Nicolas looked up at Ashton, unfazed. “Don’t try to act smart with me. That guy might be a beast, but I own the whole island. Nothing goes unnoticed under my nose. This is the only thing you need to bear in mind. He’s a lot better than you in many ways.”
“I’ll admit he’s better when it comes to doing unscrupulous things,” Ashton said, “I admit I’m not as good as him in this regard. I don’t have what it takes to do things like harming my own son. I don’t think I’ll ever beat him in that aspect.”
“Are you blaming me right now?” Nicolas interrogated with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Ashton,” I quickly cut in, putting my hand on his and shaking my head.
At my action, my husband clenched his jaw and kept quiet. Before long, his shoulders slanted helplessly. “I’m just giving an example. If you think you can trust Armond, ignore what I said.”
Ashton was a man full of pride. No one would believe him if he were to behave obsequiously to people he disliked. Showing his true colors on and off was more his style, and such a thing was good for us in some sense. The Hall family would be aware that it would not be easy to totally undo what they did to us.
Nicolas letting Armond go right in front of us was a clear warning. He wanted us to know that he still had a way to get back at us if we went against him.
The peaceful family meal we had was nothing more than a facade.
……
After Ashton secretly sent out our location yesterday, he ordered people to sneak to the island to look for the antidote.
But even the best-laid plans could go awry. Nathaniel knocked on our door early the next morning.
Ashton was sitting on the couch working on his tablet, so I went to get the door myself. “Morning, Nathaniel. Is there anything you need?”
“Go get ready. We’re going to the research center on the island to take a look,” he replied, glancing at Ashton.
My mind raced at his suggestion.
No Hall family members were pushovers, nor were they fools. They knew we had our own agendas for coming to the island. After Nicolas blatantly turned down Ashton’s request to be involved in the family business, there was no way Nathaniel would be kind enough to risk incurring his father’s wrath just to help us.
Ashton came up beside me when I was lost in my thought. “Sure thing, Nathaniel. Scarlett and I will be downstairs in a bit.”
“Alright.” Nathaniel nodded briefly and walked off to the staircase.
Ashton stood at the door, watching his brother walk away before he closed the door behind him.
When he began dressing, I headed over to help him with his tie. “What do you think of Nathaniel?” I asked.
Ashton’s gaze lowered before he looked back into the mirror to fasten his cufflinks. “He’s easily the most tricky one in the family. He looks harmless on the outside, but his thoughts are deep as the sea.”
When I was done with his tie, Ashton took his coat from the hanger. He shot me a quick look and caught my gaze in the mirror before saying, “He might look amicable, but his every step is calculated. Since he’s plotting something, let’s play along and see who comes out on top. It so happens that they just sent a message saying security is so air-tight at the research center it’s difficult to break in, so we should just go take a look ourselves.”
Ashton summarised his observation of his brother as he got ready. He seemed confident he would be able to deal with Nathaniel.
I applied on some makeup as I listened to him speak. After I was done, I picked up a cardigan and trotted downstairs with him.
Everyone moved around on scooters on the island, so it took us less than five minutes to get to the research center.
The entire building, which looked modern and innovative, was securely guarded by a transparent protective layer made of special materials. There were surveillance cameras every one hundred and fifty feet, so there were no blind spots. It would not be possible for even a fly to make its way in. Nathaniel scanned his handprint at the security checkpoint, and we walked in through the main gate. Security was seen to be tighter the further in we ventured. Passwords and iris recognition were required to go into the base of the research center. To call it a tech company might sound glamorous, but it was nothing more than just where a bunch of people in white coats worked.
