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Chapter 7 - Chapter 7

As per the invitation, Garrett followed the boss inside one of the houses where the "actress" was held captive. He was curious about the "performance" the boss mentioned.

"Boss, what is this performance you were talking about?"

The boss answered, "Didn't they tell you? She and I will perform at the river tomorrow night. It's called 'The Lost Swan.' You should come and watch."

He was certain it would be Beatrice, the one he and Lewis were looking for. On top of that, the boss used the title of the postponed ballet show.

Both went upstairs and as they got up they saw a woman sitting on a bed with her hands tied. She looked haggard to their eyes. Garrett felt sorry for her but remained composed.

"My goodness Beatrice, why do you look unwell?" The boss asked. "You still have a performance to catch up on."

Beatrice responded, "What do you mean by that? Thanks to you, last night's show was ruined!"

The boss sat beside Beatrice and started to caress her face. "Oh. no no no, Beatrice. The show hasn't been ruined yet."

He continued to caress her which made her very uncomfortable and Garrett a little bit disturbed under his composure.

His one hand went from her face to her chest. Beatrice felt the sensation of the hand and impulsively moved away from him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Beatrice angrily shouted.

"It was just practice," he answered.

He stood up and told Garrett, "Let's leave." Garrett heeded and followed the boss outside while looking at Beatrice once more.

"You may go patrolling." said the boss, whose name was yet to be identified until now. "I have a meeting to attend."

Garrett replied, "Yes, boss."

The beautiful long-haired man walked out of the stronghold and Garrett did the same. Just in a different direction.

He started walking fast. Fast he went until he reached the carriage where Lewis was waiting for him.

Lewis saw Garrett and he immediately asked, "What happened?"

Garrett answered Lewis while taking off the red jacket, "I found Ms. Thomas. She's held captive in a house near here."

Lewis felt relief on the answer. "That's great. I wasn't able to find anything besides letters."

Garrett had his blazer on and sat at the drivers' seat beside Lewis. "Thanks to my disguise, I were able to talk to that pretty boss. Told me there's a performance tomorrow night."

"Performance? Where?"

"At the river. He invited me to watch the bloomin' performance."

"That might be our chance to rescue her."

"You're right. I'll keep this bloody disguise. Might come in handy."

"For now, we wait until tomorrow."

Lewis and Garrett drove away from the fancy house. They hid the carriage somewhere and walked home.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lewis arrived home tired from walking. He opened the door and saw two coats on the wall hanger. He hung his coat and shouted, "Father, are we having a visitor today?"

He went straight to the living room and he saw his father and his uncle Oliver on their seats. He was surprised to see his uncle visiting this time.

"Good afternoon, Uncle," he greeted. "Quite an unexpected visit."

Lewis was really not happy to see his uncle. In fact, he had always despised him.

In his eyes, Oliver was a despicable man. He always treated Lewis badly, saying mean things to him and ordering him like a servant in Henry's absence. Like he was suddenly about to do. "Can you get me a cup of tea?"

Henry, of course, never liked his brother's behavior, especially how his brother treated his son. "And who are you to do that now," he told Oliver. "Lewis, you don't have to do it."

Lewis still looked at Oliver with contempt and responded, "I wasn't about to do it anyway."

The response triggered his anger. He gripped his hands and stood up to retaliate, "You insolent boy!"

"Oliver!" Henry shouted.

Oliver continued spitting words at Lewis, "You don't deserve to succeed Henry as the owner of the company!"

Still in his moderate-toned voice, Lewis responded back, "Why, Uncle? Because I'm not Father's real son? Because I look different?"

He sighed and continued, "You have not treated me fairly and now you come here again to declare yourself heir."

Lewis looked at Henry and informed Oliver, "It is Father who has the say on that."

Oliver was clearly mad. "You will regret what you said."

He walked towards his nephew and said, "Johnson Company will be mine."

He looked at Henry once more and left the room to get his coat and cane and leave the house. Once again he failed.

Despite the departure, Lewis was left with more weight on his chest instead of relief.

"Foolish brother, wasting his time visiting us for that," said Henry.

"I should go upstairs," Lewis told Henry. "I'm tired so I need to rest."

Henry nodded and Lewis proceeded to his room.

Lewis sat down on his bed. He looked at the window thinking of what happened earlier.

His father chose him as the heir of the Johnson Omnibus Transport Company. It was something he was entitled to ever since he came to London. Thanks to Henry, Lewis was able to acquire knowledge about business in addition to formal schooling.

He was fine with it. But it was not something he really wanted to do.

All he really wanted is to write stories that could entertain and inspire people. Until now, he still was not ready to succeed his father. But then he thought, "What choice do I have?"

He thought that it was rightful to fulfill his father's wish since he was able to go this far in life thanks to him.

That put him under pressure. In addition, his uncle Oliver was repeatedly bothering both him and Henry. Which was why his chest was left with more weight.

After his deep thinking, Lewis took a nap, getting ready to rescue Beatrice tomorrow night.