Take Me Away novel Chapter 58

At Wen family residence

The moonlight was shining through the window as Charles walked into the living room. Ryan, about to go upstairs after he had his dinner, stopped when he saw his brother. "Charles, you came back."

All the servants and housekeepers greeted Charles in unison.

"Hmm." Charles nodded at them casually.

"Mr. Wen, would you like to have some dinner?" the nanny eagerly asked him.

"No, thanks. You may leave now." Charles waved his hand at them but his gaze was on Ryan the entire time

"Yes."

"When did you come back from S City?" Charles asked casually.

"I arrived yesterday."

"And is everything going well?"

"Yes. Everything is fine. Anyway, if there's nothing else, I think I'll go upstairs," Ryan calmly replied.

"Don't you want to talk to me?" Slowly walking towards the living room sofa, Charles unbuttoned his shirt, with a faint smirk on the corner of his mouth. "I'm your brother after all, Ryan. We have a deep brotherhood. Shouldn't we be able to get along?"

"You've always regarded me as an outsider. Now that you are back from abroad, why do you suddenly seem to care about my business?" Ryan asked, frowning. "If this is about the family business, you don't have to worry. I have no plans of competing with you."

"Wow, I don't know if I should be relieved or sad hearing what you just said. You don't believe that I'm here for your own good?" Charles said, laughing.

"I really don't believe you."

Charles burst out into laughter. His voice had hints of both playfulness and gloom. "I don't care if you believe me or not, Ryan. But it seems like all my efforts have been in vain. It took me a while, but I watched Le Bar's surveillance footage."

Ryan's face turned white as a sheet. "You know about that?" he asked, staring at Charles. "Why would you check the surveillance footage? I honestly don't remember what happened that night. But if you want to tell Dad, then go ahead."

"You got me wrong." The smile on Charles' face was unfathomable. "You probably don't understand what I mean. You have no idea how much it surprised me. This girl, Leona, is really scheming!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan's eyes were doubtful.

"Things are not always as they seem. Sometimes, what you see with your eyes is not the actual truth. And if you keep avoiding it, you'll end up falling into someone's trap." The smile at the corners of Charles' mouth deepened as he intentionally stressed the word "trap." He continued, "I still think that you and Fiona are more suitable for each other. Don't you like Fiona? And as your elder brother, I suggest you go have a look at it, or you'll surely regret it for the rest of your life."

With that said, Charles headed towards the second floor. He meaningfully patted Ryan on the shoulder as he passed by.

'Oh my dear brother. Our father always feels like he owes you a lot, so he treats you so much better. Although you said you wouldn't fight for it, it doesn't mean our father wouldn't give it to you. Everything in the Wen family should have belonged to me. Your sudden appearance made me quite upset. I have to find something that I can use to deal with you. And I know that Fiona is exactly the one thing you can't let go of. So I'm going to withhold information regarding Fiona's marriage, and let you continue to be involved with her.'

The more he thought about it, the gloomier his expression became.

Everyone had their weakness. Once they were caught by the tail, then they could easily be manipulated. Charles knew he was going to be on top of the world. He had spent many years preparing, arming himself up, and climbing step by step to achieve this goal.

Also, not only was Fiona Ryan's weakness, but she also had a close relationship with Spencer. Naturally, Charles decided to make full use of her.

As Ryan saw Charles turn the corner and go upstairs, he only felt more and more confused. The accident that took place that night had been like a thorn in his flesh. He never dared to recall it. But why did Charles say it was a trap? 'Leona? The surveillance video?

Could there be really something that I don't know?' He was determined to find out tomorrow.

Early the next morning, at the door of Le Bar

Leona exited the bar looking tired, carrying her bag, and taking the bus to school. The moment that she left, a cool car drove by the bar gate.

"Andrew, please wait for me here. I'll be out soon enough." Anxiously and expectantly, Ryan opened the car door and stepped out.

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Andrew was about to get out of the car.

"No, thank you Andrew. I'd like to solve this by myself." Ryan waived at him, and walked to the bar.

Melodious music was playing at the bar, and there were only a few people drinking at the time. Ryan approached the counter and asked the bartender, "Excuse me, where is your boss? I have to talk to him about something. Could you please tell him to come over here?"

The bartender was about to respond, when Gary came down the stairs from the second floor. He hurriedly told him, "Gary, there's a young man here who wants to see you."

Ryan looked up and saw Gary, a middle-aged man who looked powerful and energetic. "Are you the boss?" he asked.

