"You can go and rest," She told Bastion before she sent him back. As Bastion left, Esmi closed the door and laid on her bed.

"Hello, darling. Were you missing me? Or you wanted to see if I was at home or not?" Esmi asked as he smiled.

"Of course. There is never a moment when I am not thinking of you," Ryder acknowledged, flattering Esmi.

"Hahaha, you really have a sweet tongue, darling. Anyway, I hear the sound of the rotor. Are you in a helicopter?" Esmi inquired, noticing the sound.

"You are very sharp. I'm inside a helicopter. I'm going outside the city on business," Ryder replied as he smiled.

"Oh, right. I called you to remind you about something. I have found out who is behind the attack on Bastion. I was hoping you wouldn't ask me how I know it, but it's Mark. I don't know what his role was, but he was definitely involved. Keep an eye on him until I return," he asserted.

"Oh, you know it too? I shouldn't have underestimated you," Esmi let out with an amused smile on her face.

"What do you mean, I know it too? Don't tell me you already found out," Ryder inquired with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah. Want to know a secret? I'm only telling you, but don't leak it. The phone that my men use is a custom phone that can't be tapped even by the government. My men know that. What they don't know is that every call of theirs is recorded, which can be listened to by me whenever I wish. I heard everyone's call recording after the attack on Bastion. Mark's call recording proved that," Esmi explained.

"Oh? That's pretty clever. You are pretty far-sighted to give them phones like this," Ryder responded as he chuckled. "So what did you find out from his calls? He was behind it, but I don't think he had any direct benefits from killing Bastion. Someone definitely put him to it."

"That's right. However, he was clever. He didn't talk about the attacks and the details over the phone. He probably had a direct meeting with the person. Anyway, the night of the blast, he called someone saying that Bastion was alive and that the plan failed. I sent my man to catch him after finding the truth; however, he was found dead with his wife when my men reached his house," Esmi replied as she sighed.

Ryder fell in silence as he lost himself in thoughts after hearing Esmi's words, trying to digest all this information.

"So much happened, and you didn't tell me at all? Why?" Ryder inquired.

"I didn't want to involve you since it's underworld business and you were close to Mark. I didn't think about telling you. Now that you already found out that it was him, I decided to tell you," Esmi explained.

"Sigh, I can scold you so much regarding that. I told you that I would find the culprit. You found him and didn't even tell me. Just don't do it next time. I'm not a kid who can't handle himself in these matters," Ryder replied to Esmi.

'In fact, I seem to have more experience since I killed so many people from an even worse organization of true evil,' he thought, but he didn't tell Esmi his secret.

"Anyway, you must have the number he called. We can reach the true culprit through that," he lamented.

"We can't. That number is uncrackable. I tried. Let alone tracking the number, I can't even find who owns the number. The people behind it aren't newbies," Esmi replied as she sighed.

"So they are experienced," Ryder muttered as he looked at the address in his hand.

'Professional like the Jackson family, which is famous for assassination? Why would they go through Mark to kill Bastion? If they are experts, couldn't they have sent a man of their own to assassinate Bastion? They wouldn't go through mark unless they were scared of being found out,' he thought as his frown deepened.

'They killed so many high profile people using their members. They didn't worry about involving themselves since they barely left any clues behind. Why were they scared of Bastion? It's not like Bastion is that fierce. The only powerful person in his Family is Esmi. Even Esmi isn't on the same level as the people they killed. The only other person in Bastion's family should be his father, who is a normal businessman; this doesn't make sense.'

The more he thought, the more he found himself getting confused.

"Darling, are you there?" Esmi asked again, not getting any response.

"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking a little. Anyway, my deal still stays. You can't leave the house. The real culprit is still there. Since Mark failed and died, they might try themselves. Keep Bastion at Home as well," Ryder replied.

"Yes, yes, my strict guy. I promised you already. I won't leave for three days. I'll keep Bastion at Home as well. In that time, I'll find the person who tried doing it," Esmi said as she smiled.

"That's good.."

Ryder and Esmi talked for the next thirty minutes, with their conversation becoming more and more intimate each minute. Fortunately, no one other than Ryder and the pilot was inside the helicopter. Ryder didn't bring Shu's guards with him. He came alone to meet the Jackson Family to get the truth.

The helicopter landed in an empty ground near the Jackson Estate while still making sure to be outside the vicinity.

"Stay here. I should be back soon," he told the pilot before he stepped out of the helicopter. As he stepped out of the helicopter, he saw almost every person present in that area looking towards him, wondering who this rich person was.

"So this is what VIPs feel like. It does attract a lot of attention," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly.

Ignoring the attention, he started walking towards the Jackson Estate. He had only taken a few steps when a young lady came running and stood in front of him.

The lady seemed to be wearing a top that revealed her slim stomach and a skirt that didn't even reach her thighs.

"You're handsome, and I'm beautiful. Our babies will be adorable. I'm not that easy to impress, but I'll make an exception for you. So, where are we going for coffee?" the lady asked Ryder with a cute smile on her face.

Ryder looked at the girl for a brief moment, surprised. Ultimately, he started laughing.

"You are really cute. I like that confidence of yours. You got one thing wrong, though. Our kids won't be cute. We won't have any after all. You should look for someone else," he replied as he patted her head as if she was a little child, and he was an elder. Ryder started walking away, leaving her behind.

"Hey, stop! You can't leave without telling me why," the woman let out as she ran after Ryder.

"Don't you think I'm hot? Why don't you like me?" the woman asked Ryder.

"I didn't say you are not hot. I'm not interested in you, though. I already have someone I like," Ryder replied, shaking his head.

"Leave her1. I can give you every pleasure you need," the woman let out as she placed her hand on Ryder's ass, rubbing it gently.

Ryder stopped and caught her hand. Getting her hand away from him, he looked into her eyes.

"I'm not after pleasure. I'm here for work," he said, shaking his hand. He freed her hand. The woman started pouting before she sighed in disappointment.

"Oh, right. One more thing. I don't like to keep debt," he continued before he slapped the butt of the lady. "We are equal now."

"Hahaha, so I still have some hope," the woman chuckled as she looked at Ryder while licking her lips.

"Anyway, I do have some time. Do you live nearby?" Ryder asked the lady, looking at her.

"Yes. My apartment is nearby. Want to come?" the lady asked as she instantly held his hand.

"Home? Not this soon. We just met after all. Let's go for coffee if there's a shop nearby," Ryder said.

His purpose was simple. Through the lady, he wanted to know more about the Jackson family since the lady lived in the vicinity.

"Yeah, there is a shop nearby." The lady nodded her head.

His initial plan was to go there straight, but after seeing the insistence of the girl, he changed his plan to collect more information before he made an entrance.

****

"My name is Mike. I came here to meet the Jackson Family of Jackson Estate. You must know about them," Ryder asked the lady while giving her a fake name.

"The Jackson family? Not really. I do see a few cars coming and going a few times. Other than that, the Jackson family is really low profile. I don't think I ever saw the face of people from the Jackson family," the lady replied. "And yeah, I am Mary."

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