Chapter 836: There’s nothing amiss.

Everyone listened as Stephen summarized what had happened to him since the night Sven was arrested. It was more detailed than the previous night when he had spoken to Slater, as the surprise had left him unable to recall every little detail.

But now, after retelling his story for the second time, it was clearer. This time, Stephen didn’t need to summarize it out of panic; it was more organized. He left out Slater’s part, though, as promised. By the time Stephen finished, his frown was nearly touching the floor.

Meanwhile, Charles remained smiling, as he should, while Haines remained nonchalant. From another perspective, Stephen appeared to be bantering with Charles, who was having fun with it. Haines, on the other hand, was indifferent... as expected.

"That’s what happened," Stephen huffed, leaning back, looking annoyed and impatient. "I don’t want to do it, alright?"

"You should’ve done it," Charles quipped, earning a look from both Stephen and Haines. "What? I hate the guy!"

"Father, please be quiet." If Atlas were also there, he would be looking at his father with criticism in his eyes. "If he did it, he’d kick me out of my position for having the largest share. Adding Uncle Stephen’s shares, Sofia’s shares, and the Chairman’s... I’d be done for."

Charles frowned deeply and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. I’m sorry."

"Anyway, like I said, these people are terrible," Stephen continued irritably. "The way they contact me, the way they just show up, and how they operate... they terrified me. I’m not safe—not even my family; my wife and daughter are innocent."

"We know that," Haines nodded, squeezing his knee as it ached. "I know they were terrible, cruel people."

Charles glanced at Haines, and despite not seeing what Haines was doing under the table, he knew the latter’s knee was aching. It wasn’t the temperature that caused it, but the memory. This time, Charles’s expression grew solemn as he snapped his eyes to Stephen.

"Father, what do you think we should do?" Atlas’s quiet voice reached their ears. "Should we proceed as planned?"

"Yes," Charles nodded, resting his arm against the edge of the table, keeping the napkin that covered the phone between them. "Let’s do that. Now that I recall, my Penny didn’t have a good experience either."

Deep lines appeared between Stephen’s brows. "What do you mean, your daughter didn’t have a good experience?"

"Let’s just say... we assume they were the same people who swapped my children with another," Charles shrugged, keeping his answer vague. He didn’t want to bring up what happened to Haines and Penny in the past. "Although the baby swap was as bad as it got, there were still positive things that came from it."

For instance, Charles and Allison got to have another daughter. Allison found a real best friend, and their family extended to the Cortez. Even so, the root of the baby swap stemmed from evil people with cruel intentions.

Stephen gulped, the tension in his throat increasing as his annoyed expression faltered. Charles now looked serious. Many other questions were swirling in his mind after Charles mentioned the baby swap, but they didn’t matter right now.

What was important was...

"What plan?" he blurted out, speaking as quietly but as clearly as he could.

Charles arched an eyebrow slightly and shifted his eyes to Haines. The latter nodded before the two of them shifted their gaze back to Stephen. Stephen’s brows rose as he found himself at the center of their attention.

"What?" Stephen breathed out. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

But then, Atlas spoke in the same plain, unfaltering voice that left Stephen speechless.

***

Meanwhile, outside the restaurant, the driver stood beside the car, smoking a cigarette. In his ear was a voice coming through his earpiece.

"What do you mean you can’t take him to the meeting place now?" asked the man on the other end of the line.

"I’m sorry, sir," the driver murmured, snapping his eyes back to the establishment as he took a long drag from his cigarette. "Something happened that changed the plan."

"What happened?"

"Charles and Haines Bennet ambushed him and dragged him to Mama Restaurant, the one owned by Allison Bennet and Jessa Cortez."

"Huh." The person on the other end of the line rocked his head and snorted. "Do you think he talked?"

The driver didn’t answer immediately, pondering for a moment. He stepped forward to catch a glimpse of Stephen through the small gap in the blinds. All he could see was Stephen through the glass wall of the restaurant, but he seemed very annoyed—like he didn’t want to be there.

"I doubt it, sir," he said, peeling his eyes from Stephen as he walked away. "Stephen Bennet didn’t even want them with him. However, Jessa Cortez dragged him into the restaurant due to a previous grudge that Stephen mentioned in the past."

"Ahh..."

"What should we do, sir?"

"Hmm." The man on the other end of the line pondered for a moment. "The regular dinners between the Bennets and the Cortez usually last for hours—sometimes until the shop closes. Drive him home afterward."

"Yes, sir."

With that, the line went dead. The driver glanced back at the restaurant, tilting his head to the side.

"I didn’t say it because I’m not sure, but... Charles Bennet is, indeed, different," he whispered, recalling how Charles would casually glance at the rearview mirror during their trip to Mama. It wasn’t that Charles was doing anything else, but whenever their eyes met in the mirror, the driver couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling in his heart.

Despite not showing any malice, it felt as if Charles could see through him—like Charles already knew who he was, what he did, and why he was there. Even so, the driver didn’t mention it to the man on the other end of the line, because he might be wrong.

"He is a marine, and he’ll always be one," he whispered, shaking his head as he idled outside the car to smoke some more.

Little did he know, when he checked on Stephen earlier, the latter had turned to look in his direction right after he told the man, "There’s nothing amiss." Because right now, the gentlemen inside the restaurant were concocting their plan to counter all of it.