LM
CHAPTERS 973 - 978
973
“Janell Joy, what’s wrong?” Serene Silas’ worried voice came from the phone.
As Janell Joy Carter had turned on the speaker function on her phone, Serene’s voice was particularly loud in the quiet room.
After asking this, Serene waited for a while but she did not get any response from Janell Joy so she asked again, “Janell Joy, are you there?”
Janell Joy was afraid, so afraid that her fingers that were holding the phone were trembling uncontrollably. She felt like her world was crumbling around her.
But she knew that she couldn’t be frightened!
She kept telling herself that she mustn’t be afraid. How could she be distracted by fear? Especially now, when she didn’t even know what Brother Lucas's actual condition was, she had to stay calm and brave
At this critical moment, her wide range of experience, and her courage could definitely help her. With some self control, Janell Joy gradually calmed down.
She clenched her fist and bit her lips forcefully. When she started to speak again, her voice was calm, “Sister Serene, where are you now?”
Janell Joy asked Serene in a soft and crisp voice. Her tone was very comforting to the ear. Anyone who was listening to her would definitely want to treat her well, because of her gentle and delicate tone of voice.
“I am at home.” Unconsciously, Serene had used the word ‘home’. Perhaps in her opinion, no matter where she was, as long as she was with Jackie Leves, that place would be her home.
At home? Was Serene really at home? Or was she lying to Janell Joy like Jason Lesley did?
Janell Joy was not sure, so she continued to ask, “Sister Serene, have you received any news about Brother Lucas?”
As she was asking Serene this, Janell Joy listened attentively and waited for her reply.
Janell Joy was not speaking to Serene in person, so she wouldn’t be able to judge from Seren’s facial expression if whatever she said was the truth. Hence, she could only deduce from Serene’s tone of voice, if Serene actually did know about Brother Lucas's helicopter incident.
Serene’s gentle voice reached Janell Joy’s ears again. “Not long ago, I saw the news and found out that Nathaniel had gone to the disaster area. What’s wrong? Didn’t you watch the news?"
Serene seemed to be speaking very naturally. It didn’t seem like she was lying, and it didn’t seem like she was pretending..
Did she really not know what had happened to Brother Lucas?
Just as Janell Joy was caught in a dilemma, Serene’s pleasant voice came again. “Janell Joy, I have a call coming in. Let me pick that up first, okay?”
Another call?
Janell Joy trembled, and she hurriedly asked, “Sister Serene, who is it?”
Just when Janell Joy was asking this question, Serene, who was on the other end of the phone, had already hung up the phone. Serene must have not heard her question at all. Could it be a call from the North Palace?
Janell Joy felt torn. She hoped that it was a call from the North Palace, but at the same time, she hoped that it was not.
If it was a phone call from the North Palace, it could mean that Brother Lucas's condition was very serious. If it was not, then the situation might not be as serious as she had imagined
After waiting a while, Janell Joy dialed Serene’s number again. After the call was connected, an automated voice message came through the phone, indicating that the other party was in the middle of another call.
Janell Joy told herself to calm down. After a while, she dialed Serene’s number again.
This time it was finally connected, Serene, who was on the other side of the phone, remained silent for a few moments, Janell Joy then said carefully, “Sister Serene…”
In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to ask what she intended to say. Her heart was pounding rapidly, and she was so worried and afraid that it felt like a huge wave was roaring in her heart.
After a long pause, Serene’s sad voice came from the phone. “Janell Joy, Nathaniel was involved in an accident. The situation is a little serious, but it should not be life threatening.”
It should not be life-threatening.
No matter how she interpreted these words, she could still notice how Serene seemed to be hiding something.
Janell Joy knew that Serene was not a good liar. If she said that the situation was serious, it must be very serious. Although she said that it should not be life-threatening, it was very likely that things were not as she said.
“Janell Joy, don’t worry. Nathaniel is..”
Before Serene could finish. Janell Joy interrupted her sharply. “I know that he will be fine. He will be fine.”
Janell Joy was saying the words to Serene, but in fact, she was comforting herself. She wanted to make herself believe that Brother Lucas would be fine.
What was frightening to her, was not any physical pain, but a mental breakdown. She knew that she could never accept the reality if something had really happened to her Lucas.
Serene was a little worried. “Janell Joy…”
Janell Joy said, “Sister Serene, the North Palace called to inform you of this, that means that there must be something that they need you to handle. Can I ask you for your favor? Can you please bring me with you to see Brother Lucas?”
The news of Nathaniel’s accident had not been shared to the public. His men must have taken some prompt measures to prevent the news from leaking out. After all, the President, who had just taken office, was caught in an accident. The impact on the entire country would be unfathomable.
Until Brother Lucas's condition was certain, the people under his command would absolutely not let the news spread to the public
Serene did not answer immediately. She paused for a moment and then said, “Janell Joy, I’m sorry! I’m afraid that I can’t do that for you.”
