A/N: Brace yourselves, guys, because this chapter is the longest chapter of this story. I think, there will be another chapter more after this before the Epilogue. I hope you like this chapter. :)

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CHRISTINE's POV

I felt like dying the moment I saw what was happening with our son.

"Mommy, daddy!" JC cried as he tried to get away from that man but failed because he still managed to get a hold of him.

He just ran off for a couple of seconds but he was already in the arms of that mysterious man who was wearing a joker mask.

"No! JC!" I screamed as that man continued to drag him out of the building. He wasn't alone. He has several armed men around him, protecting him. Then, I noticed three other men who were now unconscious in the hallway.

It looked like the managed to take down the guards before they could even have the time to call for back-up.

"Who are you?! Let go of my son!" Jace said with a thunderous voice. He closed the door of the party hall that's why people inside weren't aware of what was happening to us. The other stuff of the hotel were nowhere to be found and I could already guess that they're held captive somewhere or already killed by these monsters.

"Try to follow us and your son will be dead!" The mysterious man warned as he pointed the tip of his gun to our son's temple.

"Mommy, daddy! Help!" The cries of JC felt like a knife that sliced my heart over and over again. It pained me to think that we couldn't just walk towards him and pull him away from that man just like that.

"Jace! Do something, please! He's going to take JC!" I cried hysterically and shook Jace's arm. His jaw was flexing tightly as beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.

"Don't worry, son. Daddy will do everything to help you." He told JC who was still crying desperately for help. Jace then raked his fingers through his hair in frustration and anger.

"Damn it! It looks like I miscalculated!" He hissed and then contacted someone on his phone. My tears kept on pooling down my eyes like an unstoppable waterfall.

"What happened?! Why is he here?! He's got my son and now dragging him out of the hotel!" Jace yelled to the person on the other line. He then went silent for a couple of seconds, listening to the response of the person he was talking to.

"Make sure not to let him escape. He's got my son so don't do anything stupid, understand?!" He then ended the call. To my horror, he brought out a gun.

"Stay here, mi amor. I'll make sure to save JC at all cost."

"But—"

"—Please, don't argue with me, mi amor. The life of JC is at stake here and I can't concentrate on saving him if you were with me." I bit my lower lip and couldn't do anything other than nodding my head.

I held onto his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "I beg you, Jace. Save our son." My voice cracked. I could feel my entire body shaking in worry and fear for our son.

"I will. Stop crying, mi amor, because I will. I will not let the past happen again. I promise you that." He pecked a kiss on my lips before leaving me there.

I bit my lower lip and then closed my eyes, silently praying for the safe return of my husband and son.

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JACE's POV

I could hear the desperate screams of my son, calling for me and Christine and it was so hard on my part. If only I had a power, I already flew to him and killed that guy over and over again for doing this to him.

He didn't do anything wrong and he's already gone through a lot. This man didn't have any right to do this again to my son!

"Wait for daddy, son. I'm coming." I told myself and then discreetly followed them. When we reached the lobby, I saw all the stuff and other people who were held captive by those fùckers. There were five men who were pointing their guns at them and the people were crying silently, couldn't do anything but to remain quiet.

I cursed under my breath. I couldn't believe that they would resort into involving other people in this mess just to get what they want.

Then, my smartwatch vibrated. It was Viper. Thankfully, 5 allows me to borrow him everytime I need his help.

"Yes, Viper. Where are you exactly? Did you spot them already?" I asked in an almost inaudible voice to prevent the enemies from detecting our presence.

"I'm already at the exact place where you told me to stay, six. What's our next move?"

"Just allow them to get away from this area and let them think that we already gave up on chasing after them. Just make sure to follow our plans and I'm sure that we'll get them." I answered.

"Copy, six. I'll informed our men to get ready then." I ended the call and then exited at the right wing of the building instead of the main entrance.

"Let's go! Just leave them there! We already have our target!" I heard their leader instructed his men loudly and I gritted my teeth.

"I'll make sure to end you once and for all." I then ran towards the waiting motorbike which was hidden behind the big tree just outside the hotel. It was dark in that area so it was difficult for the enemies to spot me there.

Then, I saw them forcefully carried JC into the van and then drove their way out of there. I started the motorbike and stealthily followed them. I gave them a minute of leeway so that they wouldn't notice me.

Thankfully, I was prepared enough. One of the buttons of JC's suit was a tracking device so I could still follow them without a hitch.

After about five minutes, I contacted Viper again.

