A Mysterious Man

Sunny and Ellison are also surprised when they walk in. They immediately try to regain composure, as they have a weird look on their face. "You guys are finally here, please take a seat," Andrei wears a peaceful expression, not surprised, and not harbouring any other emotions. They each choose a seat and sit down, and Andrei is stuck in the middle.

"I heard that you two have something to ask?"

Kevin pauses for a bit, and then he nods, "Mr. Hawkins, do you think Bella ever changes throughout the years?"

Andrei tries to recall, "I don't think so."

"Well, Andrei. Please prepare yourself mentally for now, as what I'm going to tell you next might be not easy to accept, but they are all facts."

Andrei now wears stern expression, he sits down on a stool nearby and says, "Please continue."

"Andrei, the current Bella you know is not your daughter. Your daughter was murdered many years ago."

Andrei is very shocked hearing what Kevin said, "Do you know what you are saying? You're saying that my daughter died many years ago?"

"Let me continue," Ellison proceeds to say, "Mr. Hawkins, 5 years ago, there was a body that was discovered. The DNA of the body matches yours." Andrei frowns, "So you're saying that my daughter is long dead, and the current Bella is an imposter?"

Ellison nods, "That's exactly what I mean."

"Where is your evidence?" questions Andrei.

Ellison chuckles creepily, and says, "I will present you the evidence right here right now if I can. But the evidence is now in your basement."

"Well..." he pauses while he talks, "Though it all depends on you if you have the guts to go see it for yourself."

It is the first time that someone ever dares to mock Andrei to his face and say that he doesn't have the guts.

He scoffs, "Well, why wouldn't I? Show me the evidence."

He then calls for Kasper, "Go get a wheelchair, I'm going with them to witness this "evidence" they talk about."

Kevin notices the worry in Kasper's eyes when the word "evidence" is mentioned, but Kevin isn't sure if it's just him seeing things.

Kasper is not to defy Andrei's order at any time.

He proceeds to acquire the wheelchair.

Ellison continues talking right after Kasper left, "There's one more thing that you should know."

"Say it," says Andrei grimly.

"Have you ever heard of PY Gangster?" Says Ellison with a crooked smile.

Andrei grimaces, "What do you know about them?"

Ellison isn't afraid, even though Andrei is letting out threatening aura, "If you are asking about the former one, I don't know much about them. But I do know quite a lot about the current one." Andrei repeats himself harshly, "The current one? What do you mean?"

Ellison answers, "Well, the PY Gangster is back on the streets recently. And the leader is someone close to you."

Kasper reemerges with the wheelchair amidst their conversation, Andrei isn't able to inquire about what Ellison meant, though deep down inside he doesn't really want to find out the meaning behind it. He fakes a cough and says, "Kasper, they'll escort me over. In the meantime, please prepare some dishes for our guests."

Kasper glances at the youngins, he feels restless about them.

But he cannot do otherwise, he stares at Andrei getting on the wheelchair, Ellison then helps to push the wheelchair downstairs.

"Please do continue," reminds Andrei as he thinks that Kasper will not be able to hear their conversation anymore.

"Your daughter is quite the greedy one, the Hawkins family is the main reason why she plans to rebuild the PY Gangster." Andrei is a bit upset hearing this, "How could it be? I always treat her so well..."

Kevin chimes in softly, "Really?"

"In any case, I did bring her up," Andrei is stunned by Kevin's retort, he holds his head while saying that.

Ellison goes on, "The Bella from before might be grateful, but the Bella right now is just a murderer."

Andrei glares at him furiously, "But then again, what evidence do you hold?"

Ellison doesn't mind his anger, "Do you think your daughter can be switched out under the radar?"

Andrei has nothing to say, he waves his hand and says, "Fine, bring me the evidence and we'll see about it."

"It's right in front of you," Ellison snickers.

Andrei raises his head, he sees his own garage.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Ellison signals the driver, telling him to open the trunk of the car.

The driver follows his instruction. Andrei's expression turns gloom at what he witnesses.

"Who, who is this?" He stares at the body, the body is well preserved, but it has been quite some years and it is hard to recognize.

