Awakening The Hidden Dragon

CH 0004 BIANCA AND MY CHILD

They looked at Knox like he was something out of a nightmare.

Suddenly, the sound of a car engine cut through the tension.

The tremendous pressure disappeared instantly.

The men gasped, sucking in air like drowning men breaking the surface. Relief flooded their faces even as they remained on their knees, too terrified to move.

A woman stepped through the broken doorway. She was stunning. Elegant beyond measure. Designer suit tailored perfectly to her frame, black hair pulled back in a flawless bun, Golden earrings catching the light. She is Carol, Knox's executive manager. She moved with the grace of someone who'd never known hardship, never questioned her place in the world.

She bowed deeply to Knox. "We will take it from here, sir."

Then she walked to Regina, her heels clicking against the floor, and began wheeling the confused woman toward the door.

"Son? What's happening? Who is this woman?" Regina asked.

"Everything's fine, Mom," Knox said quietly. "Just trust me."

As Regina was wheeled out, Knox turned his attention back to the men still kneeling on his floor.

"How much do you get for torturing my mother?" Knox's voice was conversational now. Almost pleasant. Which somehow made it more terrifying.

The men looked at each other, then at Dylan, whose face was still streaked with blood and dirt.

"We... we were only following orders from the boss," one of them stammered.

"Does she know you're here?"

Knox took a single step forward. The temperature dropped again.

"Okay, okay!" Bruno screamed. "No! Her husband hired us to work for her originally! But she wouldn't be available to see you anyway! Today is her son Byron's Wedding. And she's fully occupied.

Knox went very still. "Byron."

"Yes! Please, we're just doing our jobs! We didn't know—"

Dylan was crying now. Actual tears mixing with the blood on his face. "Please. We'll never come back.

The men nodded frantically.

"Get out."

They scrambled to their feet, grabbing their unconscious companions, and fled like their lives depended on it.

When the apartment was finally empty, Knox stood alone in the wreckage. Broken furniture. Blood on the floor.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Daniel's.

"Lady Morgan's son Byron," Knox said when his second-in-command answered. "Today's his Wedding. I want to know where the party is.."

"On it, boss.”

He hung up and looked around the shabby apartment one more time.

Knox's reflection stared back at him from the cracked mirror on the wall. His eyes were cold, his jaw was hard.

Never again would anyone make his mother suffer. He'd burn down the entire city before he let them touch her again.

"I will stop at nothing to give you ten times the pain you caused my mother," Knox whispered to the empty room, to Lady Morgan wherever she was celebrating her son's Wedding. "I will put you in the same position you placed her. I will drag you to this shabby old house and make you relive every single year you stole from her."

In less than 10 minutes, his phone rang.

"The party's scheduled for 2pm this afternoon.” Daniel explains, “Byron Morgan's Wedding party is currently happening at Riverside Estate. Security's tight but nothing we can't handle."

Knox checked his watch. 12:47 PM.

"Good."

"Young master, I found something about Byron Voss and his wedding to Emilia Martin," Daniel's voice came through, crisp and professional. "I've been digging into the engagement. It seems they might be marrying into the Martin family not for love, but for something bigger."

Knox leaned back in the chair, a cold smile playing on his lips as he slowly realized everything. "He's marrying her for their money."

"Exactly," Daniel confirmed. "The Martin family was prepared to invest twenty million dollars into Voss Group as part of the marriage agreement. It was basically a business transaction dressed up as a wedding."

"Interesting," Knox said quietly, his mind already calculating his next move. "How bad is it?"

"Worse than they're letting on publicly. Voss Group is hemorrhaging money. Stock down seventy-three percent. Major investors pulled out last week. They're facing bankruptcy within the year without significant capital injection."

Knox's fingers drummed against the armrest. "So Lady Morgan is trying to sell her son off to save the family business."

"Precisely. The Martin alliance was supposed to be their lifeline.”

Slowly, a bright smile appeared on Knox's face. Since Lady Morgan has placed her son up for sale, then she's probably open to other or more buyers..

"Boss, there's something else. Your mother is about receiving necessary treatments, but requests your presence."

"I'll be there tonight. Don't take your eyes off her, not even for a second."

"That won't be a problem."

Knox instructs him one more assignment to carry out then he ends the call and steps out of the apartment. First, there was something else he needed to do. Someone else he needed to see.

His girlfriend, the woman he'd been counting down the days to see again. The only woman he'd ever loved throughout his years in jail. He is even more to finally see her now that he's free, especially since Bianca is eight months pregnant with his child. She had cried during their last conjugal visit and told him she couldn't wait for him to come home, and now? He's back and can be with her and their child without restrictions.

Despite everything that had just happened, despite the rage still simmering in his veins, Knox felt something soften in his chest at the thought of her. Of their child. Of the family they were going to build together. Especially since he's no longer that ordinary man her friends used to mock.

He'd loved her before prison. Loved her enough to dream about a future that included white picket fences and Sunday mornings and watching their child grow up with both parents present.

Maybe seeing her would remind him that not everything in his life was broken. That something good was still waiting for him.

Knox left the apartment and slid the taxi waiting for him. "Take me to 4th and Lawrence," he told the driver. "The Meridian Apartments."

The building was exactly as he remembered. Mid-rise. Clean but not luxurious. The kind of place Bianca had insisted on even when Knox had offered to move her somewhere nicer.

"I just need us."

Knox took the stairs to the third floor, his heart doing something strange in his chest. Anticipation mixed with nervousness. He was about to see the woman he loved. About to see the evidence of their child growing inside her.

He knocked on apartment 3C.

Footsteps. Then the door swung open.

Bianca stood there, eight months pregnant, her belly swollen and prominent. She was wearing yoga pants and an oversized shirt, her hair pulled back in a messy bun. For a split second, shock flickered across her face.

"Knox," she said flatly.

"Hey," Knox said, something uneasy stirring in his gut. "Surprise."

Bianca stared at him for a long moment, her hand resting on her belly. Then she turned and walked back into the apartment, leaving the door open behind her.

Knox followed slowly, closing the door behind him.

The apartment looked different. Cleaner. More organized. There were baby things scattered around. A crib in the corner, still in pieces. Boxes of diapers. Tiny clothes folded on the couch.

"You're out early," Bianca said, not looking at him. She was rummaging through her purse on the kitchen counter. "Thought you had another year."

"Good behavior," Knox replied, watching her carefully then he took the initiative to hug her, kiss her kiss and place his hand on her belly. “I missed you so much..” He whispered with a smile.

"Cut it out." As if feeling overstimulated, Bianca pushed him aside, pulled out her phone, checked something, then grabbed her purse. She turned to face him, and her expression was completely neutral. Like she was looking at a stranger. "Since you're here, it's only right to make yourself useful."

She tossed her car keys at him.

Knox caught them reflexively, confusion crossing his face.

"I have a checkup at the clinic in twenty minutes," Bianca said, already heading for the door. "You can drive me."

"Bianca, wait.."

"What?" She turned back, one eyebrow raised.

Knox stared at her. At the woman who was carrying his child. At the woman he'd spent seven years dreaming about coming home to.

"You're not even going to... I mean, I just got out. Don't you want to—"

"Want to what, Knox?" Bianca's voice was sharp. "Throw you a welcome home party? Pop some champagne? You were in prison. You're out now. Congratulations. Now can we go? I don't want to be late."