"They're just waiting for the right moment!"
"It's you who's waiting for the right moment, isn't it?" Capone stood up, trying to stop Sophia as she ran toward Cronus, but it was too late. Cronus had already grabbed Sophia's wrist. "Isn't that right, Cronus? The one who most wants to see my complete downfall is you. That's why you incited the old guys to hold an emergency shareholders' meeting to impeach me, got the cops to raid us, burned down Mesha's house, and orchestrated Zoey's disappearance. It was all to scatter all my usable forces, isolate me, and then strike me down in one fell swoop. Am I wrong?"
Sophia was shocked. She turned back to look at Cronus, hoping for a denial or an explanation. But what she saw was a smile—one of relief, yet cruel. She had never seen him smile like that before. Cronus, like Capone, someone who didn't understand what happiness truly was, looked utterly satisfied at that moment, as if all his wishes had come true!
It couldn't exactly be called happiness, but it was as if this was the moment he had been waiting for his entire life.
"Dr. Cronus… How could it be you?"
Cronus had already pulled her in front of him, positioning her between him and Capone. Both of them now held guns in their hands. Cronus pointed his gun at Capone, while Capone refrained from aiming back, likely because of Sophia, not wanting to take the risk.
"When did you find out?" Cronus' cruel smile still lingered on his face, but it didn't diminish the fact that he was still a handsome man. His fair, slender hands, once used for wielding a scalpel to save lives, now clutched a fully loaded gun—a stark contrast.
Capone didn't seem flustered. He calmly said, "I started suspecting you the last time Lucas took us hostage. The time, place, and names involved in the Diaz family sending people to pick up Sophia Diaz were only finalized with me in person over the phone. For Lucas to impersonate them so quickly, there had to be an insider tipping him off. At that time, the only people around me were you, Diana, and Mandy, so the circle was small, but I still couldn't be sure. Then came this emergency shareholders' meeting. It was triggered when the Diaz family suddenly turned openly hostile toward me. I figured either they found out about my feelings for this girl, knowing I wouldn't harm her, or they were misled by an inside source, thinking I was torturing her even more, and were ready to go all out against me. You and Diana have never been too interested in company affairs, yet at this meeting, you were overly active. Plus, Directors Sun and Li's branch companies each hold 3% of IDGM's shares, and both branches are 67% controlled by you and Diana. So, the seats of those two directors could actually be replaced by you and Diana, just waiting for the vote at this meeting to oust me. Of course, that's assuming the Diaz family wouldn't side with me!"
"Spot on, Capone! As expected, you saw right through me! Yes, I admit I rushed these last two steps, but it doesn't matter as long as the goal is achieved. But why didn't you suspect Diana?"
"Diana couldn't persuade you to orchestrate all this using her assets, but you were able to persuade her. Because she likes you, and feelings are sometimes blind!"
Cronus let out a disdainful laugh, and Sophia's heart clenched tightly at the words.
How would Diana feel if she knew he had used her feelings like this?
"And what about Lucas? He's your biggest enemy, isn't he?"
"You two teamed up, didn't you? You're not friends, but there's a mutual exchange of interests. The goal was to destroy me and IDGM Capital. Afterward, he'd take the company's profits, and you'd take my life!"
Cronus smiled, "You figured that out too?"
Capone clenched his fists. "Because you burned down Mesha's house, and everyone knows that it belonged to my mother! Lucas wanted to attack me, but he always had respect for my mother. Even when it came to moving her grave, he never destroyed anything. But that fire... You hate me, you hate my family, you hate everything the Franklin family built. I just want to ask—why?"
"You want to know why?" Cronus gritted his teeth, and a burning hatred flickered in his eyes. "You criminals have committed countless atrocities, killing without remorse, and you dare to ask why? My father was an undercover cop. When his mission was almost complete, his identity was exposed. They broke his arms and legs, slit his throat, and threw his body into the sea. And that wasn't enough—Henry also wiped out the rest of my family. My mother changed my name and sent me to live with relatives to protect me. We escaped by the skin of our teeth. But they still found them later and took my sister… she wasn't even of age! I joined you people to find out what happened to her. Of course, the most dangerous place is also the safest. I've been waiting for the day I could take my revenge!"
