Ch. 316..320: The Adorable Twins and Their CEO Daddy Chapter 316-320
Chapter 316
Damn it! The monitor had been discovered!
What should she do?
Cold sweat beaded on Erica’s forehead. She racked her brain for a solution, but unfortunately for her she was not clever enough.
Corbin reached out to take off the monitor.
Erica did the only thing she could think of. She slapped him and shouted, “You creep!”
Corbin was stunned.
Erica seized she opportunity to tear the monitor from under her collar and place it in her mouth.
Then she swallowed it.
Corbin put his hand over his cheek. He couldn’t believe what Erica had done. For a moment, he couldn’t even speak.
“Maurice, listen closely. Return Ivy to me or you will never find out who is behind all this,” Erica shouted.
She was confident now that she thought she had something Maurice would be willing to negotiate for.
Maurice glared at her and said coldly, “I don’t need you to tell me anything. I only need to arrange for an operation. Once the device is removed from your stomach, the data can be restored. That data is more reliable than anything you could tell me.”
Erica felt a cold fear start to spread through her body.
Her face turned pale as she imagined lying on the cold operating table as a scalpel sliced her stomach open.
“You… you can’t do that. That’s illegal. I will call the police. I swear I will.”
Erica deserved this. Eliana felt glad when she saw the terror on Erica’s face.
Although the situation was Erica’s fault, Eliana could not bear to let Ivy get hurt. She was just a little girl.
Ivy was innocent.
On top of that, Ivy was friends with her twins.
“Maurice… Let Ivy go. Don’t threaten a mother with the safety of her child,” Eliana said.
Eliana understood that, for a mother, seeing her child in danger was the worst thing in the world.
“Eliana, is this how you think of me? Do you really think I would stoop so low as to kidnap a child?”
Maurice pressed his thin lips together. A dark cloud seemed to radiate off of him.
What was he saying?
He hadn’t kidnapped Ivy?
Eliana realized that the only reason she had to believe Maurice kidnapped Asher and Ivy was that Erica told her so.
But Maurice had never threatened Erica with Ivy.
Had she misjudged Maurice?
Guilt filled Eliana. “Maurice, I didn’t mean that,” she said quickly.
“I don’t care what you meant. You and I haven’t settled our own business yet. It’s not wise for you to meddle in other people’s business now,” Maurice snapped.
Eliana didn’t dare to say anything else.
“Maurice! Return my daughter to me. Mmm…”
In the middle of Erica’s tirade, Maurice cast a glance at his subordinates. They covered her mouth with a white cloth and led her away.
Corbin directed the others to leave as well. In an instant, Eliana and Maurice were alone in the hall.
The air was thick with tension.
Eliana swallowed and felt her nervousness increase.
“Tell me, Eliana, what else are you still hiding from me?”
Maurice approached Eliana slowly. He was determined that this time he would discover all of her secrets.
Why was he asking that?
Was it possible that… he still didn’t know about the two children?
That was a relief.
Eliana sighed and stammered, “I… I’m not hiding anything from you. You’re the one… who has secrets.”
“You still want to hide the truth from me, even now?”
Maurice forced Eliana to take a step back.
Eliana didn’t dare to look into Maurice’s eyes. She felt that if she did, he would see through her and her last secret would be revealed.
The two were in a stalemate, which was broken by an unexpected occurrence.
When Eliana exposed her located in the live streaming, a crowd of reporters rushed towards the scene.
Chapter 317
“Bad news, boss. The reporters are coming. We have to leave here as soon as possible.”
Corbin rushed over.
“Let’s go.” Maurice grabbed Eliana’s hand.
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Eliana refused.
How ridiculous! If Maurice went to her home now, he would find out about the children.
Maurice didn’t say anything more and just dragged Eliana towards the entrance.
Maurice’s silver Maybach was at the gate of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Maurice stuffed Eliana into the backseat of the car without difficulty.
Corbin got on the driver’s seat and immediately gunned the engine. He stepped on the gas and drove away as Maurice and Eliana buckled up in the backseat.
Eliana looked out the window and observed the surrounding scenery. She noticed that they weren’t headed for her home, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that Maurice hadn’t suspected about the children yet.
