Chapter 1244 - 1184: A Step Too Late

"As the saying goes, ’A father is to blame if a child is not taught well.’ His father died early, and I didn’t teach him well. If you want to hit someone, hit me instead!"

General Taylor couldn’t bear to see his little grandson being hit. He played the elderly card, thinking that considering his age, Adrian would be hesitant to lay a hand on him?

Surprisingly, Kevin didn’t dodge. He just watched Claire crying loudly, looking somewhat stunned and at a loss for what to do.

Actually, seeing her cry so much, Kevin was quite happy because he had been worried she’d end up like her parents, dead.

General Taylor, however, thought his little grandson was scared, so he embraced the boy, using his body to shield him from all of Adrian’s advances.

"Just hit him a couple of times, okay? Look, you’ve scared him."

Adrian threw his clothes back onto the bed, still fuming, and instructed Sally, "Go get me a dose of an adult tranquilizer."

"Yes, Sixth Master!"

Looking at Adrian, General Taylor could see the killer aura emanating from him. It was clear this wasn’t a man to be trifled with. "What do you intend to do?"

"Don’t you Orientans often say ’Pay back in kind’? This brat injected my daughter with an adult dose of tranquilizer, nearly killing her. Naturally, I plan to reciprocate with the same..."

Sally detested Kevin, gritting her teeth. When Adrian asked her to get it, it was clear it was not just for the dosage intended for Claire. With her deep-seated ’affection’ for Kevin, she would certainly bring back a heavily dosed one.

If by chance he accidentally died, well... it would just mean he wasn’t tough enough.

"This is madness! He’s just a child. How can you stoop to his level..."

"I’m telling you, if you don’t let me vent this anger for my daughter today, this won’t end well for you and me." Adrian made a severe statement.

Sally was very efficient, quickly returning with a syringe filled with tranquilizer. Seeing the thick syringe, General Taylor’s face went white.

They wanted the life of his precious grandson.

"Um... Let’s talk this out... I know Kevin was wrong in this matter, but he is still a child and didn’t understand what he was doing. Considering his parents are both deceased and he’s just a pitiful child, could you let him go this once?

I’m willing to apologize on his behalf... Whatever compensation you want, I’ll agree to it all." General Taylor lowered his stance, pleading for his little grandson.

Adrian gave a sinister smile, "I’ve already gone easy on him, otherwise, do you think he’d still be standing here unharmed?"

"..."

Adrian gently patted his daughter’s back, soothing the little one who had been frightened, while harboring violent thoughts against Kevin.

To think that someone dared to bully Adrian Desmond’s daughter, did they think he was dead?

"Kevin, because of you, my daughter has nightmares every night... Don’t you think you should pay for that?"

General Taylor suddenly interjected, "Aren’t you looking for your wife? I can give you a clue, how about you let Kevin go in exchange?"

General Taylor wasn’t intimidated by this Abyanabad man. With the influence of the Taylor Family, if Adrian really wanted to go head-to-head, he certainly wouldn’t gain any advantage.

But, as the saying goes, it’s not the thieves you’re afraid of robbing you, but of having you on their mind constantly.

He only had this one little grandson, and he couldn’t keep him on a leash. If this knot wasn’t untied today, and this man kept his focus on Kevin, if anything happened to Kevin, he couldn’t bear that risk.

"What do you know?" Adrian’s eyes sharpened.

"You promise me, once this is over, you’ll forget about this incident, and I will tell you what I know."

Adrian stared at Kevin, thinking for a while, then gritting his teeth he said, "Alright!"

When General Taylor came, he had already prepared for either outcome, afraid Adrian wouldn’t let his grandson go, thus using his power to investigate Sienna’s whereabouts.

"...Some time ago, the military identified a few suspicious Abyanabad men.

At first, we thought they were spies conducting espionage activities in China, but it turns out their target was your wife."

General Taylor had the orderly give Adrian the information, and Adrian, with his daughter sitting on his lap, quickly opened the documents.

"These were taken by our military satellites... Don’t bother searching domestically; they’ve already left Orienta."

Sienna was indeed with Night Owl, but she seemed to be in a continuous state of unconsciousness. It’s unclear if she too had been administered tranquilizers and sedatives.

Staring at Sienna’s sleeping face, Adrian was in a daze for a long while before snapping back to reality. He needed to determine where Sienna was so he could send out a search party.

There were only a few photos; Orienta is vast and grand, making it difficult to pinpoint a location based on a few landscapes alone.

Adrian asked, "Where is she?"

"They’ve already left Orienta from Cloud Ridge Pier..... Where they went, I do not know." General Taylor said.

Seeing Adrian looking forlorn, General Taylor shielded his little grandson and reminded him, "Don’t forget what you just promised me. What Kevin did, you need to forget about it, no underhanded schemes against Kevin.

As for medical bills or any other compensations and conditions, as long as it’s within my capability, I’ll agree to everything."

Adrian looked at General Taylor and said, "Fine, I’ll remember this! I’ll come looking for you in the future."

General Taylor: ...

Adrian stuffed the documents back into the folder, picked up his daughter, and left the room.

Kevin tried to follow, but General Taylor held him back, "You like her. When she grows up, I’ll arrange for your engagement. For now, you need to behave, or I won’t be able to protect you."

"What if someone takes her away?"

"Then I’ll just take her back for you."

Seeing the current situation, Kevin, though reluctant, nodded in agreement, realizing it wasn’t realistic to bring her back home to raise her.

...

Adrian personally went to Cloud Ridge Pier, and by the time he arrived, it was already dark. Fishing boats were returning to the port, the waves lapping against the pier, and occasionally a foghorn sounded nearby.

He stood right where Sienna was in the photos, staring into the dark, swirling sea, standing silently for a long time.

Marion and Brett Jacobs stood nearby and Marion asked worriedly, "Is Sixth Master okay?"

"Things aren’t looking good." Remembering what Adrian went through after Sienna disappeared, Brett couldn’t help but shake his head.

This was worse than last time; this time Sienna disappeared leaving behind four children.

"Wah..." Claire, asleep, suddenly cried out, probably having another nightmare. Sally gently patted her back, trying to comfort her, but to no avail.

Marion asked, "Is she hungry?"

"She had some milk just an hour ago."

Claire woke up, looking around in the darkness, her little head turning from side to side, seemingly searching for something. She whimpered and then suddenly burst out crying.

"Is she looking for her dad?" Marion asked.

Sally wrapped Claire in a small blanket and carried her out of the car as Claire continued to cry in Sally’s arms.