Ice and Fire novel Chapter 368

At that moment, Jean also arrived back downstairs and sat beside Mond on the sofa. She said, "Mond did that because he wanted to irritate Jackson. He's not really interested in Cherry."

All of a sudden, Sally was enlightened by Jean's words, and realized why Mond had done that in the afternoon. Jackson had been indeed irritated by Mond's behavior, and Mond had achieved his goal.

Mond leisurely said, "You're not as smart as Jean is, Sally."

Jean was delighted to hear that Mond spoke so highly of her, because she had always yearned for the others' recognition. She looked at Mond's face, and thought to herself, 'Because I've been around Mond for such a long time, I've learned a great deal from him. No matter what we do, we should think it twice beforehand; it's never wise to be quick and careless.'

Sally gradually calmed down. She sat on the sofa opposite to Mond and Sally, and after she pondered on her thoughts for a while, said, "So you meant to say that you did that just because you wanted to make Jackson angry?"

"Sally, Jackson and Andrew have always been my sworn enemies and targets, " coldly said Mond. He hated them so much that he would never allow them to go unpunished.

Sally then glanced seriously at Mond, and asked, "What's the plan for our next step then?"

Mond didn't look at her and instead gazed blankly in front of him. He coldly replied, "I want to destroy the Chu Family thoroughly to rip its roots! I want Jackson and Andrew to pay the price for all they've done to me!"

One by one, Mond slowly spoke those words and clenched his teeth in bitter hatred.

After she heard Mond's words, Sally instantly cried out hysterically, "No! You can't hurt Jackson! You can't do that! You can do whatever you like to the other members of the Chu Family, but not to Jackson!"

Sally couldn't imagine what she would do if Jackson was hurt or killed. She thought to herself, 'I won't allow anyone to hurt Jackson! I will try my best to protect him and keep him away from harm!'

Mond then slowly shifted his gaze onto Sally, and with distain clearly sounding in his voice, said, "Do you think that's possible?"

Sally suddenly felt terrified when she met Mond's eyes. She couldn't help but tremble, but she still summoned all of her courage and argued with him, "You promised me that you won't hurt Jackson if you don't need to! You promised!"

Mond immediately replied to her plea, "It's impossible now for me to do that! Sally, I've given you five whole years to win Jackson's heart, but you've failed to do so. Do you really think it's still possible for you to protect him now?"

Sally fell silent, because she knew that Mond was right. She had tried very hard during the past five years to win Jackson's heart, and although Jackson had promised that she could stay around him, the moment that Cherry returned, everything changed. She again became dispensable, and meant little to him.

Sally violently shook her head and cried, "No! No!" A flow of hatred reflected in her eyes as she continued to yell, "It is all because of Cherry! If she hadn't come back, I would have been with Jackson now, and he would have listened to my words!"

Mond was speechless at the sight of Sally's hysterical behavior, and didn't think there was any necessity for him to go on discussing this topic with her any longer.

Jean kept silent and didn't comment on anything that was said. After so many things had happened, she had become indifferent to the events and people around her, but still, whenever she thought of that little boy called Joe, her heart was always softly touched. She never wanted that lovely boy to be hurt.

Sally noticed Mond's silence and she suddenly remembered something. She immediately said, "By the way, the Butler disappeared."

Mond was stunned by the sudden news, and immediately asked, "Disappeared? When and how did that happen?"

"I just got the news this afternoon. Derek and Bobby are already searching for him all over the city, " continued Sally.

A worried look then appeared on Mond's face. He thought for a while, and said, "He knows too many things about us. We can't allow him to be out of our control or be found by Derek or Bobby."

"I don't fully understand your words. What do you mean?" asked Sally, confused.

But Mond didn't answer her question, and instead replied with another one, "Why did he ally with us in the first place?"

"Because he wants to own that token, " replied Sally, without any sort of hesitation.

"What about now?" asked Mond.

Sally thought for a while, and then said, "I don't think that he's got the token yet, and since Andrew is still alive and in good health, it would have been impossible for him to get his hand on the token." Sally then paused for a moment, and continued to say even more puzzled, "But why did he suddenly disappear?"

"There are two possibilities, " said Mond.

"What?" Sally nervously stared at Mond, eager to listen to his analysis on things.

"The first one is that he might have found something that is even more precious than the token; the second is that he wants to make a clean break with us and do everything by himself, " said Mond, in a firm, convinced manner. Mond had all the right to be confident with his guess, because he knew exactly what kind of person the Butler was. The Butler had stayed around Andrew because he had his own ambition for power, not because he wanted to repay Andrew for his kindness of providing him with a worry-free life.

"Then what should we do?" asked Sally. She felt a sudden fear in her heart, because events had become even more complicated than they were.

"Inform Stephen to send some people to look for the Butler too. The man will be killed at first sight. That's the best way to protect ourselves. We'll only be safe once he's silenced forever, " commanded Mond.

Sally didn't agree with Mond to inform Stephen about his order. She expressed her own idea to Mond, and said, "I don't think that we should do that. The Butler knows a whole lot more information about the Chu Family than we do. He's still useful to us."

Mond became irritated because Sally dared to challenge him. He glared at her and sternly said, "But he knows my real identity! He also knows about all our plans and actions, and if he discloses all of them, I, you and Stephen are sure to be killed without a drop of mercy. The Chu Family and those other people will definitely not let us go. I think you know better than me how cruel Andrew is, don't you think?"