In the 600-acre Myers mansion.

There was a celebration going on because the movie Sofia Myers, Gregory’s eldest daughter, was part of had released recently and become a box office hit. She got recognition for her role as the woman who got oppressed by her boss on one side and her boyfriend on the other side.

She used to be a decently successful writer before that, but her acting skills were highly praised by the critics as well as the audiences in her first appearance as an actor.

The whole of the Myers family was overjoyed at this.

She was fed pieces of cake by her parents and her live-in lover Andres.

Sofia was a beauty with bountiful proportions any man would love seeing in a woman. Andres was a perfect package: tall, sturdy, hairy, and handsome. They looked good together was what they believed.

“I haven’t been this happy in a long time,” Sofia's eyes turned teary from happiness.

“Hard work always pays off,” Gregory, her father, patted her shoulder. He was proud of her achievement, even though her acting career had just begun.

“Thanks, dad.”

Gregory then glanced at his second daughter, Narika, who was five years younger than her elder sister. She had a cute face and a bright smile, but there were little to no curves on her body, so she had always been low on self confidence since young. Her elder sister always stole the spotlight.

“You should learn from your sister, Narika,” Gregory's voice wasn’t all lovely. “She’s earned 30 grand with her first movie, and now multiple producers are offering her over 100 grand.”

“She’s 30, dad! I’ll also earn like her when I’m 30!” replied Narika faster than he asked her.

“Haha,” Victoria, Gregory’s wife, laughed and kissed Narika. She was a tall, red-haired woman in perfect shape and more adorned than her daughters. “Cut her some slack, Gregory. She’s our youngest child. You are supposed to dote on her the most.”

“She’s a grown-up now,” said Gregory. “Any more doting, and it’ll only affect her in a bad way.”

“It’s fine even if Narika doesn’t earn for another hundred years,” Victoria said, emphasizing how much she liked her second daughter through her caring smile. “We make millions everyday. Let her enjoy her life, and let us worry about the rest.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gregory could only shake his head. He was a blonde with some gray hair showing up at the sides. “You’re spoiling her, and you know that, so there’s nothing I can do. Both Narika and Marlon need to change their habits. They are at that age where my friends want to marry their children to them, so they must look good—have their own identity, or… I won’t be able to talk about them with my friends and colleagues.”

“I’m sure they’ll realize their responsibilities soon,” Victoria responded, making Marlon happy, but Narika’s expression stayed flat. She knew her mother enough to not fall for her praises because Victoria doted on her one moment and then scolded her the other moment.

Andres looked at Sofia and said, “You look really beautiful today.”

“That’s because I’m quite happy.”

“Why don’t you share some cake with the trash living in the cottage?” Andres suggested.

“Carlos? I totally forgot about him,” Sofia sounded amused and looked at a maid. “Take a big chunk of the cake to the cottage and throw it on the ground. Let him lick it like a dog to eat it.”

“Hahaha,” Victoria’s ears felt like they heard the most pleasant music in the world. “That’s my daughter.”

Marlon amusedly smiled, whereas Narika slightly frowned.

“It’s been over a month since we sent him to that place,” Andres voiced his mind. “With his knees broken, I want to see how he’s doing.”

“Then let’s go and see him together,” Sofia said.

“I’ll come as well,” Victoria's voice had a tinge of eagerness. “I can’t wait to see the miserable look on his face.”

Together, the three of them went to the cottage that was about six hundred meters to the south of the mansion, hidden away behind tall trees. The cottage would be impossible to spot even from the sky as well. It was basically an old abandoned cottage where Gregory’s grandfather had lived.

“He’s not cultivating anything,” Andres could see that there were no plants growing around the cottage. “If he’s not growing plants, what’s he eating then?”

“He probably died from starvation,” Victoria laughed out loud. “He definitely deserves to die like that!”

Sofia and Andres looked at each other in shock before rushing to the cottage. However, they didn’t touch the door because it was dirty. They stood outside and ordered the blonde maid to open the door, go inside and check what Carlos was doing.

The maid didn’t seem comfortable, either, to enter a dirty place that could make her sneeze a lot. She put on gloves and covered her nose and mouth with a towel before heading in.

Water bottles and rotten vegetables were lying on the dusty floor. There were some pizza boxes, out of which lines of ants were touring in and out. She looked around, but couldn’t find Carlos. There was nobody inside.

Meanwhile, Victoria was running her mouth outside. “Even if he begs, I’m not going to let him go. I won’t give him freedom.”

“But, Mom, hasn’t he suffered enough?” Sofia asked.

“No, he hasn’t! I’ve never suffered humiliation in public and had a perfect image until he…” Victoria didn’t even want to talk about it. After all, social media had made memes of her falling on her way up the stage. For her, it was utterly humiliating, to say the least. Even to this day, she felt haunted by that incident.

The maid walked out of the cottage and shook her head. “He’s not here.”

“What?” all three of them were shocked. The smiles on their faces were gone. “Have you checked thoroughly? Maybe he’s hiding under the bed!”

“No, ma’am,” the maid confidently said. “He’s not inside. He’s gone.”

“This…” Victoria, Andres, and Sofia looked at each other’s faces. Where could he have gone with broken knees? A lot of questions popped in their minds.

“What if he goes to the media and tells them everything?” Sofia’s heart was in her mouth.

“We can’t let that happen,” Andres gritted his teeth. “We must find him and silence him!”

Victoria had already made a call to Gregory who was traveling in a car.

“What’s it, dear?” he asked.

She explained to him what had happened. “What should we do now?”

“We’ll do nothing,” Gregory replied.

“What?”

“Even if he approaches the media, I’ll just throw them some biscuits so that his story never gets published anywhere, except in his dreams,” Gregory assured. “So calm down and tell Sofia to just forget about it and have fun.”

“Okay.”

After Victoria explained what Gregory had said to her daughter, Sofia’s heart lightened.

However, Sofia had a frown on her face. “Is dad going to hire men to kill him?”

“Like I said, let the adults worry about such things,” Victoria said with a smile. “You two, go back to the mansion. I’ll have a look around to see if I’ll find any clues.”

“Mm.”

After Sofia and Andres left, Victoria entered the cottage with her nose covered with cloth. “How did the food and water bottles get here?” she wondered and frowned. “Don’t tell me… Sofia still has a thing for him?”