Chapter 362: One Cannot Have Everything

Chapter 362: One Cannot Have Everything

Arabella didn't expect Daisy to suddenly ask about Philip. She had called Daisy just to ease her own anxiety.

Now listening Daisy's question, Arabella hesitated for two seconds before deciding to hide the truth. "I don't know. Alex mentioned he's on a business trip in Finland recently. Maybe the signal there is bad, or he's been too busy to get back to you."

Daisy hesitated, then said, "Arabella, to be honest, my eyelid has been twitching these past two days. I keep having this bad feeling. Do you think I'm overthinking it?"

Arabella quickly replied, "Of course you're overthinking it. Philip doesn't work in a dangerous industry. Don't worry, he'll definitely contact you when he's free."

Daisy was still worried and was about to say more when Arabella quickly said, "Daisy, I've got something to deal with. I have to go. Take care of yourself over there, and remember to come back for my wedding."

Then she hung up abruptly.

She was afraid that if she stayed on the call any longer, Daisy would notice something was off. That girl was sharp, and she worried she couldn't fool her.

Putting down her phone, Arabella let out a soft sigh. Philip, oh Philip, you must be okay. We're still waiting for you to be a bridesmaid at the wedding.

At the same time, in Finland.

Alexander stared at the email on his phone with a grim expression. He had received it that afternoon—an anonymous email.

The sender had sent a video of Philip locked in a pure white room. Philip had food and drink, his hands and feet weren't tied, and he had no visible injuries.

[Mr. FitzRoy, hello. I heard this man is a very good friend of Mrs. FitzRoy's. I want to trade his life for Anthony's life. It should be worth it to you. If you agree, contact me at this email address, and I'll let him go.]

Alexander had been sitting by the window all afternoon. He had considered many possibilities, but he never thought that Philip's misfortune was because of him and Arabella—or more precisely, because he had tried to eliminate Anthony completely, which brought this disaster upon Philip.

He didn't know how many of Anthony's remaining forces were left, much less who was behind Anthony. But someone who could kidnap Philip without a trace and leave him with no leads was clearly capable.

A tricky enemy.

If he agreed and let Anthony go, Anthony would eventually come back for revenge. When that time came, it could be a huge disaster for him and Arabella. Moreover, he still needed to investigate his grandfather's death, and the only lead was with Anthony. If he let Anthony go, his grandfather's death would remain a mystery forever.

But if he didn't agree, Philip's life was in their hands. Given how ruthless they were, they would definitely kill the hostage.

This was a difficult choice, and he hadn't even dared tell Arabella the truth.

Arabella would definitely choose to save Philip without hesitation. But he had to think further ahead. Even if they saved Philip now, the road ahead would still be full of dangers.

But making the decision to abandon Philip wasn't easy either.

He had been struggling all afternoon and still couldn't make up his mind.

Philip was a very important friend to Arabella. Once Arabella found out he hadn't done his best to save Philip, she would definitely blame him, and their relationship might become strained.

After much consideration, Alexander ultimately couldn't bring himself to be that heartless. He handed his phone to Moris and instructed, "Reply to them and say we agree. First, see how they react, and see if we can draw them out or discover any leads."

Moris nodded. "Yes, Mr. FitzRoy."

Alexander thought for a moment, then continued, "Send more people to watch over my grandmother and Arabella. Oh, and Becky too. Contact Flora and have her leave Star Creation with her team as soon as possible."

Moris was startled. "Mr. FitzRoy, do you suspect Anthony and whoever's behind him will target our people?"

Alexander shook his head. "Just as a precaution. They were able to capture Philip to negotiate with us. To increase their leverage, they might not hesitate to target others. After all, the more leverage they have, the more they can control us."

So he was preemptively protecting the most important people.

As for Flora, he already suspected that Star Creation might be connected to whoever was behind Anthony. From the beginning, Star Creation had targeted Clara, dragged Daniel into it, and lured Arabella there to sign a contract—perhaps all to collect leverage in another way.

But he had blocked Arabella's contract and cleaned up the traces thoroughly. They couldn't find any way to manipulate it. After realizing he suspected them, they hadn't approached Arabella again.

But Flora was still there.

Although they hadn't discovered Flora's identity yet, once they did, she will be in trouble.

So he had to get Flora out first.

There was no point in investigating Star Creation further. Unless they found out who was behind Anthony, it would be very difficult to discover anything.

Moris understood Alexander's meaning and respectfully said, "I'll arrange it right away."

Arabella felt something was strange today. Usually, Roy would pick her up and drop her off for work, but today there were two men wearing gold-rimmed glasses sitting in the car. Roy introduced them: "Mrs. FitzRoy, these are staff members Mr. FitzRoy has arranged for your department. They're very capable and can share your workload so you can have an easier time during your pregnancy."

Arabella asked in confusion, "But he didn't tell me about this. Besides, I don't have much work. I don't work overtime anymore, I leave on time every day, and I have weekends off. I'm not tired."

Roy smiled and said, "Maybe Mr. FitzRoy forgot to mention it to you. Mr. FitzRoy cares about you very much. These two went through the normal hiring process. You don't need to feel burdened."

Arabella could only nod and decided to ask Alexander about it when she got home that evening.

At the same time, Becky looked at the two men in the car when the driver came to pick her up, also confused.

The driver told her, "These two are teachers who passed interviews a few days ago and joined your class. This one with glasses is your ELA teacher, and the one with the guitar is your music teacher. They're both people Mr. FitzRoy arranged to protect you at school."

Becky didn't quite understand. "Am I in danger?"

Considering Becky's intelligence and ability to understand, Alexander had told the driver he could reveal some details to her. So the driver said frankly, "Mr. FitzRoy has run into some trouble recently. He's worried the other side might target you all to control him, so as a precaution, he's arranged people to protect you and Mrs. FitzRoy. As for Mrs. FitzRoy... Mr. FitzRoy is afraid she'll worry too much during her pregnancy, so he hasn't told her the truth. He hopes you can keep this secret for him too."

Becky nodded. "I understand."

Since learning about Mr. FitzRoy's identity, she understood what kind of situation she was in, so she accepted it easily.

The driver glanced at her in surprise, not expecting her to accept it so easily. Since they usually chatted during school runs and had become familiar, the driver couldn't help asking, "Don't you feel monitored or restricted?"

Becky asked back strangely, "Why would I feel that way? Mr. FitzRoy doesn't have people watching me all the time. He only arranged protection because there's danger now. Being watched is a bit uncomfortable, but if it weren't for Mr. FitzRoy, I'd still be suffering in the countryside. How could I have the good life I have now? There are too few perfect things in life. People can't have everything they want, right?"