Ch. 1561..1570
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1561
Alpha is Hurt
Charlotte had planned for her subordinates to lay ambush nearby and on standby, ready to be summoned.
Along with Morgan and Bruce, she then drove toward the abandoned scrapyard at the foot of the mountain in the western suburbs.
Over ten people were lying in ambush around, fully guarded.
Morgan and Bruce were visibly worried even as they prepared themselves for the worst—risking their lives in exchange for the children.
Along their way, Charlotte emphasized again that she would be in charge of luring the enemy away, and Bruce would take cover for Morgan while she tried to save the children.
Alighting near the garage, the trio then snuck into the location carefully.
Nevertheless, they did not find any suspicious person around. Even more strange was how there was not a soul seen.
Just as they thought their rival was hiding away, a burst of children’s crying suddenly rang out from a distance away.
Startled, Charlotte instinctively said, “It’s the girls!”
“That’s Beta’s crying.”
Having taken care of the three children for so long, Morgan was familiar with their voices and could recognize them at once.
With their hearts racing, the trio followed the trail of sounds and in no time, they found Beta and Gamma in a pile of scrapped cars.
“Beta, Gamma!”
Charlotte and Morgan rushed over immediately.
Bruce held up his gun on standby as he watched the surroundings.
“Aunt Charlotte! Ms. Morgan! I’m scared! I’m so scared! Boohoo…” Upon seeing Charlotte, Beta and Gamma burst into tears.
“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” Charlotte carried the two kids out with Morgan before she continued, “Where’s Alpha?”
“Alpha is hurt. She is bleeding badly. Boohoo…”
Beta pointed in the direction of the other pile of scrapped cars.
Charlotte immediately passed Beta to Morgan and hurried over to look for Alpha.
Indeed, the latter had suffered a head injury and was bleeding profusely. Her body also had multiple cuts from the rusty scrap metals in the surroundings.
“Alpha!”
Charlotte quickly removed her jacket and wrapped it around Alpha’s body before checking on her condition.
“How is Alpha doing?” Morgan carried the other two kids and walked over.
“I think she had a fall. Her wounds seem to have got in contact with the rusty scraps. We have to hurry her to the hospital since there’s a possibility she’ll get infected with tetanus.” Charlotte was visibly anxious. “Bring her to the car first.”
“Got it.”
The three of them quickly carried the three kids into the car.
“Beta, Gamma, do you all know where Robbie and Jamie are?” Charlotte asked hastily.
“Some bad guys took them away.” As though she was scared out of her wits, Beta shuddered while heaving with sobs.
“They asked if we’re Daddy’s kids. They threw us out of the car when we said yes and took Robbie and Jamie with them.” Gamma was slightly calmer and could express herself more clearly. “We’re so scared and wanted to go look for you. But Alpha fell accidentally and started bleeding so much.”
“Aunt Charlotte, will Alpha die?” Beta held onto Charlotte and asked while crying, “There’s so much blood… She isn’t talking to us and doesn’t move either… We’re so frightened…”
“Nothing will happen to her. We will send her to the hospital now.” Charlotte hugged Alpha tightly as she was worried sick. “Bruce, bring someone along with you and continue looking for Robbie and Jamie. I’ll send the girls to the hospital first.”
“Understood.” Bruce nodded. “Fret not. I’ll take care of the things here. Get going.”
“Okay.”
Taking two other female bodyguards along, Charlotte and Morgan then strode out of the garage.
At the same time, as the car sped toward Kindness Hospital, Charlotte also ordered the others to join Bruce in the search for Robbie and Jamie’s whereabouts.
Still hugging onto the unconscious Alpha, Charlotte could only feel anxiousness and anxiety consuming her. “Alpha, I’m sorry. Nothing must happen to you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to face your daddy!”
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1562
Let Go
“Ms. Lindberg, Alpha has only sustained some physical injuries. I’m sure she’ll be fine, so don’t worry,” Morgan assured her. “It’s lucky that we’ve found the girls, at the very least. But we’ve yet to find Robbie and Jamie. How about I take the girls to the hospital myself while you go and look for the two kids first?”
“Judging from the situation at the garage, they didn’t stay there for long. They probably left quite a while ago after leaving the girls there. It won’t be easy to find them within such a short time, so it’s pointless for me to go there. Besides, Alpha is hurt. Now that her condition is still unknown, how can I leave her side? I must be responsible for them since Danrique entrusted them to me.”
Even though Charlotte’s explanation was very rational, she was on tenterhooks about Robbie and Jamie’s safety.
“But—” Before Morgan could say anything, Charlotte received a call from Lupine. “Hello, Lupine. What is it?” she answered immediately.