Janell Joy felt a chill in her heart. At the same time, she knew that Brother Lucas's situation must be more serious than she had imagined. At this moment, she thought that she would panic and lose herself.
But her reaction towards Serene’s words was beyond her own expectation, she was surprisingly calm, and her voice did not change at all. “Sure, I understand.”
She knew in her heart that it was not that Serene was unwilling to help her. There must be something else that Serene could not say. After all, Janell Joy was not anyone important when it came to such official matters.
In the eyes of those from the government, not only did she have nothing to do with Nathaniel, she was not a citizen of Country A too. With that reason alone, they would monitor her closely because they would be worried that she might leak the news of the President’s accident to the public
Those people surely did not know what Nathaniel promised her. They did not know that he had agreed to come home and have dinner with her. And those people surely didn’t know that Nathaniel had said that he would marry her. He wanted to marry her so that she would take her rightful place as his wife, to stand by him as his wife.
Their relationship was not known by anyone else, so when this accident had happened to him, she couldn’t even be with him to take care of him.
The reality was as cruel as a sharp knife, repeatedly piercing through Janell Joy’s heart, making her heart seem like it was bleeding profusely.
However, no matter how cruel the reality was, and no matter how much pain she was in, she had to gnash her teeth and swallow the pain.
Since this accident had happened to Brother Lucas, no one in Country A could help her at all. She could only rely on herself to stay strong
“Janell Joy, I’m sorry! It’s not that I don’t want to, but because of his special identity, I really can’t do that!” Serene’s voice was full of guilt and self-blame.
“Sister Serene, go ahead then. I know what I should do.” Janell Joy smiled and ended the call with Serene.
974
Once she hung up the phone, Serene Silas turned her head to look at the man who was beside her and said “Jackie, are we being too cruel by doing this?”
“Shh!” Jackie Leves made a gesture of silence and mouthed to Serene, “Tricking them with their own game is the way to lure a snake out of its hole. It’s not that we don’t want the girl to know the truth, but the thing is, our enemy has placed too many spies around her. Once we tell her the truth, the enemy will immediately catch wind of it, then everything we have accomplished would have been in vain.”
Nathaniel Cooper had been protecting Janell Joy Carter all the time. He wanted to avoid her making any appearances before the public eye. He did not want anyone to know about their private relationship, so as to prevent those people from targeting her.
However, no matter how thorough his protection was, she had still been discovered by the enemies. They knew that there was a girl that Nathaniel cared deeply about.
It was obvious. They now knew how important she was in Nathaniel’s heart. Hence, how could such sly enemies give up such a perfect opportunity?
Looking at Serene’s furrowed brows and worried eyes, Jackie added, “We’ll just have to let the girl be distressed for a while. It’s an inevitable sacrifice we must make. Then, they will be able to live freely in the future.”
“But..” Serene was still a little worried.
Because she had experienced the pain of losing her beloved man, she could understand the pain that Janell Joy was experiencing right now.
“It’s alright Serene! Just do as say” Jackie said reassuringly as he rubbed her head. “Don’t forget that your man is by your side. He will deal with everything for you. Now, go to sleep.”
With him by her side, there were a lot of things that she didn’t have to worry about. He would settle them well, but Serene was still worried about Janell Joy. “Jackie…”
“Why won’t you listen to me?” Jackie glanced at her and saw that she still wanted to discuss the issue, so he simply lowered his head and kissed her supple lips, instantly sealing her mouth.
Perhaps men would always use a kiss to seal their beloved woman’s lips shut, whenever the women were saying words they did not want to hear.
All because a kiss could distract them from their initial worries. Except for accepting the kiss and kissing him back, they would not be able to think of anything else. This time, Jackie kissed Serene so passionately that they ended up in bed. They even moved on to more intimate forms of physical contact.
Serene was so tired after the tryst that she was no longer in the mood to think about Janell Joy.
If it wasn’t because there were some important issues awaiting his action, Jackie would not stop making love to her. Throughout their relationship, Jackie could make love to her multiple times in a night. Just doing it once was definitely not his style.
Looking at the woman in his arms, who was so tired and had fallen asleep, Jackie’s gaze was soft and gentle. He lowered his head and kissed her forehead as he whispered to her, “Goodnight!”
“Mm.” Even in her dreams, Serene could hear his voice and replied to him with a soft tone.
“Silly woman, you are so cute even when you’re asleep.” He really wanted to pounce on her and make love to her again, but there was no time for him to mess around tonight. He gently pushed Serene out of his embrace, but as he pushed her, she was so frightened that her body trembled.
She hugged him tightly and said in a low voice, “Jackie, don’t leave me!”
She was still afraid!
She was afraid that he would leave her.
She was afraid that history would repeat itself.