But Eliana didn’t want to be complacent. She took out her phone and secretly sent a message to Nana.
“Nana, I need you to do as I tell you the moment you read this message. Take the kids and go in hiding. Maurice is likely to come and take them away.”
Nana, who was resting at home, was confused after reading Eliana’s message.
Maurice wanted to take the children away?
Why would he do that?
If there was someone who should be wanting to take the kids away from Eliana, it was Preston. Why was Maurice suddenly in the picture?
While Nana tried to make sense of Eliana’s message, in the car, Maurice noticed what Eliana was doing.
Who was this woman texting?
Maurice narrowed his eyes, reached out, and attempted to grab Eliana’s phone.
Eliana saw him coming and immediately turned away. The two of them started arguing.
“Give me your phone.”
“No! I won’t give you my phone even if you kill me!”
They were like children fighting over a toy.
The next second, an unfortunate thing happened. Corbin made a sharp turn, and the force caught Eliana off guard. She lost her grip on her phone, and it went flying out the window.
“My phone!”
Eliana was so anxious that she forgot that the car was still running on the road. When she was about to open the door to pick up her phone, Maurice pulled her back.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he cursed in a low voice.
“Stop the car. I need to get my phone back. Please.”
Looking at her phone from which she was getting farther and farther away, Eliana felt a lump in her throat.
“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll throw you out of the car!”
With a gloomy face, Maurice forcefully fixed Eliana in the backseat.
“Maurice! You inconsiderate jerk!” Eliana finally lost her temper after restraining herself for so long. “If you like living a double life and playing role-playing games, that’s your business, but did you have to involve me? Did you think it was funny to deceive me for so long? And why do you think you can be angry with me now?”
Maurice was stunned and looked helpless.
It was indeed his fault that he had misled Eliana by donning two identities.
“Just calm down for a minute, will you? Yes, I did lie to you by pretending to be Preston, but I don’t have any secrets from you now. What about you? Do you have secrets that you’re hiding from me?”
Maurice looked at Eliana with burning eyes, trying to see through her.
Eliana averted her gaze and gritted her teeth.
She turned away and snapped, “Don’t change the subject.”
Maurice was a bit amused by her stubborn attitude.
“Who’s changing the subject now? Eliana, you better pray that you can keep your secrets from me for the rest of your life. Otherwise…”
Maurice didn’t finish his sentence, but Eliana understood what he meant.
After such a fierce quarrel, the two of them were a little out of breath. They turned away from each other and didn’t speak again for the rest of the trip.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Corbin didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
The two didn’t treat him as an outsider.
Soon, they arrived at the old house of the Moran family.
“Why did you take me here, Maurice?”
With an ominous premonition in her heart, Eliana was unwilling to get out of the car.
Maurice didn’t say anything. He just grabbed her hand and dragged her out.
“What are you doing? I said I wouldn’t go into your home.”
Something was wrong.
Maurice appeared stranger now.
Eliana suddenly felt like she was being hauled into a dangerous place, somewhere Maurice would turn into a beast and then tear her, his prey, apart.
“Welcome home, Mr. Moran. And Miss Pierce is here, too. I’ll clean up your room right away.”
When the maids saw that Maurice came in with Eliana, they hurried to clean up rooms, but Maurice stopped them.
“No need.”
Maurice dragged Eliana all the way to the basement of the old house.
“Where on earth are you taking me? Maurice, stop!”
Eliana struggled hard, but she couldn’t break free from Maurice at all. She could only watch as he took her downstairs.
After walking down a dark staircase, Maurice stopped by a red door.
Chapter 318
Maurice opened the door with excessive force, clearly displeased with the recent development.
The hinges creaked loudly and eerily, which felt like a terrifying scene from a horror movie. Eliana was so frightened that she closed her eyes immediately.
Maurice snapped, “Look inside.”
“No!” Eliana cried out and shook her head in fear.
“If you don’t open your eyes this instant, I’ll leave you here alone for the rest of your life.”
“Oh my goodness! Please don’t!”
A wise person always knew when it was best to concede. Gulping anxiously, Eliana slowly opened her eyes.
