A pilot was flying a helicopter to pick up Kade, and he could already see the Bellamy Corp building not too far ahead. But before landing on the helipad, he needed to check if the light signal, as instructed, was visible. After waiting a few seconds, the pilot saw the light flash three times on the helipad. That was the code.
Finally, the pilot began preparing to land on the helipad. Before landing, he could vaguely see Kade standing at the edge of the helipad, wearing his black jacket and cap. He looked exactly as described.
After smoothly landing the helicopter on the helipad, Kade opened the rear door from the outside. The pilot didn't look at Kade as he entered the helicopter. He was just about to contact his team to confirm that he had successfully picked up Kade.
"Hold on, Kade, I need to report that I've picked you up," the pilot said. But suddenly, the pilot felt something hard pressed against his temple. He held his breath and froze, then glanced sideways. Sure enough, a gun was pointed at him.
"Follow my orders if you don't want your head blown off," a man's voice said, but it wasn't Kade's voice.
"Just report that you've picked up Kade. That's what you were about to do, right?" Raul asked casually, still holding the gun to the pilot's temple.
"Where's Kade? Why are you wearing his jacket and cap?" the pilot asked immediately. Raul had deliberately worn Kade's jacket and cap to deceive the pilot.
"Relax, he's still alive. I need him alive. How about you think about your own life?" Raul reminded him, the gun still pressed to the pilot's head.
The pilot finally complied, reporting that he had successfully picked up Kade. After the pilot ended the call, he heard Kade's footsteps approaching.
"Am I going to die? Tell me, am I going to die?" Kade asked hysterically. Kade was wearing Raul's clothes, his hands handcuffed, and Starley was holding Kade's handcuffed hands from behind, with a gun pressed to Kade's back.
Starley rolled her eyes and said, "It would be so easy to shoot you right now," while pressing the gun into Kade's back.
"Don't! Please, don't! Mommy, help me!" Kade cried out hysterically. Starley couldn't believe the person who dared to burn down Bellamy Corp was this kind of man. Kade had been crying nonstop, constantly calling for his mother. Starley didn't know if Kade was acting or if he was really that much of a coward.
Kade and Starley boarded the helicopter. The pilot sighed heavily; their escape mission had failed because of Kade, the idiot. Starley and Kade sat in the back while Raul sat in the seat next to the pilot, still pointing a gun at him. Now, the pilot could see the face of the man holding the gun to him.
Raul Blackwell.
Damn, thought the pilot. He was unlucky to have been assigned to pick up Kade. No one dared to mess with Raul because once you became Raul's target, you could be chased to the ends of the earth. There would be no safe place if you were a target of Raul Blackwell.
"Let's go," Raul ordered the pilot. The pilot, an ordinary pilot with self-defense skills far below Raul's, could only follow Raul's orders to save his life. The helicopter began to take off from the helipad.
"Where are we going?" the pilot asked.
"To my mansion," Raul replied.
.
.
.
It only took a few minutes for the helicopter to reach Raul's mansion. Before landing at the Bellamy Corp helipad, Raul had already called Josè, informing him that he would bring the hostage to the mansion. He instructed Josè to prepare everything.
After the helicopter landed safely at the mansion's helipad, security forces from B.I.A, who had been on standby before the helicopter landed, immediately surrounded the helicopter once the engine shut off.
Josè opened the helicopter's back door. The first people he saw were Starley and Kade, whose eyes were wet—the B.I.A security force quickly handcuffed the pilot's hands and escorted both the pilot and Kade to the mansion's underground prison.
Raul's mansion had a highly secured underground area used to store weapons, tools, and classified documents and even serve as a detention center.
Once the security forces had taken the prisoners away, Raul and Starley exited the helicopter. Josè was already waiting for Raul. He bowed slightly to greet his boss, then said, "Everything is ready. The interrogation can begin now."
Raul nodded and said, "I'll go there soon."
Josè then bowed again and left Raul and Starley alone.
"I want to join the interrogation," Starley said immediately.
"You can't. Interrogating people like them isn't something you do gently."
"It looks like one of them is a coward. A little intimidation should get him to talk," Starley replied.
"Not necessarily," Raul responded. He stared at Starley momentarily, then asked, "Are you hurt?" After Raul asked that, for some reason, a warm feeling filled Starley.
"I'm fine, how about you? You broke through the fire earlier," Starley asked in return. Starley noticed Raul's gaze soften a little. Or maybe it was just Starley's imagination.
"I'm fine too," Raul replied. After that, there was a brief silence for a few seconds before Raul added, "Tonight, sleep at my place."
"I'm not talking about the past, am I? I'm just stating that it's not the first time I've put you to bed," Raul replied. Slowly, Starley's face turned red, and she looked so sweet like this. Raul felt like he could devour the woman in front of him. But Starley just glared at Raul and said, "What do you mean, sleep? I don't want to sleep," Starley answered. Raul raised an eyebrow when he heard Starley's response, then asked, "Or do you want me to make you sleep?"
Raul's words made Starley glare at him warily. Starley's cute reaction made it hard for Raul not to tease her.
"Why? It's not the first time we've done that, cupcake," Raul teased, wanting to see Starley's reaction. He remembered every detail vividly, recalling how wonderful those times had been. Starley's eyes grew wider as she glared at him.
"You were the one who said we wouldn't talk about the past," Starley reminded Raul.
"I'm not talking about the past, am I? I'm just stating that it's not the first time I've put you to bed," Raul replied. Slowly, Starley's face turned red, and she looked so sweet like this. Raul felt like he could devour the woman in front of him. But Starley just glared at Raul and said,
"Show me where my room is!"
Raul held back his smile because this stubborn woman had finally admitted defeat. After that, Raul led Starley to a room where she could sleep that night. The room was located on the second floor of the mansion. When they reached the room, Starley immediately turned to look at Raul.
"Why did you bring me to your room?" Starley asked, confused. Starley knew this was Raul's room because she had stayed in this room before. The room hadn't changed much; it was the main bedroom of the mansion. It was very spacious and minimalist, with large windows that filled the room, offering a view of Chicago at night.
"Because this is the best room in the mansion," Raul replied. Then, not long after, Raul's phone rang. But he didn't answer the call.
"Just sleep here. I'll go to the basement first," Raul said. Without waiting for Starley's response, he left.
Starley didn't have time to tell Raul she wanted to be placed in a different room. She sighed and eventually closed Raul's room door, then looked around. This room truly brought back memories of the past. Starley shook her head. Raul couldn't have any other intentions when he brought her to his room.
Starley had to focus on something more substantial. Then, Starley remembered the mysterious letter she had taken from Lia's room. She pulled the letter from her pocket. She hadn't had a chance to read it when the fire broke out. This may be the right time to read it. Starley looked at the letter in her hands.
The envelope was black, with no sender's name, only the words "This letter is for Starley Bellamy," and a threat that she must reply before the afternoon. Starley immediately opened the envelope and read its contents, word by word.
"I know a secret about your family that you don't know. If you help me, I can tell you. At 6:00 PM, one of my men, Kade, will be waiting for your reply in the lobby of Bellamy Corp. He will be wearing a black jacket and black hat. Bellamy Corp will be burned if there is no reply by 6:30 PM."
Starley furrowed her brows after reading the contents of the letter. A secret about the Bellamy family that Starley didn't know? Was this just nonsense to trap her? Or did the sender know something? Starley's head started to feel dizzy now.
…