Chapter 324: Tracking the Marshalls’ Whereabouts
’Could it be Maya Marshall?’
The moment that name exploded in his mind, Adrian Lancaster froze. His fingernails dug so deeply into his palms that they left white, bloodless marks. A torrent of complex, chaotic emotions roiled within him.
Maya Marshall was not just his first love; she had also saved his life.
Years ago, he’d been in an accident, trapped in a desperate situation and hanging by a thread between life and death. It was Maya Marshall who had rushed forward without a second thought, single-handedly pulling him back from death’s door.
The shock and gratitude of that moment were seared into his memory. He had solemnly vowed to marry her one day, to spend his entire life repaying her for saving him.
But fate had other plans. After all the twists and turns, the person he ended up marrying was Wren Sutton.
And it was because he felt so shackled by the heavy debt of her saving his life that he had been so foolish back then, committing the most unforgivable mistake of his life after his marriage.
He failed to cleanly and decisively sever ties with Maya Marshall, allowing the two of them to maintain an ambiguous, lingering relationship.
Out of regard for their past, he had repeatedly given in to Maya Marshall, completely ignoring his wife Wren Sutton’s feelings. He had allowed Wren to suffer endless humiliation and neglect in their marriage.
Recalling his past actions, Adrian Lancaster felt a pain like a knife twisting in his gut. He wanted nothing more than to slap himself across the face.
He slammed his clenched fist onto the desk, the heavy thud seeming to make the entire room tremble.
Adrian Lancaster hated his former self for utterly devastating Wren Sutton, a woman whose heart had been filled with nothing but him.
’No wonder Isla Griffith always used to curse me behind my back, calling me a scumbag, calling me That Mutt Lancaster,’ he thought. ’Thinking about it now, she wasn’t wrong.’
’Two-timing my wife... I really was a dog, a scumbag. A complete bastard.’
Fortunately, he had eventually come to his senses. He knew he was wrong and was now actively trying to make amends, to win back Wren Sutton’s heart, little by little.
It was only later that Adrian Lancaster saw the Marshall Family and Maya Marshall for who they truly were.
The old flame Maya Marshall claimed to cherish was, from beginning to end, nothing but a pretense for her calculations and schemes.
She used the fact that she’d saved his life to guilt-trip him, targeted Wren Sutton time and again, and deliberately schemed to destroy his marriage.
Her methods grew more sinister, her intentions more venomous. With every greedy, vicious act, the lingering guilt and sense of obligation in Adrian Lancaster’s heart eroded, until they vanished into thin air.
He stopped indulging her, stopped going soft on her. He steeled his resolve and completely severed all ties with Maya Marshall.
And it was this final, uncompromising break that thoroughly infuriated the Marshall Family.
The Marshall Family’s hatred for Wren Sutton was bone-deep and implacable.
First, because Wren Sutton had married him, the Marshalls believed she had stolen what should have been Maya Marshall’s position as Mrs. Lancaster.
Second, in her attempt to drive Wren Sutton away and reclaim the title of Mrs. Lancaster, Maya Marshall had designed a vicious trap intended to ruin Wren completely.
But she ended up reaping what she sowed. The plan backfired, and she suffered a major, traumatic injury that resulted in an amputation. Now, she lived with the pain and humiliation of her disability.
After the incident, the Marshalls ignored their daughter’s malicious intent. They turned the truth on its head, dumping all the blame onto Wren Sutton and insisting she was the one responsible.
Fortunately, his mother, Claire Sterling, had ironclad proof in the form of a recording, which she used to clear Wren’s name in public.
Finally free from the shackles of his old debt, he had launched a full investigation into the Marshall Family’s long history of leveraging their connection to him to commit crimes and break the law.
Overnight, the Marshall empire collapsed. They fled to escape prosecution and vanished completely from Aston.
For over a year, it was as if the Marshalls had vanished off the face of the earth. There had been no word from them at all.
If anyone was holding a grudge and plotting a comeback for revenge, the Marshall Family undoubtedly had the strongest motive.
Secretive methods, precise targeting, a sinister approach... it all perfectly matched the profile of Maya Marshall, whose mind had become completely twisted and filled with venomous resentment after her amputation.
Adrian Lancaster shot up from his chair. His dark eyes were like bottomless, icy pools, churning with a towering rage and a chilling fear. But more than anything, he was filled with regret for his own belated realization.
Gritting his teeth, he snatched up his phone and dialed his assistant again. His voice was laced with ice, every word carrying an undeniable weight of authority.
"Mobilize all personnel and resources immediately. I want a full-scale search for the whereabouts of Maya Marshall and the entire Marshall family. The priority is Maya Marshall. Find out if she’s secretly returned to Aston."
"Also, triple the number of elite bodyguards. I want them under twenty-four-hour covert surveillance. They are not to leave their side for a second. You must guarantee the absolute safety of my wife and two children. There is no room for error."
"The moment you find any trace of Maya Marshall or any of the Marshalls, report to me immediately. No delays."
"Yes, President Lancaster." The assistant heard the grim ferocity in his tone and didn’t dare to delay for even a moment, immediately moving to carry out the orders.
Adrian Lancaster hung up, his knuckles white. An icy aura emanated from him.
’Whatever I owed the Marshall Family,’ he thought, ’I’ve long since repaid it with interest.’
If the investigation revealed that the mastermind behind this was truly Maya Marshall, he would show absolutely no mercy for old times’ sake. He would not go soft on her again.
If Maya Marshall dared to harm Wren Sutton and their two children, he would make damn sure she paid a price far more painful than losing a limb.