Chapter 394

Chapter 394

But Robert stared at that door—so thoughtfully closed—with utter despair in his eyes. Now he couldn't even run if he wanted to.

I slammed Robert's head down toward the desk, my voice ice-cold as I demanded, "Where's James? Where is he?"

"If anything happens to him, you'll die a miserable death."

Robert was still playing dumb with me. He stiffened his neck. "Alice, I don't know what you're talking about. Isn't James away on a business trip?"

"Don't play innocent with me. The fact that you hid the family of the housekeeper who used to care for my mom proves you know exactly what you've done. And now you're trying to control my brother to use him against me. You think I don't know?"

I pressed down harder. Robert's forehead was pinned against the cold desk, and he howled in pain. "What housekeeper? What do you mean 'use him against you'? I really don't understand. James just went on a business trip! Did something happen? Is James in trouble? Alice, why don't you explain instead of attacking me like this?"

"After all... after all, I'm still your father."

Robert emphasized it resentfully.

I let out a cold laugh. So Robert was going to play dumb to the end.

I released my grip. Robert, whose head had nearly been flattened, immediately straightened up, clutching his skull in agony. "That hurts! God, that hurts..."

He thought I'd let go because I believed his lies about knowing nothing. He feigned innocence as he asked, "Alice, what happened to James—"

Before Robert could finish, I grabbed him by the throat and lifted his entire body off the ground. "Your acting is pathetic."

Robert's face quickly turned an unnatural color as I squeezed.

This was the first time I'd truly tried to kill Robert. If he had to blame anyone, it was himself for daring to target James. At first, Robert tried to pry my hand away, but within seconds, his arms fell limply to his sides. He finally realized I had no intention of negotiating with him right now. I just wanted him dead.

He panicked.

Finally, he started telling the truth. "Alice, you can't do this to me. If I die, James won't survive either."

He stammered through the words.

Seeing I still hadn't let go, his eyes were practically bulging out. "I'm serious. You have to believe me."

My phone rang.

Robert's eyes lit up at the same moment, as if he'd known in advance that someone would call me right now.

Fine. I wanted to see what trick he was trying to pull.

I let go. Robert collapsed to the floor like a fish dragged onto shore, gasping for air. His face flushed red as he rubbed his neck.

I pulled out my phone. It was Emily calling.

Robert, still lying on the floor, seemed to know it was Emily, and a smile crept into his eyes.

I answered. Emily's panicked voice came through. "Alice, I—I just got a message from Robert. He said I need to save him, and that if he dies, James won't survive either. What does he mean? James... what happened to James?"

Emily was beside herself with worry, her words tumbling out incoherently. "What does Robert mean? Is he going after James? Has he lost his mind? That's his son! How can he use James to threaten us? Is he even human?"

Emily was on the verge of an emotional breakdown—exactly what Robert wanted.

He'd caught his breath. Though he still didn't have the strength to get up, he lay there with a smirk, his voice hoarse as he called out to Emily on the other end, "Emily, cursing me out won't help. I've already told you—nothing can happen to me. If something happens to me, James won't survive. If I die, he's coming with me!"

"You wouldn't dare! Touch one hair on James's head and I'll kill you!"

Emily shouted.

"Didn't I just say? As long as I'm fine, James will be fine. Calm down." Robert coughed twice.

He continued, "But if anything happens to me—if I'm injured or disabled or whatever—James will suffer the same fate. Or worse."

"No!" Emily was losing it.

"Mom, don't worry. I'll handle this. James will be fine."

I tried to calm Emily down.

She chose to trust me unconditionally. Hearing my voice, she understood that continuing to cry and shout would only give Robert satisfaction and nothing else. She quickly composed herself. "Okay. I'll leave it to you. I trust you'll take care of it. I'm hanging up now."

Emily ended the call.

I looked down at Robert on the floor.

"Alice, I'm not joking with you. If you want James to come home safe, you can't touch a hair on my head."

My expression was blank. "What makes you think you have any leverage to negotiate with me? No matter where you've hidden James, I'll find him."

"Sure, I know. You're incredibly capable—so capable it's hard to believe you're my daughter. I believe you can find James. But whether he's alive or dead when you do... that's another story."

Without hesitation, I stepped on Robert's face. "You think 'you' have the right to threaten me?"

Robert howled again. "Stop! Stop! If you keep this up, James will get the same treatment."

I let out a cold laugh. "Robert, you're going to regret kidnapping your son to control me."

I moved my foot. Robert was furious. "What did I do wrong? I just want to survive! I didn't want to kidnap James to threaten you, but what choice did I have? Do I have any other way to stay alive?"

"And whose fault is it that things came to this? What exactly did you do to Mom when she was pregnant that caused her to give birth to two unhealthy children?"

Robert went silent.

As if not saying it out loud would keep me from imagining the horrible things he'd done. Or perhaps he was afraid that if he admitted it, I'd kill him on the spot without a second thought—because my 'madness' was something he couldn't predict.

But I already had my suspicions. "Did you inject her with some kind of unknown drug? Or was it narcotics?"

Robert's eyes flickered.

So that was it.

Emily giving birth to two children with problems was entirely man-made—caused by her own husband, no less. Yet for all these years, she'd carried the blame, been mocked for having two children with defects, bringing shame to the Baker family. All of it was Robert's doing, and he'd let his wife—who'd borne him two children—endure those baseless accusations and insults for over twenty years without a shred of guilt.