"Viper, they're almost there. You know what to do. Make sure not to mess up because—"

"—I know, bud. Your son is with them. Don't worry. I know what I need to do."

"Good." I then ended the call and added speed as if a demon was after me. Thankfully, the road was almost empty and it was easy for me to catch up to them.

Because my motorbike was fast enough, I managed to overtake them just before they reached that place. I then stopped in the middle of the road and the driver of the car that I was chasing after didn't have a choice but to step on the brake.

That was the moment that Viper was waiting for. The car slowed down and was about to evade me by maneuvering to the left lane when the car created a series of screeching sound because one of its tires popped caused by a bullet coming from a very reliable sniper.

He's really the best sniper that I've ever known because he managed to penetrate the weave of the thread even in that difficult angle.

Thankfully, he came with Viper for the mission. He's the right-hand man of 2. I knew his skills that's why I borrowed him from 2 as well.

Then, the door of the car opened and just like I've expected, that guy was holding JC on his arms, using him as a human-shield while pointing his gun on his head.

His men were pointing their guns at me at the same time.

"Daddy! Help!" JC was trying his best to wiggle out of his arms but to no avail. I could see the fear in his eyes and it was killing me. I have been to many dangerous missions before but I've never felt this kind of fear.

My life was in constant danger but instead of feeling scared, I enjoyed all of it. It was s challenging experience. But now that my own son was involved, even though I've already planned everything ahead of time, I couldn't help but to get scared because he might get hurt in any way.

I released a breath to calm myself down and then tried my best to concentrate on the mission.

"Relax, son. Stop crying because everything will be alright. Daddy promise you that." The mysterious man scoffed.

"If you really think that I will give you a chance to get your son back, then you're wrong, Montejo! I will not leave without killing you and taking your son with me!" He then laughed.

Instead of being intimidated because they were around ten while I was alone, I smirked.

"Are you that angry that I outwitted you before? If you think that you could hurt my family again, especially my son once, then you're wrong. I will make sure to kill you for good this time, Doctor Baron!" It looked like he was taken a back for a couple of seconds because he went silent.

"I never knew that you're this sharp, Montejo." He then removed his mask and now, I could clearly see his face. Just like I thought, he took a damage of that explosion. More than half of his face was burned, and he looked nothing like the old Doctor Baron.

He looked like an insane clown right now.

"Monster! Let go of me! Daddy, please get me away from him!" JC struggled to get out of his arms even more upon seeing his face and realizing that it was Doctor Baron who was holding him captive.

"Shut up, you twirp!" Doctor Baron was about to hit my son when I warned him.

"Try to harm JC in any way and you're dead!" His hand stopped in mid-air and then looked at me tauntingly.

"Still feeling confident that you're gonna win even with my men's guns pointing at you?!"

"I'm not scared because I know that if there's someone who's going to drop dead in this place, that's you." Upon hearing what I've said, he laughed as if he just heard the funniest joke in his life.

"C'mon, Montejo. Don't bluff. I have your son with me and it's up to me if he's going to live or die. Stop acting as if you have the upper hand because we both know that you can't do anything to stop me. I will make sure to get my revenge of what you did to me by destroying everything that you have.

"I will kill everyone that you love one by one in front of you before I'll have the pleasure to kill you. I'm telling you, you will beg for me to kill you because of so much agony. I will make sure that you will feel the pain of everything that you've inflicted in me. And now, 'I'm going to start with your son! Enjoy watching how he dies!" He then cocked the gun that he was holding while still pointing its tip on my son's temple.

I felt like dying because of so much fear but I knew that I still have the upper hand.

"Do it." I dared him even though I felt like my breath was already trapped in my lungs. He looked shock for a second before he laughed. My fist clenched tightly as my heart almost stopped beating.

"My pleasure." He was about to pull the trigger when we heard a gunshot echoed around us, followed by a thud sound when Doctor Baron's body fell to the ground. Seeing all the blood coming out of his head was the only time that I felt relieved.

His men got distracted as they looked at him in shock. That was my cue. I brought out my gun and shot each and everyone of them. The other last three managed to exchange bullets with me but I evaded their shots by taking refuge behind the tree just on the side of the road.

I was about to shoot them when I got the chance again but someone already did it for me. I looked around and when I was finally sure that everything was fine, I ran towards JC who was crying in the middle of those dead bodies.

"Daddy!" He screamed as if he felt relieved when he saw me. I hurriedly took him in my arms and carried him away from there.

