Happily Ever After: A Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

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Happily Ever After: A Contemporary Romance Boxed Set Page 230

by Piper Rayne

“Who? Tell me?” Tanner exclaimed as he pressured for more answers. “Mention all the details you find out about him.”

  Devon spoke in a loud and firm tone. “I find something odd about the background of Mr. Hughes. He was a poor man in his younger days, but he somehow became rich eight years ago and created a company from the secrets that were bought from your father’s company.”

  “What?” Tanner roared as he stood up instantly. “Is that really true? How could this have happened? I thought it was her…”

  Interrupting his rambling, Devon continued with his results. “Do you know that the woman who betrayed you in the past is currently dating a man, who might be the lovechild of Mr. Hughes. That boyfriend of your ex is currently a CEO in that company. If my assumption is correct, then you were made a scapegoat eight years ago for that theft. So, this time Mr. Davies is the one who will take responsibility for Mr. Hughes’ crimes.”

  “That won’t happen,” Tanner snarled as the anger in his heart boiled to the point that he saw red. “I hope you can help me protect the family of Mr. Davies. I’ll text you the address of the hospital to you later, so please help me with this favor. Now, it’s time for me to get my revenge. I’ll stop him from ruining my family relationship and this takeover.”

  Devon agreed. “I’ll watch for your message then. Let me know soon, so I can start right away. The most I can do is resolve this issue in three days or so. We can start taking action in those days. Wait for my news.”

  Hanging up the phone, Tanner turned around and saw Stacey had finished her call. “Look, I really apologize for what happened yesterday. If you want to sue me in court, then feel free. But please wait until I capture this criminal. You can take your anger out on me later.”

  Stacey had no choice, but nodded her head. “Here is the address for the hospital Mr. Davies’ daughter is residing in. I’ll forward the address to you, so please send this to your friend now. I’ll let Mr. Thompson know about these plans, so we’ll take action in three days then.”

  Tanner waited until he heard the ping from his phone and he forwarded the address to his friend. He stood up to grab his clothes and planned to head back to his room. “Let’s hurry back to Houston. We should discuss the plans with Mr. Thompson. I want to know more details on what he had planned for the next three days.”

  “Sure, I’ll explain in the helicopter,” Stacey mumbled as she packed her bags. “Since we already got the deal, this is no need for us to stay in Las Vegas anymore.”

  Tanner nodded. “Go ahead and have a late lunch first. I’ll need to dress up and eat in my room. I’ll meet you here in two hours.”

  Walking to his door, he let himself inside the room. He tossed his dirty suit on the bed as he walked into the restroom. He went to take a quick shower. Recalling all the news he just heard, the cold water couldn’t even calm down the anger in his body.

  This time. You’ll receive your karma. I’ll be the one to send you straight to hell.

  Tanner never had been this impatient for the next three days. Ever since they rode the helicopter back to Houston, he had already discussed plans with Mr. Thompson. He agreed to all the strategy, but they would need to act until they heard the news from Devon. He didn't want to act when one family was in danger. The call that he waited from his friend took forever to reach him too. Tanner didn’t want to alert the enemies so he pretended to be the same as usual. He just walked out of a company meeting when his father approached him.

  “What do you want?” Tanner muttered as he tried to hide his gloomy expression from his old man. “It’s already ten in the morning. I’m quite busy right now since I need to finish this paperwork for the afternoon meeting. Do you have something that you want to say to me?”

  His father growled at him. “I’ll be out of the company for a while since I heard they capture the second thrive who embezzled money from our company. I hope you can handle everything here while I’m gone.”

  “Sure, I’ll do my best,” Tanner mumbled as he started walking to his office. “I’ll take care of the business meeting in your place. Let me know how it goes.”

  Master McGuire expression of Tanner had changed the moment he gave the signed contract of Mr. Williams. He had never seen this happier expression on his father’s face. He hoped their relationship could last for a long time. Right now, Tanner’s main focus is on capturing the enemy in their company. He walked to his office and started getting preparations for the business meeting.

  In the next thirty minutes, he finally received the phone call from Devon. He picked up the call and whispered in a low voice. “How does it go on your side?”

