Chereads / Insta Empire / Chapter 20 - Chapter 20. Reverse Polarity

Chapter 20 - Chapter 20. Reverse Polarity

Since Dorothy didn't close the door behind her when she walked out, Bradley and Kevin could see them walk to safety…and leave Kevin behind. Inside the house, Bradley mocked his hostage, "Ha! Well Kevin, it looks like we can finally see just how much Lily's family really cares about you." "We've never really been that close." Kevin answered calmly. To him, the most important thing was that Lily was safe now. "Yeah. I'm sure you don't care what they think." Bradley said sarcastically. But Kevin didn't care what Bradley thought, or even what the Joneses thought. He decided to push things a little further and asked, "Aren't you curious why Williams Media suddenly pulled its support? They even withdrew all the funds that were invested in your project." "How did you know that?" Bradley asked. Bradley had never told anyone that he was backed by Williams Media. And almost nobody knew that they'd pulled out. Even Dorothy and Lily only found out when he told them about it a little while ago. But how did Kevin, this nobody, know so much about his business? Kevin smirked and asked him, "Did someone at Williams Media tell you that you'd offended someone? I'll bet you don't even know who it was." "How the hell would you know?" Bradley was pissed. The knife shook a little in his hand as he took this information in. Meanwhile, out in the street, a police officer suddenly ran up to Officer Emmett. The concern showed in his voice as he gave her the update: "Ma'am, according to the observer's report, the hostage just said something that seems to have really upset the suspect." "Are there any further details? What are they doing now?" Emmett said. She was exhausted by the whole ordeal, especially trying to get cooperation from the Jones family, but she was trained to keep herself together and be patient. Just as she was about to give the order for the sniper to take a shot as soon as he had a clear line of sight on the kidnapper, another officer ran up to her. With a puzzled look on his face, he reported: "Ma'am, for some unknown reason, the kidnapper suddenly knelt down in front of the hostage." "What did you say?" Officer Emmett was obviously shocked at this development. She quickly walked to the vantage point across the street from the house and took a pair of binoculars from one of the SWAT team members. She definitely saw Bradley kneeling in front of Kevin. Then Bradley threw his knife on the floor. "What the hell is going on?" Emmett couldn't help but ask. Nobody could have predicted this outcome. It was the first time that any of them had ever seen a kidnapper kneel in front of their hostage. Of course, none of them could possibly know that Kevin had just revealed his true identity to Bradley. At first, Bradley didn't believe it. He thought that Kevin was just a bum. How could he be related to the family that owned Williams Media? But when Kevin took out his phone and showed Bradley his bank balance, he believed him, Bradley was overwhelmed. It was like his whole world had turned upside down. He would never have believed that the person Williams Media said he had offended was Kevin, the most useless person he knew, or so he thought. Sobbing uncontrollably, Bradley hugged Kevin's leg and said, "Please, sir, I beg you to let me go. This was all my fault." Kevin thought for a moment. "Bradley, as long as you sincerely admit your mistake, I can let you go. But don't forget that you've broken the law. Even if I forgive you, all those police out in the street won't be so generous. " "That's fine with me, Mr. Williams. After all, nobody really got hurt" Bradley blubbered. To him, Kevin was much more terrifying than the police waiting for him outside. As long as Kevin was serious about letting him go, then maybe he could return to his former life after he got out of prison. At least he'd have a chance. Kevin said firmly, "Alright, you can go outside and surrender. After you get out of prison, if I never see your face again, then I won't press charges." What did Kevin care happened to Bradley now? Then Kevin pushed him aside, and walked out of the front door. With a curious expression on her face, Emmett walked up to Kevin and asked, "Are you hurt, sir?" . "Thank you for your concern. I'm fine." Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "If there's nothing more, I'd like to leave." Emmett would have liked nothing better after this strange event, but there was always paperwork to do. "I'd like you to go back to the station with us first to make a statement. Do you have time right now?" "I'm sorry," he replied, "but I still have some things to do, so it isn't convenient for me at the moment." "Alright then. Please give me your phone number. I'll contact you if we need any further information for this case." As Emmett said this, she took out her phone and opened her contact list. Just as Emmett was about to say something else, Bradley was brought out of his house by a group of officers in bulletproof vests. He was in handcuffs and tried his best to avoid having his face filmed by the news crews that had set up in his neighbor's yard. Kevin turned around and walked away. He had already made up his mind to never go back to the Jones family. He would buy a place closer to his office. Suddenly, a line of limousines pulled up along the curb. Cook quickly got out of the lead car and gave Kevin a warm handshake and a pat on the shoulder. "Kevin, I've been looking for you for hours! Are you alright?" "Let's get out of here and I'll tell you all about it." Kevin said as he followed Cook to his limo. Emmett watched all of this and took a mental note. Of course, she knew what kind of person Mitchell Cook was. Even the chief of police had to be polite to him. But Cook practically gave Kevin a hug. "Just who is this Kevin Williams anyway?" Emmett wondered. * A little while later, Cook was in his office at the Witsler Hotel. Drake was standing contritely in front of Kevin. You could see beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead. Cook spoke first: "I hope you can forgive me, Mr. Williams. It's my fault that Drake offended you." Then he walked over to Drake and gave him a patronizing pat on the cheek. "What do you have to say for yourself, Drake?" "I had no idea who you were, Mr. Williams, but I do now. Please let me go. I'll do anything you want to make it up to you." Drake was actually trembling with fear. Kevin thought for a moment and then realized that Drake could be of some use to him. "Sure. I'll let you