“Where’s the antidote?” Landon asked.
Brooke pulled a capsule from her pocket and said, “Got it.”
Amelia was both surprised and overjoyed.
‘Not only did they save me, but they also got the antidote. Isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?‘ Amelia couldn’t help but marvel, ‘What kind of scheme did Landon come up with to pull off such a flawless counterattack?‘
“Let’s go to the hospital,” Landon commanded.
“Okay,” Brooke replied.
News of Landon standing up again instantly became Norava’s top headline.
Business partners flooded Landon with congratulatory messages, and Gloria was so thrilled that she rushed to the hospital to see him.
“Landon, are your legs healed? For real?” Gloria asked, her voice trembling with excitement.
“Yeah,” Landon replied.
Gloria let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness…”
By unspoken agreement, no one told Gloria about Amelia’s kidnapping.
Daniel stared at Landon’s legs, and realization struck.
‘This is no miracle! His legs healed long ago. That’s why he was so confident going to Joanna. But why keep Amy in the dark about it?” Daniel wondered.
“Mom, you and Amy go home first. I’ll come back after my follow–up checkup,” Landon said.
“Alright, alright.” Gloria held Amelia’s hand and constantly praised her for being their lucky star.
Amelia wanted to stay and accompany Landon for his checkup, but eventually, they persuaded her to leave with Gloria.
Daniel asked solemnly, “Why keep it from Amy?”
“I still have an important matter to finish,” Landon said as he stood by the window, slowly lighting a cigarette.
His tall, lean figure stood as straight as a pine, every movement exuding a commanding presence.
Daniel sized him up, his piercing gaze practically giving Landon a full–body X–ray scan.
“Who the hell are you?” Daniel asked.
Landon smiled and said, “I’m Tuff’s high–up.”
Daniel gasped, not expecting Landon to have that kind of identity.
He thought, ‘Tuff is from the Secret Service. So, is Landon the leader of the Secret Service?‘
“I’ve retired,” Landon added. “My father passed away, so I had to return and take over the family business.”
Daniel sighed in relief. Then, with heartfelt sincerity, he said, “Being ordinary carries its rewards.”
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Chapter 173
“Don’t worry, Daniel. That’s all I want, to stay ordinary,” Landon replied,
Landon decided his identity would only be the business tycoon of Morava and Amelia’s husband.
Daniel nodded and thought, ‘Thank goodness. Amy had married the right man. But is living an ordinary life that simple, just because he wishes for at
“And what about you, Daniel? How do you plan to deal with Joanna?” Landon asked.
Daniel pondered and said solemnly, “The police have filed charges for her kidnapping of Amy. From now on, there will be no place for her in the Zuckerberg family.”
“She’s extremely dangerous, deeply involved with the Kington Gang,” Landon warned.
Daniel’s face went pale with shock. “The Kington Gang?”
Landon let out a cold smirk. “That’s also why I didn’t kill her.”
Daniel’s chest heaved violently. After a long moment, he finally said, “I’ll have her placed under house arrest.”
“Alright,” Landon replied curtly.
Two days later, Daniel returned to Lunova.
Joanna had been tied up and delivered to the Zuckerberg family.
Upon learning that it was Joanna who had poisoned Daniel all those years ago, driving Catherine to madness, Mira, Daniel’s grandmother, fainted from shock on the spot.
All the elders of the Zuckerberg family were also there. Daniel sat in the family head’s chair, fixing Joanna with an icy stare. “The police have already filed charges,” he declared coldly.
“So be it,” Joanna said defiantly.
‘Once I’m in prison, it’ll be even easier for me to escape,’ Joanna thought.
“Mom!” Maisie threw herself into Joanna’s arms, pleading desperately, “Please admit you’re wrong, Mom. I’ll beg Daniel to forgive you.”
“Shut up! I only ended up like this because you were so useless. Why couldn’t you have been born a boy?” Joanna screamed at Maisie.
Maisie felt like her heart had broken into pieces. “Mom!” she cried out.
“Get lost! I don’t want a worthless daughter like you!” Joanna lashed out and kicked Maisie viciously.
Devastated, Maisie was gently pulled aside by Edith.
The two girls huddled together for comfort.
“Nothing I did was wrong. I fought for my cause,” Joanna sneered. “Given the chance, I’d do it all again.”
“She’s utterly incorrigible. Strike Joanná off the family register immediately. The Zuckerberg family will not tolerate such a hostess!” declared Sean, the most senior member of the Zuckerberg family.
Joanna sneered, “Hmph! Being the hostess was never enough for me. I’ve always wanted so much more!”
Joanna repeatedly made wild remarks, making the elders of the Zuckerberg family tremble with rage.
“Let her rot in prison for life! Never let her out!” one elder shouted.
Chapter 173
“This heartless woman made the Hughes family hate us for twenty years!” another fumed.
