Chapter 377: The Devil’s Butler

[Music recommendation: AURORA - The Innocent]

.

.

Meanwhile, back in the main city, the abductors had finally managed to lose Winston’s car after a relentless chase. A concert crowd had spilled across the road, bringing traffic to a crawl and giving them the perfect opportunity to disappear into the chaos.

Inside an abandoned warehouse, Jade’s unconscious form was tied to a chair. Her petite body hung loosely against the ropes, her head lolling to one side.

Several men in suits stood guard around the room, their postures relaxed now that they were no longer expecting trouble.

One of them glanced towards Jade and spoke in a low voice. "Hey... why do you think the boss wants his own daughter brought to a dump like this instead of one of his estates?"

"Who knows?" the other replied with a shrug. "Word is the Ross family princess has a rebellious streak. The old man probably wants to break her in."

The first guard snorted. "Talk about extreme."

"Tell me about it. Rich people shit," the second muttered.

Just then, their leader entered the room, prompting the men to immediately straighten and fall silent.

"I just got off the phone with Mr. Ross," their leader announced. His cold gaze swept across the room. "He wants her kept here until he arrives. Stay vigilant."

"Yes, boss," the men replied in unison.

The first man hesitated before asking, "How long will Mr. Ross take to get here?"

"It shouldn’t be too long. Why?"

"What if she wakes up before then?" the man asked. "The drug we used wasn’t that strong."

Their leader glanced towards Jade before replying, "Mr. Ross said that if she wakes up, we are not to harm her or give in to her demands. But if she becomes too loud..." His expression hardened. "Make sure she quiets down."

Just then, his phone vibrated again. The leader stepped towards the back door and answered the call. "Mr. Ross, everything is under control. She hasn’t-"

A deafening crash suddenly echoed through the warehouse, making the leader cut the call midway and rush back inside.

The moment he stepped back inside, he froze at the screech of the tyres.

Thick clouds of dust billowed through the massive entrance.

As the smoke slowly cleared, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as two glaring headlights cut through the haze. A sleek sedan had rammed straight through the reinforced warehouse doors, stopping just inches away from them.

And something told them those last few inches were not an act of mercy.

Both front doors swung open, and two figures stepped out into the dust.

One was a familiar young chauffeur who had pursued them relentlessly through traffic.

The other was a seemingly harmless seventy-year-old man who calmly stepped forward and addressed them.

"Good evening, gentlemen," Winston said politely. "I do apologise for such a dramatic entry, but I believe you have mistakenly taken someone who is a cherished guest in our household."

Silence descended upon the room, but Winston continued, completely unfazed, "You see, my Master and Mistress will not take it kindly should they find us missing during supper. I do hope we can resolve this... misunderstanding amicably."

"....."

Another beat of silence followed before the men, who had been staring in sheer bewilderment at the unusual newcomers, burst into roaring laughter.

Their leader laughed along with them before walking over and stopping a few steps away from Winston.

"I think you lost your way on the road to the old-age home, old man," he mocked. "Tell you what... I’ll give you ten seconds to run back outside, and we’ll pretend this never happened."

Winston’s face remained impassive. "Perhaps I was not clear. Let me put it more plainly for you simpletons... hand Miss Jade back to us, and we can all move on. When the time comes, my Master and Mistress might be inclined to show leniency when they learn of this."

The leader barked out another laugh. "You really are a senile old fool who doesn’t know what’s good for him." He took another step forward, clapping a condescending hand onto Winston’s shoulder. "I hate to break it to you, but your master seems like a bit of a coward to send an old-"

Slap!

He never got to finish.

The slap landed across the leader’s cheek so swiftly and violently that the man was sent staggering several feet across the floor before crashing down.

Even Milo stood frozen in shock.

Winston casually slipped a pair of black gloves over his hands, smoothing out his coat as a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"What an insolent man," Winston murmured. "No one... no one gets to insult my Master and walk away."

His gaze slowly swept across the room. "Now... whose turn is it?"

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then someone screamed, "What are you all waiting for?! Get them!"

Weapons were raised and suddenly... all hell broke loose!

One man came charging at Winston, throwing a punch that the old butler caught effortlessly before driving his knee into the man’s stomach. The force sent him flying across the room.

Three more men charged him at once, but Winston moved like a shadow.

He ducked beneath the first punch, caught the man’s wrist and twisted, sending him stumbling into another guard. He spun away from the second man’s kick, swept his legs out from underneath him and finished by striking the third man squarely in the chest.

Thud! Thud! Crash!

Within seconds, all three men were sprawled across the floor.

Another man a little too close to Winston stared at him in disbelief. "How the hell is a seventy-year-old moving like that?!"

Winston glanced at him calmly. "Good diet," he replied, before delivering a swift kick straight to the man’s face.

Meanwhile, across the room, Jade’s eyelids fluttered. ℴℴ𝘮

Her head felt heavy, and her vision was swimming. "Ugh..."

Slowly, she lifted her head, and the very first thing she saw was a two-hundred-pound guard sailing through the air.

"Where the hell am I?" she mumbled in confusion, convinced she was trapped in some bizarre dream. She tried to move, but as soon as she did, she felt the coarse ropes around her.

Her eyes widened as she looked down at herself.

Right then, another groaning man skidded across the floor, stopping inches from her heels.

"What the fuck!" Jade gasped, scrambling backwards in her chair just as someone screamed, "Grab the woman and get out of here!"

Suddenly, she felt someone slice the ropes behind her back, yanking her up by the arm. "Move, princess, if you want to stay in one piece."

"Huh?" Jade could barely process what was happening until a large wooden beam came flying directly toward her face. She ducked on pure instinct, and the beam struck the man holding her square across the nose, knocking him out cold.

Her eyes traced the trajectory of the beam back to its source, and that was when she witnessed something utterly impossible.

Right before her eyes, Winston... the sweet, poised old butler of the Valentine Residence was throwing kicks and punches like he had suddenly transformed into Rambo!

Her mouth hung open. "...Winston?"

The elderly butler gracefully flip-kicked yet another man into a pillar and called out, "Stay put, Miss Jade. I shall be with you in a moment."

Jade remained frozen. "Am I hallucinating?"

But apparently, she wasn’t.

Winston and Milo had quickly taken down the majority of the men when one of the remaining men quietly picked up a metal rod from the floor and crept up behind Winston.

Jade, who had been watching the entire spectacle unfold like some bizarre action movie, caught the movement and shrieked, "WINSTON! BEHIND YOU!"

Milo was too far across the room to intervene, and Winston turned, but the man had already swung with all his force.

Clang!