Ellison nods silently and the driver pushes Andrei towards the body.

Even when Bella is alive, Andrei hardly has the time to see her. But he still cries tears of sadness, the moment he confirms that the body belongs to the real Bella. "Is that you..."

"We can do a DNA test right now if you don't believe me."

Even in sorrow, Andrei is a careful man. It doesn't make sense to believe the one-sided nonsense from Ellison. Andrei requests a doctor to come over to carry out the test.

"Mr. Hawkins, we would need a strand of your hair."

The body is thoroughly rotten, it isn't an easy task to carry out the DNA test.

Though it isn't before long that the results came out, "Mr. Hawkins, this..." The doctor cannot seem to find the suitable word to name the body, "This body is certainly your daughter's."

Andrei closes his eyes in despair, "Are you sure?"

The doctor hangs his head low, "I wouldn't ever dare to lie to you, Mr. Hawkins.'

Andrei beckons, "I understand, please take your leave."

As the doctor is leaving, Ellison stares at his silhouette, seemingly thinking about something. Suddenly, he opens his mouth and says, " Mr. Hawkins, you should be careful of the people around you, especially the one spying from the kitchen." Andrei turns his head towards the kitchen, and he sees the sight of Kasper hurriedly trying to hide.

"I understand, thank you very much. Why don't you guys stay for dinner, it's my show of appreciation."

There's no way to reject Andrei, not with the way he asks. Otherwise, they will appear to be contentious.

Hence, they accept his offer, "How about the body..."

Andrei looks exhausted, he doesn't really want to deal with the body right now. He calls out for a subordinate and says, "Would you please cremate the body?"

Now that he knows the truth, and Bella has been wronged for so many years, suddenly, Andrei changes his mind out of guilt and says, "Wait, actually, look for an area with good feng shui and bury her there."

The subordinate obeys his order, "Yes, Mr. Hawkins."

Ellison asks curiously, "Is this guy reliable?"

Andrei scowls at him resentfully, "I'm not that senile, youngin. Come, push me back into the house."

Ellison has never been ordered around like that his whole life, his expression darkens.

Sunny notices his expression, she tugs Kevin's sleeve and tells him to watch after Ellison, she then volunteers, "Mr. Hawkins, let me help you out."

Andrei's expression softens as he looks at the gentle girl, he takes up her offer.

"Andrei, I don't really remember much about my mom. Would you tell me more about her?"

Sunny asks as she pushes Andrei away, she also squints at Kevin, notifying him to follow her.

"Brother, let's go. Calm down, no need to get angry over a cagey old man."

Ellison calms down and starts to walk, "I suspect that the incidents from before are not Andrei's doing, he doesn't have the guts."

Kevin is silent, he then says, "Indeed, I feel the same way too."

Sunny looks back and is relieved that they are coming along. She then continues to talk to Andrei.

"Andrei, would you tell me stories about my mom when she was young?"

It's like Andrei's memories of the past are flowing back to him with the strike of the question, he gazes at the sky and stares at the clouds. He only responds after a while. "Your mother was a beautiful lady..."

Kevin overhears what he says, he nods in agreement.

"When your mother first joined the PY gangster as your father's junior, many came over to inquire if your mother had someone she likes."

Andrei is feeling nostalgic about his prime time, he is smiling widely, Sunny feels the realism in his words.

"I was one of the inquirers, but sadly your mother's heart already belonged to someone, she was madly in love with your father."

Sunny is listening to the story attentively, it's as if the story is unfolding right in front of her eyes.

"The PY Gangster back then made an impression that they were always doing something atrocious, but in reality, we were a peaceful family, nothing violent."

"Though the good times didn't last long, a tyrant took a liking to your mother. He came over and continuously harassed your mother. He had no fear but at that time he didn't know that your mother was a part of the PY Gangster. "Everybody was mad after finding out about the incident. We were all brash, hot-blooded young people. We ambushed the tyrant one night and beat the heck out of him, your father threw the heaviest punches." "What happens next?"

"We only realized that we were in big trouble the next day. The person we beat up was the son of the PY Gangster rivalry gang."☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