“I’ve yet to find Mr. Nacht. But we’ve confirmed that he’s still alive. We found some herbal medicine dregs at the place, and Francesco may be the one treating him. But I don’t understand why Francesco would take Mr. Nacht while hiding in the dark. She should know that we’re looking for her.” Lupine was baffled.
“I bet someone else is looking for them too. She probably ran away since she can’t tell who’s good and who’s bad.” It seemed like Charlotte had seen right through the situation. “But as long as she’s alive, there’ll be hope.”
“Yeah, that’s what Gordon said too.”
“Get him to continue the search. As for you, bring more people over as soon as possible. I need more help.”
“All right.”
In no time, Charlotte arrived at Kindness Hospital.
Raina came over to take charge of treating Alpha while tasking two other doctors to give Beta and Gamma a check.
While waiting anxiously in the hospital for results, Charlotte could not help but be worried about Robbie and Jamie.
Meanwhile, Lupine contacted Morgan to get updates on the latest situation. She was ashamed of herself for not being able to be of great help.
After more than an hour of examination, Raina came out of the room. “Ms. Lindberg, there are some complications with Alpha’s wounds. I’ll need some time to treat them, but don’t worry. I promise she won’t be in a life-threatening situation.”
“That’s good to hear.” Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief. “I’ll leave the child in your hands. You must cure her and make sure she’s fine.”
“Fret not. I’ll do my best,” Raina assured. “Also, I’ve finished giving Beta and Gamma a checkup. Other than some abrasions and being shocked by what happened, there are no other problems. They’ve already gotten a jab, and all they need now is some rest.”
“Okay.”
Before rushing off with Lupine, Charlotte ordered all her subordinates to stay at the hospital with Morgan to protect Ellie and the three girls.
While driving to meet up with Bruce, Lupine reported the situation to Charlotte.
Upon hearing that, the latter frowned. “That means Jesse knew long ago that Zachary isn’t dead. That’s why he’s been sending his men to look for him everywhere. It’s no wonder why Francesco has to go into hiding.”
“Why didn’t she contact you?” Lupine asked curiously.
“Maybe she can’t find a good opportunity. Or perhaps…” Charlotte’s expression turned somber. “Zachary’s condition isn’t looking good, so she isn’t confident that she can cure him…”
“That’s possible.” Lupine nodded. “She must be worried that you’ll be hurt again after regaining hope upon hearing that piece of news. Or maybe as a doctor, she wanted to give it a try and cure him first before getting in contact with you.”
“Hmm, I guess so.” Charlotte’s heart sank to rock bottom. “I didn’t manage to find Hubby, and now, I’ve even lost the kids…”
“Ms. Lindberg, don’t worry. I believe Jesse wouldn’t dare do anything to the kids.” Lupine comforted her gently. “The fact that he got his men to release the girls proves that he’s still afraid of Mr. Lindberg…”
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1563
Clueless
“That’s right…” Charlotte smiled coldly. “Whatever it is, the Gold family are wise enough to know what to do. Just look at Nancy. She treated me with respect even when the Lindberg family had fallen from grace previously. She knows Danrique will make a comeback one day. I’m sure Jesse knows that as well; that’s why he didn’t dare lay his fingers on the girls. He knows Danrique and Zachary don’t like to butt into others’ problems. As long as he doesn’t touch Danrique’s raw nerves, Danrique would never interfere in the Nacht family’s matters. So when he found out that he accidentally abducted the girls, he immediately asked his men to release them and then lured me to go and save them. He didn’t want to provoke Danrique.”
“Exactly. So I’m assuming he won’t harm Robbie and Jamie either.” Lupine gave her conjecture. “After all, they’re Mr. Lindberg’s nephews.”
“Not at the moment, since he can still use them to threaten me.” Charlotte knitted her brows tight. “But I can’t tell if that will stay the same later.”
“I’ve heard from Morgan that you’ve signed the papers. What else does he want?” Lupine sounded annoyed.
“Zachary and I are still husband and wife. Even though we’ve signed the papers, those assets are still his, not Jesse’s or Chris’. I’m afraid it’ll still take some time if Jesse wants to pocket everything himself. I’ll become his obstacle if I try to block his way now. But with the children in his hands, will I still dare take any actions? Not only do I not dare, but I might also even have to submit to his threats and do things that are against my principles.”
Charlotte seemed to have seen through Jesse’s plot.
“I guess we’ve underestimated our rival,” sighed Lupine. “I’ve always thought Chris’ tactics were lowly, but it turns out that Jesse is nowhere better.”
“He must’ve wanted to use Chris’ foolishness to make us put our guards down.” Charlotte rubbed her temples in exhaustion. “It’s too late to say this now. We have to find Robbie and Jamie quickly. It’s too risky for the kids to leave them in his hands.”
“Got it.” With that said, Lupine stepped on the accelerator, and the car sped through the roads.
