Chapter 494 Hostage in the Hartwell Family
After his assistant left, Henry sat in thought for a moment. Whether the ring in Naomi’s possession was read or fake, it could still be used to his advantage. Trading the ring for control over the Foster family would be deal well worth making.
Meanwhile, inside the Hartwell family estate, Evelyn had no idea what was happening. She was going about her usual routine, preparing lunch for Naomi, when the front door suddenly burst open and several men rushed in. The shock made her drop everything she was holding, the contents crashing to the floor.
“You… who are you people?” she stammered in terror.
The man in the lead grabbed Evelyn’s arm without answering and tried to drag her out. Fear engulfed her in an instant.
Hearing the commotion, Naomi came down from upstairs and was stunned to see her mother being manhandled.
“Who gave you permission to cause trouble in the Hartwell family home? Where did you come from?” she demanded.
She stepped forward to pull her mother back, but one sharp look from the bodyguard made her freeze. Naomi was heavily pregnant now, and she instinctively shielded her belly, terrified of any harm coming to her child. “Matteo… Matteo!” she called out.
No one answered. The bodyguards didn’t bother with her; they simply led Evelyn away. With their faces covered, Naomi had no idea they were Foster family men.
As Evelyn was dragged off, she cried desperately, “Daughter, help me! Help me!” The bodyguards ignored her completely, one of them striking her in the neck with his arm, knocking her out cold.
Panic rising, Naomi hurried upstairs–only to find Matteo calmly polishing a pistol in his room.
“I called you over and over just now. Why didn’t you come down? Strangers broke into the house and took my mother! Your father told you to watch me–this is how you watch me?” she demanded angrily.
Matteo replied in an unhurried tone, “I am watching you. You’re fine, aren’t you?”
The casual remark left Naomi speechless.
“My job is to make sure nothing happens to you. Other people’s lives aren’t my concern,” he said coldly.
“That’s my mother!”
“And what does that have to do with me? Is she carrying the Hartwell family’s child?”
“You-”
Naomi’s face flushed red with anger, but she could think of nothing to say,
“She’s holding the ring Eliza wants,” she suddenly accused. “You and Eliza must be working together to take it!”
Matteo’s hand stilled for a moment over the pistol.
“I knew it,” Naomi continued. “The two of you have been scheming over that ring from the start. When
your
20:03 Tue, 19 Aug Juc
Chapter 494 Hostage in the Hartwell Family
father gets back, I’ll tell him everything and let him see what his ‘good son has been up to behind file t
She made to leave, but Matteo raised the pistol and fired a shot into the wall beside her.
The sudden blast made Naomi drop to the floor, covering her head.
His gaze was icy, like a predator looking at a trapped insect. “You have no right to negotiate with me. If you want to die, by all means, talk.”
Naomi didn’t have the nerve to go to Nathaniel with this, but she had no other leverage left. She forced herself to speak. “The ring is with my mother. If anything happens to her, we’ll all go down together.
“All go down together?” Matteo gave a short, mocking laugh and stepped closer. “Do you know who you are? If you try to take me down, you’ll die for sure–and the ‘net‘ might not even break”
“Don’t forget I’m holding your secret!” Naomi shot back.
“Don’t forget,” Matteo said with a faint smile, “that the child in your belly isn’t Nathaniel’s. If that little fact gets out, he’ll turn you into a sieve.”
The reminder made Naomi’s entire body tremble.
“That’s better,” Matteo said smoothly. “We each have something on the other. That’s how we can keep the peace.”
Naomi said nothing, but when she looked up at Matteo, she realized just how frightening this man truly
was.
726
