Arabella nodded. She couldn't lean back in her chair because of the wound on her back; she had to lean slightly to the side
instead, which finally allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.
At that moment, thick black smoke billowed from Reflections Villa.
Numerous servants and bodyguards were battling the blaze. Thankfully, since Edith had taken over as housekeeper and convinced
Louisa to purchase a batch of firefighting equipment, reasoning that a mansion of this size needed ample fire protection, they were
well-prepared.
Little did they expect that their foresight would prove so timely.
Someone tried calling Kenneth and Louisa but got no answer, so they called Arabella instead.
“Ms. Bella, the house is on fire. It's the basement.”
Fortunately, the basement and the main building were separate, and thanks to the sufficient firefighting equipment, the fire were
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtquickly extinguished, leaving only thick smoke behind.
Upon returning home, Arabella found that the family doctor had also arrived.
She was called in by Louisa.
Louisa thought that her precious daughter was injured and that tending to the wounds herself was too taxing. She thought it would
be better to have professional help.
“My injuries are minor; please check on the others first,” Arabella instructed the doctor, wanting her to examine her grandparents
and parents.
However, the entire family unanimously insisted that Dr. Anne treat her first.
Arabella couldn't win against them, and she had to let her tend to her wounds obediently.
Kenneth and Louisa had sustained minor scrapes, nothing serious, but Romeo's back was quite severe.
After Dr. Anne had bandaged Arabella’s wounds, she went to tend to Romeo.
Dr. Anne treated Kenneth and Louisa, then proceeded to check on Bernard and Cornelia.
The deputy head of the security team approached them, reporting the night's events.
“Tonight, a group of intruders forced their way into Reflections Villa. Our guards engaged them, and not long after, the basement
caught fire. We rushed to put out the flames, and during the chaos, the intruders vanished. They might have escaped.” The
bodyguard’s tone carried a hint of self-reproach; they felt useless for not capturing even one of them.
If Ms. Bella had been there, she definitely wouldn't have let those people get away!!
“It's okay,” Arabella said calmly, “my people were lying in wait outside. They've probably already caught them by now.”
She had previously instructed Tom to keep a team concealed around Reflections Villa, all for this day.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Tonight, with Bernard, Cornelia, Kenneth, and Louisa kidnapped, and her five brothers not hand the house empty, it was the
perfect opportunity to strike.
She took out her phone to call Tom, sure enough, Tom reported they had just apprehended the suspects after a lengthy chase.
“Boss, I'll bring them to Reflections Villa right away,” Tom said with a note of pride in his voice.
“Good job,” Arabella praised.
Ending the call, she tapped her phone, “I installed micro-cameras in the basement.”
She projected the footage from the cameras onto the TV screen. At around ten that evening, a group of men in black masks and
casual clothes had burst into the basement.
They were searching for something or someone, kicking open door after door, only to find each room empty. They didn’t find the
person they were looking for and made a call, reporting, “Erik is not here. Every room is empty.”
The voice on the other end seemed to order them to retreat. After the call, they set the basement ablaze and swiftly left the scene.
“They cfor Erik.” Louisa realized, “They thought Erik was still alive. That means the mastermind who forced Erik to take poison
wants to take him back or kill him on the spot. It seems Erik must have something on that person!”