"Oh, they are right here. It's just my wife is busy in the kitchen. I will tell her to prepare some snacks and drinks for you guys," William said with lowered lids as he stiffly walked towards the kitchen.
Meanwhile, a few minutes ago, Marcus, who was in Nathasia's room, had a pensive expression as he felt that those who came just now seemed to be worrisome for this family.
He heard the laughs of multiple men and the brash way in which they were talking.
"Marcus, is everything alright, or should we go and check?" Nathasia asked as she kept on walking to and fro in the room.
If it weren't for the current situation, she would have been quite bashful for bringing Marcus to her room. But now, her mind was filled with the worried expressions she saw on her parent's faces.
Marcus said in a calm voice, "Just stay put as long as there are no signs of trouble. If your father couldn't handle whoever has come, I am sure we will know."
He then furrowed his brow and asked, "Does your father have any enemies...anyone from his time as an army doctor?"
A flash of hesitation crossed her face, and Marcus caught on to it as he said, "So I guess there is, huh."
"I...I...am sorry...I want to tell you...but my parents had always given me strict instructions to never reveal this to anyone else since it could threaten our family," She said as she lowered her gaze.
Marcus now understood that her father might have done something that could have warranted the visit of these unwelcome guests. However, he didn't want to prod Nathasia and said in a reassuring tone, "It's fine. I would have done the same thing in your shoes. You should keep on following their instructions and never tell whatever secret you are holding...no matter what."
Nathasia felt happy that Marcus didn't seem to take it to heart and instead spoke to her as if he understood her situation.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})But this only made her feel bad for not telling him.
She tried to sneak a peek at him, at his beautiful eyes since she always seemed to feel a magnetizing pull from them.
However, no matter how much dead curious she was to know the face behind that scarf, she never once tried to lift his scarf or ask him anything related to it since she could feel that he was quite careful about his identity.
This only made her curious, wondering why such a good guy like him had to hide their identity. She then thought about her own family and speculated that the reason must be something similar to it.
Meanwhile, William entered the kitchen and saw a worried Laina with her hand against her chest, unable to hide her nervousness.
"What is going on? Why are they here?" She asked with a stiff neck.
William cleared his throat and said with a stooped posture, "I think they might have caught on to us. Otherwise, I don't expect Ray to scour every place in search of me. Just prepare some drinks and snacks for them. I will try to make them leave somehow," William said in a frustrated tone, not feeling confident in his own words.
But the person the two were worrying about the most was their daughter since they felt that these unwelcome guests were here for her as well.
"Just...is there a way for you to sneak our daughter out...at least till these men leave?" She asked as she fidgeted her hands.
William rubbed his forehead, "Let me see. But I would need a distraction, and the opportune time would be when you will be serving them the snacks," William said with gritted teeth since he didn't like the idea of letting his wife anywhere near those men.
He looked at her with a look of guilt and continued, "I am sorry. I wish there was another way."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Laina smiled and held his hand while trying to sound calm, "It's fine. We are together in this, and there is nothing we won't do to protect our daughter. I will go prepare the snacks then. You should go back lest they do something behind our backs."
William nodded and said in a cautious tone, "But take that pistol in the second drawer in case they try something funny when you are before them."
Laina nodded, "Of course."
He then hesitatingly left, only to see Ray looking towards his direction and calling out, "Hey William, you still haven't introduced your daughter to us. Won't you give us the chance to talk with your lovely daughter?"
William said with a smiling face, "I really want to. But right now, she is in the bathroom taking a bath, I guess."
"Ohhh, a bath, eh? It seems like she is really disciplined to have a bath in the morning. As expected from the daughter of an army doctor, haha," Ray laughed with a glint in his eyes.
William dryly chuckled, "Haha, maybe."
"Don't worry, we have quite some time and will wait for your daughter to grace us with her presence," Vitaly, the one with a lean figure and holding a special status as an Ascended one, said with a shifty smile.
William inwardly frowned, feeling that things indeed were not looking good and these men were here for a certain purpose that seemed to threaten his family.
He, still, said with a smile, "Sure, as you gentlemen wish. I will call her out right after she finishes her thing."
Soon the kitchen door opened, and Laina came out while trying her best to put up a calm, smiling face.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})However, all six men felt their eyes slowly widening when they saw a curvaceous beauty who still had her charms despite her age.
Laina gritted her teeth inwardly, feeling their ogling gazes while William felt like stabbing their eyes but knew that he had to keep up pretenses till he gets his daughter out.
He casually said as he walked over to the corridor of the house, "I will go and see if my daughter is ready."
He gave a look of courage as he passed by Laina and took some comfort in the fact that she at least had a gun to protect herself or to buy some time.
He didn't dare waste any time and quickly walked over to Nathasia's door and slightly knocked while whispering, "Natty, it's me. Open the door."
Nathasia, who was feeling more tensed by the minute, quickly opened the door with a bright smile.
But her smile stifled when she saw the grave expression on William's face and asked, "Dad, what is going on? Are they out yet?"
Marcus also got up, seeing that things were indeed not good seeing William's dark face.
William got inside and closed the door slowly. He then grabbed Nathasia's shoulders and said, "Natty, quickly pack some basic stuff and get out of here!"
Before Nathasia could say anything, he looked at Marcus and pleaded, "Can you take her out through the backdoor and run away from here? Please? You can ask for anything from me."
"Papa, what are you talking about?!" Nathasia asked with trepidation, feeling scared and anxious seeing her father's behavior.
Marcus already understood the gist of things and said with a nod, "I don't need anything from you. I will take her out."
Oddly, Marcus' words seemed to assure William even though he half-believed the fact that Marcus was working for the military. Still, his guts were telling him that he could trust Marcus to protect his daughter.
William gave a grateful smile to Marcus and looked at his daughter, "Natty, please don't ask any questions now. Just go and don't look back. Listen to whatever Marcus says."
Meanwhile, as Laina nervously approached the table near the men, she put up a smiling face as she bent to place the drinks and snacks on the table.
The men tried to openly ogle at her cleavage as she bent forward but didn't manage to since she was wearing conservative clothes that seemed to leave no spot for them to ogle at.
"Wow, Liana, you are looking even more beautiful than ever. It seems like you are aging backward, hahaha," Ray heartily laughed, but it sounded sinistrous behind Liana's ears, making her hands almost shake.
Ray and the other men couldn't help but wonder how beautiful Nathasia would be up close if her mother were already this beautiful at her age.
As she laid down the cups on the table, she replied with a smile, "Thanks for the compliment, Ray."
And after quickly placing them, she placed the tray close to her chest and tried to leave.
But Ray suddenly caught her wrist and asked, "Where are you off to in such a hurry? Come sit with us and let us catch up and talk about the good old times as well."
Seeing the evil glint in his eyes and his hand on her wrist, Laina couldn't help but feel her skin crawling.