I could feel his body trembling in fear and I embraced him tightly. His sobs made my heart break into tiny pieces.

"Enough, buddy. Everything's fine now. Doctor Baron is gone now and he will never get to hurt you again." I comforted him while rubbing his back.

"I w-want to go h-home, daddy. I-I don't want to s-stay here anymore. I w-want to see m-mommy." He managed to say while crying so hard.

"Yes, buddy. We're going home now, so stop crying now." I was about to contact Viper when someone spoke behind me.

"Bud, we have another problem." It was Viper. My forehead creased.

"What is it? We already got them for good, right?"

"Yes, bud, but an unexpected thing happened." For some reason, my heart throbbed in unexplainable way upon hearing that. The image of Christine suddenly popped up in my head.

"What is it about? Tell me."

"Someone kidnapped your wife and now, our men are in pursuit." Viper informed me and I felt like a bomb exploded in front of me.

"What?! Who took her?! How come our men let this happened?!" I asked thunderously.

"Our men that were assigned to guard her got killed. It looks like they've planned this ahead of time too." My fists tightened in so much anger.

"Where's their current location right now?" I then asked. Viper handed me the tracking device.

"Viper, take JC to the venue of the party. I will follow those fùckers." I instructed with a hardened face. His eyebrows creased as if he didn't like what I've just said but when he saw the expression on my face, he quietly nodded his head.

"Son, go with Viper. He will take you back to the party. Don't worry because everything will be alright, okay? Stop crying." I told JC. He wiped his tears before he looked at me.

"Is mommy in danger?" I ruffled his hair.

"Yes, that's why I need you to be brave. Go with Viper for now because daddy will save mommy."

"Please, daddy. Save mommy from those monsters." I forced a smile.

"Don't worry, son. Daddy will." He nodded his head. I kissed his forehead before I gave him to Viper. I then got on my motorbike and then drove my way towards the enemies' location as fast as I could.

I kept on glancing at the tracking device while driving towards them but after about five minutes, I noticed that the enemies' car stopped. I was already praying so hard that they haven't harmed Christine yet in any way.

When I arrived there, I was surprised to see black cars blocking the enemies' way. Three at the front and another three at the back.

Men in black suits were everywhere, surrounding the enemies. Now, I understood why they stopped.

I didn't have any idea who were those men in black but I didn't care anymore. All I wanted was to save my wife.

"You're already surrounded! Get out and surrender yourself now!" One of the men in black yelled at the enemies. I wanted to approach but I've decided to observe for now. I didn't know if those men in black were enemies or not.

The doors of the enemies' car opened and I thought, they would surrender because they're being surrounded already but I was wrong. I felt like my heart stopped beating when they were the ones who started firing at those men who were wearing black suits.

I wanted to shout for them not to shoot because they might shoot Christine too but they already did. The five enemies that came out of the enemies' car dropped dead as bullets penetrated their bodies.

I was about to run towards the car to check if Christine was indeed there when I finally got a glimpse of her getting out of the car, but she wasn't alone.

A familiar face was behind her, holding her hostage. She has a small remote in her hand. I felt like my head became bigger when I realized what she was planning to do.

She has a bomb attached to her body.

"Don't ever shoot or else, I will make sure that I will take her with me!" It was Charlotte! She looked like a crazy person, holding the remote like that while her arm was around Christine's neck.

My breathing became hard as overwhelming rage ate my whole being. I pointed my gun at them but I felt like flying into a fit of rage because I couldn't take the risk.

"Let go if her!" One of the men in black said but Charlotte shook her head.

"In your dreams! You fùckers ruined our lives and I will make sure to ruin yours too! Bring Jace Montejo here or else, I will kill this woman!" Because of what I've heard, I went out of my hiding spot without any hesitation.

I knew that this woman wanted to take her revenge on me and I will make sure to save Christine. If I needed to sacrifice myself just for my wife and our unborn child, I will do it in a heartbeat.

"I'm here, so let go of her!" I said. Charlotte's lips parted in shock upon seeing me. Christine's eyes widened upon seeing me.

"N-No, mi amor! Get out of here! this woman is insane!" I could feel her worry for me. Even in that situation, she was still thinking about me. I gritted my teeth.

"Y-You're indeed here. That means..." She murmured and then her eyes bored into mine with total hatred. Looked like she realized that Doctor Baron failed to kill me and now, her husband was dead.

"You killed Stan..."

"I didn't. He's still alive." I lied but that didn't convince her.

