Free Web NovelChapter 23: His true feelings
I’m inside the office now, and I can hear their conversation.
"He’s been planning this for years; how were you not able to notice it in time?" Parker spoke.
"He trusted the man. Who could have imagined that John would betray him?" Gavin responded.
"But still, he created slush funds and has been diverting the company’s income to the account? Eight hundred billion is no joke," Parker huffed.
Eight hundred billion? What the...?!
"He should have noticed it; someone must have seen it. I can’t believe he worked alone; the bookkeeper or someone must have helped him."
"This is not the time to point fingers or blame anyone; we need a solution. We need to find him," Bryce interjected. freewēbnoveℓ.com
"He’s disappeared. He planned this for seven years; he must have hidden himself well. And what if he’s found? What if he refuses to give up the ledger book? What if he refuses to give up the money? You know we can’t kill him until he gives up the money and everything," Parker groaned.
"Does he have a family?" Bryce asked.
"No, the man was a bachelor all his life. When he first joined the company, he had an old grandmother who cared for him. The granny is no more," Gavin answered.
"So nothing to threaten him with? No close friends or anything?" Bryce queried.
"I think Cooper liked John because John was a one-man man; he had no friends, no family drama, or fiancée to distract him. Well, it’s backfired," Gavin sighed.
"Man shouldn’t be too trusting," Parker exhaled, then rose to his feet and walked to the window.
"Nah, he must have something. If not a human, then a pet he cared for. As long as he cares for something, we’ll use that to threaten him," Bryce reasoned.
"Does he have a pet?" Gavin directed the question to Cooper, and Cooper shook his head negatively.
"You said he had an old granny, eh?" Bryce questioned again. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Yeah, she’s long dead."
"She raised him. So he might have cared about her," Bryce reasoned.
"Probably. What are you thinking?" Parker shifted his attention to Bryce. The others also focused on Bryce as they awaited his response.
"Then we’ll dig up her grave."
What the...?!
Bryce is nuts!
"Aside from that, I have a feeling that he might relate to old people. Send people to his neighborhood; there might be old people there. Interview them and see what they say about him."
"After that?" Cooper leaned forward; he appeared very interested now.
"If these oldies claim to be his friends, then abduct them, as many as possible. His dead granny might have friends who are still alive; also abduct them. Go to his birth town. His relatives, friends," Bryce listed. "We’ll threaten him with these people. Also, check with the travel embassy to see if he flew out of the country. You can also check to see if he traveled by other means of transportation or if he was smuggled out."
"But I have a feeling that he’s still in town; he’s hiding somewhere, waiting for the heat to die down. He knows how we operate; he has studied us, so he must be hiding. To get him, we must change our strategy. Start with the things I mentioned here. Get a team to investigate," Bryce concluded.
"Sounds like a plan," Gavin nodded.
"I like the sound of that." Parker also agreed.
Cooper immediately stood up and walked out of the office. The moment he left, the brothers’ attention settled on me.
Do they see me now?
"Why are you here?" Bryce asked, shifting his gaze to the coffee cups in my hands.
Oh, I said it; they were so focused on Cooper that they didn’t notice my presence. I’m not disappointed, though, as long as they get Cooper out of trouble.
"Can I have one of those?" Gavin requested, and I quickly complied.
Then I placed the other one on Cooper’s table.
"Cooper called her; he was going nuts and needed to calm down," Gavin explained to Bryce after sipping the coffee.
What should I do now?
Maybe I should wait outside. I don’t wish to stay here with them. I walked to the door and tried to leave, but Gavin stopped me.
"Can you get some snacks on your way back?"
"Yeah, sure," I muttered before leaving. After grabbing some biscuits, cakes, and cookies, I returned to the office and was about to enter, but paused when I overheard my name.
"Should we stop the punishment? I feel bad about punishing her," Gavin exhaled. "She has not been able to attend classes. She’s been missing out on a lot of stuff."
"Yeah, she’s so stubborn. I wish she could be a little more understanding. Why did she have to go to great lengths for her little boyfriend?" Parker groaned, sounding annoyed.
"She still doesn’t know that he’s in our custody; she’s going to go crazy when she learns of it," Gavin smirked.
"The boy came to us himself. He’s a fool if you ask me," Parker agreed.
"What was he thinking, appearing in front of us like that? Did he think that we’d forgive him?" Gavin snickered.
"But I’ll give him a few points; he’s quite brave. Not many men can stand up for a woman they like," Bryce chimed in.
"Fuck whatever he feels for her. I don’t give a damn about his feelings. She doesn’t belong to him," Parker growled.
"Let’s kill the boy. Why are we hesitating?" Gavin questioned. "Are you scared that his death will hurt her? We can make her forget him." I think Gavin is speaking to Bryce.
"She’ll never forgive us if we kill him; she’ll hate us," Bryce spoke up. It’s surprising that he’s considering my feelings; he’s never the type to do that.
"Doesn’t she hate us already?" Parker grumbled.
"It’ll be a different kind of hate once we kill him. She doesn’t want the boy, I’m sure of it, and also, killing him might not benefit us. I’d say let’s keep him alive, and we could constantly threaten her with the boy’s life, just as we’ve always done."
"What are you really scared of, Bryce? Say it," Parker questioned Bryce. "Tell us the truth. Are you scared of losing Amera? Do you think you’ll lose her if we kill Cole?"
"Are you really asking because you don’t know this? Isn’t it obvious?" Gavin interjected. "Don’t you know that Bryce has the strongest bond with her because he discovered her first? Bryce would rather lose his entire fortune than lose her."