  “Everything is all taken care of now. You can start taking action. It’s good luck that the hospital you sent me happens to belong to my family. I already moved Mr. Davies’ family to another location of our hospital in the suburbs. Don’t worry. I also let several men guard them. Go arrest that enemy now.”

  Tanner sighed. “I owe you one. Thanks so much for your help.”

  Hanging up the call, he texted Stacey on her mobile and told her to come grab papers from his room. She didn’t reach his room until ten minutes later. Closing the door, she walked toward his desk.

  “What’s with your odd request? Why do you tell me to come here?” Stacey glanced at his expression and noticed the smile on his face. “Are we ready to start taking actions now?”

  Nodding his head, he pointed outside. “Be sure to let Mr. Ethans know the truth now. I hoped we could tackle him during the business meeting in the next two hours. I’ll wait for you guys for more directions.”

  “Don’t worry. Mr. Thompson already handled everything. He knows that you won’t fail him, so he already let the police forces pretend to be employees. I’ll go send him the signal now. We can send the staff to another department while we apprehend him in the meeting room. So, act the same and don’t let anything go wrong. I’ll meet you in the conference meeting.”

  When Stacey disappeared in his room, Tanner sat back on his chair as he waited for the next two hours. The time ran so slow that he already snarled in anger. He wasn’t even paying attention to any of his documents as he stared at the time. As the clock struck three, he stood up and marched to the conference room. He met Mr. Thompson and Stacey in the hallway.

  “How’s everything going?” Ethan asked as he glanced around the surroundings. “Good thing that I lured your father away from the company. Since the CEO is still handicapped, he should stay home instead. But he was a stubborn fool, so I hoped him being away won’t distract our plans.”

  Tanner nodded. “I agree. Thanks for leading him away. He’ll just be a distraction anyway. Let’s start heading toward the room now.”

  They walked to the business meetings. The staff stood in the entrance as they headed to sit on their chairs. Mr. Hughes was one of the people who sat in the middle on the right side. Stacey sat on the chair next to the chairman’s chair while Tanner sat on the one across from her. As the meeting started, Mrs. Lewis started talking about her own design on the protector.

  The meeting lasted for thirty minutes before the police knocked on the door. One of the women at the door opened the entrance to the police. Four of the officers dressed in a blue uniform walked into the room and headed toward Mr. Hughes. They stood in front of him as they prepared to apprehend him.

  One of them asked, “Are you Mr. Hughes? If you are, then you need to come with us to the station. You’re a suspect for the embezzlement of this company.”

  Mr. Hughes was startled at the news. “You must have heard wrong. I had nothing to do with any of this. Please don’t misunderstand.”

  The police interjected. “The suspects pointed you as accomplices in the embezzlement, so please come with us. You’ll need to answer some questions that we had for you at the station.”

  Moving a few feet back, Mr. Hughes shoved two of the staffs toward the police. As he dashed toward the door, the two women and two men from the staff jumped and stopped the police from es
caping. The staff screamed and stampeded in the small room.

  Tanner got up from his chair as he dashed through the crowd to chase after Mr. Hughes. Several staff strolled toward the hallway as the other employees who might be police officers chased after Mr. Hughes. He followed the group as he chased them around the corner of several hallways. With no luck finding Mr. Hughes in this crowd, he strode back toward the meetings. In the end, he stopped at the next corner.

  Mrs. Lewis held a knife to Stacey’s neck. The woman that he started to become close had a pale face as fear engulfed in her heart. As her culprit tended to lead her down to the elevator, Tanner jumped in their path to block their way.

  “Let go of her, or else I won’t let you go,” Tanner roared as he walked closer to them. “This has nothing to do with Ms. Nelson, so let her aside.”

  Laughing out loud, Mrs. Lewis snapped. “Do you think I’m a fool? I’ll only let her go until I have a car that I can escape from this company. She’s my ticket to help me escape from this place.”

  Stacey shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. You should go ahead and apprehend Mr. Hughes. I’m sure the police will come and help me instead.” Wincing at the sharp edge on her skin, she gasped. “You shouldn’t come close to her. She really meant business. I forgot about her in the meeting ever since everyone chased after Mr. Hughes.”