For the past few nights, she had been talking in her dreams. She would always wake up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. Those dreams had not been disturbing her that frequently in recent times, but on that day, it started again She must have thought of what had happened more than a year ago because of what had happened to Janell Joy earlier that night, which was why she had the nightmare again.
“Serene, I’m here.” Jackie took her back into his arms again, patted her back gently, and comforted her patiently. It was not until she had really fallen asleep that he gently got out of the bed.
After getting out of the bed, Jackie picked up a device and scanned every corner of the house to make sure that there were no tapping devices and surveillance camera in the house. Then he took out a specially made phone and dialed an unfamiliar phone number.
The call to the unfamiliar number connected, but there was a familiar voice coming from the phone, “How’s the preparation going on your side?”
Jackie said, “Everything is ready according to the initial plan.”
Nathaniel Cooper’s low and pleasant voice spoke again. “Okay, ask your men to get ready. The mastermind will show himself anytime soon.”
Jackie nodded and gnashed his teeth, saying, “When we catch him, leave him to me. I will make his life difficult but I promise that I won’t kill it.”
Nathaniel didn’t say anything else. Jackie added, “Your woman called today. It sounds like she is much stronger than I thought. At least, she sounded very calm and rational when she was on the phone.”
Nathaniel said, “Mm.”
Nathaniel snorted again. He didn’t say much, because he knew that his Janell was a strong woman. Of course, the most important thing was that he had already sent someone to protect her.
Jackie and Nathaniel had grown up together and they were very familiar with each other’s character and behavior. Since Nathaniel did not want to say much, Jackie did not mention Janell Joy anymore.
Both of them were silent for a while. Jackie asked again, Would the enemies find any flaw in our plan regarding the helicopter crash?”
Nathaniel sneered. “What do you think?”
In order to trick the enemy and perform this act, he couldn’t return to Janell Joy to have the dinner he promised her. She had been longing for his return, and now he had even made her worry about him.
According to Nathaniel’s personality, since he had to pay such a high price for it, could he bear for his subordinates to not carry out this plan smoothly?
There was no doubt on the answer-No!
How was it possible for Nathaniel, who was supposed to be in the helicopter crash, to be talking to Jackie on the phone?
Of course, the answer was already very obvious. Nathaniel was the President of the country. The vehicle that he would be using for his travels would be examined twice as many times than the average.
The purpose was to ensure his utmost safety It wouldn’t be easy for the enemy to tamper with his plane.
If the enemy could send their people to infiltrate the repair team, one or two people might be possible but they wouldn’t have the ability to replace the entire team. They could bribe one or two workers, but they couldn’t buy out all of the workers that were in charge of Nathaniel’s aircraft. Now, at the last minute, Nathaniel knew that someone had tampered the plane and wanted to have him killed. Therefore, he had made a last-minute decision and played a trick to mislead the enemy to think that he had gotten on the plane and had been involved in the plane crash. It was an illusion to paralyze the enemy.
Of course, their enemy was not stupid either. The mastermind that was hiding behind them was very cunning. It was not an easy task to convince him that Nathaniel was indeed in the plane when it crashed.
Nathaniel had arranged for the pilot to crash the plane in a canyon where it would not be possible for the enemies to find any bodies. This way, there would be no corpse as evidence to ascertain Nathaniel’s death. The enemy would not be able to know for sure.
Nathaniel had made thorough calculations for the plan, but he had not considered Blake White, who was by Janell Joy’s side all this while.
975
Nathaniel Cooper had asked someone to stage the helicopter crash and to restrict the news immediately. All the procedures were strictly confidential, and they were the exact procedures that would be carried out if the crash had really happened.
Their enemies were extremely cunning. It would not be easy to deceive them, so their people did not dare to act negligently. Nathaniel thought that in country A, only the enemy’s intelligence would be on a par with the national security intelligence.
He had never thought the intelligence networks of the White family could be that powerful too. In such a short period of time, Blake White actually received news that the helicopter had crashed on its way back from the disaster area.
This was indeed out of Nathaniel’s expectations.
Edwin Carter saved the White family’s lives and they were loyal to Janell Joy Carter. When they knew about the news of the crash, they would undoubtedly report the situation to Janell Joy immediately.
They had executed all of these so quickly that Nathaniel hadn’t even thought of a way to deal with it, but Janell Joy had already called Serene Silas on the phone.
Janell Joy was constantly under the watch of many people so Nathaniel had no way to secretly inform her the truth. He wanted to tell her that the accident did not actually happen and that he was safe, but he could not find a way to do it discreetly. Because of that, he had to ask Serene to put on an act for him so that Janell Joy would believe it.
Janell Joy was one of the surprises in Nathaniel’s perfect plan… In order not to make her worry and feel saddened, he almost ruined his own plan.
Fortunately, he didn’t let his emotions take over his decisions. He would not let such a perfect opportunity go to waste.
