Ice and Fire novel Chapter 868

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Casually, Greg dismissed the small talk of the two men, although he heard it all. What he didn't know was that Aria was the woman in question, accused of an attempt on Rebecca's life. In his heart, Aria was an innocent, and simple country girl, who would never hurt someone else. In Greg's mind, it was far-fetched to tie Aria to an attack on anyone, let alone Rebecca.

The only thing that slightly piqued his interest was when he heard of the JC Group. It made him miss Violet, his cherished wife. How he wished she was back by his side!

Time passed by quickly, and Greg had been busy at the hospital, but he hadn't forgotten to check on Kate occasionally, as a favor to Lawrence, his brother-in-law, who had requested Greg to keep tabs on the case. Besides, heavily drugged as Kate was, Greg felt obliged to observe her with much more care. He'd rather put on hold his other work and look after Kate, whose safety was the highest priority at the moment. 'But where was Aria?' he wondered. 'It's several days now she hasn't come to check on her mom, who's still in danger and worse still, she was unreachable on the phone. Is everything OK, with the girl?' Greg's thoughts wondered even further.

In the early morning, Mike appeared at the international airport. Wearing glasses, he carried a suitcase in his hand, looking high-spirited and energetic. The moment he stepped out of the airport, a crew of his dad's subordinates waited on him. Knowing that they were here to pick him up, his spirits dropped in an instant, showing his displeasure with the idea of making a scene by dragging in many people to pick him up in public. But on second thought, he realized that his old man must have gotten mad at him for his latest carousel abroad.

In reaction, he arrogantly walked over and stood with an aloof face, not even bothering with the little courtesy of greetings.

"Young master," the four men in black suits greeted with deep respect.

"What did my father say?" Ignoring their greeting, Mike directly asked.

"Our Master requested you to go home straightaway! He's already waiting for you," one of the men replied.

"Fine, I got it. Where is my car?" asked Mike, looking rather impatient. The thought of arriving home flanked by these men wasn't something he fancied. To him, that would look like coming back under arrest, forced against his will. Worse still, the four men in black suits with steely, expressionless eyes would make it look like a kidnapping. 'Is it worth it to lose face in such a manner?' he wondered.

Another man pointed at the Ferrari and reported, "This is the new car that our Master bought for you! Your previous car has been sent for maintenance. Perhaps it will still take some time."

"Was the car sent to the US for maintenance? Why does it have to take so long? Or is it that you didn't know I was coming back today?" As if the presence of the four men at the airport was not enough, their sloppy reports on his favorite car irritated him more. "That cannot be!" he growled.

"We are sorry, young Sir!" one of the men apologized.

"Forget about it!" Mike waved his hand gesturing him to stop apologizing. He didn't want to quarrel with these subordinates at the airport. After all, they just followed his father's orders. "It's OK, I'll drive this home, for today," he said pointing to the car they had shown him. "But my car must be brought back soonest. I'll give you three days, for that. I hope I'm clear enough!" he added.

"Okay, I got it, young master!" The man replied respectfully.

Pulling the suitcase, Mike walked to the car, put suitcase in the trunk before climbing into the driver's seat speeding away.

On his way home, he suddenly thought something. Lawrence hadn't come back yet, but it seemed that he had told him something before he left.

With that thought, Mike took out his phone, found a number from the contacts and pressed the the call button.

"Hello, Mr. Mike!" A voice sounded from the other side of the phone.

"Find a girl named Aria and tell me where she is now." After pondering for a second, he added, "Do it right now and put me in the loop soonest!"

"Yes, boss!"

For a bit, Mike's moods lifted after he hung up the phone. Indeed his journey was fun-filled, especially for the last few days. But the thought of his dad asking, almost commanding him to go home straight from the airport wasn't alluring. Unless there was an emergency, Mike found his old man a little too demanding, even annoying.