"Why would he try to harm them?" Brad asked. "You have to help me understand this so I would be better positioned to talk to Old Mr. Giblo."
"Zayn had mistakenly believed…" Carla looked at him in embarrassment. "That they are yours."
"What?" The man was quite astounded and took a moment to recover. "No wonder he's so hostile every time we crossed paths. He acts as though he wants me dead."
"I'm so sorry, Brad, for dragging you into this mess, " Carla said in remorse.
"No. You did the right thing."Brad then took the time to analyze it critically.
"Although it was reasonable for him to be angered by something like this, a rational person would not hurt you out of jealousy, much less go out and kidnap your children. His actions proved that he's violent and paranoid to the extreme. You have done well to keep your children and yourself away from him."
"It was never my intention to use you as a shield…" Carla explained. "He kept pressing when he found out about the existence of the kids. It was just coincidental that Mr. Chroma and you showed up at his place and led him to the wrong conclusion about you. I had no choice but to go with the flow then, but I really tried to distance myself to avoid implicating you. Unexpectedly, his misunderstanding has only deepened since, so much so that it gave you distress every single time. I am sorry, I truly am…"
"It doesn't matter, " Brad replied nonchalantly. "There wasn't much he could do beyond hitting me in the face. However, you've had no end of trouble since getting mixed up with that man. It would be better if you steered clear of him."
"I wish I could, but what am I to do now?" Carla was slightly panicky. "Do you think he would harm the children?"
"Try to calm down first. I'm going to call old Mr. Giblo right away, " Brad said as he got onto his feet. "Stay home and rest up. I'll call as soon as I have news."
"I'm coming with you." Carla tugged at him. "I can't rest easy until I see my children."
"Alright." He held her tightly. "Put on an extra layer. I'll wait for you outside."
"Okay."
…..
On board the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Zayn frowned as he viewed the clip on his tablet.
He had managed to get his hands on the security footage of the three children ahead of Brad. Besides, he found out one of the kids was hospitalized after being hit by old Mr. Giblo's car.
It was Zayn who issued instructions to have the last clip erased, which was why Brad was not able to access it.
Zayn was now making his way towards Serene Hospital.
"Never would I have expected that the child involved in the accident was Miss Wigston's, " Benard said cautiously. "If she were to find out the truth, I fear there might be more misunderstandings to be had."
"As though she hasn't had enough of those already, " Zayn said coldly. "All things considered, it wouldn't make that much of a difference. The important thing is to keep the child's identity from Grandpa."
"Understood!"
Benard only realized now the depth of Zayn's feelings for Carla. Zayn probably opted to hide things from the old patriarch to keep the possibility of a future between Carla and himself together alive.
"Information sent from the hospital, Mr. Giblo."
He passed along the hospital's report on Josh and Venus before he gave Zayn an overview.
"The one who was struck is Joshua, the second youngest. He suffered a mild concussion, a fracture on his left ankle, and multiple abrasions. He has recovered consciousness this morning."
"The youngest is Venus. Her tonsil was inflamed, probably due to all the crying when she saw her brother hurt. The fever she had subsided over the night. The eldest boy, Randowell is fine."
He continued, "After the incident, Old Mr. Giblo had been overseeing things himself at the hospital, and only left at midnight. He was in around eight this morning and even stayed around to keep the children company."
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