The way the man called for Alicia reminded her a lot about the past. Right then, her eyes started to glisten with tears. She helped the man up and spoke coyly. "Nicholas... Is it really you?" It was Nicholas Blanchard, Alicia's elder brother.
Right then, they were interrupted by an impatient male voice. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? You're not here to reminisce about the past! Where's the money?" Standing beside Nicholas, Alicia glared at the man angrily. "None of your business! How would I know you're not cheating me? Letget an explanation first!" Alicia turned herself towards Nicholas and started to speak in a gentler tone, "What happened?" How could he owe them so much money? The man was startled by how aggressive Alicia was. He scratched the back of his head unconsciously.
"Your brother owes us money! If it wasn't for us, he would have already been dead on the streets of Italy! Five hundred thousand for smuggling fees, two hundred thousand for labor fees, and another hundred thousand for us to call the way from Bayton City. Do you know how hard it was for us to look for you? Now, give us exactly eight hundred thousand dollars!" Smuggled... from Italy? Those words popped into Alicia's mind. She noticed how dark Nicholas's skin was and how much bigger his build looked. It was as if he had been doing manual labor for a long period of tThere were countless scars on his body. What kind of life was he living for the past ten years? Alicia noticed how silent Nicholas was and knew that they were telling the truth.
How did he smuggle his way to Italy? Thinking of the many stowaways who died miserably and being abused, Alicia broke into a cold sweat.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtIt was lucky enough that he made it back alive! Eight hundred thousand dollars was a big amount for Alicia but the priority at this moment was to get Nicholas back safely. Alicia took out a bank card and started to speak.
"There's eight hundred thousand inside and the password is written on the back! Withdraw it yourself." Then, a man walked towards Alicia. Before turning around, he took a glance at Alicia. Moments later, another man cwith a credit card terminal in his hand. "All done, Boss!" Alicia said as she held Nicholas, "Let's get out of here!" Just as they were about to depart, the two men who stepped on Nicholas before blocked them. They gave their leader a look.
"Boss, this girl seems tough! Can we play with her?" Alicia's face turned pale at what he said. They were surrounded by four men and those people didn't seem nice. At that moment, Alicia was on high alert. Her heart was about to pounce from her chest. Of course! How could people like them be nice? Right at this second, Nicholas straightened himself. He pushed Alicia behind him and gave the man a piercing glare.
"Donald, I'm the one who owes you money. Leave my sister alone! I've survived hell once and I can do it again. Whoever wants to lay a finger on her, you have to get throughfirst!" "Wow, acting tough now? Try me. I don't buy a single thing you said!" With that said, a man stretched out his hand and tried to touch Alicia's face. Nicholas clasped the man's wrist and swiftly broke it. The man wailed in pain. Another man stepped forward to aid his comrade. In no time, three of them got into a fight.
Meanwhile, the person who seemed to be their leader cand grabbed Alicia.
"Letgo! Don't touch me! Get off of me!" Nicholas fought with all that he had but was outnumbered. The moment he saw Alicia being taken away, he swept the feet of the man standing in front of him and the man fell. Then, he took the knife from the man and rushed to Alicia's side, forcing the leader to step back, away from Alicia.
Wiping the blood off his lips, Nicholas turned around swiftly and faced the leader.
"Donald, I know how powerful you are! We're not here to fight or make you look bad! We're not here to hurt anyone either. But, I am not afraid of death! As long as I'm alive, no one touches my sister! I have been imprisoned and have killed before. I have nothing to be afraid of!" The moment he finished speaking, a white light flashed and blood splattered everywhere. Right then, a finger flew to the ground.
"If you touch my sister, I will kill you! I'm a man of my word! If you don't believe me, try me!" "Nicholas!" Alicia was wailing as she hugged him. She tore part of her clothes and used it as a bandage for him.
Meanwhile, sof the men were dumbfounded. They were initially shooting daggers at Nicholas but at that moment, all of them including their leader stepped back. Their faces turned pale. Alicia suddenly tugged at her collar as she thought of something.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Why are you guys still here? I'm sick! See this? It's contagious! Do you guys want to die in the hands of a sick woman? Have you guys seen syphilis before? It was transmitted through this small wound here and that's all it takes! If you want to get infected, I dare you to ccloser," Alicia yelled.
Several men were startled by her. They looked at each other and slowly backed off.
Alicia burst into tears as she hugged Nicholas. "How could you be so stupid? Lettake you to the hospital right away! I think they can still fix your finger." Gritting his teeth, Nicholas fell onto the ground the moment he heard the car driving away. His face was pale and covered with cold sweat.
He was obviously holding on to his last breath. He couldn't bear to see Alicia get hurt under his watch! "Are you okay? Hang in there!"
Alicia tried her best to get Nicholas into the car. However, no matter how hard she tried, she was not strong enough Plus, weeping made it harder for her to lift him. Moments later, he raised his hand and wiped the tears off Alicia's face. "Don't cry! I'm fine!"
Nicholas was actually afraid that someone would still go after her if things did not go this way. Even not though they were safe at the moment, they won't let her go that easily. "I'll get you to the hospital now! Let's go to the hospital..." Shaking his head, Nicholas said, "Consider this finger a lesson! It's my fault for dragging you into this!" This misery and suffering! He should pay a price for what he did!
After returning to Bayton City, Nicholas found out that the Blanchard family was bankrupt and his father might not be around m apymore! Those people looked into Alicia and found that she was doing well in Casterwich City. He could imagine how hard life was for Alicial for these few years. Of course, he knew how important money was to her at this time. For the first time, Nicholas felt remorseful.
Alicia constantly shook her head as she hugged him. "No! No! It's not your fault."