“Oh yes…” Just then, another thought crossed Charlotte’s mind. ”Danrique is always flawless in his arrangement. He would’ve left some of his men at the Garden Villa to protect the kids when he sends the others out to help you look for Zachary today, but it seems like he didn’t? And neither did he do anything after the girls got abducted?”
“Gordon didn’t have the time to tell you. Mr. Lindberg has brought Sean back to Erihal this morning,” explained Lupine. “I heard that there’s a situation over there. Mr. Lindberg is beginning to retaliate after being in shadows for so long.”
“I see.” Comprehension dawned on Charlotte. “Does Jesse know that Danrique is returning to Erihal, so he deliberately chose to take action today?”
“If Mr. Lindberg is still around, there’s no way he will allow anybody to take the kids away.” Lupine was feeling indignant. “How despicable that man is that he could lay his hands on such young children?”
“He has set such a big trap to usurp the Nacht family’s assets. Besides, he even uses his biological daughter as a pawn. I’m sure the others mean nothing to him at all!” Charlotte narrowed her eyes as she fell into deep thoughts.
“Biological daughter? Are you talking about Nancy?” Lupine questioned in confusion. “I thought she’s in the same team as her dad?”
“I don’t think so. She even helped us today.” Charlotte scrunched her eyebrows. “But I think her doings will come to light soon. By then, Jesse definitely won’t let her off.”
“Then…”
“Take it as I owe her. I’ll repay her kindness if there’s an opportunity in the future. But now, we have to find Robbie and Jamie quickly.”
“Yes!”
In the meantime, Bruce informed them that he had been to the vicinity around the garage to look for Robbie and Jamie with ten other subordinates, yet to no avail.
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1564
At A Loss
As the identification number and phone number Jesse had used were abruptly deactivated, the system’s tracking work had also been interrupted. It remained the same despite Johann’s countless efforts to revive it.
In an instant, all their leads had been cut off.
Charlotte had been out for the whole day with Bruce and Morgan searching till late at night, yet there was no news whatsoever.
With the number Nancy provided, she tried taking the initiative to contact Jesse. Nevertheless, it turned out to be an empty number.
Evidently, Jesse had taken to action after realizing that his number had been disclosed.
Midnight, Charlotte stood along the coast, staring drearily at the sea while the breeze whipped her hair gently. She felt at a complete loss, just like one of the boats sailing on the sea.
She had been pulling herself together all this while because of her strong determination toward defending the Nacht family.
No matter how tired she was and what trials and tribulations she went through outside, the moment she returned home and saw the children’s innocent and smiley faces, she would feel a glimpse of hope within her again.
But now, she felt utterly troubled that she had failed miserably at everything—the corporation had fallen into the hands of a villain, Zachary was still missing, and she had even lost the children.
She had thought she would be able to deal with Chris and the mastermind behind him all by herself. It was only at that point that she figured that she had thought too highly of her capabilities.
It was only the beginning, yet she had already lost the game.
Even though Jesse had never once shown up before her eyes, she had totally lost her trump card.
At this moment, Charlotte’s heart was broken beyond repair.
“Ms. Lindberg…” Lupine walked over to Charlotte and covered her with a jacket. “Fret not. I’m sure we’ll have a solution.”
“Solution? What solution?” A bitter smile flitted across Charlotte’s lips. “My mind is completely blank now. I can’t think of any possible solutions at all.”
“We can ask Mr. Lindberg for help..”
“Forget about it.” Charlotte let out a deep sigh. “Danrique has already returned to Erihal to prepare for his retaliation against the Lindberg family. How can I disturb him at such times?”
“Then…”
“Not only did Jesse not get in contact with me, but he has even deactivated his number. It’s obvious that he has no intentions to confront me head-on. Since that’s the case, I shall remain passive…”
Worry began overwhelming Charlotte’s mind as she held her head low.
“How about we try calling Ms. Gold? Perhaps we can ask her for help in contacting her father?” Lupine asked tentatively.
“Are you crazy?” Charlotte furrowed her brows. “Nancy has already set off the alarm and angered her father for helping us today. She’ll surely be under stern supervision from now on. Contacting her now will be useless. Worse still, we might even drag her into this mess.”
“T-Then… what should we do?” Lupine did not know what else to say.
“Ms. Lindberg, I believe Mr. Spencer and Mr. Sterk still trust you.” Bruce tried to sound Charlotte out. “They’ve been in close contact with me and asked me about the children’s situation. How about trying to discuss it with them?”
“There’s no point in discussing with them. It’s good enough that they can take care of the company right now. They won’t be able to attend to such matters. Besides, they aren’t good at this…”
“Then…”
“Forget it. Go back first.”
All that Charlotte could do was calm herself down first since she was out of solutions.