Janell Joy, who didn’t know anything, was still working hard, racking her brain and trying to find a way to get to Nathaniel’s side no matter what. To her, no matter what Nathaniel’s injury was, if she didn’t confirm it with her own eyes, she would still be skeptical towards the information that was given to her.
Blake looked at her deeply furrowed brows and apologized, “Miss, the North Palace are keeping all information blocked. At present, we can’t get any more details about Mr President’s condition.”
The North Palace had completely blocked the news that even Blake’s people couldn’t get any information. To Janell Joy, this proved that the seriousness of the incident today was beyond their imagination.
The casualties were still unclear!
As she thought about it, Janell Joy’s heart trembled again. She was trembling so much that she almost could no longer control her own emotions.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails sank deeply into her palm, piercing through her flesh and bright red blood was oozing out. She wanted to make herself feel the pain, so that she could calm down and clear her mind.
“Miss…” Seeing that her face was getting paler, Blake was very worried, but he didn’t know what to say to comfort her. He had been by her side for three months, so he could understand her quite well, especially her feelings for Nathaniel.
As long as she still wasn’t sure if Nathaniel was alive or dead, she would definitely feel much panic. However, she was trying her best to endure the pain and keep her grief in.
“You can leave now,” she said. Since Blake couldn’t find out any more information, it was useless for Blake to stay here any longer. Janell Joy waved her hand and motioned for him to return to his room.
“Miss, let me accompany you for a while, Blake was worried about her. He was afraid that as soon as he left, she would do something to hurt herself.
“There’s no need,” Janell Joy said with a soft voice.
“But..” Blake still wanted to say something, but when he met Janell Joy’s firm eyes, he immediately closed his mouth obediently
No matter what, she was still his master. No matter how worried he was for her, he still couldn’t disobey Janell Joy’s direct orders. So he obediently went back to his room downstairs.
As soon as Blake left, the silence in the room was absolute.
Even though the doors and windows were closed and the sound proofing was excellent, Janell Joy could still hear the whistling sound of the blizzard coming from outside.
The sound of the blizzard was like the screams of ghosts, which made her heart feel cold. The weather was very unpleasant. Janell Joy bit her lip, walked to the window, and looked out of the window
Through the window, Janell Joy could see that all the lights in the houses were lit up and colorful lights had illuminated the entire city. It was like a city that never slept. At the same time, it had also made this snow-covered city look like a fairyland.
The white snow made the city look much more beautiful, but it was also as cold as a dead city, a dead city without any warmth, a dead city without any emotion.
If it weren’t because Brother Lucas was here, she thought that in this life, she would only stay in this city for a few days at most, she would never choose to stay here for a long period of time.
In a trance, a figure had appeared outside of the window. It was a huge figure, a figure that Janell Joy was very familiar with.
Looking at the figure, Janell Joy immediately stretched out her hand to grab it by instinct. However, not only did she not catch the figure, but her hand also slammed onto the transparent glass.
The glass was hard and solid. When Janell Joy’s hand hit it, there was a loud noise. She felt so much pain that all of her fingers felt like they were smashed.
However, Janell Joy did not care about the pain on her fingers. Once again, she reached out to catch her Brother Lucas, and her hand slammed into the thick and hard glass once again.
Again and again, her hands were swollen due to the collision, but she didn’t stop because the person that she saw was her Brother Lucas and it was the person that she would never give up on.
“Brother Lucas, it’s me! It’s me! I’m Janell! Can’t you see me?” She waved to the huge figure who was standing outside of the window, hoping that he could hear her and let her touch him.
But she didn’t know what to do. The figure that she once saw clearly had suddenly become blurred and it was gradually disappearing. In the end, she couldn’t see him anymore.
“Brother Lucas, you can’t go!” Janell Joy shouted his name with an anxious voice, and then hit the glass hard, as if she wanted to break the glass window to grab Brother Lucas who was about to disappear.
But no one answered her…
The pain in her hand made her know that it was not her Brother Lucas, but only her hallucination.
“Brother Lucas… ” When she called out to Nathaniel again, Janell Joy raised her hand to wipe her teary eyes. When the back of her hand touched the warm tears, she realized she was already crying.
It turned out that she was not as strong as she had imagined. She was a timid girl.
When she thought that Brother Lucas might be lying on the operating table in the hospital at this time, she was so frightened that her whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
She cried and said, “Brother Lucas, you haven’t fulfilled your promises. So you will be fine, right?”
“Brother Lucas...” She shouted his name, wiped her tears and smiled. “You told me that you won’t abandon me anymore.”
“Brother Lucas, you told me that you’re going to marry me, and you said that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with me… You’ve been away from me for more than ten years. Now that I’ve finally found you and I haven’t fully enjoyed your warmth, how can you abandon me again?”
976
More than a decade!
How long was that?
More than a decade!
What did that mean?
