Under The Veil of Night

Frank looked towards the mess in front of him with despair all over his face. His daughter was still within his embrace, but he knew that they might not have any other way out anymore. The secret was out, and he wouldn’t be able to hide it from the government.

"Master, are you alright?" one of his subordinates walked over.

Frank threw a mocked glance. "Prepare the room. She needs to rest."

"Yes, Master."

The servants quickly scurried away to do the task that Frank bestowed to them. Inside their mind, they were cursing their bad luck to be in charge of this family during this time of misfortune. If Frank lashed out to them, there was nothing they could do anymore.

"Miss, please follow us."

Sakura lifted her head ever so slowly. Her eyes were void of any emotion as she saw the servants in front of her. Inside her mind, she was thinking hard about what had happened and what she should do now. Running away was clearly not an option as they might be killed immediately.

With the female servants’ help, she slowly made her way to her room. After a while, she got dressed in more comfortable clothes and wiped up her makeup. Without the makeup, she looked far plainer and rather unsightly to look, yet no one dared to say that to her.

"I want to rest. Don’t disturb me."

"Yes, Miss."

At the same time, Frank was trying his best to take care of the business matter. Because of the sudden incident, he got another setback in terms of economy. This had happened twice before, and his heart bled from the thought of losing billions of money just because of one incident.

It was at this time that he got a call from some rich man who was interested to buy the land of the destroyed mansion.

"Why did he only call now?" Frank frowned in displeasure.

"I think he’s waiting for the time when the mansion’s price lower. Lately, the price of the land in the east area has been increasing," the assistant answered carefully in fear of invoking Frank’s wrath again.

Frank looked towards the offer. It was tempting. "Will selling the mansion help us financially?"

"Of course, Master. If we negotiate carefully, we can get a decent price. At that time, the loss from this matter won’t be as big as we predicted."

"Take care of this matter."

"Yes, Master."

Frank continued to work for hours until the servant announced that there were several people looking from them.

"Have you asked for their identification?" Frank frowned. He was too busy to take care of some guests.

The servant hesitatingly took out a badge. "They say that if I show this to Master, Master will understand who they are and why they come here."

When Frank’s eyes landed on the badge, his heart fell. Internally, he was screaming loudly, yet he kept on a cool face. They came so fast. He was not ready to face them yet. He couldn’t let the servants know about his real feeling.

"Call Sakura here, tell her that it’s time."

"Yes, Master.

Although the servants didn’t understand anything, they did as their master said. When they told Sakura about what Frank said, the girl’s body shook so badly. It was clear that she was feeling extremely terrified.

Her eyes were unfocused as she made her way to the living room. Her feet were struggling hard to keep her body upright. She was afraid. Afraid of what might happen to her because of her own decision in the past. Facing the government, she might even lose her life right here and right now.

Tears fell down from the corner of her eyes. She didn’t want to die. Not yet. She is too young to die.

"Sakura, it’s fine. I’m here for you," Frank pulled his daughter into his embrace. Seeing how badly she looked like, he felt his heart was crushed. Although he didn’t care about the others from the branch families, he cared for his daughter more than anything in the entire world.

What she wanted, he always gave it to her. Even when she asked an absurd request such as taking the Aida Family as their partner, he agreed. No matter what, he would let his daughter do whatever this little girl wanted.

Sakura nodded her head lifelessly. Her limpid body seemed to not have any strength left. She dragged her body to follow her father, who held her tenderly. They walked out and saw those men already ready near a car. From their gesture, it was not hard to say that they wanted them to get into the car.

Inside the car, Frank caressed Sakura’s head over and over. He tried his best to reassure Sakura that everything was going to be alright. Nothing would happen to them.

By the time they arrived, Sakura felt calmer. However, the girl still didn’t show any intention to stand up straight, so Frank has to help her out. Seeing the group of men in front of him, he gulped and tried his best to stay calm.

"Frank, we meet again."

Hearing this voice, chills went down on his spine. Frank knew that the owner of this voice was not feeling as calm as his voice suggested. He turned his head and forced a smile out as he greeted the other party.

"Hello, Sir Ferdinand. I believe we already met a few times in the past."

Ferdinand smiled. "This time the situation is a bit different. I believe you should know what I want."

He was giving an amiable smile, but Frank knew better than anyone that this man was nothing more than a devil in disguise. He had an upright appearance, typical ex-soldier with a large body with a smile that could make him trust him. But Frank could never trust this man.

The gaze Ferdinand gave caused him to feel chills all over his body. He felt as if he was facing the great demon in hell rather than a minister.

Pushing down his unease, Frank nodded his head. "Yes."

"Let’s get inside."

They walked into the building and Frank followed after Ferdinand without any sound. When they reached inside, Sakura clutched Frank’s clothes harder. She didn’t want to get separated from her father.

"I’ll be right back, Sakura," Frank soothed the girl and walked to the room.

Ferdinand stood on the other side of the small room with his hand crossed. His eyes stared towards Frank sharply. "I believe there shouldn’t be anyone who knows about your daughter getting the letter. Why the news got out so suddenly?"

"I don’t know," Frank answered.

"How many people from your side know about the letter?"

Hearing his cold voice, Frank shuddered unconsciously. "I never tell anyone about the letter. The one who knows is only my daughter and my deceased wife."

Ferdinand laughed coldly. "If the news doesn’t come out from you, it means that the one who spread it is your daughter, right?"

Frank’s face fell. "She never tells anyone about it anymore."

"Anymore?"

"I... that... In the past, she brags about it to her classmates."

"Give me their name."

"I don’t know."

Ferdinand’s eyes turned sharper. "Call the girl in."

Being dragged by the bulky man, Sakura walked in lifelessly. Her eyes were unfocused as she looked towards the big man in front of her. She hoped from the bottom of her heart that she would be fine.

"Give me the name of people who knows about the letter," Ferdinand demanded immediately.

Sakura was startled. She turned her head towards her father for a moment. Seeing Frank urged her to answer, she opened her mouth hesitatingly and uttered out their name one by one.

"..., Kanae also know..."

As she listed them out, the man on the side noted their name one by one. On the other hand, Ferdinand’s eyes grew colder.