Chapter 100 The Smith Family Arranged a Blind Date for Him
The begging man refused to admit anything.
Two bodyguards stepped forward, their spiked clubs falling with muffled groans until the sound of cracking bones could be heard.
The man was nearly beaten to a pulp, yet he stubbornly refused to say anything.
"Leroy Parker, how many years have you been at the Rivera Villa?"
The named Leroy's voice trembled: "E-eight years."
Leroy was the son of the Smith family's driver and servant. He was smart and came from a trusted background.
He lived up to expectations, climbing his way up to become Duke's right-hand man, and had sent back plenty of information about the Rivera family.
Every piece of information was accurate, which never raised any doubts about his loyalty.
"Eight years, that's quite a long time. Long enough for your child to turn three, but your parents still don't know, do they?"
William's calm yet cold words pierced straight into his heart like a sharp knife.
He trembled like a leaf, yet still tried to stay composed, gritting his teeth and insisting, "Mr. Smith, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even have a girlfriend, how could I have a child?"
William: "Is that so?"
As soon as William finished speaking, a phone appeared in front of Leroy. Seeing the bound child on the screen, his pupils dilated to the extreme.
He quickly looked up at the person in the corner, kowtowing until his forehead bled.
"Mr. Smith, I was wrong, I was wrong!"
"I'll do whatever you ask, just please spare my innocent son!"
William remained half-hidden in the dark corner, his posture as lazy as a sleeping lion, but his whole body radiated a cold, bloodthirsty chill.
William said nothing, but the fear in Leroy's heart kept building.
The moment William stood up, Leroy seemed to see his three-year-old child dying before his eyes. He tried to crawl closer on his knees but was held down firmly by the bodyguards' hands on his shoulders.
Watching William get into the car, he shouted desperately: "Vincent Roberts!"
"It's Vincent from the Roberts family in the south of the city!"
Leroy thought that by talking, his child would be spared, but instead, he watched as the child was thrown directly into the sea. He broke down in agony.
"Why! I told you everything, why are you still doing this to him!"
His answer was another blow from a club.
Someone who had been recruited under William at the same time as him held the club and sneered coldly, "Leroy, when you sold out information about Mr. Smith's wife and children to Duke, you should have known this moment would come."
Leroy's face turned ashen, his mind full of regret before he passed out.
A subordinate walked up to a man smoking outside the factory and reported, "Barry, he's passed out. What about the child?"
Barry put out his cigarette and sealed it in a bag. "Send him to his grandparents and make sure they keep their mouths shut."
"Clean everything up and call the police."
All traces in the factory were wiped clean; not even a cigarette butt or ash remained.
Only the unconscious Leroy and evidence of his crimes were left behind.
Before long, police sirens sounded.
In the back seat of the black Maybach, William's entire face was hidden in the darkness of the car. The vehicle quickly entered a quiet, deep lane and sped toward the hospital.
Inside the car, William leaned back against the leather seat with his eyes closed in thought.
Outside the window, the mottled light from the street lamps cast shadows on his refined face, as if adding a layer of indistinct fog around him.
Vincent, Raymond's grandfather.
A cunning man who, before retiring from politics, was also a formidable figure.
The Rivera family had stood firm in the gray zone for so many years because their network of connections was incredibly complex.
The shadowy figures behind them were spread across every field, from high society and powerful officials down to street thugs. One careless move and you could easily fall into their trap.
The current Rivera family, except for the fugitive Alice, were all in prison.
And the big fish he had hooked through Alice had mostly been caught by now. He hadn't expected Vincent to be pulled into this at such a critical moment.
Vincent had close ties with the Morris family in Suncrest City back in the day, and the current Roberts family still had dealings with the Morris family.
Relying on the Morris family as their backing, this person would be a bit troublesome to deal with.
Early the next morning.
Sophia came to the hospital just after dawn. As she pushed the door open, she saw a man in the living room putting on his pants.
Hearing the sound at the door, William didn't turn around. There were bodyguards at the door, so no one else could get in. He continued fastening his belt, picked up the shirt beside him, and put it on, carefully buttoning it up one button at a time.
His freshly changed clothes and pants lay on the sofa nearby.
William's hair was still wet and dripping.
After getting dressed, he sat on the sofa, picked up a towel, and dried his hair while looking at her. "What are you standing there for? Come sit down."
Sophia had a strange feeling that William seemed to have returned to the state he was in during those five years of secret marriage.
Cold and distant, as if devoid of human emotion.
She walked to the sofa farthest from him and sat down. "How's Michael?"
William: "His fever broke. He can be discharged this afternoon. If you're worried, we can keep him for a couple more days."
Sophia glanced at him speechlessly and replied, "He'll get better care at home."
William said nothing, just looked at her in silence for so long that she felt something indescribable flowing through the air.
Sophia quickly stood up and went into the hospital room to see Michael.
The child's temperature had returned to normal.
After Michael woke up and finished breakfast, Sophia stayed in the room to keep him company, while William sat on the sofa not far away, working.
"Mom, I'm sorry for making you and Dad worry."
Hearing the child's sudden apology, Sophia put down the storybook in her hand and touched his head, her eyes full of heartache.
Michael had never liked taking medicine or getting shots since he was little. Every time he got sick, he would cry and fuss the most. But this time, he actually used his own body as a bargaining chip.
"It's okay, Mom understands you meant well."
"But you can't do this again. Having a fever is really uncomfortable, and Mom, Dad, James, and Emily were all very worried about you."
Michael nodded, promising he would never do it again.
Through Michael's incident of catching a fever from the air conditioning, Sophia realized she couldn't be too resistant to William's presence.
At least in the eyes of the two children, he had always been a good father.
But after she agreed to let William into the Johnson Villa, William came less often, and even stopped picking up and dropping off the children in the morning.
Officially, he was abroad on business, but seeing the additional ring of bodyguards outside the villa, Sophia felt something else was going on.
Especially before William left, he told her to try not to go out during this time, and especially not to go out with Raymond!
At first, she thought he was jealous, but there was no jealousy in those eyes, more like gravity.
An invisible sense of tension permeated the area around the Johnson Villa.
Sophia stood behind the sheer curtains of the study window, looking at the black cars not far below, lost in thought.
Sophia called Monkey and asked him to find out what was happening at Peace Group. Before long, she learned an unexpected piece of news.
The Smith family had arranged a blind date for William.