“I reckon they won’t hurt Robbie and Jamie for now. They need the kids to threaten me. Let’s head home first and wait for them to call me.”
“I’ll continue to think of something,” Bruce said with a determined look. “I vow to find Robbie and Jamie even if that means I have to turn the entire H City over.”
“Thank you for your hard work.” Charlotte gave him a pat on his back before turning to Lupine and said, “Let’s head to the hospital now.”
“Sure.”
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1565
Passive
While Charlotte and Lupine returned to Kindness Hospital, Bruce stayed behind to continue looking for clues.
At the same time, Alpha had gotten out of surgery. However, she had yet to regain consciousness even though she was not in a critical condition.
Raina found that other than the injury from the fall, Alpha also had other issues in her brain area, and there was a need for further consultations with other experts to find out the exact problem.
Upon hearing the news, Charlotte was both anxious and furious. She was silently blaming herself for failing to take good care of the children. At the same time, she felt resentful toward Jesse for not sparing young children like Alpha.
Like her, Lupine and Morgan were seething with anger by that. That was especially true for Morgan as she wanted to seek revenge by killing the culprits. Thankfully, Lupine stopped her in time.
Despite being overwhelmed with awful emotions, Charlotte still had to support the family. After freshening herself up with a cold face wash, she instructed Morgan to bring Beta, Gamma, and Ellie back first.
After all, the hospital was still a risky location since many people it was easily accessible. She figured it would be a better choice to take the children home since they were in good health.
To further protect the children, she got all the female bodyguards to follow Morgan back to Northridge. In addition, she reminded them to report to her as soon as they came across any situation.
As Morgan was carrying the children, she only nodded without grasping the hidden meaning behind Charlotte’s words.
After their departure, Lupine asked, “Ms. Lindberg, Chris should’ve taken the Nacht family with him by now and moved out of Northridge, right?”
“I think so.” At that point, Charlotte was visibly exhausted. “Make a call to find out.”
“I’ll do it now.”
Lupine’s call with the maid at Northridge lasted over ten minutes. Upon concluding the call, she reported to Charlotte at once.
“As expected, Chris has taken everybody with him, including Mrs. Rawlston and the maids. It’s said that they’ve moved to Mr. Spencer’s place. Isn’t it strange? Even though Southridge is still under renovations, the Nacht family has so many villas in H City. Is there a need to move there and disturb Mr. Spencer?”
“You won’t understand,” Charlotte uttered while frowning. “He wants to stay by Mr. Spencer’s side and get him to support him.”
“What?” Lupine’s jaw hung slack at those words. “Isn’t he a little too thick-skinned?”
“What can you expect from a despicable man like him?” Charlotte rolled her eyes.
“That’s true.” Lupine could not refute that and continued with her report, “The maid said they’ve also left with the car, leaving nothing else for us. Also—”
“That’s all small matters. Don’t have to mind that,” Charlotte interrupted Lupine’s words. “When Morgan calls later, tell her not to let anyone from the Nacht family get near Northridge. What we have to do now is protect our place and the kids well. There’s no need to be bothered about anything else.”
“Got it.” Lupine nodded in response.
“Also,” Charlotte instructed after thinking for a while, “contact various media outlets…”
She held her tongue mid-sentence. “Well, never mind about that.”
“What is it?” It took Lupine a while to realize Charlotte’s intention. “Are you worried that Jesse will spread rumors and incite the netizens to use verbal attacks against you again?”
“He’ll do that for sure. I bet news will be out before the sun rises tomorrow morning.” Fatigue overwhelmed Charlotte. “I’m afraid I won’t be the only one; even the kids will get implicated.”
“That can’t be…” Lupine said without hesitation. “Aren’t Mr. Spencer and Mr. Sterk on our side? They won’t allow Chris to do that.”
“With the way things are right now, I’m sure they won’t be able to suppress it,” Charlotte answered with a frown. “After all, Zachary has the most power in the Nacht Group. That imposter knows he can do whatever he wishes while living under Zachary’s identity. How will anybody else have a say or even do anything to him?”
“If that’s the case, everyone will be able to see his true colors, isn’t it?” Lupine pointed out the main point that came to her mind. “Mr. Nacht is certainly not an ungrateful and heartless man.”
“Anger would crush any man for having raised a child for seven years, only to realize that the child isn’t his. No one, not even someone high on the pedestal like Zachary, is an exception. With that in mind, Chris knows it’s not too much to do anything.”
Charlotte was extremely clear about the situation.
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1566
Made of Stone
“What should we do?” Lupine fretted anxiously, “Let’s reach out to the media and get this under control for now.”
“That won’t help! Did you forget that the Gold family is in the media business?” Charlotte countered with a sneer. “How do you think they’ve managed to control the public discourse so easily?”
“Ah…” Lupine did not know what to reply to that.
