Chapter 7: My son is dead
1027 Words
"He looks just like Brother Ning. Big brother, I missed you so much."
She leaned forward and hugged him.
"Jane," Ava said gently, "don't touch him. He's sick and needs rest. Go sit over there."
"Okay," Jane said. She turned to walk away—then suddenly froze.
A weak voice filled the room.
"Mommy… why did you leave me alone in the dark? I waited so long for you to come back. Promise me you'll never leave me again."
Ava fell to her knees, crying.
"I promise," she sobbed. "No matter what happens, Mommy will stay with you."
"Now I can sleep peacefully," the boy whispered. "Goodbye, Mum."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Mum, what's happening?" Jane cried, rushing forward.
"You have to save him! I feel something is wrong!"
"I will," Ava said, wiping her tears. "Come, Jane. Let's go."
Meanwhile....
"What did you find out?" Ethan asked coldly.
"She really is Doctor Vyk's assistant," Pei replied.
Ethan frowned. "She's been inside for two hours. Go see what she's doing."
As Ethan turned away, he felt strange. Every time he thought of that woman, guilt filled his heart—like he had hurt her before.
Moments later, Pei rushed back, panic written all over his face.
"Sir, something is wrong."
Ethan stayed calm. "Speak."
"The young master… is gone."
Ethan's eyes widened. "My son is dead?"
"No," Pei said quickly. "She ran away with him. The cameras confirmed it."
Ethan's face turned ice-cold.
"What are you waiting for?" he roared.
"Find her and bring her back. If I catch her, I'll destroy her entire family!"
A full week had passed since that incident, yet Ethan had heard nothing about his son.
The entire residence had fallen into a suffocating silence. No one dared approach Ethan’s office door—unless they had grown tired of living. His anger had turned the house into a place of dread, spreading like a dark storm cloud over everyone who lived there.
Not even Assistant Pei had escaped it.
In Ethan’s eyes, Pei was simply enduring the punishment that should have belonged to Ava. His master had made one rule painfully clear: words like “I’m tired” or “I need rest” were forbidden.
Since the day Ava fled with Jay, Pei and the others had been working without pause. For an entire week, they had searched tirelessly, chasing every lead and investigating every possibility. Sleep had become a luxury he could not afford.
That afternoon, Pei hurried into Ethan’s office in a panic. The moment he stepped inside without knocking, his heart sank.
“Sir… I’m very sorry,” he said quickly, bowing his head. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Shut up!” Ethan’s voice thundered through the room.
Pei froze.
“Get out,” Ethan continued coldly.
“Until you bring that woman to me, you are not allowed to act on your own. If you do, I will kill you.”
Silence swallowed the room.
After a moment, Pei gathered his courage.
“I’ve found a clue,” he said carefully.
Ethan slowly lifted his gaze. His eyes were dark and dangerous.
“Speak.”
“She deceived us,” Pei reported. “There was no accident. No one died. Everything was staged to make us stop searching for them.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“I believe she has several skilled hackers helping her,” Pei continued.
“All the evidence we found was fabricated to mislead us.”
Ethan’s voice dropped, low and cold.
“You mean… my son is not dead?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What else?”
“We have identified one of her supporters,”
Pei said. “If we interrogate him, he will tell us everything.”
Ethan stood up immediately.
“Take him to the base,” he ordered.
“You have fifty minutes. If you don’t return with results, you’ll join him.”
Without another word, he walked out.
Pei stood frozen in place.
Fifty minutes?
It took forty-five minutes just to reach the base.
How was that even possible?
Luckily, Ethan had already left. Saying those thoughts aloud would have been suicide.
Fifty minutes later, Ethan returned home and headed straight for his study.
Just as he reached the door, someone suddenly grabbed his arm.
He knew who it was instantly.
Apart from her, no one in the house would dare touch him.
Without hesitation, he twisted her wrist.
“How dare you,” he said coldly.
Nancy cried out in pain.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she pleaded desperately. “I just wanted to get your attention!”
Ethan released her with a look of disgust.
“Weren’t you supposed to be cleaning and taking care of my domestic animals?” he asked coldly. “What are you doing here?”
Ever since Jay had fallen into a coma, Ethan had sentenced Nancy to a life of endless labor.
Her work had become harsher than ever.
He no longer involved his workers in caring for the animals. The responsibility now belonged entirely to her. If even one animal went unfed, she would pay the price.
And the number of animals was overwhelming.
More than ten thousand animals—over ten different species—were raised on the estate to supply food for the household.
“Master Ethan,” Nancy cried, her hair messy and her clothes covered in dirt. “Look at me! I was supposed to feed the hens and livestock, but now I look just like them. Haven’t I suffered enough?”
Ethan looked at her with cold, merciless eyes.
“Suffered?” he repeated.
His voice dropped dangerously.
“Is this what you call suffering?”
“I didn’t make your punishment easy because I pity you,” he continued coldly. “I did it because this was the same life you lived before I picked you up and changed your ungrateful fate.”
He turned away.
“You made me lose my son,” Ethan said quietly.
“And I will make you lose your breath.”
Without sparing her another glance, Ethan walked away.
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