The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 420 Mystery Man's Request

"Yes," Autumn mumbled with a slight nod. "Yes, I gave Nancy the money. She initially refused it, but eventually accepted at my insistence. I suppose she is really in trouble."

Charles frowned, feeling annoyed and anxious at the same time. "Why didn't you tell me when you first learned about it?" he demanded. His mind was racing. If Nancy did something to hurt Autumn for money, he wasn't letting her off lightly.

Autumn tried to defend herself. "But it wasn't a lot of money, so I didn't feel the need to tell you." She was becoming upset, too. "Besides, if Nancy didn't tell you what was happening to her, it must be because she felt it was none of your business."

"You don't..." Charles paused after looking at his wife, then sighed with resignation. "You don't know that, Autumn. If only you had told me this, your condition might not have gotten so serious," he pointed out, trying to be careful not to make his wife more worried.

"What are you saying, Charles?" Autumn asked, puzzled. "I'm saying this now hoping you'll pay more attention to Nancy and see for yourself if she needs any help," she added.

Charles exhaled. "I know..." Then rubbing Autumn's shoulder, he told his wife, "Go on to bed. I still have some work to finish."

She nodded, somewhat relieved, and said, "I see. Good night, Charles." Autumn fell asleep after browsing through a parenting book.

Charles lost track of time while immersed in work. It was the middle of the night when he decided to get a glass of water downstairs. Unexpectedly, as soon as he came downstairs, he saw Nancy slip out of the house quietly. He debated with himself for a moment, but decided not to follow her.

It was February and the night wind was near freezing that it cut through the marrow. Nancy clutched her coat tighter to ward off the cold as she walked to the gate. There she saw a black car and got in. She was blindfolded and driven to a warehouse where Leila had previously been taken.

It was warm inside the warehouse, yet Nancy could still feel the chill seeping through her bones.

Once the blindfold was removed and she had adjusted her vision, Nancy saw a mystery man sitting in front of her. Reacting in panic, she tried to push him away, but another man in a suit, standing beside her, stopped Nancy.

"Where's my son?" she shrieked. "Where did you lock him up?" She held back from hitting the man, but continued to shout, "I want to see him now! You said I could see him."

The man snorted then ordered, "Bring him here!" Nancy stumbled back as two burly men brought in someone beaten almost beyond recognition. They threw him in front of the mystery man like he was a rag bag.

Nancy rushed forward. "Brent! Brent, can you hear me? Brent!" she kept calling out, while shaking him. Although he was black and blue, and most of his face swollen, Nancy recognized her son and cried while cursing his captor. "You awful man! I gave you the money as you asked. Why did you still do this to my son? Does retribution not frighten you?" she hissed.

The mystery man merely scoffed at Nancy. "Retribution? Humph! If justice or retribution exists in this world, Autumn Zhao should have long been dead," he spat.

As furious as she was over her son's condition, Nancy stared at the man and wondered why he hated Autumn so much.

She had only known Autumn for a short time, but she could sense she was kind and had a good heart. 'How could Autumn be involved with a man like this?' she thought.

"See this scar on my face?" The man pointed to his face. "This is Autumn's doing! She killed my girlfriend and disfigured me. So I will make sure she pays double!" he growled. He was breathing heavily in anger, and this added to Nancy's fear.

"I don't know what your problem is with Mrs. Lu, nor do I want to know," she declared, her voice steady. "I've given you the money you wanted and did what you asked me to do, against my conscience. You should now keep your word and let my son go, " she said. "And from now on, I refuse to do anything that will harm others. You can't expect me to do that again."

"Is that so?" the man said with a sneer. He flicked his hand, and as quickly, one of his henchmen kicked Brent in the stomach. The pain brought Brent to consciousness.

"NO! What are you doing, " Nancy screamed as she tried to hug her son. "Stop! Stop it!" she cried out. In tears now, she begged, "All right. Please stop hurting him. Let him go, please."

"So you want to save him from me?" the man jeered. He grabbed Brent by the hair to give Nancy a better look at her son's bruises and pained expression.

She bowed her head with resignation, tears streaming down her face and begged again, "Please, please let him go. He can't bear it anymore. If you keep torturing him, he will die."

Nancy knelt in front of the man and kowtowed. She was left with no choice now. "I beg you. If you let him go, I will do anything you ask."

"I'll take your word for it," the man said sharply before releasing Brent's hair. He stood up and looked down at Nancy. "I need you to do one more thing for me."

Nancy felt very relieved to see him let go of Brent. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

To everyone's surprise, Brent, who was slumped on the ground, suddenly lunged at the man's leg and clung to it. "Please let me go, Mr. Fang! Take her in my place instead." He pointed to his mother and said, "She has a great deal of money. Keep her here, she will do whatever you want."

His eyes were wild, his face throbbing. "I'm useless to you now. Please, let me go," he groaned.

Nancy could not believe what she heard from Brent.

After all she did to save him, following orders against her will, coming without hesitation even as she feared for what could happen and this was how he was going to repay her?

In exchange for his freedom, he was now asking the enemy to put his mother, the one person doing everything to save him, in living hell. 'Is this really my son? Is this the man I tried to save at all costs?' Nancy thought painfully.

She stared at him, face and spirit broken, suddenly realizing he was not worth what she had to go through to spare him. Nancy staggered back.

The man kicked Brent and ordered, "Get him out of here!"

As the two thugs picked him up to drag him away, Brent kept shouting to his mother, "Mom! Help me, help me! I can't go through this anymore, Mom! Help me."

He was 30, a fully grown man, but he sobbed like a child who could not be consoled.

The man turned to Nancy, dark eyes boring into hers. "So, can we talk about helping each other now?" He gave a sinister smile while ordering Nancy to sit. He sat down first and waited as Nancy hesitated. She took a deep breath before sitting opposite him. "What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.

"It's quite simple," he started, and took out a small pack that contained a drug which he pushed towards Nancy. "I want you to replace an opportunity for Autumn to take this." His gaze never left hers. "If you pull this off, I will release your son."

Warily, she took the package. "What kind of medicine is this," she inquired. Her heart was racing at the prospect of doing something really bad to harm Autumn.

"It's a drug that induces abortion, " he replied. He then let out an evil laugh. "She's out of her mind anyway, so she'll lose that baby sooner or later. Let's just say I'm helping her make it sooner," he snorted. Nancy gasped, her eyes turning wide in horror. "You want me to kill the child she's carrying," she whispered.

The man's eyes gleamed in delight. "That's right. Don't tell me you can't do it! Remember what you said, " he said gruffly. "Let me help you. Think about your son. I'm sure that's enough incentive to do what I'm asking."