Janell Joy Carter could not think too much about this.
She only knew that when she was still a four-year-old baby girl, there was a boy who was pampering and protecting her. In her heart, he was her hero.
For more than ten years, what she had yearned for most, was to grow up as soon as possible. Once she had grown up and become capable, she would go and find the hero who should have been hers but had left.
Before coming to Country A, she only had a necklace with a special totem that he had given her. It had taken her nearly three years to find any information on the totem, and she had put in a lot of effort to discover clues to lead her to him.
Now that she had finally found him, how could she let him abandon her again so easily? The both of them hadn’t spent enough quality time with each other.
No!
Absolutely not!
She would never let him abandon her!
She had to try all means, she must bring him back! Janell Joy bit her lip hard and forced herself to calm down again.
Since she could no longer get any information from the North Palace, she had to think of another way. No matter what it would cost her, she had to be by Brother Lucas's side.
Ring, ring, ring
In the quiet night, the ear-piercing ringtone suddenly rang. Janell Joy was startled and immediately answered the phone.
“Hello?”
She hoped that the person who made this call was Brother Lucas, so her ‘hello’ was particularly soft, as if she was afraid that Brother Lucas would be frightened and would hang up the phone if she had spoken too loudly.
“Janell..”
A deep male voice came from the phone, low, pleasant and sexy, and it was Janell Joy’s most familiar voice.
He called out her name, but his voice was as gentle as flowing water, as if he wanted to give her all the tenderness and love in the world.
“Brother Lucas?”
Janell Joy couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
She quickly pulled at her own ear, took the phone, and looked at it repeatedly, just to make sure that someone was actually talking to her. She wanted to ensure that she was not hallucinating
“Janell!”
The man on the phone called her name again, his voice was still gentle as ever. The mellow tone brought her a sense of tenderness and sweetness.
Was it really Brother Lucas?
Was it really him?
She didn’t hear it wrong, did she?
Janell Joy was so nervous that she was clenching her fists. She was so nervous. She wanted to ask him so many questions, but couldn’t make a sound.
After a long pause, she calmed down a little so she asked, “Brother Lucas, is it really you?”
Janell Joy asked in a very soft voice. Her tone was so careful and tentative. It brought with it a sense of heartache. That was how much she cared about Brother Lucas.
“Silly girl, if it’s not me, who else could it be?” The man chuckled. His laughter, from the other end of the phone, was deep and very pleasant to the ears.
It occurred to Janell Joy that her Brother Lucas liked to laugh at her this way, so the man’s laughter seemed extremely familiar to her.
However, Janell Joy still couldn’t believe her ears. She cautiously asked again, “Brother Lucas? Are you really my Brother Lucas?”
She didn’t dare to think about it. What if this was another hallucination? She thought that she might be going insane.
“Silly girl, why are you talking so much nonsense today?” The man on the other end of the phone sighed. He said, “You can’t have forgotten about me just because I didn’t make it for dinner today right?”
“You’re really Brother Lucas!” She exclaimed.
Only Brother Lucas knew that she was waiting for him to come home for dinner that night. Only Brother Lucas would talk to her in such a nice tone.
Instantly, Janell Joy felt like she had risen from hell to heaven. Her world had brightened up in an instant.
Just a moment ago, she felt as if she was frozen in an ice cellar. She couldn’t feel any warmth. But the next second, she felt like the world was covered in sunlight and warmth.
Brother Lucas was fine!
He was on the phone with her!
She really wanted to cheer and shout in joy. She really wanted to announce to the world that her Brother Lucas was fine!
She knew that her Brother Lucas loved her so much. He would never abandon her.
“Janell, I’m waiting for you at the parking lot downstairs. Come out and I'll take you somewhere,” ‘Brother Lucas's voice came from the phone again
“Okay.” Janell Joy could not think much about it. He was indeed her Brother Lucas and she was still immersed in her joy of finding something she thought had been lost.
Why would Brother Lucas call her with an unfamiliar phone number? Somehow, Janell Joy did not give much thought to this. Also, it was already midnight at this time, and the heavy snowfall was still ongoing. The roads were blocked from the snow and it would be difficult to travel about.
However, none of these worries crossed her mind at all. She only knew that Brother Lucas was waiting for her downstairs. As long as he asked her to go, she would go. She went back to her room, changed into a nice outfit, and put on a thick down jacket.
Only as she shut the door to her home, did Janell Joy feel that something was amiss. However, she was not in the mood to think about what was wrong. Her mind was entirely on Brother lucas.
She got on the elevator and was going down to the basement. However, when the elevator stopped, Blake White came in and asked her, “Miss, it’s already so late. Where are you going?”
“Blake, it’s all right. Go back and rest. I want to go and see Brother Lucas.” Knowing that Brother Lucas was fine, Janell Joy was filled with joy. When she spoke, she unconsciously raised her eyebrows and smiled brightly. Blake could feel that she was truly overjoyed and wasn’t pretending.