“If not for her, Porter would never have left the family,” a third added bitterly.
And more and more elders joined,
Joanna, once hailed as the most glamorous stepmother in Lunova, had now become a pariah, shunned and despised by all
Maisie grieved over having such a mother.
Daniel declared, “Atone for your crimes with your life,”
A sudden, deathly silence fell over the scene.
Maisie stared at Daniel, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “Daniel…” her voice trembling.
“Daniel, do you dare kill me?” Joanna sneered wildly, tearing open her collar to reveal the six–pointed star tattoo beneath her collarbone. “Kill me, and the Zuckerberg family will never know peace.”
“K–Kington Gang?” someone asked in shock.
The Zuckerberg family’s elders were so shocked they couldn’t stay seated.
“Damn it! I can’t believe she’s from the Kington Gang and under the gang leader’s direct protection,” one of the elders said.
Maisie and Edith exchanged blank looks. “What’s the Kington Gang?” they asked, completely bewildered.
Joanna sneered, her voice dripping with contempt. “Even Landon wouldn’t dare kill me. Do you have the guts?” She was certain Daniel wouldn’t dare to
take her life.
As expected, the elders hesitated. After whispering among themselves, they began to stop Daniel.
“Daniel, let the law punish her!” one of them urged.
Daniel’s gaze locked onto the tattoo beneath Joanna’s collarbone, a storm of shock raging within him.
‘Edith has the same tattoo on her back,‘ Daniel thought. ‘The difference is, Edith’s hexagram has a red dot at its center, while Joanna’s has a black one.”
Back then, he thought it was just well–behaved Edith acting rebellious by getting that tattoo between her shoulder blades.
Never did he imagine it was the Kington Gang leader’s protection tattoo.
‘The Kington Gang is known as the most mysterious and feared criminal organization,‘ Daniel thought. ‘The hateful Joanna even enlisted her niece in the Kington Gang!‘
“Kill her! She has to die!” Daniel roared.
Furious, Daniel grabbed his gun and strode toward Joanna, his entire presence radiating a deadly intent that sent chills down everyone’s spine.
Joanna’s defiant expression finally faltered. “Daniel, you wouldn’t dare!”
“I didn’t dare before, but now I do!” Daniel pressed the gun barrel against Joanna’s temple.
The cold metal against her skin sent a chill down Joanna’s spine, making her whole body break out in goosebumps.
Joanna tensed up, her back ramrod straight/She shot Daniel a defiant glare. “I don’t believe you’d dare.”
“Daniel, please don’t kill my mom…” Maisie lunged forward and grabbed Daniel’s sleeve, her voice trembling with desperation. “I helped you get the antidote to save Amelia. Please, for my sake, spare her just this once, okay?”
Chapter 173
Edith also rushed over, her voice trembling as she pleaded, “Daniel, please spare Aunt Joanna’s life! Punish her however you see fit, just don’t kill her…”
Daniel’s eyes darkened with turmoil as he rasped, “You have the same tattoo on your back. Do you know that?”
“What?” Edith was stunned.
‘I, I have a Kington Gang tattoo too? How is that possible? I’d never even heard of the Kington Gang, let alone joined them, she thought in bewilderment.
“It was your aunt. She did this to you,” Daniel said, his anger surging again. “She secretly got you into the Kington Gang without your knowledge.”
Edith gaped, shock stealing her tears away.
Maisie panicked. ‘If even Edith got dragged into the Kington Gang, what about me?‘
“You don’t have it. You don’t need the Kington Gang’s protection,” Joanna said bluntly.
Maisi breathed a sigh of relief, but then worry for Edith resurfaced. “Mom, why would you do this to Edith?” she asked.
Joanna let out a cold, mocking laugh. “What the hell do you know? That’s a protection mark. Edith is someone the Kington Gang would protect at all
costs.”
‘So, it’s for protection, after all…‘ Daniel felt some of the tension in his chest ease slightly.
Yielding to Maisi and Edith’s pleas, Daniel finally relented and said, “Alright.”
Daniel added immediately, “But!”
His abrupt shift in tone sent Maisi’s heart racing once more.
Daniel declared coldly, “She’ll never know freedom again for the rest of her life.”
Joanna let out a sigh of relief. ‘Jail? Please, that’s nothing. I’ll be in today and out tomorrow. Once I leave the Zuckerberg family, I’ll ditch this act and head straight to the Kington Gang to take up my position.’
“Guards, take her to the Zuckerberg Estate in the Lunova suburbs. Keep her under constant surveillance, never to be released,” Daniel ordered.
At his command, the bodyguards immediately came forward and dragged Joanna away.
Joanna froze for a few seconds before struggling violently. “I won’t go to Zuckerberg Estate. I refuse!” she screamed.
AD
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