Meeting her father’s gaze, Anabel gripped her fork tightly, hesitated, then nodded. “Dad, you’ve always been like this. As long as it doesn’t affect your interests, you don’t care about much else.”
Tom got up in a daze and left. It wasn’t until he got in the car that he gradually came to his senses.
‘Have I been this selfish all along?‘ Tom thought to himself.
He rubbed his temples, took out his phone, and called the HR director. “Is Aria the guardian of that top female student from Mandino City?”
The director replied, “Yes, Mr. Shaw. Lily is Aria’s sister, but they’re not biologically related.”
Tom asked for the details, and the director told him what he’d found. Tom was shocked. He never expected a girl around his daughter’s age to come from such a troubled family background.
Tom asked, “Then what about the other girl? Is Aria her guardian, too?”
The director replied, “Does Aria have another sister? I’m sorry, Mr. Shaw. I wasn’t aware of that. I’ll look into it immediately.”
“No, forget it. I’ve already met that top female student. She’s not joining Shaw Family Group. Focus on recruiting other students,” Tom said.
“Got it,” the director replied.
With Anabel joining them, the group of five set off toward the hills behind the villa.
Just as they reached the entrance, Clayton hurried over, looking anxious. “Ms. Saxon, may I speak with you privately?”
Aria turned to Owen. “You guys go ahead and wait for me downstairs,” she said.
“Alright,” Owen replied.
As the others left, Clayton hurried over and said urgently, “Ms. Saxon, our security team has apprehended some suspicious individuals lurking near th estate. They claim to be targeting you.”
Aria frowned. “Let’s go check it out.”
Clayton promptly led the way. “Right this way, Ms. Saxon.”
As Aria walked, she texted Owen: [Go ahead with the kids. Got something to handle. I’ll be right there.]
Owen replied promptly: [Got it.]
As Clayton and Aria stepped out of the elevator, a security guard rushed over in a panic. “Mr. Douglas, they got away.”
Clayton’s expression darkened instantly, and he roared angrily, “What good are you? How could you let them escape!”
‘Bad enough they got away, but they just had to wait until I brought Ms. Saxon here before saying anything, Clayton thought angrily.
Aria said, “Let me see the surveillance footage.”
The security guard just stood there frozen. Clayton snapped, “What are you standing around for? Get mov
“Okay,” the security guard said and left.
Moments later, Clayton received the surveillance footage. It showed the same two guys Aria had dealt with last time.
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10:18 Fri, 27 Jun B
Chapter 499
Aria’s lips curved in a cold smirk. “I’ll handle this myself. Sorry for the trouble, Clayton.”
Clayton quickly replied, “Just doing my job, Ms. Saxon.”
Aria thought, ‘These two look like amateurs. They’re not some professionals sent to deal with me. Just Olivia’s decoys. Unable to find a chance to strike at Pearl, Olivia sent out those two useless pawns again to muddy the waters.‘
After that, Aria headed to the back hills of the estate to rejoin the others.
Owen lowered his voice as Aria approached. “Those two again?”
Aria glanced at Pearl and gave a slight nod. “Yeah,” she replied.
Owen scoffed, “Seems Russell’s influence in the Wolfshade Syndicate isn’t all that impressive if he can’t even handle something this simple.”
“If he can’t handle it, we’ll deal with it ourselves,” Aria said confidently, “Let’s set a trap and catch them all in one go.”
After spending a few days at the summer villa, Anabel went home, while Aria and the others spent another two weeks traveling around.
Pearl continued with her classes. Lily was interested in the banjo, so Aria signed her up for lessons.
Aría dropped Lily off at the training center. “Call me before class ends, and I’ll pick you up,” she said.
“Okay, Aria,” Lily replied.
Aria made a U–turn and drove off, her eyes briefly scanning the rearview mirror before heading to a shooting range.
AD