“Even if we bribed the media to bring them over to our side, it would just be a waste of money. I don’t have the strength to fight them right now.”
“So, what should we do?” Lupine repeated her question helplessly.
She had always been able to solve Charlotte’s problems for her, but now, she had no idea how they would deal with this.
Charlotte had grown a lot during this period of time. Her wit and intelligence had sharpened exponentially. However, she was still no match for the Gold family.
After all, she was in this all alone.
“I don’t know what to do either,” Charlotte said, rubbing her temple in distress. “We’ll just wait and see.”
Lupine glanced at her in concern as she did not know how to comfort her, and neither did she know what exactly the latter was waiting for.
Right then, she could only offer Charlotte her company.
That night, Charlotte stood guard over Alpha in the hospital. From time to time, she would ask Bruce for updates on Robbie and Jamie.
Lupine tried to persuade her to take a rest, but Charlotte could not still her mind long enough to fall asleep.
In truth, she was exhausted, but she just could not bring herself to close her eyes and fall asleep.
It was the most uncomfortable feeling.
Finally, at four o’clock in the morning, Lupine fell asleep sprawled across a chair when she could not stay awake anymore.
Meanwhile, Charlotte stood by a window and gazed up at the moon. She called out silently in her heart, Zachary, where are you? Where exactly are you? I can’t bear this any longer. Please come back soon…
At that moment, in the backyard of a loft in Southridge, a herbal concoction was boiling away in a big black cauldron.
A petite-framed Francesco was performing acupuncture on Zachary next to the bubbling liquid.
For the past fortnight, she had been trying her best and calling on her entire lifetime’s worth of experience and expertise to save this man. Yet, he had not shown any response at all. However, he did not die either. It really was the strangest situation.
On that fateful day, Francesco was planning to attempt one last plan to revive Zachary. If this plan failed like all the others, she would surrender this job to Charlotte and wash her hands of Zachary.
Maybe he’s a living dead. Maybe he cannot be saved… How annoying! This is affecting my search for my precious… I don’t even how my precious is doing right now…
Francesco glanced at the photo on the table, which she had found at the Nacht residence. It was a photo of Zachary, Charlotte, and the six children taken in the forest during their pre-wedding shoot.
Francesco felt as if the two adults were distracting her from the kids. Hence, Zachary and Charlotte’s faces were veiled by leaves such that when one glanced at the photo, one would only see the children.
How adorable! Ah, I must stop being distracted. I’m trying to heal someone right now…
Francesco dragged her eyes away from the picture and returned her focus to the acupuncture she was performing on Zachary.
There were seventy-two needles sticking out of Zachary’s head at that moment. However, despite looking like a hedgehog, he still did not show any signs of responding to the treatment plan.
Francesco became impatient at his lack of reaction and threatened in an irritable tone, “Hey, Zachary, if you don’t give me a response right now, I’ll feed you to the dogs!”
However, the man lying on the bed remained motionless.
“You’re exactly like Danrique! Are you both made of stone or what?”
The look of disgust on Francesco’s face was even more potent than any herbal potion she could concoct.
“Just look at yourself! If you can’t recover, then just die quickly. You’re just wasting my time at this point… Frankly, I’m all right with taking my time to try different treatment plans on you, but you must understand that I’m really busy right now. I am searching for my babies! I haven’t seen them in so long. That idiot Danrique kept me locked up and stopped me from going out for so long! I had to beat up his men, destroy his car and escape through a window! Now, his men are searching for me. If they manage to find me, I’ll definitely have to fight that idiot again! Oh, and lately, there has been another gang searching for me. They must be your enemies. It pisses me off so much every time they shoot at me. If it weren’t because I had to take care of you, I would have killed all of them!”
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1567
Expensive
“This is all your fault, you know? When you finally wake up, you’d better pay me one billion for the treatment fees! All right, I’ve stuck the needles into all your acupuncture points now. You’d better show me some response now!” Francesco said, slapping Zachary’s cheeks in a not very gentle manner. Yet, Zachary remained motionless.
She sighed helplessly and turned around to pull a notebook out of a drawer. Then she flipped to an empty page and wrote: The fourteenth day of treatment. Owing three hundred seventy million in fees.
Then, she took Zachary’s hand, pressed his right thumb onto an ink pad, and stamped his thumbprint onto the treatment sheet she had just written up.
“There we go!” Francesco blew at the wet thumbprint and smiled in satisfaction. “If you live, you’ll have to pay me your treatment fees with interest, and if you die, I’ll take this bill to your wife and children! Although your wife is the aunt of my precious babies, my fees should still be paid. This is not personal, just business. You understand, right? Ah, forget it! It’s useless for me to talk to you. Looking at you, I highly doubt you’ll live much longer. I don’t want to waste any more time on you. Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you to the furthest mountains in Northridge and leave you there. Whether you live or die will be up to fate…”
One by one, Francesco started removing the acupuncture needles from Zachary. She fully intended to give up on him.