“Miss, it’s very late now. Even if you want to see the President, you can do it tomorrow. Anyway, he is at the North Palace, he won’t be going anywhere,” Blake didn’t know why Janell Joy suddenly became so relaxed. He couldn’t help staring at her beautiful face a while longer.
“He’s waiting for me downstairs." Janell Joy said.
Upon hearing Janell Joy’s words, Blake reacted immediately. He grabbed her wrist and hurriedly pressed every button that was on the elevator. Janell Joy did not know what was going on. “Blake, what are you doing?”
Blake said, “Miss, it’s a trap!”
Soon, the elevator stopped and its door opened. Blake hurriedly dragged Janell Joy out of the elevator.
“Brother Lucas is waiting for me at the parking lot downstairs. What kind of trap can it be?” Janell Joy really wanted to see Brother Lucas immediately. The desperation to see him was so strong that she mustered the strength to pull herself away from Blake.
She turned around and attempted to go back into the elevator. Blake pulled her away again and said, “Miss, Mr. President was really injured in an accident. How could he appear in the parking lot at this time? If you didn’t hear it wrong, then it must be a trap.”
Clang!
As soon as she heard Blake’s words, Janell Joy felt that her heart dropped. It shattered into pieces.
Brother Lucas was really in an accident! It was impossible for him to appear at the parking lot.
But she didn’t want to believe that he had been injured, so she had been deceived by someone impersonating his voice. She had stupidly thought that as long as it was his voice speaking to her, it must really be him.
She had taken courses on sound editing back in school. She knew that there were many strange voice talents dabbling in this industry. They could not only impersonate people’s voices but they could also mimic all kinds of animal sounds to perfection.
977
Brother Lucas had really been in an accident! Janell Joy Carter could confirm this now. However, she still had some hope, hoping that the person who called her was really her Brother Lucas .
Blake White dragged Janell Joy upstairs using the emergency stairs. He said as they were on their way up, “Miss, you should stay at home first. I’ll go check it out.”
Janell Joy grabbed Blake’s hand and said, “Blake, I know that the person who called me is likely to be an impostor, but I still want to see him.”
Janell Joy wanted to know. What kind of person would be impersonating Brother Lucas? Especially now when he could very much be dead or alive!
The answer was very obvious, this person must be Brother Lucas's enemy.
In recent days, except for his work, what Brother Lucas had been busy with was to find out those mysterious people opposing him.
Now that she had a chance, Janell Joy wanted to seize the opportunity on Brother Lucas's behalf. She wanted to find out who these people were so that he could defeat them and secure his position as the President in future.
“No! No! The situation is still uncertain. I don’t know if I can handle the danger on my own. You must stay at home, please don’t go anywhere!” All of a sudden, Blake seemed to have changed into another person. His voice was stern as he said these words.
Janell Joy looked up at him and saw that his eyes were full of worry. It seemed to be real, it was definitely not an act he was putting up.
“Alright then,” Janell Joy said.
At this moment, she had calmed down significantly. She understood that other than Brother Lucas, there were still a lot of people who cared about her and could not bear to see her suffer any grievances.
After regaining her composure, her mind too was functioning normally again. She knew that she would be throwing herself into a trap if she had rashly gone to see the impostor without sufficient preparation.
She must not go!
She had to think of a way. She had to go down to see those people, but she must think of a better way to ensure they could not hurt her.
……….
At the underground parking lot.
The entire basement was full of cars, all of which were high end luxury ones. It was obvious that the people living in Moon Bay were all affluent.
A person driving a car would normally get off and leave the car on parking. However, there were several cars with people waiting in the car at the parking lot now.
The windows on the vehicles were heavily tinted. One could see clearly from inside the car, but from the outside, it would be difficult to see anyone inside.
Some of them were carefully observing the entrance of the parking lot, while some of them were eyeing the entrance of the elevator in the residential complex.
As there was heavy snow blocking the road, they had been waiting here for a long time. However, they didn’t see any vehicles or personnel entering or exiting the place.
A black commercial car was parked near the entrance of the elevator. There were three men in the car. One was the driver, and another man was in a black suit with sunglasses, and the third man was in a jacket, looking very relaxed.
The man’s slender fingers tapped on the leather chair rhythmically, and his deep, unfathomable eyes were fixed on
the exit of the elevator.
It seemed that he was waiting for someone.
After making the phone call, he had been looking at the direction of the elevator since. He looked at it for a long time, and his eyes did not move away the whole time.
As time was ticking away, the rhythm of his fingers became faster. It could be seen that he was not as calm as he seemed. Although his facial expression did not change at all the movement of his fingers had betrayed him, he must be anxious.
After a long while, he still did not see the person whom he was waiting for. Finally, he frowned unhappily and raised his wrist to look at the time.
