Chapter 5: Fog of Mystery

Half an hour later, near a high-end toll booth in downtown Luminous City.

Josephine and Robert were pacing anxiously by the roadside.

"God, please let Sophia and Stella be safe!" Robert prayed.

Josephine gritted her teeth. "How on earth did they get kidnapped by a gang? It must be that useless James who brought his enemies to our door! Thank God Mr. Black stepped in, or our whole family would be finished!"

As she spoke, two pitch-black Bear armored vehicles with flashing lights came roaring in, escorting a black Suburban SUV that pulled smoothly to the curb.

Richard stepped out of the car, flanked by fully armed officers behind him. The whole scene looked straight out of a sci-fi movie, like a superhero making his entrance, drawing screams from a few young women passing by.

"Mr. Black! Where are Sophia and Stella?" Josephine rushed toward him.

Richard straightened his suit jacket and flashed a confident smile. "Don't worry. I led the raid on the gang's hideout and got them out safely. Didn't I promise you that in my text?"

Then he let out a deliberate sigh and frowned. "There is one thing, though — besides Sophia and the others, James was also captured by the gang."

Josephine was taken aback for a moment, then burst out, "That useless piece of trash — serves him right for getting caught!"

Richard put on a helpless expression. "On the way back, James kept insisting that he was the one who took down the gang and saved Sophia. Mrs. Wilson, for Sophia's sake, I wasn't going to take credit for myself. But then James had the nerve to insult me, and that I simply cannot let slide. He should take a good look at what he actually is."

The moment he finished speaking, the Suburban's door swung open, and James stepped out, carrying a sleeping Sophia in one arm and Stella in the other.

The moment Josephine and Robert saw James, they trembled with rage.

"James! You shameless bastard, get your filthy hands off my daughter!"

Josephine flew at him like a mad dog and snatched Sophia straight from his arms, while Robert grabbed Stella away.

"Josephine, they've been through a shock. They need rest," James said, frowning.

"Shut up!"

Robert snapped coldly, "If Mr. Black hadn't shown up with the police in time, those two would be dead! What were we supposed to do — count on you, a prisoner just like them, to save anyone?"

Josephine glared at James with open contempt, jabbing her finger in his face. "James, how can you be so shameless? You actually dare to steal credit from Mr. Black? Do you really think you're some kind of hero?"

James's eyes slowly went cold. He didn't bother with his raging in-laws. Instead, his gaze drifted over to Richard's smug face not far away.

"So, you're the one who saved my wife and daughter?"

Richard ignored the challenge in his eyes.

He sighed and put on a generous air. "James, you need to know your place. If you hadn't taken that attitude with me, what would it have mattered if I let you have the credit? I, Richard Black, only care about Sophia and Stella's safety."

Those words made Josephine furious. She looked at Richard, then back at James — four years in the military and still completely worthless — and it made her blood boil.

"Listen to me!" she snapped. "When the Rockefeller family threw you out with nothing to your name, it was our family, the Wilsons, who took you in. Without us, you'd have starved or frozen to death on the street. And now you dare steal someone else's credit? Tomorrow, you and Sophia are going to file for divorce! You lying, useless fraud — Sophia must have been blind to ever choose you!"

James had no interest in going back and forth with Josephine and Robert over any of this.

As for Richard — in his eyes, the man was nothing but a clown, stirring up trouble again and again.

Once he figured out exactly why his wife and daughter had been kidnapped, dealing with it would only take a moment.

"Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, my father will be here shortly. Then I'll have someone take you home," Richard said, glancing at his Rolex with a satisfied look.

He shot James a smug glance.

A worthless nobody like you, and you think you can compete with me?

I could be wearing a fake watch, and with the Black family's name behind me, no one would dare say a word.

Someone like you could never understand that.

"That's alright, Richard," Josephine said politely. "Once Sophia and the baby are feeling better, we'll definitely take you out to dinner to thank you properly."

It was rare for Josephine to decline, but the Black family was one of Luminous City's most powerful dynasties. She and Robert weren't ready to face Richard's father just yet.

They walked over to the Ford Explorer. Josephine was holding Stella when she noticed James following along. She almost snapped at him to go away, but thought better of it and said, "Fine, come back with us. But tomorrow, you're going to sign those divorce papers. My daughter is still going to marry Richard."

James said nothing. He had come home from the military to protect his wife. Divorce was out of the question.

And now, he had a daughter to protect, too.

The Ford Explorer moved through the streets of Luminous City. Josephine checked her watch and suddenly urged, "Robert! Drive faster — if we miss your brother's grandson's baptism, your father is going to lose it."

Robert, behind the wheel, looked just as anxious.

"You think I don't know? I'm already going as fast as I can. This piece of junk car — first thing I do when we have money is get rid of it."

In the back seat, James's expression darkened.

His wife and daughter had just been pulled out of a nightmare, and his in-laws weren't worried, weren't comforting them, weren't taking care of them — they were rushing off to some baptism ceremony?

"Robert, Josephine — don't you think that's a bit much?"

Almost before the words were out of his mouth, Josephine turned around and shot back without missing a beat:

"A bit much? What's a bit much? You think we don't want to go home and take care of Sophia and Stella? But do you think we can afford to skip your uncle's grandson's baptism? Did four years in the army scramble your brain? Do you have any idea where we stand in the Wilson family? Everyone else is living in estates and villas, and we're still stuck in that run-down two-story house out in the suburbs. Did you think anything changed while you were gone?"

If Sophia had married Richard, things could have turned around — that much was clear from last night's dinner. But after what Sophia said, all of that had gone up in smoke, and they were right back where they started.

When Josephine finished, Robert added coldly:

"James, watch what you say from now on — you're not in any position to talk. When things were at their worst, didn't I tell you to swallow your pride and go ask the Rockefeller family for help? And what did you do? Nothing. No wonder they threw you out. It had nothing to do with your adoptive father dying — you were an embarrassment to the Rockefeller family. If I were the one running that family, I'd have kicked you out, too."

James said nothing in response.

It was true. His wife's family sat at the very bottom of the Wilson family hierarchy, scraping by on whatever scraps of business they were thrown.

That was how things were when he left, and four years later, nothing had changed.

That was exactly why Sophia and Stella had to come second — why they had to rush to some baptism ceremony instead.

Without the Wilson family, they couldn't survive.

"Robert, Josephine — I've said this before. Don't bring up the Rockefeller family."

James said coldly, "They once thought I wasn't worthy of the Rockefeller name. Now, they're the ones who wouldn't be worthy of me."

Josephine and Robert exchanged a glance and didn't even bother to respond.

Worthy of you?

A nobody like you — even a security guard at the Rockefeller family would be more useful. It's laughable. Absolutely laughable.

The car fell silent. James reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a photocopied document. It was a gang cooperation contract — and the names in the signature field were Josephine and Robert Wilson.

This was what he couldn't make sense of at all.

How could biological parents do something like this to their own daughter and granddaughter?

Only truly rotten people could sink that low.

They had never been particularly warm toward Sophia, but he never imagined they could go this far.

He quietly put the document away. He would investigate, of course — but now wasn't the right time.