He only came to our attention after he ordered a hit on Zo at the New Year party. We’d been planning to finish him since then and had everything prepared. We were about to launch, but he moved first. I clench the steering wheel, the image of Zo’s bleeding body keeps flashing in my head.
“I changed my mind,” I mutter to myself. “If you die, I’ll marry her off to someone who will make her reallyhappy, and your dead ass will burn in jealousy when you see it from above.”
My phone rings. I tell my AI assistant to pick it up. Avi’s tense voice comes through the line.
“Leo, do you know where Zoan is? He’s not answering my calls.”
“He’s tied up with important business right now. Something urgent came up, he’ll call you back as soon as he’s free.”
“Is he all right?”
“Yeah. He’s fine.”
“Okay, tell him to call me back when he can.”
“Okay.”
I can’t even imagine how badly she’ll react when she findsout the truth.
chapter 43
Avira
After waiting for his call until 5 in the morning, I walk out of my room. I didn’t get a second’s sleep whole night. I’m still feeling the same restlessness inside me. Something is not right.
I reach Mama and Daddy’s room and knock. After a short while, Mama opens the door.
“Mama, Zoan is not picking up my calls. I called Leo last night, he said Zoan was in some important meeting. And now he’s not picking up either. Where’s Daddy?”
The worry on her face deepens. “Your Daddy got a call and left the house after Zo left. He hasn’t come home yet.”
I walk inside her room and sit on the bed. “Ask him where he is. I’m sure Zoan must be with him.”
She takes her phone from the bedside table and makes the call.
“Where are you?” she asks, then looks at me with a frown. I get up from the bed. It looks like bad news.
“We are coming there,” she says. She cuts the call and comes to me, holding my hand. “Zo is in the hospital.”
I feel the floor leave my feet. “What… what happened?”
“He didn’t tell that much. Let’s go.”
I nod in a daze and follow her outside. A car is waiting for us. We climb inside. My brain is racing, running through endless possibilities of how he could have ended up in the hospital.
Could it have been Daddy? No, he wouldn’t have harmed him that much. And if he had, he wouldn’t have been with him. He must have taken him for a checkup for the injuries from yesterday. Yes, that must be the case. Or Zoan could have fainted from overwork, and Daddy would have taken him to the hospital. I keep giving myself trivial reasons to stay calm.
We reach the hospital in half an hour.
There are men in black everywhere. The hospital is closed today, with no patients or families, only men in similar black uniforms covering the entire place. I knowthis uniform, it’s Zoan and Leo’s top-ranking security’s uniform.
Two men escort us down the hallway on the second floor. I see Daddy sitting in front of a ward as soon as we turn the corner.
His elbows rest on his knees, he is looking down, tired and weak. I’ve never seen my father like this before.
As we get closer, I notice his condition more clearly. It looks like he was drenched in rain, the water has dried on his skin, but his clothes are still wet.
He looks up toward us. His eyes are bloodshot. I turn my head to see the room in front of him. “Operating Room” is written on it, with a blue light on.
