Charlotte’s words were cut short by the arrival of a subordinate. “I have horrible news, Ms. Lindberg. Someone from the Nacht family took Mr. Robinson and Ms. Elisa away!”
“What?” She paled as she realized how serious the matter had become. Pulling her skirt up, she ran as fast as she could after Zachary. “Hold it right there, Zachary!”
He ignored her and got into his car.
She plastered herself against the open window of his car and yelled anxiously, “Zachary, where did you bring the kids to? What are you playing at?”
Without sparing her a glance, Zachary had his car window rolled up.
The vehicle sped off, and Charlotte would have fallen to the ground if someone had not pulled her back.
Charlotte whirled around to see who had caught her. “Gordon? Quick, chase them down! Bring the kids home.”
Gordon scrunched his brows and said, “It’s too late. The Nachts had been planning this for a while now. They planted their men in the manor as early as a month ago.”
Stunned, she asked, “What do you mean?”
“Do you remember asking someone to investigate why Fifi had been falling sick so frequently? It turns out that someone from the Nacht family had been drugging Fifi to prevent it from discovering their presence.”
Gordon continued, “About a month ago, Bruce smuggled a dozen of their best bodyguards into the manor. They were secretly protecting Alpha when she got lost; that’s how she returned safely. They were initially assigned to protect you and the children. Last night, they went to meet Zachary and set their plans into motion.”
He then provided the last piece to the puzzle. “Zachary came to bring you home. If the Laurent family objected, his bodyguards would reveal themselves and fight off their men. I guess they didn’t expect your incident from last night. Zachary must’ve made an impromptu decision to have the children brought away with him if you refused to follow him.”
Charlotte finally understood what had happened.
Robert’s anxious behavior and profuse apologies to Zachary now made complete sense.
He must’ve expected Zachary to come prepared. If their men went head-to-head, they would be eaten alive by Zachary’s men. That’s why Gordon chose to remain neutral.
Charlotte never imagined that Zachary would have sent his men into the manor to protect her and the kids.
He had not spent two months apart only to return for the children.
In fact, he had never given up on any of his children or Charlotte.
He merely wanted to settle some matters before bringing Charlotte and their children home.
Last night’s incident ruined his plans, so he decided to only bring the kids with him.
Gordon said regretfully, “I’m sorry, Ms. Lindberg. It’s my fault for underestimating Zachary. He’s been keeping a low profile over the past six months and relenting on so many matters. I truly believed he had suffered a massive blow and would not pull any tricks out of his sleeve. I did not expect him to be waiting for the right moment to strike. We’re so understaffed that failure is inevitable if we went head-to-head against the Nacht family. Most importantly, Zachary is their father. The kids are safe with him, and I have no grounds to demand their return.”
“I understand. It’s not your fault.” Charlotte trudged back to the manor dejectedly.
Gordon caught up to her and wrapped his jacket around her shoulders. “You should talk to Zachary or the kids. There must be some room for negotiation. At least you can rest easy knowing that he would never harm the children. The first thing you should do is talk to the Laurents and figure out what happened last night. I’ll get Mr. Lindberg’s kids from the pasture and come back as soon as possible.”
With that, Gordon left in a hurry.
