Chapter 168 Roman’s True Feelings
Chandler’s question made the four hackers look at each other. Then, they all nodded unanimously.
However, the leader of the hackers added, “But all those are just our speculations so far. What if we’re all wrong? No one can say for sure.”
*Focus all investigations on Jack and Tessa. I’ll keep in touch with Osborn on my end,” Chandler instructed and closed the computer screen. He needed some time to cool off.
If it was really Tessa who instructed Jack to do everything, the two long years Jack spent working for him while secretly being undercover was done so well it was terrifying. Chandler couldn’t even imagine its full implication.
He hesitated as he looked at his phone absentmindedly. It was the first time he’d ever felt so panicked and helpless in his life. The overwhelming feeling of exhaustion made his nerves tense, and a strong sense of suffocation hit him. He felt like he was going mad! 1
No matter how much he wanted to sleep, his exasperation and annoyance made it impossible for him to do so. He had a strong urge to release all his frustrations by getting into a brutal fistfight.
The next moment, Chandler turned off the lights in his study. The room was thrown into complete darkness, and he sat alone on the sofa in front of the window wall. The small red dot between his fingers flickered, and dense smoke billowed heavily yet weightlessly from his
mouth.
He wondered what kind of situation Erin was in right now. Was she being tortured? Was she still alive and well? Was their unborn baby still
safe inside her?
Various unfortunate scenarios popped up in his mind simultaneously, and he felt his heart being repeatedly battered until it turned into a bloody mess. A primal fear and a sense of agony gradually seeped out from within him. His fingers that were holding the cigarette began
to tremble slightly.
Chandler felt that he couldn’t continue to stay alone in the dark any longer. He was afraid that he couldn’t bear it all and might end up taking his own life someday. Stubbing the cigarette fiercely in the ashtray, he took out his phone and made a call to Roman.
Over an hour later, Roman and Chandler appeared at a boxing gym together.
They both changed into boxing attire. Silently, they put on boxing gloves as well as mouthguards and stared at each other. The faces of these two resolute and handsome men looked eerie under the dim lights.
The two stared at each other for a full minute, and finally, in the last second, they suddenly started punches at each other. Chandler and Roman fought with great intensity. Neither of them held back as they gave it their all. It seemed as if they’d been suppressing their emotions far too long and desperately needed to vent.
Twenty minutes later, they both collapsed in the boxing ring, exhausted. Both of their faces were marked with bruises.
Chandler was the first to spit out his mouthguard. At that moment, he felt the despair consuming him lessen by a little. The soreness and profound exhaustion in his body allowed him to space out for a few seconds, not having to think about anything.
After lying down for a while, Roman got up, walked to the edge of the ring, and grabbed two bottles of mineral water. He threw one of the bottles into the air when he got back on the ring. Chandler caught it with his bare hands. He sat up with one of his legs bent and rested his elbow on his knee. He uncapped the bottle of mineral water and took a few sips. T
“Chandler, I know you’re going through immense pain right now, but you have to hold on. Erin is still waiting for you to save her. No one
could have expected something like this to happen, so stop blaming yourself.”
Taking a day to adjust himself, Roman went from viciously scolding Chandler initially to being considerably calm now. After Erin was
taken, it wasn’t just him–even Sean, Matthew, and Caleb blamed Chandler!
It was Chandler’s bodyguard who had taken her away, after all. Therefore, on that point alone, Chandler had no way of pushing the blame elsewhere. Matthew and Caleb came to know about Erin’s disappearance because Chandler asked for them to help search for Erin
together.
In the face of such a crisis, he couldn’t care less whether Matthew and Caleb still had feelings for Erin or not. Erin was already his woman and was carrying his child. What was more, the man she loved was him–Chandler Frost. Hence, he had nothing to fear against those men
whose love was unrequited. With more people on the look, he had more hope of finding Erin.
Seeing Chandler still staring blankly at a spot and spacing out, Roman walked over to him, bent down, and patted his shoulder.
“If there’s anything you need help with, just tell me. I’ve already reached out to my circle of friends too. We can’t let Erin down!” Roman’s firm and powerful words brought Chandler back to his senses.
Chandler looked up at him. “Roman, I’m so scared! I have this feeling that I won’t be able to get her back this time-
Upon seeing Chandler’s look of despair, Roman felt a strong stab of pain in his heart. Wasn’t Chandler’s fear his own fear as well? Even if he and Erin weren’t meant to be in this lifetime, he couldn’t bear to see her hurt even in the slightest.
The sharp stinging sensation in his eyes caused Roman to suddenly stand up and turn away. Beads of sweat trickled into his eyes, further intensifying the stinging sensation. He shut his eyes tightly, swallowing back all the emotions that had welled up within him.
As Chandler’s close friend, Roman understood better than anyone how he felt at that moment.
‘Don’t say such pessimistic words! How about we make a bet, Chandler? Whoever finds Erin first can ask her to choose again.”
Roman’s words made Chandler stand up slowly. His strange statement brought Chandler’s wits back to the forefront.
Staring at Roman’s back for a few seconds, Chandler asked abruptly. “What do you mean by that?”
Keeping a lid on his internal struggles, Roman turned around and faced his good friend calmly. “You already knew since a long time ago, didn’t you? Why ask when you clearly know the answer?” 1
Chandler’s eyes darkened as he inquired in a chilling tone, “Have you fallen in love with Erin?”
Since he put it so bluntly, Roman clenched his fists and answered without flinching. “Yes, I love her.”
“Heh-” Chandler suddenly walked away with huge strides. Leaping over the ropes coolly, he jumped off the boxing ring.
Watching Chandler leave without saying a word, Roman was infuriated. He yelled at Chandler’s departing figure, “Is my love for her so
worthless in your eyes?”
At that moment, Chandler’s footsteps slowed down, and he turned back to stare at Roman intently. After a moment of contemplation, he replied, “Roman, thank you for going all out to motivate me. It worked! I’m fine now. Erin is still waiting for me, so I won’t let her down!”
Even after Chandler left the boxing gym, Roman remained rooted in the same spot. He stood alone in the empty and silent gym. