Chapter 173 Things Happened Suddenly
The Mansion reopened a few days later.
For the sake of being auspicious, Emory even bought more than ten stripes of crackers and set them off for a long time by the door.
However, all the others in the firm were busy working outside and no one was around to join the celebration, but it didn’t matter. All of them would return eventually since this was their common home now.
Quincy and Joel liked their school a lot. It was especially so for Joel since the both of them sat together. When they arrived home every day, they were full of praise for the school.
Meanwhile, Sebastian was getting busy at work as he had taken on a new project that required his supervision, so he left early for work and returned late at night. His workload was so heavy that it was almost dawn by the time he arrived home. However, whenever he was home, Joel would rush into his embrace and give him a kiss, which dissipated all of his exhaustion.
He was already a workaholic to start with. Now, for every project he took on, he felt like he was making an effort for his sons’ future and that made him work even harder.
Sebastian was posted interstate today and would spend the night in the neighboring city. Because of this, he intentionally took some time out and sent both kids to school himself. Then, he begrudgingly left for his office only after seeing them enter the school campus.
Madeline was together with him to satisfy Quincy and Joel’s wishes to have both parents in sending them.
After they both entered the school and Sebastian left, she walked to her firm alone.
Sebastian was right. Their house was only a street away from the school and they merely needed ten minutes to walk from their house to the school. It was very convenient for them.
Upon arriving at her firm, she immediately devoted herself to work.
She was also busy recently too. After the renovations were done and her firm was officially opened, she had to proceed with the hiring of staff.
The ten people Madeline now had were the same as when her master was managing the firm. All of them had previously received her master’s or her kindness previously. For them, the firm wasn’t merely a job; it was their shelter, and even their home.
Most of them were alone with no family around while others had family which they would rather not have. There were all wanderers with no people to care for.
Due to all sorts of reasons later, they all met each other in the Mansion. The last one who joined was here for about a year and none of them had the intention of leaving.
They treated Mansion as their lifelong career and their common home.
That was why she needed to manage the firm well and if she could, to expand it.
To do so, it wasn’t sufficient to rely on the people she had now. She would need to recruit more salespersons and secretaries in due course.
A few days ago, she had posted her employment advertisement online with the interview being scheduled for today.
Emory, Leonard, Fred, and Simon were by her side whenever the children were in school.
After they became more acquainted with each other, Madeline realized that all four of them were perfect in all aspects. They were intelligent, both intellectually and emotionally, and capable of completing whatever tasks given to them. They could arrange everything systematically and deal with any hurdles that came their way.
She always felt that it was a waste for them to be her bodyguards.
In fact, she had proposed this to the four of them, but they laughed and brushed it off, saying that their primary responsibility was to protect her, Quincy and Joel. Their Young Master had assigned them to this task because he acknowledged their capabilities, and they loved their current job a lot. This was their source of pride and honor.
Since they had said so, Madeline didn’t continue on this. However, she had already made up her mind to give them bonuses from the firm at the end of the year, together with a big red packet for each of them.
When the interview was going halfway, her phone rang. The screen showed a series of numbers instead of a name, meaning that she did not have this number saved in her contact list.
However, this series of numbers was so familiar to her that she knew who the caller was without the phone showing the identity.
Looking at the number showing on the screen, she had mixed feelings. They had not been in contact for a long time. Why did he call her out of the blue?
After slightly lowering her head, Madeline told Emory, “Continue with it. I need to answer a call.”
“Okay, Mrs. Hart.” He stood up and sent her out of the room.
Then, she took the phone to the side where no one was around and answered it.
“It’s me.” On the other end of the call, Luke was sitting in a car and playing with a silver blade.
She asked, “Why did you call me?”
“Of course I have something,” he answered. “I will send you a video now. Don’t tell anyone; otherwise, you’ll end up with your sons’ bodies.”
“What?” Her expression changed and the decibels of her voice increased.
The call was hung up, and what immediately followed was a video recording sent to her phone.
She quickly opened the video with confusion—and it was her sons in the video.
It seemed like a washroom where both Quincy and Joel were lying on the floor with their school uniforms on. Their eyes were shut, seemingly passed out.
Before she could have a clearer look, her phone rang again.
Madeline picked up the call and immediately scolded in a deep tone, “Luke Adams, what exactly do you want? I will never let you off if you dare to touch my sons.”
Hearing that, Luke laughed. “You didn’t let me off either when I didn’t touch them.”
“You…” She was trembling out of anger. “What do you want? Release my sons now! If you ever dare to hurt them, I’ll kill you wherever you are.”
“Such effort is not necessary,” he replied. “I’m just outside. Come out now and we can have a talk…”
He took a brief pause and continued, “Don’t tell Sebastian and his men. I’ve a bugging device installed on you and if you dare to divulge even a word, I’ll kill both of them right away.”
After that, Luke let out a sneer. “Madeline Taylor, thanks to you, I now have the certification of being mentally ill. With that, I can kill anyone I want without having to bear the consequences.”
“Don’t hurt them! I’ll go out now!” Madeline said angrily.
“And don’t contact my brother either.” Luke continued. “As I’ve just said, one word of this from you and I’ll send your kids off to hell. You know me; I do whatever I say. If you do not want that to happen, come out alone.”
Madeline was so angry that she almost fainted.
She had no idea whether he really installed a bugging device on her, but it could be anywhere. Her sleeves, buttons, as well as jewelry; they were all possible.
