Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 832 Getting Together (Part One)

Every hopeful moment is the result of a silly and naive past.

**

Pistol in hand, Eric moved forward step by step, carefully and quietly, looking around furtively. His sharp eyes would pick up any movement, anything out of place. His steps were light yet serious. Since most of their opponents had been drawn away by Brian and Molly, he didn't meet many people along the way. So he was able to get under the deck of the ship quickly from the port side.

Looking around, Eric's gaze finally fell on the exhaust window. With his eyes fixed on it, he thought for a short while. Then he placed his hands on the ladder to the deck as a support, springing to his feet and jumping onto the exhaust window.

As soon as he reached the entrance, his cellphone buzzed in his pocket. Frowning, he pressed a button on his Bluetooth headset to answer.

"Mr. Eric Long," a member of Shadow Organization, in charge of keeping watch around the perimeter of the amusement park, addressed Eric, "the young master has been found."

Eric stopped, then quickly got out of the exhaust window and rushed below decks. He wanted to confirm what he had just heard. "What did you say?"

"The little master has been found. They didn't take him away and we got him to safety," the person on the other end of the phone answered in an urgent tone. "He's giving his statement to the cops right now."

Hearing the good news, a joyful light appeared in Eric's eyes. He hung up the phone as soon as possible and called Brian right away.

Back to back, Brian and Molly were about to retreat belowdecks when Brian's phone rang. Giving Molly a sign to wait for a minute, he pressed the button to pick up, and Eric's voice came through his headset immediately.

"We probably need to take these guys out if we want to bail," Brian said in an indifferent yet solemn voice. "If I'm not wrong, we're completely surrounded."

After being silent for a moment, Eric said, "Then let's do a good deed on our way out." He didn't want to miss the chance to make fun of his cousin, "Brian, I think your men are slacking. You need to run them through some extra drills so they don't wet themselves in combat."

"Hmm," Brian answered in an indifferent tone. Then he added, "Let's wrap this up."

"Okay!" Eric hung up the phone. Then the three of them split into two groups, each group ruthlessly dispatching their foes.

*

Standing outside the interrogation room in the police station, Richie and Shirley both looked at Mark through the glass. A policeman asked Mark questions about what had happened at the scene, and Mark answered him fluently. He didn't have any difficulty in communicating with the foreign officer at all.

With a solemn expression on her face, Shirley felt great pity for her grandson. She said in an annoyed tone, "How could that kind of thing happen? How could it happen to Mark?"

After taking a look at her, Richie answered in an indifferent tone, "Random chance. We should feel lucky Mark was smart. Instead of walking into a bad situation, he escaped through the washroom. He saw people die, though. I don't want to even guess what that's going to do with him. The boy will need therapy, I think."

Hearing that, Shirley frowned, while her eyes, which had been fixed on Mark, became much heavier.

Half an hour later, Mark was finally released. After talking with Richie, the policeman left to go about his work. Then Richie and Shirley left the police station with Mark.

On the way, Mark had been silent, pursing his mouth into a straight line. He had seen people die with his own eyes in A City, but today was different. All the people killed this time were innocent. A shadow had been cast on his little heart.

Bothered by his behavior, Richie and Shirley took him to a cafe instead of going directly back to the hotel. They wanted to talk with him first. Inside the cafe, a cup of hot milky tea was steaming in front of Mark. The hot air curled upwards, overwhelming him and blurring his figure.

Shirley looked at Mark worriedly. She tried to console him, but Mark didn't seem to listen to her.

Richie sat opposite Mark and Shirley. He picked up a cup of coffee and sipped it in a calm manner. "Mark," he said in a somewhat domineering tone. "Things happen. The best thing is to..." he looked at Mark, who raised his eyes to look at his grandfather, with his deep eyes and continued slowly, "... think about it from every angle."

Blinking slightly, Mark looked at Richie. He was only seven years old, and couldn't understand Richie's words completely. But it seemed like he got the general gist of what Richie was saying.

Pursing his lips slightly, Mark lowered his eyes to think awhile. When he once again raised his eyes to look at Richie, he said seriously, "I get what grandpa means, but..." He paused for a moment, as if he was trying hard to fight the feelings inside him. Then he continued, "I shouldn't have gone there. If I didn't go, that uncle wouldn't have..." He couldn't continue, and lowered his head once again. The boy couldn't bear thinking of the dead attendant.

Feeling very sorry for her grandson, Shirley stroked his little head softly and took him into her arms. In a light voice, she said, "Nobody wanted this to happen, but since it did and we couldn't stop it, we have to learn how to face it. It's not your fault. You can't run from your feelings, either. Understand, Mark?"

Hiding in Shirley's embrace, Mark nodded sulkily. Seeing him like this, Shirley sighed. She knew he'd feel guilty, and had to learn to deal with it. She could do nothing but let it be. He had to leave the nightmare by himself.

It was not until daybreak that Brian, Molly and Eric came back. In the first glimmer of dawn from the east, each of them painted in red from their enemies' blood, they looked like vampires who had crept out of the dark night.

Brian called the cops, telling them what had happened and asking them to clean up the mess they left. Then they came back to the hotel together and cleaned up.

After that stressful night, Molly seemed particularly tired. She'd killed quite a few people tonight. She ran to the bathroom quickly, dry heaving now that the adrenaline wore off. Soon after, she washed up and came into the main room.

"Get some rest. Okay?" Brian touched Molly's face, which looked a bit pale, with his hand, and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. He felt bad for her.

"What about you?" Molly asked in a somewhat hoarse voice. She stared at Brian, her reddened eyes not blinking.

Seeing the uneasiness in her eyes, Brian felt sad but he hid it. "There's gonna be some blowback from what we just did..." he said. Hearing that, Molly got worried. Seeing this reflected in her eyes, he could do nothing but hold her. He tried to comfort her, "Don't worry. Eric and I will handle everything. You know that, right?" Nodding silently in Brian's embrace, Molly said sulkily, "Yeah."

"Hmm," Brian said, releasing Molly. "We've had a hell of a night. Get some rest. Be back soon."

Molly turned him down. She shook her head and said in a low voice, "No, I want to see Mark when he wakes up. He's not gonna be a happy camper." As a mother, she cared more about her kid than herself. 000000000☐☐☐☐☐☐☐