Suddenly, Zachary’s fingers twitched slightly.
Francesco immediately froze. Her eyes widened as she stared at him in astonishment. Did my eyes play a trick on me? Or maybe the wind blew a strand of hair into my eye and blurred my vision? Or perhaps I was hallucinating? This man has been lying here motionless for more than ten days, and now, suddenly…
Just as Francesco was speechlessly staring at him, Zachary moved his fingers a few more times.
This time Francesco was sure of what she had seen. He moved his fingers!
Francesco laughed ecstatically. “How wonderful that you are finally conscious! It seems my efforts weren’t in vain! It wasn’t a waste for me to read through those old books in your wife’s study!”
Following that, Francesco excitedly stuck all the needles back into Zachary. She wanted to continue with the current treatment plan since it was proven to work.
At that moment, over at Northridge, Beta and Gamma awoke from a nightmare.
The two of them subconsciously reached out to touch the pillow beside them before realizing Alpha was not there. Beta started crying immediately.
With teary eyes, Gamma consoled Beta, “Stop crying. What’s the point in crying? We should be trying our best to contact Daddy now and get him to beat up those bad guys to avenge Alpha!”
“But we’ve lost our phone! How can we contact Daddy?” Beta choked through her tears. “Mommy said that we can only reach Daddy’s number with that phone!”
“Wah! What should we do?”
“When Aunt Charlotte gets back, we’ll ask her to help us call Daddy…”
“But she’s so busy right now! She hasn’t even found Robbie and Jamie yet. I feel so frightened…”
“I miss Mommy so much! Why won’t she come home quickly? Wah…”
“I have an idea of how we can find Mommy…” Zero said casually as Beta cried next to her.
At that moment, the door swung open, and Morgan barged in. She immediately went to wrap her arms around Beta and Gamma. “What’s wrong? Did you girls have a nightmare? Don’t be scared. I’m here, okay?”
“Ms. Morgan, we’re very frightened…”
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you. You are all safe with me.” She tightened her arms around them and said, “Alpha’s condition has stabilized. She’ll be alright soon.”
“Ms. Morgan, we want Daddy and Mommy…”
“Your daddy has gone to Erihal. He has important things to do there. As for your mommy, well, we’re looking for her too.”
“Wah…”
However, Beta was inconsolable and continued crying helplessly. Gamma, on the other hand, merely kept silent and stared out of the window at Fifi, who was perched on a tree outside.
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1568
Impatience
“Okay, okay. Why don’t I sleep here with you guys tonight? Then, you’ll have nothing to be afraid of.”
Morgan held both Gamma and Beta in her arms, hoping to soothe their fears.
Beta’s tears and snot dampened the entire front of her shirt, but Morgan did not mind. She even reached out to wipe her nose with her bare hands.
“Don’t cry . Let me tell you girls a story…”
With that, Morgan began telling a bedtime story from memory. Not long after that, she herself began to nod off.
Beta, too, fell asleep along with her.
Gamma, however, could not fall asleep. She continued watching Fifi on her perch outside with big, tearful eyes. Then, she whispered desperately to herself, “Fifi, can you help me find Mommy?”
After getting injured in the fire, Fifi had been receiving treatments. Although its condition had greatly improved, it still could not fly very well. Hence, it spent most of its days resting on its perch.
Despite that, Fifi cocked its head as if it understood Gamma’s plea. It cooed twice and pecked its wings as if to tell Gamma that it was too injured to fly for the time being.
As Gamma looked at Fifi’s injured wings, she sighed hopelessly. Then, she, too, fell asleep.
It seems that my plan to find Mommy will have to be put on pause for now… I wonder where’s Aunt Charlotte. I miss her so much…
Over at the hospital, Charlotte did not sleep a wink at all that night.
When she saw Raina emerge from the ward, she quickly asked, “How’s the situation in there?”
“Everything is stable for now, but we will have to keep observing,” Raina replied in a tired voice. “The major injury is the wound on the back of her head. Some rust got into the wound. So, it got a little complicated.”
“Can it heal?” Charlotte asked anxiously. “Will there be any long-term effect?”
“I can’t tell for sure,” Raina said, sounding rather ashamed of her uncertainty. “I’ll have to observe it for a while first.”
Her reply made Charlotte’s heart even more uneasy.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Lindberg. The situation is entirely under control,” Raina quickly said reassuringly when she saw the frown on Charlotte’s face. “Go home and get some rest. You’ve been up all night. I’m sure there are plenty of things that need your attention back home.”
“Yes, Ms. Lindberg, you should go home,” Lupine echoed softly. “I have arranged for a few men to stand guard here. Everything will be fine.”