Cronus' hand, holding the gun, trembled slightly. His arm wrapped around Sophia's shoulder and neck—not painfully, but she could feel his grip tighten as his emotions surged.
She saw Capone's grip on his gun tighten, and then she heard him say, "Then why didn't you just become a cop? I thought the ones infiltrating us were usually police officers!"
They never liked dealing with cops, unless absolutely necessary, and Lucas was no exception. So back when Sophia was kidnapped and the police came raiding, it should've been clear it wasn't Lucas' doing—it was Cronus, his partner.
A two-pronged attack, leaving him with nowhere to run.
Cronus raised the barrel of his gun a little higher, pointing it directly at Capone's head. "I'm not interested in being a cop. I'm more interested in revenge!"
What's the point of becoming a cop? Like my father, would I really be able to uphold so-called justice?
All I want is to use every available resource to crush the Franklin family and throw Capone in prison!
Henry must be rolling in his grave, knowing his son and everything he built were ultimately destroyed by his enemies!
Capone raised an eyebrow. "Our grudge, whatever it is, has nothing to do with Sophia Diaz. Let her go, and I'll turn myself in."
Sophia was shocked and was just about to speak when she felt Cronus's warm breath brush against her forehead. It was as if he had tilted his head to kiss her hair.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt her. I'm just taking her away from you. She's one of the key witnesses against you, and she's the person the Diaz family wants most. Besides… I like her. I'll make sure she's willing to be my woman. I won't treat her poorly."
"Dr. Cronus, don't do this. We're not…"
"Be good. From now on, call me Cronus. I'll take you home. Step."
His sudden tenderness was startling, and Sophia felt suffocated by his grip. She cast a pleading look toward Capone.
"You won't get past me!" Capone finally steadied his aim. "Your gun's not faster than mine, and you can't beat me. I taught you everything you know!"
"Is that so?" Cronus wasn't concerned. "What if there are ten times the number of guns and men outside? And what about Joey and Zoey? Don't you care about their safety? Or would you rather have them go to prison with you?"
Capone hesitated, and in that brief moment, several more guns were aimed at him from the door. It seemed that Mandy and his men hadn't been able to hold them off.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to your people for now. I'll leave that to the courts. Right now, I just want to take what I came for."
Capone slowly lowered his gun. Cronus struck him on the side of the face with the butt of his gun, and with Sophia's scream, Capone grunted in pain and fell to the side. Cronus kicked him hard in the chest and chin, blood spurting from Capone's mouth. Sophia turned pale, clutching Cronus's arm, begging, "Stop, Cronus, please don't hit him anymore!"
Capone struggled to endure the pain, unable to fight back. Sophia was still in Cronus's grasp, and he couldn't be sure if Cronus would hurt her.
He sluggishly propped himself up, trying to catch Sophia off guard and pull her into his arms, but the men nearby immediately swarmed him, raining down punches and kicks.
Capone deliberately avoided putting pressure on the gunshot wound that hadn't fully healed on his shoulder. Noticing this, Cronus gave a cruel smile and viciously kicked him right in the injured spot.
"Ugh…"
Sophia heard the soft groan from Capone's throat and knew it must have been from intense pain, yet Cronus didn't seem done with his brutal punishment.
"Cronus, Cronus, I'm begging you, please stop hitting him! He's going to die! If you wanted to kill him, you could have done it already—why wait until now? I don't want to see him die, please! I'll do anything you want, just don't let him die!"
Cronus halted his actions and glanced back at her, saying, "Don't worry, these punches and kicks won't kill him. Back when we practiced free fighting and grappling, getting beaten up was part of the training. It was far harsher than this, and he survived all of that. This pain is nothing."
His men continued to pummel Capone, each blow landing on his most vulnerable spots. Blood gushed from his mouth and face, some splattering onto Sophia's clothes. She felt as though her heart was being torn apart.
Cronus, still holding Sophia, started to walk away. "You're right—I shouldn't let you see this kind of scene. I'll take you somewhere else first. There are still things he needs to confirm here. If he does as I say, I'll stop tormenting him. Otherwise… well, consider it revenge for the harm he caused you before. How does that sound?"
No, no!
Sophia's heart screamed to break free from the chains of hatred Cronus was forcing on her. She wanted to shout for someone to come and save Capone!