Bella, overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, quickly wrapped her arms around her mother. "I’m sorry, Mamma," she whispered. "Please don’t cry. I shouldn’t have brought this up. I won’t ask anything more about him. Please, just calm down."
Bella regretted ever digging into the past, realizing now how deep her mother’s wounds ran. She hadn’t known that the man who was supposed to be her father could be so heartless, so cruel. The revelation ignited a fire within her, a seething rage that she could barely contain.
"He is even crueler than Lionel," Bella spat tinged with venom. "He doesn’t deserve to be my father."
Selena, though still wiping her tears, tried to quell the growing storm in her daughter. "I don’t blame him entirely. It’s my fault too. I should have known better. A wealthy man like him would never want to marry someone like me. I was just a plaything, nothing more."
Bella’s anger only grew, her sense of injustice boiling over. "He made a grave mistake," she snarled, her jaw clenched tightly. "I’ll find him, Mamma. I’ll make him pay for what he did to you."
Selena’s eyes widened in horror, her heart lurching at the thought. "No, Bella!" she cried out, her voice rising in desperation. "You will not find him. You will never go near him. Do you understand?"
The thought of losing Bella, of history repeating itself, terrified Selena. She couldn’t bear the idea of that man discovering Bella’s existence. Back then, she had already lost one daughter, snatched away by cruel fate. Luckily, Bella was born fifteen minutes later. Otherwise, she would have lost her too.
Bella’s existence shouldn’t be exposed to that man. Or else, he would come to take her away.
"You are not going to find him," she said with an ultimatum.
Bella’s determination remained unshaken as she faced her mother. "No, Mamma... no more hiding," she insisted. "He wronged you, and he has to pay for it."
Selena’s reaction was immediate and fierce. Her body trembled with a mix of rage and desperation. "I don’t want that!" she shouted, her voice breaking with emotion. "I don’t want you to seek justice for me. What happened has already happened, and you can’t change it. All I want is for you to stay away from him."
Her strong retaliation caught Bella off guard. At the same time, she grew curious to know why Selena was stopping her from finding her father. Why was Selena so adamant about keeping her away from her father? What more was she hiding?
"Why?" That word escaped Bella’s mouth incredulously.
Selena paused, a look of deep internal conflict passing over her face. After a moment, she snapped, "Because he is from a wealthy family. I’m afraid he will take you away from me if he learns about you. Bella..." Her hands clasped Bella’s with a desperate urgency. "You need to stop looking for him. Promise me."
Bella nodded frantically, fearing too much anxiety might worsen her condition. "I promise," she relented.
While Bella was with her mother, Theodore arrived at the dimly lit, decrepit factory, the air thick with dust and neglect. Hugo awaited him, his posture rigid with a mix of respect and urgency. As Theodore stepped through the door, Hugo quickly approached, his face etched with concern.
"Sorry, sir, I called you in urgency," Hugo said, bowing slightly. "The information is such I couldn’t relay it over the phone."
"What did you find?" Theodore’s gaze swept the desolate space, his eyes sharp and focused.
"They aren’t related to Miss Willis," Hugo said.
Theodore scowled, his expression incredulous. He had been nearly convinced that Gina was behind the recent threats. The revelation threw him off balance. If not Gina, then who?
"Who hired them?" he asked, intrigued and irritated at the same time.
Hugo sighed, his shoulders slumping. "They don’t know her. She was masked when she met with them. The payment was made in cash, and..." He fished out a photograph from his pocket, holding it out to Theodore. "She handed them Madam’s photo, instructing them to ruin her."
Theodore looked at Bella’s photo, his eyes narrowing. The incident was unsettlingly similar to the kidnapping of Bella by the local gang in the countryside.
The gang members had previously confessed that someone had paid them to ruin her. And later, he discovered the connection of the Hill family with the mysterious sharpshooter.
His thoughts veered toward Ivy. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, Theodore couldn’t shake the suspicion that Ivy was behind both attempts to hurt Bella, though he couldn’t fathom a motive for the Hills to eliminate the gang leader. Perhaps there was an internal conflict within the family, he mused.
With a firm grip on the photograph, Theodore resolved to dig deeper. He was determined to uncover the truth behind the sinister plot.
"I’d like to talk to them," Theodore demanded.
"This way..." Hugo led him inside.
Theodore followed him. The room was damp, sunlight filtering through broken windowpanes. Dust motes danced in the feeble beams. A sickly blend of decay, rust, and musk hung in the air, oddly counterpointed by the faint aroma of coffee and tobacco.
Two men cowered in a corner, their faces a canvas of bruises, blood, and grime. Bound together by a rope, their mouths were gagged. As Theodore approached, their eyes widened in terror. With a curt gesture, he signaled Hugo to remove the tape.
The men winced as it was ripped away, their pleading eyes fixed on Theodore. They trembled violently, their fear palpable.
Theodore studied them. The fear in their eyes was evident, and he could tell they wouldn’t dare to lie. "Speak only the truth," he growled, his voice deep and cold. "Any lie, and you die."
They trembled more and more. "We said everything we knew," one of them said with a faltering voice. "We just followed the orders. We didn’t know she was your wife. Please forgive us."
"Who told you to hurt Bella?" Theodore roared.
The second man blurted out, "A woman came to us. She paid us to..." His voice trailed off as he begged, "We know we were wrong. We shouldn’t have done it. The money clouded our judgment. We’re sorry."
"Clouded our judgment!" Theodore spat, grabbing the collar of the man. "I’ll pay you double what you were offered to kill yourselves."
Theodore’s threat turned the men’s faces ashen. They shook their heads, their panic rising with each word. "No...please," he pleaded, his voice breaking. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Theodore’s eyes blazed with a dangerous gleam. "Why? Is money suddenly worthless to you? Weren’t you eager to do anything for it? Why can’t you follow through now?"
"Sorry, sorry, Mr. Reid," the first one chimed in urgently. "We told you everything we knew. Please let us go. We swear we won’t ever do anything like this again."
Theodore chuckled. "The moment you touched my wife, you sealed your fate. There is no release for you. I’ll ensure the woman who hired you gets what’s coming to her."
The men’s pleas grew more frantic. "No, no, please, have mercy!" they cried out in unison.
Unmoved by their cries, Theodore wiped his hands with a handkerchief and took a step back. "Make sure they don’t die until this matter is settled," he ordered Hugo with a steely gaze. "And keep a close watch on Ivy Hill. I suspect she is behind this. I want every detail on her—her activities, call records, bank statements—everything."
"Consider it done," Hugo responded firmly.
"Call me with any updates," Theodore instructed before turning on his heel and leaving the grim room.
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