The children were taken to a room. As soon as they entered, the door was closed and a crisp click told them they were locked in.
Maya’s eyes glowed with terror. “I’m scared. I want Mommy!”
“Stay strong, Maya. Mommy and Daddy will come to rescue us,” promised Nina as she held Maya’s plump hand tightly.
Juan and Kyle examined the place. They were inside a room with three solid walls and one glass door that led to a balcony. Unfortunately, bodyguards had that glass door heavily guarded so that not even a bug could fly out without them noticing. It was virtually impossible for the kids to flee under those circumstances.
Kyle couldn’t figure out the motive so he asked his siblings, “Why do you think he brought us over?”
Juan sighed and guessed, “Maybe it’s because he likes Mommy and wants to force her into marrying him.”
Nina scolded angrily, “Stealing another man’s wife and kidnapping children. How despicable!”
Maya was upset as well when she heard how Levant wanted to take their mommy away from their daddy.
Her round eyes burned with fury as she growled, “How can Mr. Levant do something like that?”
“Why are you still calling him Mr. Levant? Call him ‘meanie’ from now on!”
Maya was a little out of it after being scolded by Nina, but the former still nodded.
Kyle suggested, “We should focus on getting out of here. Daddy and Mommy must be worried sick now.”
Juan chimed in, “That will only happen if we can fly. Actually, scratch that. Even a bug can’t get out under these circumstances.”
“Nevertheless, we still have to try. We can’t be sitting ducks here.”
The four little ones ended up staring at the walls as they thought long and hard about how they might be able to escape.
At the estate.
Evan and Stephen had been working on it for half a day. They were surprised by the amount of effort Levant had put in to keep the kids’ location a secret.
Neither Stephen’s bodyguards nor Evan’s subordinates could find even a clue of where the kids might be.
Jeremy, who had been tailing Levant, also failed in his mission and lost the guy. Despite being ashamed of his defeat, Jeremy returned to the estate with his head down.
The situation prompted Stephen and Evan to take an alternate route to solve the problem. They would first trade the dukedom for the kids’ safety. After that, they would work together and somehow reclaim the title from Levant.
“It’s a little risky, but that is our only option now.”
Evan considered the situation for a bit before turning to Stephen and saying, “I’ve always been curious about something, but I’m not sure if you’d feel comfortable sharing that information.”
“What is it?”
“Who are Levant’s birth parents? I’m guessing you looked into his past before you took him in.”
That question got Stephen’s eyes to dim.
“My wife told me about his family, but I can’t uncover anything about them despite having my people to work on it.”
“You don’t know who his birth parents are?” blurted Evan in astonishment. This guy’s a duke, but even he has no idea whose kid he was raising? Nicole must’ve inherited her kindness from him.
Stephen sighed and explained, “My wife couldn’t get pregnant, so she suggested to adopt a kid. I thought she was just joking at the time, but a few days later, she actually brought a child over. She said that the child was pitiful and was being bullied in the orphanage so she wanted to take him home. I owed my wife too much, and I wanted her to be happy, so I agreed to it. I later sent my men to the orphanage to investigate the matter, but the child seemed to have suddenly shown up at the orphanage. There was no clue as to where he came from.”
An unknown past? I didn’t think that even Levant’s identity is a mystery.
“Does your wife know who his parents are?”
Stephen’s face gloomed over. He answered, “She said that she doesn’t know.”
Evan was speechless. She probably won’t share the information even if she knows the truth. I had John investigate the matter some time ago. I wonder if his investigation resulted in anything?
“Alright then. Go check on Nicole. I’ll deal with the matters at hand.”
“Thank you. I promised I will help you reclaim the dukedom,” said Evan firmly.
Stephen nodded.
Evan went back to his room to tell Nicole their plan. He calmed her nerves when he promised that the children would return safely and soundly.
Nicole’s heart was in a mess when she asked, “Do you think Stephen will hate me for this?”
“He won’t,” replied Evan, who was certain of it. He looked into Nicole’s eyes and explained, “The two people who love you the most in this world are Stephen and me. His fatherly love towards you is likely as deep as my love for you.”
Nicole suddenly realized that she should be nicer to Stephen. He had spent his entire life missing Nicole’s mother, and when Nicole considered everything from his point of view, she realized that things weren’t easy for him, either.
