Ice and Fire novel Chapter 246

When Jackson saw Cherry relax, he let her go. As he fondled her cheek, he said, "Baby, stay at home and get some rest. I need to go and see Derek to fix some matters."

Cherry nodded and didn't ask more. She understood that Jackson and Derek had their own affairs to handle.

Jackson then kissed Cherry on her forehead and left.

While he was driving, he called Derek.

"Hello, Jackson, " answered Derek.

"Derek, where are you?" asked Jackson urgently.

"I'm at my apartment. What's going on?" Derek could tell from Jackson's anxious tone that something had happened.

"I have to see you right now, I'm already on my way to your place. Something came up, " said Jackson, as he drove his car at full speed to Derek's apartment.

"Okay, I'll see you here then, " said Derek.

Half an hour later, Jackson arrived at Derek's apartment. He sat on the couch and Derek brought him a cup of coffee.

Derek sat down across from him, and asked, "What's going on? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I went back to the family residence today, " said Jackson flatly.

"You actually went back there?" said Derek, a little surprised. He continued to ask, "What happened?"

"Sally saw Joe, " said Jackson with his head lowered.

"Sally? You mean she's going to hurt Joe?" asked Derek, reading the meaning of Jackson's words.

"You know that she always goes overboard, " said Jackson, a little troubled by the whole thing. He had been unwilling to take any aggressive actions against Sally before, but he had changed his mind since Cherry had left him without a word five years ago. Cherry's departure had made him realize that all this time he had surrendered himself to Sally too much, and that he had to end it.

Derek fell deep in thought. After a while, he said, "But Joe has to go to school. You and Cherry can't always be there to protect him."

Jackson also didn't know what to do.

"If Sally dares to hurt Joe, I'll never leave her unpunished!" said Derek viciously. He would try his best to protect Joe against her.

"I'll kill anyone who harms my son, " said Jackson firmly.

Derek then fell silent.

Jackson continued to say, "Derek, I also found out something else."

"What is it?" asked Derek, looking up at Jackson.

"The butler, " replied Jackson meeting Derek's eyes.

"What are you going to do with him?" asked Derek straightforwardly. He had always trusted Jackson's judgment, and if Jackson suspected that he was behind something, then the butler wasn't the simple man that he appeared to be.

"I'm afraid that he'll harm Grandpa, " suddenly said Jackson.

"Your Grandpa?" repeated Derek, surprised. Now he was confused about what Jackson wanted to do.

Jackson looked away, and said, "I suspect that the butler isn't after Andrew's wealth."

When Derek heard him, a thought struck his mind, and he slowly asked, "Do you think he's after something else?"

Jackson nodded to him. Derek knew Chu Family very well, and he could sometimes guess Jackson's thoughts just by remarking a simple hint on him like a look, or a body signal.

"Now I only have Bobby on my side, and I need Andrew's help to make the other men listen to my orders, " said Jackson.

The men only answered to Andrew's call, because he was the one who had trained them. There were many experts in the group, and Bobby, who had been serving Jackson for five years, wasn't the most outstanding among them.

"So the butler wants to control the gang?" asked Derek, while looking at Jackson.

Jackson nodded to him, and replied, "Exactly! If I'm correct, having power is obviously more attractive to him."

Derek understood that having such a man beside Andrew was clearly dangerous.

"What should we do, Jackson?" asked Derek anxiously.

"We have to be discreet about the whole thing, and to hide all our moves from Andrew and the butler. Andrew is too old to handle those things anymore, so we have to take care of it by ourselves, "

Said Jackson, while seriously gazing into Derek's eyes.

"What about Bobby?" asked Derek. Apart from himself, in the past five years Bobby had been the only man that had always followed Jackson.

Jackson shook his head and said, "We can't tell him either."

"Why not?" asked Derek, confused by his unexpected answer. "Don't you trust him?"

"Of course I trust him. but this is a complicated situation. Don't you know that my relationship with Bobby is completely different from that between us? He only answers to the token holder's order, and so do the rest of the men, " said Jackson.

When it finally hit Derek, he asked, "The butler is after the token?"

"Yes, " replied Jackson, who had already figured out the whole thing. "I know that Bobby's very able and trustworthy, but sometimes there are some things that we can't let him know about. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Derek nodded vigorously, and replied, "Yes, I know!"

"We mustn't tell anyone about our plan, and we should do everything in utmost secrecy. This way, we'll be prepared for the butler after he makes his move."

"Got it! You can count it on me, I know what i have to do, " said Derek decisively. He had never expected that an enemy to be hidden in plain sight in their lives.

Jackson nodded at Derek.

Four people were sitting inside the living room of a luxurious villa. They were Mond Xu, Stephen An, Sally He, and Jean Shen. Mond was sitting beside Sally and Jean on a couch, while Stephen was sitting across from them.

"Sally, what do you have to tell me? Why did you call us in this urgent meeting?" asked Mond Xu grimly.

Sally gave Stephen a quick glance and said to Mond Xu, "I went to the family residence today."

Mond Xu's heart leaped when he heard "family residence", a place that had a familiar name but that gave him a strange feeling.

"Stop beating around the bush, " yelled Mond Xu.

"I saw something unexpected, " said Sally, still keeping them in suspense. She was sure that the news about Jackson's son would shock all the people inside the room.

"Say what you have to say or get out now, Sally He!" snapped Mond Xu, already too impatient to wait any longer. He allowed no one to waste his time in his house.

Sally knew that she had already enraged him pretty bad, but she didn't avoid Mond Xu's ferocious gaze, and continued, "Jackson and Cherry have a kid together."

Both Stephen and Jean changed their expressions the moment they heard Sally's words.

Stephen stared at Sally flabbergasted. He had not expected Sally to know about Joe, and now that Mond Xu also knew of the boy's existence, he couldn't help but start to worry about what was going to happen to Joe.

Jean had also withheld information on Joe from everyone, but Sally had still managed to find out about him anyway.

Sally felt very pleased when she saw Stephen and Jean's reactions. She had been sure from the start that the new would shock them, and she added, "Jackson has a son."

Mond Xu suddenly rose to his feet from the couch, and asked Sally, "Are you sure about this?"

Sally also stood up, and said, "Yes, I am. You can go and see the boy for yourself, he looks just like his father."

"Damn it!" cursed Mond Xu. He then looked away, and said furiously, "I didn't even get the chance to deal with Cherry yet, and now I've got a little boy to handle!"

Seeing that Mond Xu was so berserk with rage, Stephen moved closer to him. When he stood just two steps away from him, he asked, "What are you going to do?"

Mond Xu turned to look at Stephen, and said, "I'll leave the woman that you want to protect alone for the moment, but not Jackson's son!" He then looked outside the window, and enunciated, "I won't allow Jackson's son to exist in this world. I'll start with his son first, and then his woman."

"Mond, now that the ZM group has been listed, you can start your war against Jackson openly. Jean, Sally, and I will help you, but leave Jackson's son alone, " said Stephen, who didn't want Mond Xu to do any harm to Cherry or Joe. He knew how ruthless Mond Xu was, and he was afraid of what he might do to Joe.