The view that greeted her was not as gloomy and horrible as she had imagined. Instead, it looked like a comfortable small room.
Located at the center was a beige bed, surrounded by a small sofa, a TV set, and an elegant cashmere carpet.
There was everything but a window.
Eliana was stunned. Pointing at the room in confusion, she asked, “Maurice, what is all this for?”
“You really can’t tell? I’m going to lock you up inside.”
A terrified look appeared on Eliana’s face. “But why? What have I done?”
“You have committed terrible mistakes. And you haven’t been completely honest with me as of late. Shouldn’t you reflect on yourself?” Maurice said reproachfully.
“You! How dare you!”
Eliana trembled in anger, gritting her teeth. Her thoughts were so clouded with rage that she couldn’t speak any further.
Before she could refuse and fight back, Maurice pushed her into the room and slammed the door shut.
As she was trapped inside with no certainty of ever being released, Eliana’s eyes widened in horror. She frantically twisted the doorknob, but the door wouldn’t budge.
Desperate to get out, she pounded on the door with both fists.
“Maurice, you bastard! Release me!”
Ignoring Eliana’s fits of rage, Maurice calmly turned around and went upstairs.
When he stepped outside of the Moran family mansion, Corbin stood waiting at the gate. Realizing that Maurice was alone, he became confused.
“What’s going on, boss? Where’s Eliana?”
“She stays here for the time being. This will teach her a lesson.”
Maurice’s face was dark and brooding.
“Boss, did you really lock Eliana up?” Corbin asked in bewilderment.
Was the boss slowly turning evil?
Did he imprison Eliana in a cold and dreary dungeon to be his sex slave?
Maurice glanced at Corbin and knew his subordinate was thinking about something erotic and violent.
He approached Corbin and jabbed a finger at his face. “You idiot! It’s for her own good. All hell has broken loose outside. It’s up to me to weather the storm. I must first deal with the public opinion and fix the situation. By keeping Eliana isolated, I could shield her from all the nasty rumors and harassment. Since she has lost her phone, she won’t be able to see the news online and overthink. It may be cruel to lock her up, but I will do whatever it takes to protect her.”
After being enlightened by his boss, Corbin breathed a sigh of relief and even felt a little embarrassed.
Maurice glanced at him sideways and ordered, “Send someone to Eliana’s home to conduct an investigation. I suspect that the little twins are not Nana’s kids at all. It might be difficult to prove my theory, but I think Eliana is probably the children’s mother.”
“What?” Corbin’s eyes widened in shock. “Eliana is their mother? But that’s impossible!”
“Cut the crap and do as I say.”
“Right away, boss. I’ll call some of our private detectives to carry out this task.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Corbin turned around to leave.
“Hold on. Come back here.” Maurice rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply. “Investigate more carefully this time. I don’t know what was wrong with your brain that you made this crucial mistake. How could you mislead me to think that the children’s mother was Nana for such a long time?”
If Corbin hadn’t confidently reassured him that the children were Nana’s, he might have figured out the truth already. It was such a costly blunder.
Knowing that he was in the wrong, Corbin lowered his head and nodded solemnly. “Don’t worry, boss. I won’t make any mistakes this time.”
The moment he knew that Nana was not the children’s mother, a bubble of hope and happiness swelled in his chest.
So Nana wasn’t Jonathan’s lover? It was merely a coincidence?
The corners of Corbin’s mouth kept rising. But he was afraid that Maurice would question his suddenly pleasant mood, so he quickly ran away.
Seeing Corbin sprint away as fast as he could made Maurice shake his head. His subordinate fled the scene faster than a rabbit. The young CEO suddenly regretted giving Corbin a salary raise.
Meanwhile, Eliana was all alone inside the basement room. She was so anxious that she couldn’t keep still and began pacing around, desperate to break free from captivity.
“Help me! Can anyone hear me? Unlock the door and let me out!”
Eliana shouted with all her might until her voice became hoarse. But there was still no answer. It seemed that no one was coming to save her.
Damn it! How could Maurice do this to me?
Now that she couldn’t go out and her phone was missing, there was no way she could contact Nana and the kids to see how they were doing.
This helpless feeling was slowly driving her insane.
