Chapter 2 II. Lead To The Huge Things

Hana walked into Starbucks holding Elly's hand. The baristas were busy preparing orders for waiting customers, and a man with a thin beard and a red leather jacket was sitting at one of the tables, scrolling through his phone. Knowing who the man was, Hana led Elly to sit across from him.

"Hana, wait outside."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"This is my problem, Hana. It's okay, just for a moment."

"If anything happens, remember to call me, okay?"

Following Elly's request, Hana stepped outside and waited behind the glass partition, accompanied by the two men in suits who had escorted them earlier. The man in the red leather jacket turned off his phone when he saw the person he had been waiting for had arrived.

"Okay, shall we?" he asked Elly. "Hey, two Frappuccinos, quickly!" he ordered the barista.

"I guess you've been waiting for my arrival. But before that, how did you find me, Mr...?" Elly asked calmly.

"Oh! Willfred Arathorn, just call me Will. There's a lot I want to discuss with you, as the Director of Thorn Construction, of course. Familiar with that company's name? Oh, and yes. It's not hard to track a phone these days," he said smugly.

"Most of the people in Blackpool are aware of the significant influence of Thorn Enterprise and its subsidiaries, including the one you head. How could any Brit not know your family?" Elly replied innocently.

"You might have seen on Fox News' main broadcast. There were two reports: the first about the alleged wage injustice committed by my company. And the second one aired this afternoon, following up on the first," Will explained.

"Let's just say, my source did a bit of digging and found that these news stories weren't purely obtained by Fox. Instead, there was interference from a freelance journalist known as Ether. Again, familiar with that name?" Will continued, now with a more intimidating tone.

Unfazed by Will's intimidation, Elly simply smiled. "I'm quite impressed with your analysis, Mr. Arathorn. I guess denying it would be pointless now," Elly said.

Her smile turned into a small laugh, as if mocking what Will had said. "But, what you've presented is the farthest you can go. My article has been accepted and aired by Fox. This means the feedback on the broadcast is no longer my responsibility but that of Fox News. It should be Fox News sitting across from you right now, not me, Mr. Arathorn," Elly retorted.

Seeing Elly deflect all his statements and still smile after all his intimidation, Will began to lose his patience and slammed the table. "Cut the bollocks! I want you to retract what you wrote and make a public statement that what you wrote was a mistake!" Will shouted, his face turning red.

Though slightly startled, Elly tried to control her breathing to endure Will's outburst. She also tried to clasp her hands to hide their trembling. "I'm sorry, Mr. Arathorn. What has been written cannot be retracted. Besides, if what I wrote is factual, why retract it? It is what it is," Elly replied calmly.

Already fed up with Elly's responses and her not looking at him properly when speaking, Will stood up and grabbed her arm forcefully. "Look at me when I'm talking to you! Do you know who you're dealing with!?" he shouted harshly.

Seeing her friend being hurt by Will, Hana didn't stay idle. She quickly ran inside to help Elly, chased by Will's bodyguards. Though briefly blocked from entering, Hana managed to fight back, escape their grasp, and reach Elly.

"SHE'S BLIND! She's blind! Let go of her! Can't you see she's in pain!?" Hana yelled at Will, gripping his hand back. But her strength wasn't enough to make Will release his grip on Elly's arm.

"Blind? How convenient! Causing trouble for other people's businesses without seeing the consequences of her actions!" Will spat angrily.

The surrounding customers just watched and walked by, thinking it was a minor conflict. Even one of the baristas casually brought Will's order amid the commotion.

Seeing the barista bringing the tray with Will's order, Hana let go of Will's hand, grabbed the two Frappuccinos, and quickly poured them over Will's face, soaking him with the cold drinks.

"HELP! MY FRIEND IS ABOUT TO BE RAPED!"

The customers, who had just been watching, now gathered around Will after hearing Hana's scream. This made him release his grip. Panicked by the crowd, Elly reflexively crouched down and covered her ears.

"HEY BUDDY! DO YOU WANT ME TO CUT OFF YOUR JUNK!?" one male customer shouted, grabbing Will's jacket collar.

"LET GO! HEY! YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM! I'LL DESTROY YOU!" Will shouted back arrogantly and angrily at the crowd, while his bodyguards struggled to help him due to the crowd's size.

Hana took advantage of the situation by grabbing Elly's hand, who was still trembling from the chaos, and leading her out, away from Will and his bodyguards. They ran hurriedly, with Hana occasionally looking back to see if Will was chasing them.

"HEY, STOP!"

Sure enough, Will, soaked with Frappuccino, managed to escape the crowd and chase after Hana and Elly, followed by his two bodyguards.

"I'm sorry, we won't have time to call an Uber. Is it okay if I steal a car or anything we can ride, Elly?"

"Do you want to go to jail, Hana!?"

"That's better than dealing with the Arathorn family!"

As the chase reached an intersection, they suddenly stopped when they saw a helicopter approaching, preparing to land in the middle of the intersection, causing Hana to be extremely shocked and the pedestrians to run away, clearing the landing area.

"AAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!"

Elly screamed hysterically, unable to bear the loud noise of the helicopter. She crouched down again, covering her ears. Hana quickly crouched beside her, hugging Elly tightly to calm her down.

"What the freak?" Will was also surprised by the helicopter's arrival, indicating it wasn't his doing.

The helicopter landed perfectly, and a man dressed like Will's bodyguards, wearing a headset, approached Hana and Elly.

"Apologies for the inconvenience, Sir Edric has been waiting at the Mansion," he said, raising his voice to be heard over the helicopter's noise.

~TO BE CONTINUED~