"Yes, that would be me." Garry nodded his head as he walked towards the bar counter. He looked at Ryan from head to toe and he had an idea. "May I help you, sir?"

"Yes." Ryan went straight to the point. "I need to check the surveillance video of the bar. There is something very important in that footage. Please help me."

Gary already knew what Ryan wanted to investigate, but he also knew that he had to discuss it with Terence first.

Nonchalantly, Gary replied, "I'm sorry, but we can't give the surveillance records to anyone just casually. It's not to our advantage, but we have to do it for the privacy of the guests. If everyone wanted to check the surveillance video, don't you think it would make things difficult for us?"

"But I really have something important on it that I need to see!" Ryan said anxiously. "I can even pay for it!"

"Please don't do that." Gary smiled and waved his hand. "Sir, let me try to negotiate with the other bosses to see if we will be able to make an exception for you."

"Thank you, sir! I really appreciate it."

As Ryan watched Gary leave to make the call, his heart sank even more.

"Hello?

Gary, what's up?" Terence's magnetic voice echoed from the other end of the line.

"Terence, do you happen to remember what happened in the private booth last time with Leona, the part-time waitress?"

Terence replied, "Yes, why? What's wrong?"

"Well, that man came here to check the surveillance video of that particular night," Gary answered, frowning. "Last time the police came here and they had already checked it. But the man who was in the booth that night came again. Should I let him check the video?"

The surveillance videos of Le Bar were top secret, and no one would ever watch it in the monitoring room. The records were stored automatically, so neither Terence nor Gary really knew what had happened that night.

But how come so many people suddenly want to check the surveillance video?

"Terence, may I show him the surveillance?" Gary asked him again.

"Okay. Just let him check it." Terence came back to his senses and realized that something must have happened. "By the way, how is Leona now?"

"She actually takes her work very seriously. But she was taken out for several nights," said Gary, coldly.

"Got it." Terence nodded. "Well Gary, just give him the video. And as for Leona... you should know by now how to explain it to the man."

"Don't worry. I understand."

"Thank you, Gary."

On the other side, Ryan was pacing anxiously in front of the bar counter. When he saw Gary coming, he immediately walked up to him and asked, "How is everything going?"

"Please come with me," said Gary, motioning for him to follow.

When Ryan heard what he said, he felt relief. He understood and happily said, "Thank you."

Once they were in the monitoring room, Gary asked his assistant to show the video taken from that night. The picture was crystal clear, from the moment Ryan and his companions entered the bar.

"Is this the one you want to check?" asked Gary.

"Yes." Ryan studied the image on the screen. "Can you fast forward it?"

As the assistant fast forwarded it, Gary pretended to be surprised. "Wait," he said. He paused the video, and they happened to see Leona standing outside the door of the bathroom. Gary pointed at her and said, "Isn't this Leona? She's a waitress at our bar! Do you know her?"

"What did you just say? Waitress? Leona works here as a waitress?" Ryan asked, frowning.

"Yes, the woman she was chatting with is her colleague. Continue the video," commanded Gary.

The video showed Leona chatting with a coquettish woman outside the bathroom. The woman snuck Leona something and smirked. The sight of this made Ryan's eyes immediately darken.

Leona then went back to the booth, holding something in her hand. She slipped the powder into Ryan's drink secretly while nobody was watching. They then competed for the wine glass. Ryan drank the entire glass in one gulp. A few moments later, he felt dizzy and Leona supported him to the private booth.

Ryan's hands were now clenched into fists.

Noticing Ryan's reaction, Gary understood what was coming. "Sir, you can continue watching this alone. We'll go out first."

"Thank you." Ryan nodded. His eyes were hollow, staring at the screen, and his body gradually became very cold.

Andrew was still waiting inside the car. He saw Ryan walking out of the bar, his face looking very pale.

Andrew got out of the car immediately and asked him, "Is everything alright? What happened?"

The corners of Ryan's mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh but at the same time, he felt depressed. "Where is Fiona?"

Andrew was stunned and very confused. "Well, at this time, she should be at the company."

"Drive me to the company, now please. I want to see her." There was a look of desire and love in Ryan's eyes, and his Adam's apple rolled. "Please hurry up. I need to see her soon."

"Okay. Please get in the car. We will go to the company straight away."

Ryan got into the car, looking anxious. Unfortunately, there was some traffic on the way, and he just wished that the car could speed up as fast as possible.