Several minutes later, Eliana became tired of shouting and walking. Physically and mentally exhausted, she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep on the bed.
It was a restless slumber. Tossing and turning in her sleep, she found herself in a dream.
In a daze, Eliana was finally able to return home. She rushed to her two children and hugged them tightly, crying with joy.
Suddenly, a pair of big hands appeared and forcefully grabbed Aileen and Adrian away from her arms.
When Eliana turned her head to see who had taken her children, she was met with a chilling sight. Maurice towered over her with a menacing grin, slowly enveloping her in a world of darkness and misery.
Chapter 319
“Don’t! Give my child back to me!”
Eliana awoke in terror, her entire face covered in cold sweats.
Her nightmare directly reflected her deepest fear, leaving her dazed for a long time after she woke up from the dream.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, followed by the sound of the door opening.
Eliana’s eyes lit up. Someone was coming!
Several maids came in with a lot of things, including a quilt and food. One of the maids was even carrying a vase filled with fresh lilies.
“What are you doing?” Eliana asked confusedly.
The elder maid replied, “These are all ordered by Mr. Moran. He said that it is cold here in the basement and asked us to bring one more quilt for you. The food was also prepared by the chef. The flowers…”
“Enough! Stop! I don’t want to stay here forever! What does he mean?” Eliana shouted in rage.
“He means he can give you everything you want, except for leaving the Moran family.”
“I have to leave! Maurice is such a bastard. I’m not going to let him lock me up like this!”
Eliana jumped out of bed, dashed out the door, and went upstairs.
When she reached the top of the stairs, out of breath, she noticed the door that was shut tightly. Her eyes instantly lit up with a glint of hope.
Freedom was right ahead!
She rushed over excitedly and began twisting the doorknob.
She tried many times to twist the knob.
But she still failed to open the door.
Maurice had locked the door.
“Did you get enough exercise today? Do you want to go for a run before you eat? Of course, you can take a shower first.”
Eliana shivered in fear as she heard a faint voice from behind her.
She turned around to see the maid standing behind her, smiling.
No wonder no one stopped her when she ran out of the room just now.
They already knew that she wouldn’t be able to go out.
“Miss Pierce, Mr. Moran said that you can go anywhere you want in this house, but you can’t go out or surf the internet,” the maid said calmly.
Eliana got so furious and yelled, “Tell me, where is Maurice? I want to see him now!”
“I’m sorry, Miss Pierce, but he is very busy at the moment. He returned from abroad because of you, and he has a lot of things to deal with. He asked me to tell you to stay here for the time being and not to go out.”
The maid even imitated Maurice’s tone while conveying his words in detail.
Eliana sneered. “Does Maurice think I can’t do anything against him? From now on, I won’t eat anything! I… I’ll go on a hunger strike!”
“Mr. Moran also said that if you dare to go on hunger strike and eat less, he will lock you up for one more day until you listen to him,” the maid countered.
Maurice was one step ahead!
Eliana was now helpless. “I’ll… eat the food!” she said through gritted teeth.
The maid couldn’t help but snicker when she turned around.
Mr. Moran seemed to know Miss Pierce quite well. He could even predict her reaction.
Nicole burst out laughing while watching the surveillance video of Eliana’s live streaming.
She knew that Eliana would not give up easily.
Even if she didn’t have Maurice’s help, she would still protect herself and those around her with all her might.
Esteban had also witnessed Eliana’s brilliant counterattack, and his opinion of her had shifted dramatically.
“Miss Pierce looks so weak, but she is very tough and determined. She will risk everything to fight for something very significant to her. She is really brave.”
Brave…
Esteban’s words tugged at Nicole’s heartstrings, and the smile on her face faded.
If she had been as brave as Eliana, would the ending of her and Wyatt’s story have been different?
Chapter 320
Esteban’s phone rang, jerking Nicole out of her daze. Esteban looked at his phone and found that the caller was Willard, the rich man who had brought Eliana trouble recently.
But why was that pervert calling him?
It was with a deep frown that Esteban answered the phone. “Mr. Hancock, what’s the matter?”
“Esteban, I wish to make an appointment with Miss Swift alone. Will she be able to accommodate me in her schedule?”
