.”
Candace was so happy. She wondered what Cody had brought her. Linford’s phone started to buzz. It was Drew.
“She talked,” Drew’s voice was low and serious over the call.
“I need to go back now. Take care of Candace,” Linford bid his farewell, still seeming worried, “There are still some journalists downstairs. You probably should…”
Linford had sent his men to cast those journalists away, but he was sure there must be a couple of them left.
“I know. I’ve talked to Jasper. He won’t come here again,” Cristelle assured him. She could guess what Linford wanted to tell her.
“Good. I’ll be back later,” Linford kept his face straight until he left the room. After closing the door behind his back, a faint smile showed up on his handsome face.
Alfred noticed his boss was in a good mood, knowing he would have less trouble today. The poor assistant let out a breath.
When they returned to the dungeon again, Giselle sprawled on the floor like a piece of dead meat. Cindy was sitting beside her sinful sister blankly, her face as pasty as a wall.
“We’ve found out. It’s someone from the Wayne house. Specifically, it’s Mrs. Wayne’s maid, Ruby.”
“Are you sure she spilled the truth?” Linford frowned, “How is it even possible?”
“She told the truth. She wouldn’t lie again.” Cindy cried, “Giselle has told you everything. Can you let her go now?”
Linford’s eyes were cold, “The Wayne house has no reason to mess with me. Even if Mrs. Wayne wants to take revenge, she wouldn’t be bold enough. I don’t think it would be her.”
“I also think the same. But a fact is a fact,” Drew shook his head.
Linford went silent for a while, “Do you have any solid evidence? Like chatting records or phone records?”
“They don’t. Giselle said they always came to find her, and she never recorded their calls. They promised her 10 million after it was done. She’s already got 5 million by now. She didn’t get the other five because she hasn’t got things down. We tried to track the bank accounts, but it’s hard to get any solid proof.”