CHAPTER 671

“He led some men to the mountain to clear the mines, but strangely there was none. Only some old and useless bombs were dug up.”

Gwendolyn heaved a sigh of relief. “It seems that they were just trying to scare us with their words. When I heard it, I really thought he was going to drag us to hell with him…”

As she spoke, her eyes reddened. Her near-death encounter still sent a chill down her spine.

Cedrick empathized with her, knowing she was worried about his safety as well as those of his men. He patted her back gently to console her. “It’s okay. I know exactly how great are the soldiers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A trivial matter like this is just a piece of cake to them.”

Right then, they heard footsteps approaching and lifted their heads at once. It was Jasper. “Mr. Jenson, the transportation for the return trip has been arranged. When are we leaving?”

Gwendolyn was looking forward to going home after being away for so many days because Benedict was still in the hospital. Although Charles had been taking good care of Benedict day and night, Gwendolyn needed to see her baby in order to be assured that he was well. Otherwise, she could not put her mind at ease.

She had thought about Benedict, Zendaya, and Cedrick when she was locked up in the basement of Channing’s villa. She had drawn strength from her loved ones to help her survive those difficult times.

Now that I think about it, I bet the two little darlings must have missed me terribly too!

Cedrick caught a glance of her expression and instantly knew that she missed her children. He quickly instructed, “Do a round of headcount now, and we’ll leave immediately.”

He then hugged his wife and walked her out of the deserted house.

On the way back, there were four identical cars lining up in a straight line, dutifully monitoring the surroundings to ensure their safety.

It was not a short drive to travel from the suburb back to the city center. In addition, the journey was also very bumpy.

Gwendolyn looked out the window and stared at the unchanging landscape of the mountains. Soon, drowsiness set in, and she could not help but yawn.

Cedrick looked at Gwendolyn and noticed that her usually dazzling side profile now looked weary. He felt bad and pulled her into his arms. “Take a short nap, Darling,” he said while patting her.

Gwendolyn slowly closed her eyes and nestled in his arms. She felt so relieved as he hugged her waist. “You get some rest too.”

She dozed off as soon as she said that. She was truly exhausted.

Cedrick looked out the window vigilantly. Even though his eyes were all red from staying up for several nights, he dared not let his guard down.

The return trip was too far and too long. Most parts of the first half of the journey were bare mountain roads. It was hard to set up any defense against the enemies.

Everyone must be alert at all times.

From that day’s incident, Cedrick could almost confirm that Joe had made a narrow escape from the fire back then. He had since racked his brains to scheme and set up numerous obstacles for Cedrick. Although Joe did not kill anyone, he still caused a huge mess.

Cedrick was unsure of Joe’s ulterior motives.

Since they were comrades in the past, Cedrick prayed hard that Joe was not the mastermind behind the milk powder contamination incident. However, it’s hard to fathom a person’s mind. How many people can remain unchanged over the years?

It was already evening by the time they got back to Grand Valley Hospital.

The ward was illuminated by the rays of the setting sun.

Cedrick and Gwendolyn went to visit Benedict right away. He was sleeping soundly, unaware of any of the recent scary events.

As if he was connected to his parents telepathically, Benedict opened his eyes upon sensing Gwendolyn’s gaze.

He smiled the moment he saw her.

Gwendolyn beamed with delight. Her gaze was fixated on the baby. She was totally fascinated by him and completely oblivious to the fact that someone next to her was staring at her intently.

It was Charles.

She’s only been gone for a couple of days, and she has lost quite a bit of weight. She looks exhausted. It must be hard and tiring out there…

Cedrick was standing right behind Gwendolyn, so he caught the expression on Charles’ face. His face darkened, and he cleared his throat to express his displeasure.

Charles seemed to have heard nothing and continued staring at Gwendolyn until he noticed some bruises on her neck.

He got up and approached her, asking, “Gwen, what happened?”

Gwendolyn was taken aback for a moment. She followed Charles’ gaze and looked down, gently touching her neck.

Did Cedrick do something to me when I fell asleep in the car just now?

She cast a reproachful glance at the silent man standing by her side, but she never expected Charles to misinterpret her action.

He narrowed his blue eyes and said in an unhappy tone, “Mr. Jenson, you promised me you would take good care of her, but you failed to do so and caused her to get hurt. Is this how you treat her?” : text © owner.

Cedrick pursed his lips and did not bother to explain himself, his gaze cold and indifferent.

After casting a glance at both men, Gwendolyn looked at Benedict again. She sighed and said, “It’s just a small injury. It’s not worth arguing over.”

Charles lowered his gaze. When he saw that she was hurt, his possessive alter-ego nearly got the better of him.

“As a husband, the person you trust the most, he has failed to protect you well and caused you harm. I just feel bad for you.”

At that moment, Gwendolyn recalled something. I think I got injured when I was locked up in Channing’s basement. The repeated movement of the coarse rope rubbing against my clothes has caused a friction burn and left a stabbing pain in my neck.

Gwendolyn had been so tense the past few days. She was worried that she might drag everyone down with her. Plus, she wanted to hide it from Cedrick. That was why she had forgotten about the injury after a while.

She quickly explained, “I’m really fine. There were too many mosquitoes in the woods, and some bites can be as big as an egg. I accidentally scratched it. All right, I’m really sleepy now. I want to get some rest.”

As she spoke, she stole a glance at Cedrick and was caught by him.

She swiftly averted her gaze and pretended to look very sleepy.

She covered her mouth and yawned. “Please help me watch over Benny for a while. I’m heading to the room next door to get some shut-eye.”

Her slender figure disappeared into the doorway. It was only then that the two men in the ward retracted their gazes in unison.

When faced with Cedrick’s intimidating stare, Charles lowered his gaze in disappointment. “I’ve acted rashly, but I have no other intentions. I just can’t see her getting hurt.”

“I know. Thanks.”

“Huh?” Charles was stunned. Did he just thank me?

“I meant to say thanks for helping me and Gwendolyn take care of Benny so well over the past few days. Without your help, I’m afraid things would have gone haywire.”

Cedrick strode toward the crib. When he looked at Benedict’s innocent and adorable face, he could not help but tease him with a plushy.

Although Cedrick was upset that Charles had feelings for Gwendolyn, he would not be at ease to have another person look after Benedict besides the child’s godfather.

“Oh, by the way, why did someone want to kidnap Benny last night? What on earth is going on?” Charles asked, looking serious upon recalling the matter.

Time had been short then, so Cedrick could only inform Charles about the task briefly. Charles had been asked to transfer Benedict to the nursery next door in the presence of a nurse intern. He also had to substitute the baby with a doll as a cover-up to deceive others.

It was shocking to discover how such a horrible situation had happened in the VIP ward of Grand Valley Hospital where the director had personally paid them a visit.

“A man by the last name of Wendell planned to kidnap Benny and extort huge sums of money from me with Channing. Unbeknownst to him, Channing and I have been in contact for a long time, so we worked together and set up a trap.” Cedrick walked to the side, picked up the cup, and took a sip of coffee. “Of course, all these were done to bait the enemy. Based on my years of experience, I have a hunch that Mr. Wendell did not just kidnap Benny for the money.”

If Joe wanted more money, he had better ways of getting them, but he picked the stupidest method.

Charles frowned and asked, “What about Mr. Wendell? Is he caught?”