Ethan observed his surroundings and noticed that there still weren't that many people around. The airport was almost empty. 'Something isn't right, ' he thought to himself. He couldn't shake off the ominous feeling. He could excuse the fact that there were only a few people when they had arrived, because it was too early back then. However, they were now about to board the plane, but most of the passengers were still nowhere to be found. It was odd.
While he was lost in thought, Estelle nudged him with her elbow and said, “It's time for us to go.“
With a blink, Ethan came back to reality. He followed her and held his phone tightly in his hand as if his life depended on it.
The two of them marched forward while talking and laughing with each other. However, Ethan still felt uncomfortable. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew there was something wrong.
As soon as they rounded a corner, four men appeared from the other side. They looked strong and muscular.
While they were walking, Ethan raised his head and accidentally met their overwhelming gaze. He immediately lowered his head and glanced at his phone. Instinctively, he took a step to the side and pulled Estelle behind him.
Shocked and confused, Estelle was slow to comprehend what was happening. Before she could open her mouth to ask, the four men suddenly sprinted towards them and tried to punch Ethan.
Thankfully, Ethan was quick to react. He immediately pushed Estelle back and bent down to dodge the punch. The sudden force of being pushed back almost made Estelle lose her balance. She was able to stop herself from falling on the ground just in time.
Ethan was about to take out his cellphone to make a phone call, but the four strong men pounced at him again like predators hunting their prey. Knowing that he had to act swiftly, Ethan took his backpack off and threw it at the four men, but they skillfully dodged.
One of the men jumped at Ethan and threw another punch. Soon enough, the two of them were wrestling with each other.
At that moment, the sound of Ethan's phone dropping echoed all over the airport corridor. Due to the unexpected ambush, he didn't have much time to think about anything else. These men looked familiar to Ethan and he knew exactly who had sent them to attack him.
On the other side, Shane and Marc were casually drinking together. And even though they were drinking for pleasure, Shane just wasn't in the mood.
When he noticed Shane's somber face, Marc looked at him and comforted him with a pat on the shoulder. “Don't worry, Shane. Our boss said that he would call and inform us of his safe arrival, right?“ he murmured gently. Then, he poured a glass of beer and handed it to Shane.
Shane glanced at him with a blank expression, but didn't say anything. He doubted that Bill would just stand by and do nothing.
All of a sudden, a small buzz came from his pocket. Shane was startled for a second before he fished out his phone and looked at the number. A sigh of relief came out of his mouth when he saw that it was from Ethan. However, as soon as he picked up the phone, the call ended.
“Have they arrived?“ When Marc saw Shane breathe out a sigh of relief, he smiled. However, that smile quickly faded when he heard that Ethan had hung up the call immediately without saying anything. “What? What is it?“ Marc glanced at his wrist to check the time. “They should have arrived by now,“ he pointed out.
After quickly glancing at his watch to check, Shane gave a slight nod in agreement. The phone call was also quite strange. 'Maybe they were just in a hurry, so Boss had to hang up before he could say anything?' Shane thought to himself. Still, it made him feel uneasy. With a deep breath, Shane decided to call Ethan back. He knew he wouldn't be able to shake off his worry until he heard Ethan confirm that they were safe.
So, Shane hurriedly dialed his boss's number. To his surprise, the phone seemed to have been powered off. Confused, he tried to call again, but still didn't get connected.
Marc, who was sitting next to him, also noticed that the phone seemed to have been turned off. With each failed phone call, Shane got even more flustered. Even Marc was increasingly getting worried with each passing second. “Maybe they already boarded the plane and he couldn't get a signal, so that was why he turned it off.“
Shane didn't reply. He put his phone down slowly and lowered his gaze, pondering upon what to do next. Then, he looked up and said, “Marc, how about we go to the airport just to have a look? Just in case, you know,“
Shane suggested. He wanted to ensure that Ethan and Estelle had been able to board the plane safely. If Bill had really taken any action against their boss, then the only way to find out about it was to go to the airport.
Marc nodded. The two of them hastily went out and drove towards the airport.
Too shocked to do anything, Estelle could only watch the scene unfold in front of her. She didn't know how to fight, so she knew she couldn't act rashly. She just stared at the four men in front of her in silent panic. Her eyes were full of worry as she saw them try to strike Ethan.
Fortunately, Ethan was a competent fighter due to his past. So, he was able to hold off the four men despite being alone. Ethan fought back like a warrior. He flipped over to dodge their attacks. After that, he punched and kicked one of them, causing that man to fall to the ground with a heavy thud. The other three men exchanged glances with each other and gulped.
Gritting his teeth, Ethan's eyes turned red with anger. However, he didn't have time to process what had just happened. Once Estelle fell to the floor, the men immediately turned to Ethan and charged at him.
Suddenly, they heard heavy footsteps coming from towards the gate…
“Boss!“
The first thing that Shane and Marc saw when they went inside was Estelle, who was bleeding on the ground. Then, they turned to Ethan, who was surrounded by several bulky men and heavily injured.
No questions were asked. Shane and Marc quickly judged the situation and figured that their boss needed their help. So, they attacked the men encircling Ethan. Ethan breathed out a sigh of relief as he watched his men fight Bill's followers. He was glad that they had come to rescue Estelle and him.
As Shane and Marc stood in front of Ethan to protect him, Ethan seized this opportunity to move towards Estelle. Her left arm was coated with blood and it seemed that she was still bleeding.
“Estelle…“ he called out softly. Judging from Estelle's pale face, it looked like she had lost consciousness. Ethan felt scared and held her close in his arms.
After a violent brawl, the eight men were weakened. Shane and Marc had beaten them a pulp.
Seeing that they couldn't complete their task anymore, Bill's subordinates were afraid that they might die if they tried to continue to fight.
Once they realized that they wouldn't win this fight against Shane and Marc, they helped each other stand up and quickly made their escape. Shane chased after them and yelled for them to stop.
“Stop chasing…“ Ethan choked out to Shane, his voice hoarse from exhaustion.
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