Daniel’s face darkened. Philip had already told him Oscar was the one who saved Chantelle. He’d also mentioned that Oscar seemed interested in her and reminded Daniel to step up if he didn’t want to lose her for good.
What’s wrong with the Nelsen brothers? Why are they all trying to win Chantelle’s favor? Do they really like her?
A bodyguard walked into the room. "Mr. Wilson, the truck driver has confessed. It was Fred who hired him."
Daniel frowned, trying to piece things together. "Fred? Wasn’t it supposed to be Joseph?"
"The driver is Ruby’s older brother. He’s unemployed and spends all his money on drinking and gambling. Ruby used to cover his expenses with money from the Bently family. But after the Bentlys went bankrupt, the money stopped coming. He blames Ms. Chantelle for everything."
Daniel nodded, signaling him to go on.
The bodyguard continued, "He got into serious debt from gambling. Loan sharks started chasing him. His wife ended her life, and his daughter was forced into escort work. He couldn’t handle it anymore. He went home and killed his own mother with a machete. After destroying his own family, he turned his rage toward Ms. Chantelle. He wanted revenge."
"He couldn’t have pulled off everything that happened yesterday by himself," Ashton abruptly interrupted.
The truck wasn’t the only vehicle chasing them. Several other cars tried to block their way.
"Yeah. He first went to Joseph for help. When Joseph turned him down, he planned to take his own life. But Fred found him and used him to carry out the plan yesterday. The other drivers didn’t know anything about it. That Thirteen kid managed to get the whole story out of him."
"It’s not easy to break someone who’s already lost everything," Daniel said with a slight smile, clearly impressed.
The bodyguard nodded. "Yes. Thirteen has... very effective ways of getting people to talk."
"You should learn from him," Daniel replied, giving the bodyguard a pointed look.
The bodyguard looked unsure what to say, but Philip gave him a quick wink and a nod.
"You taught us everything we know, Mr. Wilson," the bodyguard said. "I’m not sure if Thirteen’s methods are for us. We’ll probably need to rely on you."
"Mm, fair enough. Ashton, set up a group chat so everyone can stay in touch."
Daniel figured out that Chantelle would be ignoring his messages, so he needed another way to keep everyone connected.
"Yes," Ashton replied, then created a group chat and added the bodyguards, Chantelle, and Thirteen.
After getting a checkup at Silver Crest Global District, Chantelle planned to visit Oscar with Thea. Just as they were about to leave, Kane and Rai woke up and asked to come along.
Philip looked away, pretending it had nothing to do with him.
"Mommy, we’ll protect you so the bad guys can’t hurt you," Kane said, already geared up with the gadgets from his backpack.
Rai stood beside him, nodding seriously.
Chantelle smiled, touched by their words. "Okay, let’s all go together."
"Mommy, don’t you know Daddy sent a lot of people to save you? It’s in the news," Kane said, handing Chantelle a tablet.
Chantelle tapped on a link to an article about yesterday’s accident. The report didn’t focus much on the crime. Instead, it highlighted how Mr. Daniel Wilson gave up his limousine to save his wife.
She zoomed in on a photo. One truck had flipped over, and another had crashed into the sidewalk barricade.
From Thea’s description, Chantelle could tell Oscar was driving the flipped truck. The truck at the barricade must’ve been the one the culprit used.
Not far from the crash was a Lincoln limousine. In the photo, Chantelle saw herself lying unconscious beside it. Thea was crawling toward her.
At the back of the Lincoln limousine, there was a motorcycle that looked familiar. A man in a protective suit was trying to pull himself out of the wreck and move toward her.
"Who’s that?" Chantelle asked, pointing at the man near the motorcycle.
Thea narrowed her eyes, studying the figure. She didn’t know Daniel had been there and assumed only Oscar and Ashton had helped them.
"That’s Daddy’s bike!" Rai suddenly said.
Chantelle looked more closely at the man in the protective suit. Something about him awakened a strange sense of familiarity in her chest. She couldn’t explain it, but it felt like she knew him.
Don’t tell me that’s Daniel!
"Ahem, that’s just a bodyguard I brought with me," Philip said quickly. "It was an emergency, so we borrowed Daniel’s motorcycle."
He would’ve told the truth if Daniel hadn’t warned him over and over not to let Chantelle know he was the one who saved her.
Ashton glanced at him, confused. Why Mr. Daniel was hiding the truth? he thought.
Rai opened his mouth to say that Daniel never let anyone touch his motorcycle, but Philip quickly covered his mouth.
Chantelle zoomed in on the photo and saw a dark puddle beneath the man’s feet. It looked like blood. A large part of the white protective suit was stained red, and the blood had soaked down his pant leg and onto the ground.
"Chantie, Daniel really was worried about you. Look how many people he sent to save you," Philip said, quickly swiping away the first photo.
Chantelle didn’t stop him. She didn’t know how to feel as she looked at the wrecked limousine and the circle of luxury cars around the crash site.
"Daniel hasn’t been coming to Silver Crest Global District, has he?" Chantelle asked as she stared at the photos.
"Uh... well... he’s been really busy," Philip said, a little awkwardly.
"Mm. Remind him to find time to settle the divorce," Chantelle said as she took the children’s hands and walked out.
Philip quickly followed her to the elevator. "Chantie, why are you in such a hurry to divorce him? It’s not like it’ll change anything."
Chantelle gave a small smirk. "It will. If I don’t divorce him, how can I start a new relationship?"
Philip gasped and covered his mouth. "You... You’re starting a new relationship? With who? That’s so sudden!"
"Oscar saved my life. I guess I owe him my loyalty now," Chantelle said with a shrug as she walked into the elevator with the kids.
After the elevator doors closed, Thea quickly covered the children’s ears and turned to Chantelle. "Wait... do you really have a crush on Oscar?"
"We can still hear you, Auntie Thea," Kane said with a giggle, flashing a grin.
"Oh, haha! I was just joking with your mommy! Just a joke!" Thea said, waving her hands in panic.
Chantelle didn’t say anything, but a faint, unreadable smile stayed on her face.