Drew went pale after reading a couple of pages, “WHAT? I thought he was an adopted child.”
It turned out Miles was the bastard son of Mr. Johnson, the man he was calling grandpa right now. It had been hard for him to enter the family as an illegitimate son. But Mr. Johnson has undoubtedly adored him. The old man thus had concealed his background information and adopted him, pissing off a lot of their family members.
Miles also hadn’t disappointed his father. He had used all sorts of means to control the company and forced everyone to obey his reign, extending the branches of his business empire and making it a powerful enemy of the Bradley House.
As for Miles’ private life, it was as dramatic as a movie. He was gay, and he had a sickening obsession with his cousin, Jasper Johnson. Jasper’s family was just a small branch of the main Johnson clan. But Miles had been determined to help Jasper’s family to rise, despite his father’s strong protest.
Miles had made Jasper’s family wealthy, and the process had cost him a lot. He truly loved Jasper, but Jasper only wanted to use him.
Jasper had had sex with his cousin just to make sure the business of his family could soar.
When the business of Jasper’s family was finally stable, Jasper just came back to the country and left Miles behind.
Jasper had told Cristelle that he had left the country as his family ditched him after helping her. It was a pathetic lie to win Cristelle’s heart.
****
“That’s bullshit! You’re lying to me!” Freddy screamed amid the howling wind.
“S-Sir, you really got me wrong. My name is Betty…. Betty White. Candace is not my name,” Betty coughed, “Candace is my classmate.”
Linford took out his phone and showed the kidnapper the video where Candace ate cakes, “See? This one is my daughter.” In that video, Candace was laughing and playing with Cody, a bit of cream on her nose.
“You probably seldom check things up on the Internet. Candace was caught in photos by those paparazzi and went on Twitter trends a lot. You caught Betty based on the bag she carried that day, right? Candace and Betty use similar bags.” Linford explained.
“NO! YOU ARE LYING! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” Freddy shouted in the wind.
“I know how sad and desperate you must feel at this moment. I also have a family and children. My world will collapse if anything horrible happens to them. But the girl you got is innocent. Any kids are innocent. Betty has been taken away for days. Her parents are devastated. Please let her go. I know you will never hurt any children because you’re also a father. You will never hurt an innocent little girl.”
“Shut up! Shut up!” Freddy went crazy, “Don’t tell me this bullshit! You’re a piece of moron!”
Linford was calm, “I know how much you hate me. But I’m also curious about what I did wrong. Building a new neighborhood estate that took your family’s lives? But almost everyone has come to the conclusion that the murder case was never my company’s fault. Have you never had any doubts, Freddy? Don’t you think those people who taught you to do this are a bit suspicious?”
Linford caught the gleam of hesitation in Freddy’s eyes, so he continued, “Why did they tell you to do this? What will they get after this vicious plan? Have you ever thought about it? Why would they urge you to kidnap a little child if it didn’t do any good to anyone?”
“It’s more than obvious that the person who sent you just wants to destroy my business. That person knows I would give up the whole world for the safety of my daughter. And their purpose will be served.”
“You probably didn’t know. But someone has been trying to contact the girl’s family lately. They asked for 10% of the White House stocks. You know how it works now, don’t you? You can take out your anger and sadness on this innocent little girl while they get all the money and power they want.”
“Impossible! They said they contacted you! Why would they contact the White family?” Freddy looked incredulous.
Linford sighed, “Have you ever thought that these people also killed your baby and your mother? You and your family have been used as tools. They have been aiming at me since the beginning.”
Freddy’s mouth fell open, and his whole body froze. He felt like a lashing thunder suddenly hit him. How could it turn out this way?
“Freddy, let Betty go. She still looks unharmed. You’ve spent so many days with her, and you still couldn’t bring yourself to hurt the little girl. You like kids. You will never hurt an innocent baby, just let her go.” Freddy wavered a bit on his feet, and then his hand dropped off. The police used the chance and charged forward, saving the girl away from him and grabbing the bomb remote control away from him.
“No! No!” He seemed to realize something, and Freddy started to struggle in the police officer’s grip.
When a bullet broke the air and flew toward him, Linford heard the sound. He covered Betty with his body almost intuitively as a small ball of muscles dashed toward him.
Linford lurched on his side as his arms wrapped around the little girl against his
chest. The bullet missed him dangerously.
Linford propped up instantly on his side, his eyes searching wildly. Cody stood up from the wooden planks of the deck, dusting his pants with a calm look on his face.
The boy just pushed him away before the bullet could hit him.
“WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO, WILLY HOUSTON!” Linford thundered, “DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS?!” Cody frowned a bit as he covered his ears, “Old man, I still need a father.”
“Do you want to see me jump into the sea and kill myself directly if that bullet gets you?” Linford glared at his son, his eyes red.
“I would love to see that, but the bullet didn’t get me, did it?” Cody pulled a face.
“How could you do that?” Linford hissed between his clenched teeth.
“Do what?” Cody didn’t flinch, “You mean saving your life?”
“You arrogant little hedgehog!” Linford swore as if he wanted to beat the boy’s ass black and blue if Enzo didn’t stop him.
“Linford! Stop it!” Enzo pushed him away.