Chapter 289
Alicia hadn’t expected them to move her dad out so quickly.
She asked, “Where were you when you called me earlier?”
Kevin replied, “At the old house.”
Alicia asked again, “Was anyone with you? Like Felix or any of the servants?”
Kevin thought for a moment. “Felix was right behind me. Mavis had given all the servants the day off”
Alicia thought for a moment. “Felix seems suspicious.
“Let the police know Felix might’ve tipped someone off about our call. And check him out yourself, just to be sure.
She hadn’t suspected Felix before.
But now that she thought about it, everyone Julian had placed around the Hammond men were trusted insiders.
There was no way Julian would leave a key spot like the Hammond estate unchecked.
And with all the servants on leave except Felix, that was definitely suspicious.
She also remembered how Felix always went out of his way for Mavis and Nicole.
Especially with Nicole, he had the servants directly address her as “Miss”, but would deliberately call Alicia “Ms. Alicia” in front of everyone.
It made her feel like an outsider.
And there were other things, too. Felix always seemed to stir up trouble between her and Nicole with the way he handled things.
Like when he pulled out the flowers she’d planted and replaced them with ones Nicole liked.
She used to think he was just doing it because her dad favored Nicole.
But now she realized Felix had been biased toward Nicole from the very beginning,
Kevin was genuinely shocked. ‘I never thought Felix could be bribed like that.’
His grandfather had saved Felix’s life back in the day. If it weren’t for that, Felix would’ve been six feet under long ago.
Alicia said, “It’s actually a good thing we’re exposing this kind of snake.”
‘It’s even better that Julian’s little fish are all coming out of hiding one after another. That way, we can haul them in with one big net and wipe out any future trouble, she thought.
As for her former father suffering a while longer, Alicia felt nothing-no sympathy, no concern.
He only had himself to blame. He was totally clueless, refusing to see what was right in front of him.
Let him soak up all that fake affection from his darling wife and daughter a bit longer.
Kevin said anxiously, “Who knows if Dad’s in danger right now.”
Alicia replied, “Julian and his people still need him, so there’s no way they’ll hurt him yet.
“Nine times out of ten, they’re just trying to take control of the Hammond family and force your dad to sign over the assets. She sighed, “Honestly, if Mom hadn’t been so sharp back then, you guys would be even worse off than me-and I’m the one who cut all ties with the family.”
She’d already cashed out her six percent stake, plus she still had a good chunk of inheritance from her mom.
If her mom hadn’t made her dad sign that safeguard agreement, Mavis and Nicole would have taken everything for themselves.
By then, the Hammond brothers would be left with nothing but the small portion of shares their mom set aside for them- not a single cent from the rest of the family fortune.
With Nicole and her dad messing around with the Hammond Group, it would probably go bankrupt, and those shares would end up totally worthless.
Kevin realized that Mavis and her crew had probably kept his dad captive, all for the Hammond family’s money.
Kevin said gratefully, “Yeah, thank goodness fc Successfully unlocked!
After hanging up, Kevin let the cops know he suspected renx might ve fiau a hand in his dad’s kidnapping and being held captive
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28 Chapter 287
The police started looking into Felix right away.
But Felix kept denying he’d leaked any info
They still hadn’t found any proof he was in on the kidnapping, so for now, they just kept a close eye on him
Meanwhile, the cops found records showing that Leo and Mavis had really left the country, and neither of them had come back yet.
They reviewed the security footage, and even from a distance, the people in the video looked just like Leo and Mavis
But when they checked the tapes from the private hospital, Leo and Mavis were nowhere to be seen.
Kevin suspected that Mavis had kidnapped and was holding Leo captive, but there was no solid evidence to back it up
It was still unclear whether this was really a kidnapping or if Leo and Mavis were simply out of contact after leaving the
country.
That left the investigation at a dead end.
The police kept searching, while the Hammond brothers started leveraging all their connections to help track down Leo.
Soon enough, everyone in their circle knew that Leo had been kidnapped and held captive by his stepwife Mavis and stepdaughter Nicole-and now, he was missing.
Leo and Nicole had already gone through a paternity test and announced the results to everyone.
Most people bought it, but there were still some who didn’t.
But almost nobody believed that Leo and Mavis had nothing going on between them before. Everyone figured they’d been sneaking around together for years.
Now that everyone heard he’d been kidnapped by his stepwife, people were just shaking their heads, saying he had it
coming.
If he hadn’t hooked up with Mavis and actually brought her home as his wife, he wouldn’t be in this mess now.
He’d basically become a walking warning for every rich family out there-when it comes to choosing a wife, you better keep your eyes wide open.
Mavis and Nicole heard the news and couldn’t help but freak out.
They never expected Kevin to call the police and spread the word everywhere that they’d kidnapped and held Leo captive. With the cops involved, they realized this meant they’d actually committed a crime.
They couldn’t help but call Julian, asking him what they should do.
Julian stayed cool. “Cut off Leo’s meds today. In a few days, he’ll walk out and vouch for you guys himself.
“As long as he tells everyone he wasn’t kidnapped, just went on vacation with you, you’re off the hook.”
Julian’s explanation made sense to Mavis and Nicole, and his calm attitude managed to settle their nerves.
For the next few days, they stayed holed up in the place Julian had arranged for them, too scared to go out, just waiting for word from him.
Julian had his men move Leo to a new location and keep him locked up,
This time, they confiscated his watch too, making sure he had no way to pull any tricks.
They stopped giving him his medication, so he couldn’t sleep at all-his suffering just got even worse.
Leo’s health had never been great, and he’d already been put through hell at that private hospital.
Now, with another round of torture, he was completely drained-he looked like he’d aged a decade overnight.
For someone his age, not being able to sleep was pure agony.
Every time he closed his eyes, nightmares would haunt him, and even with his eyes open, sleep just wouldn’t come. Sometimes, he’d get so depressed and desperate that thoughts of ending it all would creep in.
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Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.