Female Novel
Chapter 654
Artemis' fingers tightened around the stem of the wine glass.
This matter had dragged on for far too long, and his patience was at its limit.
He would have to resort to other means if they still could not find the mastermind. There was no way hewould waste his time waiting like this.
It had been a long time since he last saw Bailey, so he missed her badly. She was all he could thinkabout, day and night.
“Who?” he asked grimly.
Holden inclined his head and replied, “Sofie, the woman who swapped a prestigious family's heiresswith her own daughter so that her daughter could have a better life.”
A cold gleam flashed across Artemis' eyes when he heard this.
I can't believe this woman still hasn't learned her lesson after all these years. How dare she come backto stir trouble by trying to kill Bailey? Very well. I shall have her head.
Holden continued, “As for the suicide attackers, we've run a background check on them and discoveredthat Leo had assigned them to his mistress. The mistress is none other than Sofie. The only reasonwhy Sofie has so much power and influence abroad that she ended up becoming the head of aninternational behemoth was because of her affiliation with Leo.”
Artemis nodded, considering these facts. “That makes sense. Seems like all our questions are
answered. Yvette kidnapped Justin and Veronique to use them as leverage against Bailey, so we'llhave Bailey go after her and deliberately fall into her trap. That will give us an opportunity to eradicateSofie, Yvette and all their forces.”
“Roger that. I'll make the arrangements immediately and try to keep Justin and Veronique as safe aspossible,” Holden replied dutifully. “As for Bailey...”
Waving his hand dismissively, Artemis cut Holden off by saying, “You don't have to worry about her.She's a sharp one; she already knows that I didn't really lose my memory, and she knows that I won'tlet Justin and Veronique get hurt, either. She'll definitely take precautions to ensure her own safety.”
Holden did not say anything further after that and turned to leave.
However, he had barely taken a few steps toward the door when Artemis stopped him. “Hey, rememberthose dirtbags who framed your sister for leaking highly-classified information on the organization?We've managed to track them down, and we'll have them captured soon. We'll clear your sister's namein no time.”
Without looking back, Holden continued toward the door and said solemnly, “Thanks.”
Meanwhile, over at Philip's dwelling unit at the Hoffman residence, Philip was enjoying tea in histearoom when Tucker suddenly burst in and said, “Father, a reliable source tells me that Shirley wasnot pregnant with Zeke's child at all. Now that she's suffered a miscarriage, the Shurmer family and theGourd family has severed ties with each other! Therefore, Zeke was probably being strategic when hesaid he'd give up on Juliana. He'll find a way to save her for sure!”
Philip set down the teacup in his hand and frowned at Tucker, asking, “What will happen if Julianaleaves the Hoffman family?”
Tucker clenched his jaw and spoke grimly. “She and Huntley both know too many of the Hoffmanfamily's secrets, including how and where our forces are distributed abroad. In other words, she hasthe information needed to eradicate our family. If we let Zeke take her and they collude on taking usdown, then we'd be at a huge disadvantage.”
Philip narrowed his eyes in thought.
He knew Tucker's worries were justified.
Huntley had previously been in charge of half the Hoffman family's forces.
After Juliana returned to the family, Raymond had been slowly assigning the remaining forces to her.
Given that Juliana and Huntley trusted each other, they most likely shared classified information amongthemselves. novelbin
In other words, Huntley would have told Juliana everything he knew about the Hoffman family.
Allowing Juliana to go with Zeke would be tantamount to giving the Shurmer family the key todestroying the Hoffman family.
“What do you suggest we do?” Philip asked grimly.
Tucker looked murderous as he said, “We nip this in the bud and execute that girl in secret. That way,
we'll save ourselves from dealing with a whole lot of trouble in the future.”
Philip sprang to his feet, clearly shocked by his son's suggestion. He stood there in silence for amoment, then frowned and asked, “How reliable is this source of yours? If that girl from the Gourdfamily was found to be pregnant with someone else's child instead of Zeke's, then why didn't theShurmer family clarify matters at first instance?”
Tucker snorted. “Zeke's covering this up so that we wouldn't find out about it and hurt Juliana. As forwhere I got the information... Zoey, the Gourd family's adopted daughter, was the one who gave it tome. I probably wouldn't believe it if it came from somebody else, but I have absolutely no reason todoubt her. She hates Bailey's guts, and she'll do anything to make Bailey suffer, including having us killJuliana to break Bailey's heart.”
Philip considered the situation and found merit in Tucker's proposal. Having made up his mind, theolder man gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, then, we'll proceed with your plan and secretly executeJuliana in the dungeon.”
“Good thinking, Father,” Tucker said. “If we kill Juliana, the most we'll have to put up with is theShurmer family's vengeance, but we may stand a chance against them with our current forces.Besides, even if we lose, the Shurmer family would not be any better off. But, if we were to let Julianalive, we risk having her join forces with the Shurmer family, in which case they'll gain access to all theclassified information about us. If it comes to that, then we won't even have a chance to strike back.”
“Very well, then. We'll proceed with the execution.”
Over at the medical base in Hallsbay, Bailey gave Lionel a thorough examination in the infirmary, and itwasn't until she was sure that he was no longer in critical condition that she heaved a sigh of relief.
“He's all right now. He'll be able to move around on his own again once his injuries heal,” she declared.
Hearing this, Waverly parted her lips to thank Bailey, but abruptly swallowed her words when she sawBailey's icy expression.
To one side, Victoria glanced at Bailey wearily and forced a smile. “Thank you for dropping by to checkup on him, Bailey. I know you still have a ton of work to do, so go ahead. We wouldn't want to take uptoo much of your time.”
Bailey was just about to say something in response when her phone rang in her pocket.
She had a feeling that it was a call from Yvette, so she let her phone stay ringing in her pocket andaddressed Victoria, “He's fine. Why don't you go and get some rest? You shouldn't wear yourself outlike this.”
After that, she made her way to the door.
Upon leaving the infirmary, she walked to the study and opened the door. When she saw Zeke andEdmund inside, she quickly put a finger to her lips to shush them before finally answering the phonecall.
Without waiting for the person on the other line to speak, she said, “Go on, tell me what it is that youwant.”
She heard Yvette laugh. “That's the international Big Shot for you! You're still as sharp and high-handed as ever, Bailey. Aren't you worried that I might kill Justin and Veronique on a whim?”
Bailey scoffed lightly. “They're in your hands, and it's not like I can save them by panicking, so saveyour childish threats for someone else. I know you won't kill them, and I'm sure you know I won't giveup on saving them, either. So, why don't you cut to the chase and tell me what you want?”
At that, Yvette's voice turned frosty. “Well, since you've been waiting for my call, then you would knowexactly what I want. I'll release Justin and Veronique when I see your dead body!”