Chapter 423 Mutual Downfall
Fiona let go of her daughter and embraced Charles tightly. "Don't worry, I'll bring her home."
"You have to," Charles murmured, his voice tinged with a sob.
Just moments before in the study, Darwin received a phone call that seemed to change his complexion entirely. He found his mother in a tirade when he emerged, realizing the situation might be severe. He went online to look it up himself, but as it turned out, there was no need for an investigation; the Rhoads family debacle was plastered all over the news and social media.
"Take care of yourself," Fiona whispered, kissing Charles on the forehead before leaving.
Moments before Fiona departed, Burl arrived, looking worn from travel. "I'm coming with you," he insisted, as if bracing for rejection, then added, "Charles and I agreed that if you need to head into the belly of the beast, I'll be there to coordinate with Charles."
"Alright," Fiona conceded.
"Darwin, I'm entrusting Fiona to you. Protect her well; don't let those Rhoads bastards push her around!" Thalassa choked out.
"I will," Darwin responded, and after that, he and Fiona headed to the airport.
At the airport, as Darwin stepped out of the car, he caught sight of the vehicle's dash cam. After a moment's thought, he sent out a message. Then, he and Fiona proceeded through the VIP lane. Despite their attempts at subtlety, it was only a short time before their airport appearance was leaked and circulated on various platforms. Thanks to Darwin's PR team, however, it didn't blow up into a trending topic. The chatter was still widespread, nonetheless.
"Are they headed back to fight over the inheritance?"
"Come on, the daughter's married now. Going back for the inheritance? That's not right."
"Her dad died too, right? Is mourning not allowed?"
"What? Dad? It's all over the internet; Chelsea isn't Chris's daughter; the information doesn't match. Insinuating Ken might be more believable."
"We're in for some juicy stories over the next few days. Exciting!"
The flight lasted ten hours, and the cabin was silent throughout. Even the usually noisy Burl was quiet, tapping away incessantly on his laptop.
Darwin sat beside Fiona, ever attentive to her mood. He knew all too well how adept she was at enduring pain. Throughout the journey, Fiona barely ate or drank, instead poring over the flood of messages about the Rhoads family.
Ken had been quietly building connections with many shareholders of the Rhoads family under the radar for many years. Fiona was convinced that a solid thirty percent of the votes would back Ken.
At the shareholders' meeting, if Fiona couldn't produce the will, she wouldn't inherit Janna's 54% stake, which would be distributed according to the law of succession.
In truth, Fiona wasn't even legally documented under Janna's care.
The reason was to prevent her from being found by Darwin.
Fiona would only get Janna's shares with a will, and Ken might even end up with the lion's share.
At that point, it would be a done deal for Ken to snatch away the Rhoads family legacy.
"Take a break," Darwin coaxed Fiona with gentle insistence.
"We have a tough battle ahead once we get there. You've got to rest, don't you?" he said.
Fiona's eyelids drooped as she pondered, "Once we're there, we'll split up. You work from the shadows to track down Janna. If all else fails, we’ll kidnap those monsters, Ken and Alice!"
"Okay, I've already arranged our team. They'll arrive staggered after we land," Darwin said, gripping her cold hand, his heart aching with concern. "Get some sleep now, and I'll wake you when there's news."
Fiona looked at him. She set aside her laptop silently, but she couldn’t sleep. With her eyes closed, all she could picture was Janna.
She didn't care one bit about that damned Rhoads family fortune. She just wanted Janna alive and well, back by her side.
The cabin lights dimmed. Darwin watched as tears continuously rolled down Fiona's cheeks, his heart twisting with pain and anger.
Whoever had orchestrated this mess, once he found Janna, he vowed they would pay dearly for it!
*
In the heavily guarded hospital room, Janna lay with an oxygen mask amidst the steady beeping of medical equipment.
Alice's eyes were swollen from crying. She needed to cry even more pitifully for the media tomorrow.
"You're doing great," someone said suddenly. Alice cast a sideways glance at the person next to her.
"Once we get the Rhoads family, her life can be concluded. Then, the Rhoads medical empire will be entirely yours," Alice said, dabbing at her tears again. "Oh, by the way, Chelsea boarded the plane with her husband. Those two are inseparable."
"You don't have to keep pointing that out," the man said disgustingly. "We're this far in. We're all in the same boat—one's gain is everyone's gain, and one's loss is everyone's loss."
Alice met his gaze, unmistakable admiration in her eyes. "Fine, I'll leave this part to you. I've got my brother-in-law's funeral to deal with. See you."
With that, Alice twisted her waist and continued wailing as she left.
The man didn't glance at her but slowly let his gaze drift past the thick glass, settling on Janna, unconscious on the hospital bed.
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
He guarded his gaze as he took it out.
It was a message from Thalassa.
"Dagmar, something happened to Fiona. You've got connections in healthcare. Can you find out which hospital Grandma Rhoads is in right now?"
He looked at the message indifferently.
Switching off the phone, he didn't glance back at Janna and walked away.
Alice had just returned from the funeral.
Ken approached her with a grim expression. "Have you seen Jannie?"
"Jannie? Isn't she here?"
"When you left, she was crying over Chris. They're about to bury him, and she's nowhere to be found." Ken's voice was grave. "She didn't run off, did she?"
"Where could she possibly run?" A cold glint flashed in Alice's eyes. "How could a useless thing like her, burdened with a child, escape?"
She glanced around.
Spotting a thin man lurking in a corner, busying himself with something, she waved him over.
The man was cloaked in gloom, clearly not all there.
"Find Jannie," Alice whispered, "and then stage a scene. Make it look like she followed her husband, taking her child to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. Got it?"
"Understood!" The man nodded and turned to leave.
Alice added, "Make it look convincing. We can't let the police find any flaws."
"I never leave flaws."
Once the man had gone, Alice wiped a few more tears from her eyes.
"Darling, haven't you cried enough? Your eyes are swollen," Ken said tenderly. "Poor thing."
"All this is for whom, huh?" Alice snorted. "Isn't it all to secure the Rhoads estate for you?"
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