Ten minutes had passed after he had ended the call. Logically speaking, that girl should be here already, but he didn’t see her appear.
He squinted his dark eyes, and there was a murderous intent in his eyes. Did they find out about something?
Or, was it as they had expected, that Nathaniel Cooper was completely fine? Just as he was thinking about it, the door of the elevator suddenly opened. A charming figure stood at the door and looked around, as if she was looking for someone.
When the man saw her, his lips raised slightly. He smiled with satisfaction and took out his phone to dial the number that he had just called…
However, before his fingers touched the green button to make the call, a luxury SUV suddenly came in from the entrance. The car was very fast and it was rushing towards them.
The man immediately stopped the call and sat quietly in the car. The car drifted past them smoothly and stopped in the parking space next to them. The door of the driver’s seat was pushed open and a tall middle-aged man came out of the car, followed by a young woman and a child.
The man recognized them. They were a family. The man was the military commander, Victor James of Jiangbei, the woman was his wife Angela Carter, and the little boy was their son, Levi James. Why did the three of them appear here out of a sudden?
Could it be..
“Great Uncle, Little Aunt, Levi, why are you guys here?” Seeing the family of three appearing before her, Janell Joy was very surprised. It seemed that she didn’t know that they would come.
Angela went forward and grabbed Janell Joy’s wrist. She touched Janell Joy’s nose with her fingertips and said, “Your parents know that we are in Coast City, and that it has been snowing for a few days, so they are worried that you might be lonely. They’ve asked us to stay with you for a few days.”
Angela turned around and pointed to the two huge bags that had just been taken out from the back seat of the car. “It’s the best time to have some warm stew in such cold weather. I’ve specially asked your Great Uncle to prepare the ingredients. Let’s go home and cook it.”
“But…” Janell Joy scratched her head and smiled apologetically. “Brother Lucas has asked me out. He is going to take me somewhere.”
“Brother Lucas?” Angela said discontentedly, “So you were actually waiting for him. I thought that you knew we were coming and you were waiting here for us.”
Janell Joy did not say anything, but her expression gave away that she was indeed waiting for Brother Lucas. Angela looked around and said, “There’s not even a soul here other than us. Did he lie to you?”
“No, he will never lie to me.” Janell Joy took out her phone from her pocket and said, “Perhaps he hasn’t arrived. I’ll call him and ask.”
Looking at Janell Joy making the call, the man immediately turned off his phone and stared at Janell Joy. His eyes did not blink as he observed her carefully.
The call did not go through, the smile on her lips gradually faded, and her eyes dimmed. “Brother Lucas's phone is turned off. I can’t get in touch with him.”
Angela dragged Janell Joy away and said, “With such heavy snowfall, we could still come here because we are living next door. If he is coming from the North Palace, he would need to take a helicopter, there would be no other way. But to think about it, as the President, he shouldn’t do things that would garner the attention of the public for a woman. He still has to take care of his image as the President.”
Angela pulled Janell Joy away, bringing her up back to the apartment. In the car, another man sitting next to the man who had been observing Janell Joy asked in a low voice, “Young Master, our purpose is to take this little girl away. Are we going to let her go just like this?”
978
“I’ve already gotten what I wanted from whatever this girl knows.” The man stroked his forehead and chuckled. “Now that Nathaniel Cooper’s condition is still unknown, what difference would it make if we kidnap this little girl or not?”
Yes, the main purpose of them getting close to Janell Joy Carter was not to kidnap her but to confirm whether Nathaniel Cooper was on the helicopter or not when the crash happened. If Nathaniel wasn’t there when the crash happened, then he definitely couldn’t trick this little girl. If he could trick her, it would mean that this little girl did not know that Nathaniel was caught in an accident.
It was only if something had really happened to Nathaniel, that the people around him would be so thorough in preventing the news from leaking out. Only then would they ensure that his woman was kept unaware of the real situation
“Young Master, can you confirm that Nathaniel Cooper was really in that accident?” The subordinate had not figured out the situation. How could this matter be concluded so quickly?
“What do you think?” The man snorted softly and raised his eyebrows slightly. It could be seen that he was very happy. Perhaps this was the first time that he had actually smiled from the bottom of his heart for the past few past years.
Nathaniel was a very fortunate man, he was able to escape death every time. This time, the man wanted to see if Nathaniel could survive the crash and escape death once again.
The helicopter crashed from such a high altitude, and the emergency survival gear on board had been destroyed. If Nathaniel wanted to escape death, he would have to grow a pair of wings to survive the crash.
Given that wings were an impossibility, he would most likely have been facing death.
The man raised his eyebrows and smiled gently. He was thinking of how Nathaniel would disappear from the world and would no longer be an obstacle between him and his success.
For so many years, he had been using another person’s identity as he waited for it to happen. It was now time for him to end all of this so that he could stand on the political arena openly with his true identity.