"Liar! An eye for an eye, Montejo! A tooth for a tooth!" My eyes widened when she raised the small remote that she was holding and pressed it. At the same time, I pointed my gun at her and pulled the trigger.

I managed to shoot her hand but looked like I was late. She already pressed the remote.

"Mi amor!" I felt like my soul escaped from my body of the thought that the bomb would explode any moment now. I ran as fast as I could towards them, uncaring if I would die with them. All I cared about was to save the love of my life.

When I approached them, I punched Charlotte's face with all my might that she fell to the ground. I then pulled Christine's hand and ran away from there as fast as we could. But after a couple of seconds, nothing happened. There was no explosion.

"No! Why didn't it explode?!" We then heard Charlotte screamed like she lost her mind while kept on pressing the remote with her other hand again and again. Her left hand was bloody because I shot her there a while ago. Her face was bloody too because of the punch that she received from me but she seemed to not feel any of that.

She was now hysterical while screaming.

"Are you okay, mi amor?" I asked Christine and she nodded her head.

"I-I'm fine." I embraced her tightly.

"I don't know why that bomb didn't explode but thank God, it didn't!" I kissed her forehead. I felt so relieved.

"You! I'm going to kill you!" I looked at Charlotte and now, she was looking at us full of loathe. I was about to answer when someone spoke.

"That's enough, Charlotte. You and Stan failed. Just accept the fact that you're the loser here and Jace is the winner." That voice was familiar. I looked at his direction and confirmed my suspicion. It was my father.

"Are you the one who's responsible why this bomb didn't explode?" Charlotte asked him and he nodded his head.

"Yes, I am. I planted a couple of spies in your group and I'm glad I did because I managed to stop your plans." Charlotte's face contorted with total hatred.

"Damn you! Stan made a mistake of saving your life! He should've killed you long time ago!"

"You're right, Charlotte. Stan made a mistake. Now, Jacinto here was the one who arranged his downfall." Christine and I were surprised upon hearing that voice. It was Mantus.

"Mantus? What are you doing here? Why are you with him?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Mantus? Who's Mantus, daddy, Jace?" My body went still when I remembered that Christine was still there and heard everything.

"I'll explain to you everything later, darling. For now, we should finish all this." He then looked at my father as if telling him something just with the eyes.

"Men, get that woman out of here and bring her to the place where she belongs!" My father instructed and the men in black obliged. They took Charlotte with them and then left even though she kept on struggling.

"I already finished my mission here. I need to go." My father said and then turned his back on us. My jaw clenched.

"Stop right there. You can't just walk away just like that as if you didn't do anything." I said with a stern voice.

"Sorry, son, but I don't have time to go to jail." He took a step forward but then stopped when I cocked the gun that I was holding and pointed at him.

"I said, stop!" I roared.

"Jace!" Christine rebuked in shock.

"I'm sorry, mi amor, but I can't let go of him just like that without clarifying everything first. Please, step aside. I need to do this." I determinedly said.

"Darling, come here." Mantus coaxed his daughter and Christine did as she was told.

"Now tell me. Were you an accomplice of Doctor Baron all this time?" I asked through gritted teeth while still pointing my gun at him. He didn't answer for a couple of seconds and that added to my anger.

"Answer me!" I heard him sigh before he faced me. There was no hint of fear on his face.

"No."

"Really? Then why did you help him escape twice?!"

"Can you put your gun down? It's distracting me. You don't need that, believe me." His voice was calm.

"Just answer my question!" He blew a breath before closing the gap between us.

"I said, put that gun down." His voice became stern. He was about to take the gun from me but I didn't let him.

"Try and I'll shoot you." I warned. He squinted his eyes.

"Fine. Shoot me if you feel the need to." He dared. My hand tightened around the gun that I was holding. I was about to pull the trigger when Christine screamed.

"Jace, please, no! He's your father! Don't let your anger cloud your judgement. Let him speak and hear his side!" Hearing my wife's plea stopped me of what I was about to do. I realized that I just planned to kill my own father!

"Argh!" I screamed and then threw the gun to the ground. I was so full of rage. After all that has happened to my family, all I wanted was to kill everyone who was involved.

"Do you have any idea what my family have been through because of you people?! My son and wife didn't do anything but why did you have to involve them in all this mess?! Now that we're finally starting anew as a family, you people have to come again and destroy our happiness!" I chided at him full of resentment. I felt like I was going to explode any moment now.

