Chapter 232

Chapter 232

Amelia's round eyes filled with tears, and the sight made Olivia's heart ache.

She pressed Amelia's head against her chest, gently patting her head a couple of times, and said softly, "Amelia, only when you and Nora are safe can we feel at ease."

Olivia looked past Amelia to Nora and asked, "Nora, you're more mature than Amelia. You understand what Mom means, right?"

Nora pressed her lips together a few times, finally dropping her head and grabbing Amelia's arm to pull her back into the car.

The two little girls sat side by side, both with red eyes.

Nora held Amelia down and nodded seriously at Olivia, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll take care of Amelia."

Though their faces were nearly identical, their expressions were completely different.

Amelia's nose and eyes were all red, crying pitifully like a child who had suffered great injustice.

Nora's lips were pressed into a tight line, the determination in her eyes already resembling Michael's by seventy or eighty percent.

Olivia looked over both little girls, tugged at the corners of her mouth, and forced out a comforting smile.

To keep these two little angels safe and sound by her side, any price was worth paying.

The car door slowly closed, and the two children could no longer hold back—tears streamed down their faces.

Olivia couldn't bear to watch anymore. She turned around, showing them her back, and waved her hand a few times.

Only when the car lights gradually faded into the distance and finally disappeared did she dare to turn around.

The convoy had completely vanished into the night, leaving no trace.

With the dark web people protecting them, they would surely be safe and sound.

Thinking this, Olivia let out a long breath and turned to walk into the villa.

She went around the back garden, and as she entered the front hall, she caught sight of a figure flashing through the darkness.

Olivia's heart sank, and she pressed herself against the wall.

The figure crept from downstairs all the way up to the third floor, heading straight for Michael's study.

Olivia followed closely behind, stopping at the corner on the second floor.

From her angle, she had a perfect view of the scene at the study door on the third floor.

She saw the person crouching in front of the study door, holding a dim flashlight in their mouth, wearing white gloves, quickly entering a password and opening the study door.

Olivia wanted to follow, but then she saw the person step one foot into the study, press their right hand against their earlobe a few times, and speak in a low voice, "Don't worry, within ten minutes, that video will leak directly from Michael's computer. There's no way he can clear his name then."

Perhaps because the villa was too quiet, Olivia could even clearly hear that the person on the other end of the call was Aaron: "Good, I've made all the preparations. Once the video is released, I'll immediately push it across the entire network so he won't have any chance to react."

"Remember, after this is done, I want half," the man in white gloves said, then lowered his right hand. The blue light in his earpiece flashed and went out.

It seemed Michael had guessed right—Aaron really did have something that could destroy the Johnson family in one fell swoop.

This video absolutely could not be released.

It was too late now to go to the study to stop him.

Olivia thought for a few seconds, then turned and crept outside the villa. She went around the front yard corridor and came to the electrical box by the side wall.

She opened the electrical box and used the backup scissors inside to cut through all the wires in one stroke.

All the light strips in the villa garden went out, and the entire villa was plunged into pitch-black darkness.

Olivia waited against the wall. After a few seconds, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs inside the villa.

It was probably the person from the study coming out to check the electrical system.

This person had an unusual relationship with Aaron. If she could catch him, he could serve as a witness.

With this thought, Olivia took out the backup scissors from the electrical box, turned around, and hid in the nearby bushes.

The man soon came to the electrical box, shining his flashlight as he opened the cover.

Without giving him a chance to inspect it carefully, Olivia grabbed the scissors and pointed the tip at his waist, saying in a deep voice, "Don't move."

The man was startled by the voice behind him. His hands froze, and there was some nervousness in his voice: "Who are you?"

Olivia didn't answer. She patted him down and pulled out a black nylon rope from his bag: "Put your hands behind your back."

Unable to tell what was pressed against his waist, the man could only obey, crossing his hands behind his back.

Olivia held his hands and clumsily tied them together.

"First time?" the man asked.

Olivia tightened the rope, gave him a push, and demanded coldly, "Where's the video?"

Hearing this, the man froze for a moment, seemingly unable to believe it: "How did you know I have a video?"

Olivia didn't answer him. She grabbed his bag, dumped everything on the ground, held the scissors pointed at his waist with one hand, crouched behind him, and rummaged through the items on the ground with her other hand.

Inside were all electronic devices, including several USB drives.

Olivia couldn't tell which USB drive contained the video he planned to send, so she simply put everything back in the bag and slung it over her own shoulder.

"Are you one of Michael's people?" the man asked quietly.

"You don't know yet, do you? This afternoon there was internal conflict at the Johnson Group. Michael will soon no longer be the president of the Johnson Group."

"If you work for him now, you'll get nothing in the future. You might as well switch sides early. I can put in a good word for you with the next person in power at the Johnson family."

As he spoke, he shifted his body.

Olivia quickly gripped the scissors and pushed forward: "Don't move."

Just then, a car drove past outside the villa.

The headlights shone on them both, and the man saw at a glance that what was pressed against his waist was just a pair of scissors.

He cursed under his breath, then turned around and snatched the scissors from Olivia's hand, grabbed her arm, and yanked her forward hard.

Olivia cried out in pain, stumbled forward, and instinctively let out a sharp scream.

The piercing sound reached Michael's ears as he had just gotten out of his car.

His steps instantly stopped, and he turned to ask Byron, "Did you hear that?"

Byron looked tense, glanced around, and nodded slightly: "It sounded like Ms. Smith."

A wave of unease rose in Michael's heart: "Let's go in and check."

Byron responded and headed toward the villa.

Michael took out his phone and called Olivia.

After a few seconds of silence, the phone actually rang inside the villa.

In the pitch-black courtyard, that beam of white light was particularly glaring.

Just as glaring as the light was the person behind Olivia.

The man had one arm around Olivia's neck, holding scissors in his hand with the tip pointed at her artery, slowly emerging from the edge of the side wall.

As the man came closer, Michael recognized him—it was Charlie, one of Liam's trusted subordinates from years ago.

He had followed Liam around for many years, but suddenly disappeared three years ago.

Liam had publicly claimed he had gone back to his hometown to recover from illness.

Michael had sent people to investigate. Charlie had only stayed in his hometown for three months before leaving again, and had been missing ever since.

He never expected that Charlie would reappear under such circumstances.