When Michael came out of the room, he looked as if he had been drained of life. He seemed changed, and yet no one could tell what had changed about him.
Ryan greeted him softly, “Eldest Young Master.”
He did not speak, nor did he look at anyone. The chilly air lingered as he walked past, and it disappeared when he went into the elevator.
Henry froze for a moment before he recalled that Elena was still in the room. He made his way there immediately. When he walked in, he was shocked to see her on the ground and quickly went to help her up.
“What happened?” She looked like she was dying. The bright red fingerprints around her neck indicated that she was attacked!
“He did this to you?”
His big brother would never lay his hands on women, let alone the woman that he loved. What had happened?
“I’m okay…” Elena took hold of his clothes, and her voice was terribly hoarse. “Don’t… alert the doctor, I’m fine…”
She had managed to overcome it. Even though her throat stung badly when she breathed, but she was alright. Henry had a dark look on his face. He picked her up from the ground and gently placed her on the bed. He poured her a glass of water and watched her regain some color on her face. He clenched his fists tightly and asked, “What did he do to you?”
It was obvious that he had strangled her. He could only imagine how much force he had used to leave those red marks around her necks. That person must have been Michael since there were only two of them in the room. Why would he do that, though?
Elena bit her lip. Her face turned paler. She said nothing at all, and her entire body was limp like she had been exhausted of all strength. When he saw her in such a miserable state, Henry could not bear with his questions.
“If you don’t want to say…”
Elena’s eyes flashed, and she finally looked at him. She opened her mouth with great difficulty.
“I told him…that I asked the doctor to remove the child…”
…
Life was quiet for Elena for about a month; there were no kidnappings, assaults, slander, or even entanglement. It was a particularly calm month. Besides her classes, she went to work at Sharp Corporation. She had regained her health, and work had been smooth for that month.
Elena approved the shows that Layla and Lois had planned to get new talents for their team. The talent show, coupled with the animation cosplay show, had been turned into a variety show program. The first episode of the weekly program was well-received when it was first broadcasted. It was listed as one of the top three highly-rated variety shows! That was a pleasant surprise!
“Are you sure you didn’t spend any money to buy ratings?” Layla smiled as she looked at the reports while they were at lunch.
“Nonsense! The industry will quickly suppress false information. September Media is a big company, and we won’t play dirty!”
Lois rolled her eyes at her. “Stop with the nonsense. Beware of any eavesdroppers; we don’t want to get into trouble with such groundless claims.”
It would be a disaster if executives from September Media were rumored to have bought ratings to boost their shows’ popularity. They did not need such bad publicity at all. A media company needed to go viral to survive in the industry, and a rumor like that would break them. Plus, they were still only a startup company.
“I was only joking, why would someone hear us?”
Layla was more cautious and dared not say anything more about that.
“Let’s watch the TV!” Layla smiled and turned on the TV in the private dining room.
Luacs had not arrived. Lois ordered some snacks, and the three girls enjoyed the meals while they waited for him. It had been a while since they watched the television due to their busy schedule, so they had no idea what to watch. Layla simply tuned to a station and put down the remote control. They chatted happily while they nibbled on the sunflower seeds. Then they saw the familiar words on the television—Paradise Island. Elena was startled. She looked up sharply at the TV screen; she did not even notice it when the seeds in her hand fell onto the table.
“Paradise Island, the largest underground entertainment group in Bentson was nabbed by the police a few days ago. The police force received information about several important personnel and started the arrests…”
Layla and Lois also kept their eyes on the news. Lois exclaimed with excitement, “Oh! They’ve finally uprooted that tumor!”
“Are they that horrible?” Layla did not know much about the mysterious organization that was Paradise Island. Lois was quite well-informed, as always.
Lois explained in a hushed tone, “They are really something, alright! They almost monopolized the entire underground entertainment industry in Bentson.”
“Why would an underground entertainment industry even exist?” Layla tried to make sense of what she had learned. There were so many entertainment companies and venues in Bentson, were those not enough? What more could the people ask for?
“What would you know? Paradise Island has many entertainment events and programs that you could not have imagined before.”
Even though Lois had never seen any of their events, she had heard about them.
“You’re still a witless young girl, so you have no idea what those rich young masters have in mind. They are never short of money, and all they care about is excitement.
“Even the police are involved. They must be powerful people.” Layla was curious about the Paradise Island group.
“Very powerful men. I heard that they have their own combat team.”
“Then this time…”
“I heard that some organization is helping the police…”
Ordinary people like them would never have a chance to find out about the inside story. The matter must have ended if it was reported on the news. The curtain must have dropped.
Elena could no longer pay attention to their conversation. She took out her phone to peek at the news on Weibo. She wondered if she should continue to browse the news, but before she could decide, some of the trending news caught her eye. Eldest Young Master Williams, a wolf-like man…
She remembered what he had said the last time she saw him. She remembered the murderous look on his face. ‘After I cleaned up the mess with Paradise Island, I’ll deal with you two next.’
She shivered as if a sudden onset of chilliness attacked her body. She stared at the photos included with the news, but he was not in any of it. She knew that he was involved with the incident. He must have been that wolf-like man they mentioned in the news. She tried to calm down before she closed the Weibo on her phone and went outside to make a call.
“Where are you?” A low voice echoed from the other end of the line as soon as the call connected. “I’ll come by to pick you up.”
“I’m having a meal with my team. I won’t be back for a while.” She smiled. Whenever she called him, he would offer to pick her up no matter where she was.
Henry released the mouse in his hand and asked, “So, what’s up?”
The smile on Elena’s lips disappeared. Then, she asked in a low voice, “What is going on with Paradise Island?”