"You're mistaken, son."

"What do you mean by that? Isn't it enough that you saved Doctor Baron twice from us for me to think that you're one of them?!" He closed his eyes for about three seconds before he answered.

"I admit, I helped him during that time."

"You—" I was about to attack him when he continued.

"But I didn't know what I was doing back then. I lost my memories and Stan and Charlotte took advantage of it." He heaved a sigh. "Six months after what happened to your family, I discovered that he was the one who was responsible of what happened to JC that night. I confronted him and we got into a brawl. Unfortunately, while we were at the heat of our fight, I accidentally fell and my head hit on a big rock. When I came to, I couldn't remember anything anymore.

"Stan took that as an opportunity to twist everything and made me believe that we're still friends. Because of that, I was the one who protected him all this time that's why he managed to survive the underground until recently. I only have a partial amnesia and unfortunately, I only remembered about our past where our friendship was still intact.

"But almost a year ago, my lost memories started coming back. That's when I realized that I've been used by him. I secretly did my own investigation and I found out everything, including the fact that Neo was JC. I realized why I felt so close to him and that's because he's my grandson.

"I confronted Stan because of what he did to me. I wanted to kill him back then but he blackmailed me through JC. He said that if I wouldn't continue protecting him, he will make sure that JC's fate will be like those other kids who were killed.

"Normally, I wasn't the type to be swayed by that kind of threat but it did affect me. I love JC and he's my grandson. I couldn't let anything bad happen to him, so I helped Stan escape from you twice but during those times, I was already looking for an opportunity to destroy him without him knowing it.

"During you encounter at the shooting range, I was there because I wanted to help you kill Stan once and for all. I didn't want to give JC to you back then because I wanted to make sure first that everything was safe before I let him be with you and Christine.

"My gutfeel was right after all. I discovered that Stan was still alive three days ago and I barely made it for your rescue. Thankfully, one of my spies managed to report to me that Charlotte and Stan were planning something today so we did everything we could to destroy their plans.

"We wanted to save JC first but Stan already got a hold of him. We planned to go there but we had to save Christine too." He then chuckled humorlessly. "You know why I didn't want to face you right now? Because I felt like the world's useless father. Because I lost my memories, your family suffered, especially my grandson. If only I regained my memories earlier, these wouldn't've happened." His voice was full of guilt and regret.

He suddenly looked vulnerable. This was my first time seeing him with this kind of emotion and it caught me off guard. Everything that he confessed made me realize that he'd been doing his best to help me and my family for so long; that he didn't purposely deceive us.

He was willing to sacrifice himself just to protect us but what did I do in return? I held grudges against him because of baseless suspicion. I should've talked to him first in order to hear his side of the story. Now, he saved Christine and I's lives and I didn't know what to say or how to react.

"I also want to say that Jacinto here was in a mission when that incident where he lost his memories happened. Even though he's a mafia leader, he agreed to help me with that mission. Stan discovered about it and planned his revenge against us that's why he targeted your family.

"He intended to kill Christine back then and then take JC but thankfully, he didn't succeed on harming my daughter. Sadly, he succeeded on taking JC. Please, forgive us, because Jacinto and I were the reason why Stan targeted your family." It was Mantus.

"What are you talking about, daddy? What's happening here? Why are you with Jace's dad? Why are they calling you Mantus?" It was Christine. She looked so confused. Mantus looked at me. His eyes were asking my permission and I nodded my head. I didn't want to keep this a secret from my wife any longer.

Mantus then confessed Christine everything about him and my wife was so shocked.

"M-Maggie and mom know?"

"Yes, darling. I'm sorry if it took me this long to tell you about it. I understand if you get mad at me because I was one of the reasons why Stan did terrible things to you and your family." Mantus' voice cracked.

Christine didn't answer for a couple of seconds.

"I need to see my son." Was all that she said before turning her back on us. Mantus, my father and I looked at each other, didn't know what to do. 

I then quietly followed my wife. We went back together to the hotel and when she saw JC with Viper, she burst into tears. But this time, she looked relieved and happy at the same time.

For the first time in so long, I finally managed to feel at ease because my family is finally safe. But for some reason, I couldn't help but to feel worried because she'd been ignoring me since a while ago.

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Poor JC. ;(

What do you think of this chapter?

Who among you expected that Doctor Baron was still alive?

Did you expect for Charlotte to help her husband this time?

If you were Christine, would you be mad at your father after hearing everything from him? What about at Jace?

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