  Tanner followed Ms. Lewis closely as she approached the elevators, but several police officers came out of the lift. Mrs. Lewis changed her stance and led Stacey to the stairs instead. As they walked three floors down, Tanner tried to stay close behind the officers to find an opportunity to stop Mrs. Lewis. When they reached the company’s lunchroom, Tanner noticed Ethan standing behind a column in the kitchen. Mr. Thompson even sent a hand signal to Stacey too.

  He didn’t understand the hand gesture, but Tanner somehow got the meaning based on the expression from Stacey’s face. He waited to see what both of them planned to do next as he walked closer to Stacey and Mrs. Lewis. As both of them got closer to Ethan’s hideout, Mr. Thompson signaled to Stacey again while he also threw a ball toward them.

  Mrs. Lewis got sidetracked from the ball so she didn’t pay attention to her hostage’s actions. In a second, Stacey stepped on Ms. Lewis’ feet and then threw her perpetrator off her. She ran towards Ethan’s arm, who pulled her to safety. As for Tanner, he jumped on that opportunity to block the knife that Mrs. Lewis slash in the air. Tanner felt a sting on his right arm. Ignoring the pain, he dodged the next attract and turned around to hold onto Mrs. Lewis’ arms from the back. In that situation, the police officers came forward to cuffed her two wrists.

  “You tricked me, you bitch,” Mrs. Lewis snarled as she kicked her feet and tried to throttle Stacey. “I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

  While the officers dragged her away, Stacey strode toward Tanner to check the wound on his arm. “You’re hurt. You need to get that wrapped up in case the cut will be infected.”

  “I have more demanding matters now then this small cut. I need to look for Mr. Hughes, so you should follow some police officers and stay hidden now.”

  Just as Tanner finished his words, the police officers screamed ahead to warn Mr. Hughes to stop running. The area was already all surrounded by their men. Tanner walked around them as he followed those voices in the distance. Stacey and Ethan followed close behind from Tanner as all of them joined some police officers and detectives along the way.

  “Why can’t you apprehend him? What’s the trouble?” Tanner demanded as they followed them toward the company entrances. “Is he that difficult to capture?”

  Ethan spoke instantly, “The officers let me know that Mr. Hughes came prepared with some of his men. Those servants had disrupted the police from capturing him. We should think of some ways to take care of those men that Mr. Hughes had with him.”

  As all of them reached the entrance, Mr. Hughes stayed behind a dozen men dressed in several different color suits. Some of them fought with the officers bare fists while some others already snatched the guns from the police men and started shooting guns everywhere. In the scuffle, Mr. Hughes snatched a gun from one of his men and shot toward them too. Ethan pulled Stacey behind the wall while Tanner hid behind the opposite side.

  As he tried to walk closer to the entrance, he fought with several men with his own fists and legs. Even though Tanner hadn’t learned any martial arts, he still knew how to dodge and attack his enemies. He defended himself well even though he earned several punches and kicks. The moment he kicked a follower to the side, he heard the voice of Stacey.

  “Watch out, Master McGuire,” Stacey screamed at the top of her lungs. “Why are you back here?”

  Tanner whirled around and saw his father sitting on a wheelchair just behind the company door entrance. His blood froze as he dashed forward toward his father. How could his father be here at this time? He jumped right in front of his father just in time to take a bullet through his stomach. He gasped as he fell backward onto his father’s arms.

  “Tanner,” Joseph roared, cradling his son in his arms. Glancing toward Mr. Hughes, he glared and snapped in frustration.“What the hell is going on here? What’s the meaning of this? Why do you even dare to attack us?”

  Mr. Hughes strode forward. “Thanks to you for being stupid and blind all these years, I have lived a wonderful life for past eight years. I can’t believe that all my plans had been ruined due to your son. I’ll send both of you two to join your ancestors in hell. With both of you gone, I can finally have this company at last.”

  “Eight years…” Joseph mumbled in shock. “So, you’re the traitor who stole my company secret several years ago. It wasn’t my son. He never betrayed me.”

