"WHAT DO YOU MEAN someone took Mia?" Ella frowned.
Ava didn't have the chance to elaborate though, because the sound of glass breaking resounded through the house. She looked over her shoulder at the floors below, already off before Ella could ask anything else. Levi got on his feet, extending a hand to pull her up as well, and they headed towards the ground floor, confusion coloring her eyes.
"Why would someone take Mia?" Ella wondered out loud to him as they quickly took the steps downstairs," out of all people here, I'd expect them to take Alex."
"Alex would annoy them to the point that they brought him back," Levi said.
"That's true," Ella chuckled," Mia is the better pick."
"She's nice," Levi nodded," she doesn't bother me."
The joking atmosphere she had with Levi immediately died down once she set foot on the ground floor and locked eyes with Will. She had expected Ava to be dramatic when she said someone had taken Mia, but everything was a total chaos, Will standing in the midst of it all, fuming with his bat resting on his shoulders. Opposite him stood a tall guy who looked very out of place in his expensive clothing, dyed silver blond hair parted in the middle and dark eyes looking around distastefully.
"You're proving my point, you know,"
he said," with this whole childish delinquent act you have going on."
Will moved so quickly the stranger had no chance to act, his bat tilting the guy's chin up as he pushed, eyebrow raised.
"Who says it's an act?"
At that moment two men appeared out of nowhere, Ella presuming them to be bodyguards by the way they were dressed. They grabbed Will's arms, Levi acting at the same moment, frown deepening as he pulled one of them off his friend. Ella walked over to Ava, confused, the girl's fuchsia lips pressed into an unamused line.
"So I'm assuming he took Mia?" Ella said.
"I didn't exactly see it happen," Ava replied," but five of those bodyguards came all of a sudden and three left with Mia apparently. He stayed behind here after Will started threatening him."
"It becomes more and more clear to me that it was the right choice to take Mi-Ja away," the guy said, looking at Will like he was beneath him," I can only imagine the bad influence you've had on her."
Someone roared like a lion then and when Ella's gaze snapped up to the sound, she saw Alex running at the guy at thirteen miles per hour, before jumping on his back. It surprised everyone except Levi and Ava, the two of them shaking their head almost simultaneously. The bodyguards tried to pull free to help him, but Levi and Will didn't let go, Will looking ready to break some bones.
"Well, well, well," Alex mused, comfortably seating himself on top of the guy as he tried to crawl out from underneath," what do we have here?"
"Alex, what the fuck," Elisabeth said as she stepped through the door from the backyard, peering through the crowd to see what was going on.
"I told you I sensed something was going on," Alex smiled. All humor disappeared once he grabbed a handful of the guy's hair, pulling him back with a jerk so he was forced to look at him. "Now, why are you talking trash to Will, huh?"
"I will fucking sue you," the guy said, eyes livid," get off me right now, you disgusting fool."
"The law isn't real, baby," Alex grinned," I listen to no one but Levi Peterson."
"When have you ever listened to me?" Levi said.
"Master Vinh," one of the bodyguards called out, voice frantic," are you alright?"
"You both are fucking fired," Vinh continued to rage," are you not able to defend yourself against two criminals?"
Elisabeth had arrived then, eyes wide as she took the whole scene in from up close, before shaking her head.
"Dang Vinh?" she said," what are you doing here?"
"Elisabeth," Vinh said, confusion coloring his eyes," what are you doing here? Don't tell me you were the one who brought Mi-Ja here."
"You know him?" Alex blinked.
"He went to Gaia as well," Elisabeth said, tugging gently at Alex' arm," and you might want to get off, Alex, he's the son of a very prominent CEO and quite close with Mia."
"At least there's someone here with common sense," Vinh scoffed," now get off me, fool, before I call my lawyers."
Elisabeth's usually warm eyes flickered cold with annoyance as she glanced down at Vinh, voice clear.
"If you continue being this stuck-up, I'll take it back," Elisabeth frowned," don't act like I can't take you if this silly case you want to build goes to court."
"Before we continue this constant trash-talking," Ella intervened," what the fuck happened to Mia?"
"Nothing that concerns you -" Vinh began, but Elisabeth interrupted him.
"Her father didn't mind sending her here to his brother," she shrugged," but I suppose her mother did. She's the one who gave you permission to do this, did she not, Vinh?"
Vinh didn't reply and she continued, shaking her head.
"Anyway," she said," you've probably heard of him, but this guy is Mia's fiancé."
Will, who had managed to tackle the bodyguard and had pulled his bat back to swing, froze, managing to collect himself again a moment later, his bat landing on the floor right beside the man's head. Levi turned towards his friend, the bodyguard immediately taking the chance while he was distracted to try to punch him in the face, but Ella pulled Levi away by his arm, glare cold as she moved to hurt him. It was Levi who surprisingly held her back by her waist, trying to calm her down.
"Let me go, Levi," Ella scowled," you were literally fighting him just now, what is a hit or two more?"
"Your mother will be angry," he said, not budging as he pulled her closer," I should be the only one getting in trouble."
Ella mouthed silent threats at the man, who looked uncomfortable by the whole fight, before Vinh interrupted them, authoritative voice resounding throughout the room.
"Yeah," Vinh said," you heard her, so get off me now. You guys are the ones blowing this out of proportion, calling this a kidnapping. I just simply took my fiancée along."
Will's gaze snapped towards him, none of his usual sunshine there.
"I was getting a drink for Mia and when I turned around three men were pulling her away while she screamed." He got to his feet, slowly walking over to Vinh, bat dragging along the floor. "You call that simply taking her along? You think scaring her is fun?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Vinh snarled," who even are you? Don't act like you know anything about what Mi-Ja wants when she has never even spoken a word about you."
Will didn't flinch at his words, instead crouching down in front of him, eyes strangely calm as he let his bat rest on his shoulders, Vinh's eyes flicking to it nervously.
"What does it matter who I am?" he said," the only thing what matters is what Mia wants and if the only way you can think of bringing her along is by force, you obviously don't know her at all. Bring her back." He swiftly let the bat land beside Vinh's ear with a thud, elbow resting on top. "Now."
"And what if I don't?" Vinh managed to say.
"Then we'll just have to find out how you like being forced to do things," Will smiled brightly as he tapped his fingers against the handle of his bat. "Won't we?"
"Give me one minute," Alex said, cracking his knuckles," I'll get him to talk."
Levi nodded, stepping forward to his friends as well as if he wasn't lifting her up protectively against him still. It was Ava who broke the silence, a smile on her lips which promised no good.
"If it's true what you're saying," she said," and you know Mia best, let her come. She'll choose you anyway, right? I'm sure you wouldn't want to taint your family's reputation with this scandal, not with how many people are in this room at the moment." Her eyes warmed, though it was the kind of warmth which felt like it was burning. "Come on now, what do you have to lose?"
Vinh stayed quiet for a second, lips finally parting after a while as he gestured for Alex to get off.
"I'll call her," he said," so get off me, scoundrel. You'll see, she will choose me. She always will."
Will didn't say anything to that as Vinh let his phone ring, curtly giving an order to the man on the line before he pocketed it again. It didn't take long for the door to open, Elisabeth having steadied Alex in the meanwhile, his inebriated state clearer with the minute as she smiled fondly at him. Ella had already suspected Vinh's bodyguards to have waited outside and that was only proven by the few minutes it had taken them to arrive here, three of them walking in front, hiding the girl behind from the view.
When they parted, Vinh's and Will's face lit up at once, but Mia simply looked shocked.
"What happened in here?"