Chapter 2

I stayed by Maisie's side and took care of her in a house I temporarily rented. After three days, she finally regained consciousness. She was momentarily stunned when she first laid eyes on me before she suddenly started backing away as if she had seen a ghost. Her hair was a mess, and her face was still bruised. She had a hollow look in her eyes and looked as if all the life had been drained out of her. "Get away!" she screamed. "Don't touch me!" My heart felt like it was being electrocuted when I heard her anguished cries. I wanted to hug her to give her comfort, but she was injured all over, and I was afraid of hurting her further. I was supposed to be the person she could rely on the most, the person she was most familiar with. But she had been so badly tormented by that group of savages that she couldn't even recognize me. I didn't dare imagine the suffering she had endured at the hands of those heartless beasts. "Maisie, it's me, Duncan—your husband. Don't you recognize me? Don't worry. I'm here now, and I'll definitely avenge you!" A hint of awareness seemed to have returned to Maisie's gaze. She let out a sob before throwing herself into my chest, wailing loudly. "It's useless, Duncan. Every time I tried to escape with David, Alicia, and Daisy, they would capture and torture us again! "They planted a USB tracker on us and told us that they would always find us no matter where we escaped to. Every time I assumed that we had escaped, they would swoop in and take us back. I don't want to live anymore, Duncan. Just let me die, please!" It felt as if knives were stabbing my heart as I gazed upon Maisie's pitiful countenance. Gently, I drew her into my embrace and whispered words of comfort into her ear, just like I did in the past. When I managed to coax Maisie back to sleep, I set off to look for the village head, Nathan Walters. I wanted to get the surveillance footage from when the savages wreaked havoc in my home. With the footage in hand, I would use it as evidence to file a lawsuit against Barry. However, Nathan's words chilled my heart to the core. "Duncan, my advice to you is not to make a mountain out of a molehill. What Mr. Williams did was perfectly legal. Your family members were the ones who got greedy and stirred up trouble because they wanted to squeeze more money out of him. "They brought tragedy upon themselves. If you continue to cause trouble, I'm afraid it won't just be your parents who will meet their demise." My head was buzzing from the anger boiling within me. Barry had started everything. He was the one who bullied my family, forcefully demolished my home, and caused my parents' deaths. He was the cause of Maisie's current state. How could Nathan turn things around and pin the blame on us? Nathan's expression made it clear that he was unconcerned by the tragedy that had befallen my family. "Do you know how much our village will earn once Mr. Williams establishes his commercial city here? If you don't stop what you're doing, you're going to end up turning into the village's public enemy number one!" Fury and disappointment welled up in my heart when I noticed Nathan's brazen and shameless expression. I had no doubt in my heart that the fault did not lie with me or my family. Barry and his men were the ones who were responsible. I was going to make them pay for what they did, even if it cost me my life! Noticing that I wasn't going to give up, Nathan dropped the act altogether. "Do you even have a clue how massive Mr. Williams' network is? If you truly want to go against him, you should first consider how many more members of your family you're willing to sacrifice. "Take my word for it and give up now. Mr. Williams has already shown you mercy by sparing your wife and daughter. If you continue stirring up trouble, I'm afraid their lives will be in danger too!" I gritted my teeth so hard that I could taste the metallic tang of blood spreading on my tongue. It was at that moment that the neighbor I had entrusted Daisy to came running over to us. Panicked, she yelled, "Duncan! Daisy has been kidnapped!"