Cristy drove silently as Dana and her brothers happily sat at the back. They were so relieved to have found each other that they couldn't stop hugging each other.

Cristy did not like the presence of the boys, they had become an obstacle in her plan. But William asked her to take them, he practically begged her to take him, how could she say no?

She could never say no to William, she cared about him too much to hurt his feelings.

The only time she did, was when he turned 18 and was going to leave town, he asked her to come with him, but she refused.

"Dad wants me to help run the family business. You know how much I want to do that." Cristy told William.

"If that's what you want...." William said before he turned around and left, forever.

Cristy still sent him letters, she called whenever she could track down his number. But the only thing he would ask is... "Still working with your father in that business?"

"It's a family business, if I don't, who will?" She said and then the line disconnected.

But Cristy never gave up. She loved William and was prepared to wait for as long as she needed to get him to talk to her.

She always thought about the day William pushed her attacker down the stairs and killed him. She knew the moment she recovered that she would forever be indebted to him. Even though she lost a great deal, she still had her life and she promised herself not to waste it.

Cristy watched Dana hug her brothers from the rear view mirror as she drove down towards the city.  She couldn't get rid of the boys because of William but she could separate them!

All she had to do was keep the boys safe until William got out of jail.

******

William and Captain fields were back in the room, William immediately showed the captain all the secret documents Frank had hidden in his cupboard.

"He has kept details of this person's deteriorating health." Captain Fields said as he went through everything.

"Look at this one! His physical appearance altered so much just after two days!" He continued, shocked.

William, who had already seen it, was pacing the room and thinking about the boys.

"Sir, we need to find a way and bring those boys back. I don't know where Cristy is and I don't trust her one bit. She is just like the rest of them." William said.

"Then why did you hand them over to her?" Captain Fields asked.

"I was desperate. I told them to stay in the room and not eat any of the food." William said. "I dint know how long I would be there!"

Captain Fields pursed his lips thinking hard. "Call her, tell her you are back and you want the boys delivered to you safely."

"She won't do it. I already tried getting her to leave his family alone." William said.

"Then you are out of choices." The captain said straightening up. "Let get out of here."

******

John was back to working at the bar. It was his favourite pass time because he was disguised as an old bartender. This gave him access to the people of Lanchester while keeping his true identity a secret.

It had been over two days and they still didn't find Dana and the boys, this was serious.

Leaving Aaron to obsess about it alone,  John and Helen stood at the back to discuss their next move.

"There has been no site of William, I think he has something to do with this." John told Helen.

"John!" Helen said frowning. "You can't blame the boy for everything."

"Why do you think Cristy decided to start college so suddenly?" John asked. "She was always talking about taking over the business and suddenly she drops everything to study??"

"It would help her run the business." Helen said turning away to pour them some whiskey. She couldn't meet his eye. This was the first time in their marriage that she had to keep a secret from her husband. If her plan works, then it would be worth it.

"I taught her everything she needs to know about running this business." John said. "Hell, I started this business without a degree."

"The world is changing now." Helen said handing him a glass. "Let our little girl explore her options a little."

John hesitated and then took the glass and finished it in one swallow.

"I dint want to tell you this before and make you worry but...." John hesitated.

"What is it." Helen asked.

"Business isn't going to well." John confessed. "We had to shut down our branch in Orlando."

"I won't say I told you so." Helen sighed. "What happened this time? Damon got arrested or is now on the wanted list."

"He is on the wanted list." John said. "He is looking for a place to hide out."

"No! Don't for a moment think about giving him a place here!" Helen said angrily.

"I have to! He knows too much about how we run the business." John insisted.

"He is already here, isn't he." Helen said, her eyes wide.

"Yes, Aaron is introducing him to our prisoners." John said, pouring himself some more whiskey.

"You can't be serious!" Helen said furiously. "What happened to the principles you followed when you started this business!?"

"Some things need to change. That's how business works, you wouldn't understand." John said coldly.

"I suppose all these years I stood by you meant nothing?" Helen said crossing her arms.

"Helen!" John said slamming the empty glass on the counter making it shatter.

"Don't question my methods. I have kept you happy for many years and I need to keep the others happy too. That's all you need to know." John said.

"Do you even remember why you started this?" Helen asked. John didn't reply, he just refilled his glass.

"We had the perfect set of rules planned out." Helen said in a soothing tone, putting a hand on John's shoulder. "Just you and me against the world. What changed?"

"You got pregnant and had a normal son." John said harshly. "You realise Rob would have maintained our work long after we are gone? But he turned out to be ordinary."

"But then we got Cristy." Helen pointed out.

"Yes, I'd say she was a blessing if i believed in a god." John said.

"So focus your energies on her. Money is not so important." Helen said. "What we do is special, it gives us great pleasure. We don't need to expand the business and make more money."

John thought for a moment and then said. "Fine. Let's keep the hotels. They can manage themselves, as for our business....... let's keep it only in LA."

"Really? I thought you preferred Lanchester because it never gets any attention." Helen said

"Not if I have to see William every day knowing he won't join us." John said. "No matter how angry he makes me, I still want him to join us."

"Nice to know, maybe your patience has paid off." came a voice from behind.

Helen and John jumped and turned to see William standing at the door.

"Rob!" Helen whispered.

"Hello mom, dad!" William said.

******

The big reveal!!

Rob is William and he is John's son!!

I dropped little hints earlier... did you get it or were you totally surprised?? 😅

I hope you liked this chapter! I was very excited to let you know about Williams parentage.

Have a great week! Cheers!

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