  Aiming his gun at Master McGuire, Mr. Hughes smirked. “You’re too late now. When you find the truth, I already send your son to hell. Don’t worry. You’re next, Mr. McGuire. Go and join your son in hell so he won’t be lonely.”

  Before Mr. Hughes could shoot his gun, someone shot him on the shoulder. He screamed and fell to the floor, causing him to drop his gun on the floor. As more people with weapons entered from the side of the lobby, they started shooting gunshots to the followers. Most of the other police officers hide on the walls to protect themselves from the gunshots.

  When all the bad guys lay wounded or dead on the ground, the police officers come forward to arrest them. Mr. Hughes tried to crawl forward to grab a gun, but Ethan jumped out from his hiding spot and kicked the weapon away. The other police officers came and cuffed his wrists.

  “Who had the nerve to shoot me? Come out and show me your face,” Mr. Hughes snarled as six police officers dragged him away. “Show me your ugly face, you coward.”

  Stomping to his face, a person snarled. “I was the one who shot you. Who do you think you are to call me that? You’re just too blind and didn’t see me attack you in the front. I’m not like you who attacks people from behind their backs.”

  Looking up at the person who spoke, Tanner smiled. “So, it’s you, Devon Sinclair. You finally made it here. Thanks so much for your help again.” Turning to his father, he gasped and mumbled. “I’m really sorry, father. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  “You'll be alright. Don’t worry,” Joseph stammered, looking at the crowd. “What are you guys doing? Hurry up and call the ambulance. Son, don’t leave me. We still have a lot of talking to do.”

  Looking at his father’s face, he noticed his old man didn't have that suspicious look anymore. Tanner snuckled. “I have no more regrets. I can die in peace now.”

  Tanner didn’t hear much of the conversation anymore as his vision became blurry. Before he lost consciousness, he heard Stacey voice telling to hold on since the ambulance already arrived at the company’s entrance. He even heard his father sobbing in the distance.

  He didn’t know how long he had slept. Everything that happened so far had been like a dream. He tried so hard to open his eyes, but he was still drowsy. Peeking around the surroundings, he sa
w a nurse checking his temperature and IV fluid. He frowned at the location.

  “This wasn’t heaven,” Tanner mumbled. “I thought I’m on my way to join the Lord.”

  The nurse heard his rambling and glanced at him. “Ah, you’re finally awake. I’ll go ahead and call your family now. They’re all so worried about you.” She opened the door and walked out.

  In a few seconds, his mother, the butler, and Stacey entered the room. Madam McGuire saw his son in his drowsy state and she dashed toward the bed. She threw her arms across her son as she sobbed.

  “Thanks, Jesus Christ. You finally spare my son,” Christina glanced at her only child. She patted his hair and kissed his forehead. “I’m so glad that you’re still alive. Do you know how worried your father and I have been through the moment you lost consciousness?”

  Wincing at the pain, Tanner mumbled. “Mom, I’m glad you're happy, but you’re hurting me.”

  His mother let go of her arms as Stacey strode forward to help her get back on his feet. As they stepped a few inches away, they stared at Tanner, who kept glancing around the room.

  “Is something wrong, my child?” Christina asked, frowning at his odd expression. “Do you need something? Are you hungry?”

  Tanner stared at his mother and Stacey, “This is the hospital, right? How long have I slept?”

  Hudson answered right away, “Young master, you had slept for a week now. We’re so scared that you won’t ever be able to wake up since your injury happens to occur near a vital organ.”

  “A week?” Tanner repeated as he finally remembered something. “How about father? Was he safe?”

  Sitting next to her son, she reassured him. “Don’t worry. Your father is all right. He’s currently at the company now and discussing with the press about the last week's shooting incident. He also needs to settle the feuds at the company too.” Looking up at Stacey, she ordered. “Please call my husband and tell him that our son had woken up.”

  “Okay! I will,” Stacey answered as she headed toward a corner to make the call. In a few seconds, she walked back towards them. “Mr. Thompson says Master McGuire will be here in thirty minutes.”

 

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