go. But I'll just ask for one thing in return. You're going to keep an eye on Jason Jones for me from now on." "Thank you, Sir." Drake was grateful, but Kevin didn't say anything more to him. He didn't even bother to look at him. Then Kevin looked at Cook and said, "Thanks for setting up this little get–together. I have something to take care of, so I can't hang around. Give me a call so we can finish that lunch that got interrupted." * A couple of days later, Kevin went to a real estate agent down by the Loop in downtown Chicago. With his sleeve, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was a hot day and he couldn't feel any breeze from the lake to help cool him off. "Damn, it took me two hours to get here," Kevin muttered to himself as he walked into the reception area. "Hello, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?" A staff member asked as she walked up to greet him. Kevin scratched his chin and said hesitantly, "Um. I'm looking for a condo." "I'm sorry, but we're on a break right now. The listings are over here in this corner. Feel free to take a look." As usual, Kevin had dressed down, so he didn't look like he could afford much of anything. They sized him up and decided not to waste any time with him. After all, the lowest price condo they had available was a studio for about three hundred thousand dollars. There's no way this guy could afford even that. "On a break?" Kevin thought to himself. "Then why even let him in the door?" The agent repeated, "I'm sorry, sir. We're really on a break right now. Our lowest offering is three hundred thousand. If there's nothing else we can do for you, please show yourself out." She really wasn't interested in helping him at all, was she? The agent had already made up her mind that Kevin was probably working on the construction site down the street. He just came in to look around and enjoy the air conditioning. At least that's what she assumed. At that moment, two people walked up. Kevin was startled to see them and it showed on his face. "Kevin, what are you doing here?" Lily asked. She sounded a little embarrassed. Kevin didn't answer her question. He just looked at the man standing next to her. "What's this?" Kevin thought to himself. " I've only been gone for two days, and you can't wait to start looking for a new husband?" The man with Lily suddenly blurted out, "Lily, what did you just say? This is Kevin? That useless ex-husband of yours?" This was Garrett Butcher, the perfect son-in-law Dorothy had just found for Lily. When the real estate agent saw Garrett, she immediately walked up to him with a flattering smile. "Why, Mr. Butcher, what brings you in today? " The enthusiasm she showed was the exact opposite of the indifference and impatience she had just shown when speaking to Kevin. "I just took my fiancée to take a look at the home you recommended. Please go back to what you were doing. We'll just browse some more listings." Garrett said with a smile. The agent thanked him and smiled. Then she turned around and said to Kevin, "Why are you still here? Please leave or I'll ask security to show you out. " But Kevin didn't pay any attention to her. He just kept staring at Lily. "Kevin, please understand. It's my mother." As Lily's voice trailed off, she turned her head away. "Oh. Now I understand." Kevin was relieved to find out that this was Dorothy's idea, not Lily's. Then Garrett turned to speak to the agent. "How can you let someone like this in here? He's smelling up the place." "I'm very sorry, Mr. Butcher. I already asked him to leave, but he just won't listen to me." The agent was getting more and more irritated at Kevin. Because of him, she had just been scolded by her manager. Just as she was about to call the security guards to make Kevin leave, Garrett reached out to stop her. Then Garrett had a thought. He could use Kevin to show Lily how successful he was. That was sure to raise him up a notch or two in her eyes. "You're Kevin Williams, aren't you? Aunt Dorothy told me about your situation. You and Lily were married for about three years, weren't you?" Garrett didn't care if he pushed some of Kevin's buttons. He wanted to look assertive. "What business is it of yours? She's still my wife!" Kevin answered. He was pretty ticked off at this nonsense. "You've really got some nerve!" Garrett shot back. "Aunt Dorothy told me that she would let Lily divorce you as soon as possible. So from now on, please don't interfere in her life. I'll take good care of her." Kevin shook his head. What the heck was this? He and Lily hadn't even gotten a divorce yet. "What did he say to you?" Garrett turned around and asked the agent. "He said he wanted to buy a condo," she answered. Then she gave Kevin a sour look. "Buy a condo?" Garrett laughed. "I hate to tell you this, but we sell high-end real estate here. Do you think you'd even qualify for a mortgage?" "Well, I don't think that's really up to you." Kevin retorted. "Are you in charge here?" "Yes." Garrett said as he straightened his tie. "I'm the manager." "That's nice." Kevin took a good look at Garrett and pulled his phone out of his pocket to make a call. Just then, Rachel suddenly walked up to them. "Why, Lily, what are you doing here?" "Rachel! What a coincidence." However, Lily was in a pretty bad mood and she wasn't up for any small talk, even with Rachel. "I came here." Rachel didn't even finish what she was saying when she saw Kevin making a call on his phone. Her expression immediately changed. "Kevin! How ya doing, boss?" Kevin gave Rachel a slight nod and turned his back on the group to continue his call. "Lily, who's this?" Garrett asked. "This is my best friend, Rachel." Lily replied faintly. Rachel added, as she smiled and held onto Lily's arm, "We're like sisters!" Garrett seemed to understand now. "So you're Lily's sister. I'm the manager. You're here to tour the property, right?" Garrett smiled and reached out to shake her hand. "I'm Lily's boyfriend. Aunt Dorothy introduced us to each other. Since we'll be married soon, I guess I'll be your brother-in-law from now on. Take a look around. If there's a place that you like, I can give you a family discount." Garrett made sure that he looked over at Kevin proudly, like he was saying, "See? You don't stand a chance against me." He wasn't ready for Rachel's response, though. She shouted at him, "Who do you think you are? You don't deserve someone as nice as Lily. And my only brother-in-law is Kevin. Who the hell are you?" In shock over her best friend's sudden shift, Lily wondered what had changed Rachel''s opinion of Kevin.