Esteban’s face soured. He turned on the speaker and shifted the phone close to Nicole so that she could hear the conversation, too.
“But Mr. Hancock, why do you want to meet Nicole?”
“Last time, there was a misunderstanding between Miss Swift and I. I just want to meet her so that I can clear the air with her. You know how small the entertainment circle is, right? We might bump into each other in the future soon.”
Bullshit. As if that’s all this old lecher wants. Nicole thought to herself, rolling her eyes.
She was about to ask Esteban to turn Willard down, but the latter’s next words made her change her mind.
“If Miss Swift can make some time to have dinner with me, I will consider casting her as the female lead in Dewitt Lamont’s new movie, Starlight.”
Nicole’s eyes narrowed shrewdly when she heard this.
With an imperceptible nod of her head, she signaled Esteban to agree to Willard’s proposal.
Esteban knew that he had no chance of dissuading Nicole, so he gritted his teeth and replied, “That can be arranged. Text me the time and place, and I’ll adjust Nicole’s schedule accordingly.”
“You are a smart man. Don’t worry. Both you and Miss Swift will benefit from this in the future. Ha-ha…”
With Willard’s cunning laughter still ringing from the other end of the line, Esteban hung up the phone.
“God, why did you agree to meet that pervert? You know what he wants, right?”
Nicole shrugged her shoulders indifferently. “Of course.”
“Then why did you agree to go?” Esteban asked anxiously. “Reputation is an important thing for an actress. If you’re involved in a scandal with a dirty man like Willard, you will be doomed. Besides, if Cheryl finds out that you stole her sugar daddy under her nose, do you think she’ll sit still and do nothing?”
Nicole listened to Esteban’s sincere advice with a faint smile on her face. There was a cold glint in her eyes as she said, “Don’t worry. I’m not that stupid. Willard has been getting on my nerves for a long time. Since he dares to go this far, I’ll teach him a lesson once and for all.”
“Nicole, please don’t cause any trouble.”
Esteban rubbed his forehead helplessly. What could he do in this situation? He could only blame himself for spoiling Nicole.
In the twinkling of an eye, the day of the dinner with Willard arrived.
Willard had invited Nicole to dine with him at a high-class private restaurant, where he arrived a few minutes earlier than the appointed time and waited diligently at the door.
After a while, a white van rolled to a stop at the entrance, and the door of the van slid open. Wearing a stunning low-cut dress and high-heeled shoes, Nicole stepped out of the van, twisting her hips expertly.
When Willard saw how sexy and coquettish Nicole looked in this outfit, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. This was beyond his expectations. With a wide smile, he excitedly walked up to her.
“Miss Swift, it’s my honor to have dinner with you today,” he said, reaching out to touch the small of Nicole’s back.
“I’m flattered, Mr. Hancock.” Nicole turned slightly, dodging Willard’s hand as if she hadn’t noticed it. “Let’s go inside.”
After saying that, she walked straight into the restaurant, leaving Willard behind.
Like a wild dog hooked on the smell of meat, Willard immediately followed her attentively.
Coincidentally, Wyatt happened to be at the same restaurant.
The Todd family had built their fortune in the food and catering industry, and this particular restaurant just so happened to be one of theirs. After the accident at Moonlight last time, Wyatt had become a lot more mature. This time, he had come to this restaurant in person to inspect and learn.
He was sitting in his seat and carefully leafing through the menu when he heard several waitresses whispering behind him. Among their whispers, one name clearly jumped out to him—Willard.
Willard Hancock? Isn’t that the guy who was trending on the hot search list because he was allegedly keeping Eliana as his mistress?
Wyatt continued to look at the menu, but pricked up his ears to listen to what the waitresses were talking about.
“Did you watch the live streaming that day? It seems that whole mistress news was fake!”
“I did. It turns out that the woman in the report wasn’t his mistress at all. She was framed.”
“Then who do you think is Willard’s mistress?”
The waitresses enthusiastically gossiped about who Willard’s real mistress could be.
Unexpectedly, the protagonist of their discussion, Willard himself, walked into the restaurant at that time with Nicole. The two of them sat at a table not far away from Wyatt.