“Okay, then.” Charlotte nodded and turned to leave. Just as she had walked two steps away, she suddenly recalled something. She quickly pulled Raina aside and asked, “Are there any specialists in other hospitals that are able to treat this injury?”
“This type of injury is not uncommon. Specialists everywhere are able to treat it. The difference lies in their level of expertise…” Raina was a little puzzled by Charlotte’s question. “Ms. Lindberg, why are you asking me this? It’s better to leave Alpha with me. I’ll attend to her personally, and I can help protect her too.”
“I’m afraid you’ll be rather helpless soon,” Charlotte said with a frown.
“Huh?” Raina exclaimed in surprise. However, before she could ask any further, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and quickly picked up the call. “Mr. Nacht? Yes, but over here… Yes, I understand.”
After hanging up, Raina turned to Charlotte with a somewhat conflicted expression. “Mr. Nacht has asked me to go to Mr. Spencer immediately. He also asked me to put my task here in the hospital on hold. He says he has other more important tasks for me.”
“I knew it…”
At that moment, Bruce called and said, “Ms. Lindberg, I’ve just received news that…”
He paused for a moment before he continued in a rather guilty tone, “Mr. Nacht has ordered me to return immediately. He does not want me to handle the matters here anymore. I…”
“You go ahead,” Charlotte said simply. She had already expected this to happen. “If you find any clues, let me know. I’ll search for Jamie and Robbie myself.”
“But you don’t have enough men on your team. If we leave, what will you do?” Bruce fretted anxiously. “Why don’t we ignore his order? Raina and I are definitely on your side.”
“No,” Charlotte said immediately. “Recklessness will ruin everything! Do not say that!”
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1569
Slowly Devour
“Oh, so you’ve already thought this through?” Bruce seemed somewhat relieved to hear that from Charlotte. “Okay. I understand now.”
“Right now, he’s playing Mr. Nacht. The rest of you just need to stay focused on your own responsibilities,” said Charlotte, cryptically. “I’ll cue you in when the time is right.”
“Understood!” Bruce replied. “But do call on us anytime should things get too hot.”
“Got it. I’ll let you go,” replied Charlotte before she hung up. Then, she turned to regard Raina. “Did you get all that?”
“Yeah…” Raina nodded. “The hospital’s mine, so they’ll take good care of Ben and Alpha even if I’m no longer there. I’m just worried that…”
Whatever she wanted to say next need not be explicitly articulated. It was apparent to Charlotte that the medical staff would defer to representatives from the Nacht family if any of them came by.
“Hard to say for certain.” Charlotte was in the opinion that there was nothing Chris and Jesse wouldn’t do. “Do you have any other facilities to recommend?”
“H City’s top three hospitals are Kindness Hospital, Serene Hospital, and the other one belonging to the Gold family,” Raina said. “I can’t guarantee whether the doctors will be able to treat Alpha, but Ben’s condition will require Dr. Wright’s personal attention…”
“What shall we do then?” That got Lupine quite worked up.
After some thought, Raina said, “Just leave him over here. I’ll try to stall things for a couple of days to give Alpha time to stabilize post-surgery. Then we’ll see how to take it from there. Though I may be from the Nacht family, my hospital isn’t under their purview as there are other shareholders and government officials that we would need to answer to. In view of that, the Nacht family won’t likely attempt anything too crazy.”
“Good.” Charlotte nodded. “Stall a couple of days for Alpha’s condition to stabilize, and then have her sent home to recuperate. Hayley and Sam will still be around anyway.”
“That’ll work.” Raina nodded profusely. “They are safe with me. At the very least, they haven’t proven themselves to be that brazen, to date. If nothing else, Alpha is Mr. Lindberg’s kid, after all.”
“True that.” Charlotte sighed. “But we should still leave a few people here to keep watch.”
Then, she patted Raina on the shoulder. “I’ll see to these arrangements myself. You should get back to it.”
“Okay.” Raina removed her mask and gloves. “As Bruce put it, Ms. Lindberg, the two of us have absolute faith in you. Whenever you are in need, just say the word!”
“Thank you!” That made Charlotte feel warm and fuzzy inside. “Now hurry along.”
Raina went off quickly.
While Lupine watched her leave, she could not help but ask, “I’m worried, Ms. Lindberg. Even though they won’t dare to lay a finger on Alpha, Ben’s from the Nacht family. Wouldn’t it make things too easy for that imposter if he wants to get rid of him?”
“When the time comes, we’ll take Ben with us to Northridge.” Charlotte was absolutely decisive. “Ben’s currently in a coma and isn’t going to be a problem for them, so I expect that they aren’t going to bother with him since they presently have more important things to worry about. Besides, we still have Bruce and Gordon we can count on.”
