Female Novel
Chapter 718
After leaving the outdoor grounds, Bailey bumped into Zeke, who was looking for her. “Why are you ina hurry? What happened?”
Bailey replied while walking. “Wendy disappeared. I knew this would happen. That was why I wanted toremind the butler to keep an eye on her before leaving the medical base. But Caridee emerged out ofnowhere, so I got panicked and distracted. I believe Wendy has left Hallsbay for Moranta.”
Upon hearing that, Zeke immediately took his phone out of his pocket, looked for his assistant'snumber, and consoled her. “Calm down. I'll send my men to track her down. She should still be aroundHallsbay.”
Bailey stopped walking as if something popped into her mind. She lowered her head to look at herphone and called Zayron.
After the call got through, she immediately asked, “Is Sebastian with you?”
“Yeah. We're at the branch. Do you want to see him? I'll bring him to the outdoor grounds,” Zayronanswered.
“That won't be necessary. I want you to stay with him in the Saviors for the next two days. You don'tneed to go over to the medical base,” Bailey ended the call before her son could ask more questions.
Zeke, too, called his assistant. He then walked to her and held her up as she was feeling a little weak.
“Well, at least she understood the consequences and did not take Sebastian with her. Get your men tofind her. I think I know who's behind all this, but based on my experience, I'm afraid we won't be able to
track her down,” Bailey analyzed.
Zeke narrowed his eyes. He understood what she was implying. “Do you mean Philip stayed inHallsbay because of Wendy? But why would he hold her hostage? To threaten you or Mr. Raymond?”
Bailey chuckled. “Nope. I don't have any ties with Wendy, so even if he holds her hostage, he can't getanything from me. As for Mr. Raymond...”
After a short pause, she continued, “Wendy is merely an estranged daughter, so she wouldn't be athreat to the family head. Moreover, Philip hasn't established his authority over the family yet, so hewouldn't risk antagonizing Mr. Raymond.” novelbin
After a moment of thought, Zeke was enlightened. “He wanted to use Holden as his leverage?”
Bailey bobbed her head in response. She gritted her teeth and said, “That's right. It appears that Philipis quite ambitious. He's not only seeking the position of a patriarch within the Hoffman family, but he'salso aiming to gain control over Tarragon. This confirms my suspicion that Sofie was colluding with him.After all, Sofie was Leo's mistress, the former leader of Tarragon, and she now holds his power. Philipcan easily take control over Tarragon if he teams up with her.”
Zeke strode toward the exit of the outdoor grounds. “I'll get my men to capture Philip.”
“Hold on.” Bailey pulled him back and shook her head. “Capturing Philip would be pointless at thisstage. Sofie must be holding Wendy hostage now, so even if we threaten Sofie with Philip, she will notback down.
Bailey believed Sofie was a pragmatic woman who would sacrifice anything for her interests. They maybe partners now, but once Philip is no longer of use to her, she'll discard him for sure.
Zeke stopped walking. He turned around to look at her and asked, “So what are we going to do now?Are we just gonna stay here and do nothing?”
Bailey sighed before responding in a casual tone, “Yeah, we shouldn't do anything now since I'm stillstuck here. We don't want to stir up trouble and put the Hoffman sisters in danger.”
Zeke asked, “S-Should I make a trip to the Hoffman residence to see check out the situation there?”
Without hesitation, Bailey opposed, “No. It's too dangerous. Sofie is a cunning and deceitful woman,and you're definitely no match for her. Let's just wait.”
Knowing that she was worried about him, Zeke decided to back down. “All right. Now that Artemis isnot in Hallsbay, Raiden is back in Dellmoor, and Edmund is in such a state, I can't leave you herealone. Above all, Cameron is coming to Hallsbay. That guy has perfected his poison-concoctingtechniques. It would be disastrous if he plans to harm you.”
...
Meanwhile, in the main hall of Tarragon's headquarters, Artemis sat on a couch while holding a glass ofred wine.
Micah and Holden stood right opposite him. Now that they were in Tarragon, they showed much morerespect toward Artemis than when they were outside the organization.
Holden nodded and spoke. “Mr. Doyle has been busy consolidating his power while we were away andhas taken control of Tarragon's training base. Now that he has control over a large number of men, hehas declared independence and decided to betray Tarragon. Should I lead a team to invade the trainingbase and eliminate him right there?”
Artemis gently tapped on the wine glass, his piercing gaze alternating between bright and dark as ifobscured by a layer of fog, making it difficult to discern his thoughts.
Micah concurred. “I agree with Holden. Since he has just usurped power in the training base, it's bestto take him down while his foundation is still not strong. We might suffer some losses, but looking at thesituation, this is the best move we can make.”
Artemis tightened his grip on the wine glass and glanced at the two men. In a nonchalant tone, he said,“Let's lay low and observe them for now. In the meantime, I want you to deal with Shannon and Yvettefirst. I have a plan in mind.”
Micah wanted to speak, but Holden injected, “All right. Since you already have a plan in mind, we shallnot ask more questions. We'll be holding a leadership meeting to have Shannon and Yvette confronteach other. I hope you can make it.”
Artemis lowered his eyes and responded calmly, “Shannon and Bailey are close friends. but as long asthere's solid evidence, I'll ensure a fair judgment and not show favoritism just because Yvette is thedaughter of my predecessor.”
“Thank you, Leader,” Holden and Micah uttered.
After the two men left, Artemis reached for his phone and gave Bailey a call.
After the call got through, Artemis heard her restless voice.
He could not help but arch his brows. “What's wrong? What's troubling you?”
“Nothing. I miss you so much. I've been counting down the days until I can meet you. How's everythingover there?” Bailey asked.
“Mr. Doyle retreated to the training base, formed his troops, and declared his independence fromTarragon. We'll conduct a leadership meeting to settle the scores between Shannon and Yvette,bringing closure to this case,” Artemis said.
Upon hearing that, Bailey let out a sigh. “Does that mean you won't be able to return any time soon?It's not that easy to handle Mr. Doyle, isn't it?”
Artemis responded with a subtle smile. Just when he was about to speak, he was suddenlyoverwhelmed by a surge of blood in his abdomen.
His face darkened as he held back his words, and he gulped heavily, trying to suppress the surge ofblood in his throat.
“What's wrong, Artemis? Are you still there?” Bailey asked.
Artemis continued to suppress that feeling, but the metallic taste of blood became so increasinglyoverwhelming that he could no longer suppress it.