His subordinate didn’t understand him, but he didn’t dare ask any more questions. In any case, as the man’s subordinate, he had been hired for his physical strength, and not for his mind.
Janell Joy had been putting up a happy facade, but as soon as they got home, she could not hold it together anymore.
She bit her lips and said, “Little Aunt, thank you all for this!”
“Silly girl, we are your family. You don’t need to thank us.” Angela Carter patted Janell Joy on the back and looked back at Victor James. “Did your people find any information?
Victor shook his head and said, “Nothing at all. The men that Nathaniel had sent to me also had the same results. They didn’t find any information.” After all, they were in Country A. Victor had no power in this jurisdiction.
Nathaniel had deliberately blocked the news from getting out in his capacity as the President. Hence, if Victor wanted any information, it would be no easy feat. Moreover, due to the harsh weather and bad traffic, it was proving to be very difficult for them to conduct an investigation.
“Janell, I’m sorry! I can’t find out if your Brother Lucas had really gotten into an accident or not.” In the past, he had been the all- powerful Victor James. He could provide the highest protection to every person in his family. But today, he had failed to even procure some basic information on the situation. He felt that he was to blame for being so inept.
“Great Uncle, you don’t have to apologize” The fact that the James were here to keep her company had already given her a lot of mental support. She now had more courage to go on.
“Victor, so you do know how to apologize!” Angela glared at him. Despite being Victor's family since she was a little girl, never had she once heard him apologize!
“Angela, please be mindful of the situation!” Victor really couldn’t help but be flabbergasted by Angela's lack of tact. Given the urgent circumstances, she could still utter such inappropriate words.
“Hmmph…” For Janell Joy’s sake, Angela did not continue her argument with Victor. She turned her head and comforted Janell Joy instead.
She said, “Janell, don’t worry. We are all here, we will come up with a solution.”
Everything happened too abruptly. No one had expected that something would happen to Nathaniel. Moreover, once something had happened to Nathaniel, all these evil masterminds would start causing more trouble.
The situation was still manageable because it had yet to be shared with the public. If this happened, the ramifications would be unimaginable.
“Great Uncle, can you send more people to look into it? ”
Janell Joy looked at Blake and asked, “Blake, do you have any special task force to assign for this?”
Blake said, “I have already assigned someone to investigate this thoroughly. At the very least, they will come back with some news.”
Janell Joy nodded and said, “Okay.”
Knowing that Janell Joy was putting up a strong front, Angela felt more distressed. She hugged Janell Joy and comforted her, “Janell, don’t be anxious. No matter what condition Nathaniel is in now, you wouldn’t be able to help him. The most important thing now is to ensure your own safety and to figure out who those masterminds are.”
Although Angela usually did things recklessly, at such crucial moments, she could still see things clearly and would prioritize the matters accordingly.
“Have those men left?” Janell Joy asked Blake again.
“No,” Blake said, “They can’t drive out now because of the heavy snowfall outside. Moreover, they would probably still have their guard up. It would be difficult to predict their next step.”
In such a short period of time, Blake had already found out the number of enemies hiding out in the parking lot.
After all, he was the special person Edwin Carter had entrusted to protect Janell Joy. Moon Bay was their territory. Blake wanted to find out how many people were hiding in the parking lot. Hence, he pulled up the surveillance video to check.
Moreover, those people even dared to come and target Janell Joy, who was his master’s precious daughter. If he didn’t teach them a lesson personally, those enemies would think that Blake was someone they could trifle with. They would think that they could come and go as they wish, despite Moon Bay being his territory.
If they were to leave Moon Bay safe and sound, the White family would not have the audacity to face Chairman Carter anymore. Even if Chairman Carter didn’t fault them, they still wouldn’t be able to face him.
Ring, ring, ring
Just as Blake was thinking about him, Edwin Carter's call came in.
Edwin did not call Janell Joy, but he called Victor instead. As soon as the call connected, Victor could hear Edwin asking in a deep voice, “How’s the situation over there?”
Victor said, “Don’t worry, as long as we’re here, we’ll make sure that Janell is safe and sound. We’ll never let anyone touch her, not even a single strand of her hair.”
Even though this happened at night, Victor had been immediately informed, and Edwin was also kept in the know despite being so far away.
They were always kept abreast of the situations in Country A as they were very concerned about Janell Joy. No one wanted to see her hurt.
Seeing that her family was so concerned about her, Janell Joy was moved to tears. With them being here with her and to keep her company, she would no longer be afraid.
It was as if they had injected an energy booster into her. She felt that she could be strong enough to face all the challenges coming her way with courage.
“Dad, don’t worry about me, I will be fine.” Janell Joy took the phone and said to Edwin.
She was no longer the spoiled little girl, pampered in her parents’ arms. She now had the ability to protect herself and she knew exactly what she was doing.
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