“You’re right about that…” Lupine let out a brief sigh of relief. “I also saw a few of Bruce’s guys with Ben just now, and they’re all people who Bruce trusts.”
“Yes.” Charlotte nodded. “But still, we should station some of our own at the hospital, just in case. Gordon’s got two, but we ought to add a couple more. Go look into it.”
“Understood.”
Lupine and Charlotte set off for Northridge once everything was settled.
En route, the manpower issue got Lupine quite concerned. “Bruce and Raina are currently unavailable to us. Out of those eighteen people we have, four will be posted at the hospital. Another four will be out looking for Mr. Nacht with Gordon, and the remaining eight are back home with Morgan. Should anything else happen, we’ll find ourselves short-handed.”
“This is exactly what wily old fox had in mind when he got Chris to send Bruce and Raina away. By preventing them from helping me, he intends to leave me helpless to react, and facilitate his own efforts to slowly devour the Nacht family’s wealth…” Charlotte seethed between gnashed teeth.
Mistaking a Magnate for a Male Escort Chapter 1570
Thoroughly Incorrigible
“This is truly despicable,” Lupine cussed. “What should we do next?”
“I…” Charlotte was about to speak when a dozen messages came through on her phone. When she checked, she found that they were all links to news articles sent by Lucy.
Reports of the three kids not being Zachary’s biological children were spreading like wildfire. Assuming Zachary’s identity, Chris held a press conference in which he vehemently leveled Charlotte with various accusations and actively portrayed her as some reprehensible monster! Charlotte was shocked to say the least.
He even went as far as to confirm all the rumors about Charlotte’s plots to kill her own husband and scheme after the Nacht Group’s wealth.
Public opinion was now stacked against Charlotte, and even the children were not spared!
Negative coverage of Charlotte was all over the internet, and some even went as far as to intentionally dig up dirt on her father and other relatives to besmirch them.
In no time at all, the name “Charlotte Lindberg” became synonymous with “vicious woman.”
Both the internet and major media outlets all derided her as the new era’s she-devil. One of the titles read: Unable to value a prize catch like Zachary, she had to climb the ladder by hook or by crook. The woman is ruthlessly ambitious and completely unconscionable!
Charlotte was shaking all over when she gripped the phone. Although all of this was to be expected, she could not stomach the awful language that was used by many netizens to denigrate her family and even her own children.
“This is too much!” Just listening to the things said on the news channel was enough to make Lupine livid. “Damn that son of a gun, Chris! I wish that I could shoot him myself!”
“His wretched life isn’t worth anything, but we still need him alive to lure out Jesse,” Charlotte sneered under gritted teeth. “Rest assured that no good would come to him!”
“Ooh, this is so maddening!” Lupine thumped her fists against the steering wheel.
Charlotte closed all those tabs and then exited the browser. Afterward, she looked calmly to the outside of the windows and exhaled, “Thankfully, Robbie, Jamie, and Ellie don’t have to go to school now, and won’t find out what’s happening out there.”
To that point, Lupine dared not continue that conversation. Without news of Robbie and Jamie currently, their fates right then were the most important question…
Toot, toot—
At that moment, Lupine’s phone suddenly rang, and she hurriedly answered, “Hello, Morgan!”
“Have you all ascended the mountain? Be careful out there.”
“Why? What’s up?”
“I don’t know which dastardly thing leaked our address in Northridge and the place is now swarming with reporters. I’ve just chased some of them off but a couple of daredevils skirted around the side of the ridge to snoop on us. Urgh, it’s simply infuriating!”
That jolted Lupine into silence as she regarded Charlotte in shock.
Charlotte furrowed as she looked and met the former’s eyes. Indeed, there was some media convoy driving off the mountain and were variously coming their way.
“Damn it. This must be the doing of Chris and the others.” Lupine was incensed. “Shameless. Thoroughly incorrigible. First, they kidnapped the children, then they lured the reporters to our home…”
“Jesse’s methods are a real eye-opener.” Charlotte’s eyes narrowed threateningly. “All’s fair in competition for business, but those who would stoop as low as he does are a rare breed!”
“Those cars are almost upon us. What should we do?” Lupine looked to Charlotte. “Should we try to avoid them?”
“Step on it. We’ll go straight at them!” Charlotte commanded.
“Roger that. I’m on it!”
Lupine immediately hit the accelerator and sent the car hurtling directly toward the media vehicles coming their way from the opposite direction.
Though this stretch of mountainous road was double-laned, there were many narrow and sharp turns that made it extremely dangerous to navigate.
The cars across from them honked fervently and slowed down with urgency when Lupine’s car barrelled toward them without any inclination of slowing down.
That prompted those cars to brake abruptly, causing those behind to crash into a pile.
Before they knew it, Lupine’s car had swept past them like the wind.