Chapter 518 Matthew Is Going Down With Me
Xavier was caught off guard by Veronica’s kick. However, he managed to block it with his arm and counterattack due to his quick response.
Alas, the petite woman did a neat somersault and landed behind him. Before he could react, he felt something cold against the back of his head. “Don’t move!” Veronica warned in a low voice, “Hand Matthew over now.”
Thomas, who was standing by the side, was dumbfounded. “Wasn’t Young Master Matthew…” As the words came out of his mouth, Thomas’ eyes glinted with realization. “So, it was… a hoax?”
He frightfully dashed toward the sedan and opened the door. He scrutinized the person inside wearing Matthew’s clothes and had a similar figure to Matthew, only to realize he wasn’t Matthew.
Thomas was deceived because that person’s figure and hairstyle were similar to Matthew’s. Besides, his face was so swollen and bloody that it was hard to determine what he initially looked like. Plus, to make matters worse, Thomas’ attention was all on his brother, Troy.
Xavier took advantage of that as he was sure Thomas would not realize it, but he did not expect Veronica to show up.
Opposite them, Antheena, who had been a bystander all this while, immediately jumped to her feet and angrily questioned Veronica, “Veronica, you’re such a vicious woman. I’ve let you and Matthew go. What else do you want?”
Veronica held the gun against Xavier’s head with one hand and used the other to grip his shoulders. “Keep both hands up. Turn around.”
He complied with her fury-fueled orders. As he was turning around, he commented, “It seems like I’ve looked down on you. You’ve improved greatly in the six months I’ve not seen you.”
He knew she must have had some sort of trick up her sleeves. So, that was why he came over when Antheena wanted to grab the box from her. But, no matter how he tried to be careful, the odds were against him. He had to admit that he had underestimated her.
“I’m way behind compared to you,” Veronica snorted at him and looked at Antheena, who was a few feet away. “If you want him alive, it’s easy. Just give me Matthew.”
At that moment, her attitude made it obvious. They did not need to question if she had really broken up with Matthew back then.
“How did you find out?” Xavier wracked his brain but still could not figure out what went wrong.
“Well, I can only say that your plan had too many flaws.”
At first, Veronica was almost deceived by them. Nevertheless, when she was sitting in the bedroom of Destiny’s villa pondering the whole incident, something felt off. The ‘Matthew’ that she saw in the basement was acting oddly.
He was intelligent, strategic, and a good fighter. So, he was a difficult target to kidnap. Even if he was abducted, he had the ability to protect himself.
She remembered vividly how badly the people in the basement were beaten up. They all had their heads hung low as they sank into unconsciousness. Veronica knew very well that Matthew was very alert all the time and would never allow himself to faint when his life was in danger.
Besides that, they used every trick in the book to coerce her to go to the castle because they were not sure if she was secretly working with Matthew. So they would never kill him.
Most importantly, Xavier resented Matthew with his entire being, mainly because of his sister Melissa’s death. If he could take his revenge and torture Matthew, he wouldn’t have gone mad and beat Veronica up in the basement.
Therefore, it was evident that even though Matthew was kidnapped, they had orders from above not to hurt him. Xavier was furious at that and took it out on her. So that was how she concluded that Matthew was safe.
She arrived ten minutes before Thomas and Xavier’s meeting and found a good hiding spot. As she held a pair of binoculars, she observed from afar until she saw the swollen-faced Matthew. Right then, she was confident that her deductions were correct and that person was not the real Matthew.
Veronica snorted derisively, “I know how much you loathe Matthew. Even if Antheena’s father asked you to let him go, you wouldn’t comply. So, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be here.”
Xavier was a vengeful man. Since he had finally gotten his hands on Matthew, he wouldn’t let go of this golden opportunity to kill him, even if he had to sacrifice Antheena.
Veronica had two plans in place for this situation. In the first plan, she foresaw that if Xavier brought Matthew over, he might have someone to snipe Matthew after his release. Thus, she asked Destiny to look for the best sniper to hide in the spot with the best view.
If Xavier or somebody else attacked Matthew, then Xavier wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise.
The other plan she had was that if Matthew didn’t show up as she suspected, she would think of a way to hold Antheena or Xavier hostage in exchange for Matthew.
Right now, things were going according to her second plan.
“Ha! Very clever.” Xavier’s lips curved up into a smirk, and he muttered with a low voice only they both could hear. “But so what? Matthew is destined to die tonight.”
An intelligent person like Xavier also had a backup plan. It was either he deceived Thomas and retreated safely with Antheena, or he would die here, but Matthew would be going down with him.
Veronica’s heart tightened, and she frowned. “What do you mean?”
As they were at a standstill, the rest of the people from both parties dared not move. The situation was tense, as though they were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
On the vast square, Veronica stood in the middle holding Xavier at gunpoint.
“You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you can piece the puzzles yourself.” Xavier kept his arms raised as he gazed at Antheena, who looked anxious as she kept pacing back and forth. He felt a little guilty.
She was a nice girl, but he was not the one for her. A wretched man like him was not a match for a woman of her caliber. He was unworthy of her love.
“Let him go, Xavier.” Veronica’s voice was filled with melancholy. “You should know that if Matthew’s not released, you’ll die too.”
Then, she glanced at Antheena standing not far away and continued, “From what I know, Black Ace Mob’s leader, Flake, only has one daughter, Antheena. She’s the apple of his eye. So, he would not hesitate to exchange his daughter’s safety with Matthew. He’s not letting you off the hook that you tried to do this with a fake Matthew.”
Veronica was not an omnipresent being and could not predict what would happen. She analyzed the situation with Destiny despite it being just a hypothesis.
Xavier let out a laugh at her words. “So, I’ve got no choice. Since this is what it’s come to, I’ll just bring him down with me!” He gave up struggling as his voice was filled with despair and self-deprecation.
Veronica’s heart skipped, and her breath caught in her throat. It seemed like everything was speeding toward the worst-case scenario.
Xavier would give up his life just to avenge his sister by killing Matthew. But, even if Xavier dies, she would do everything in her power to keep Matthew alive.
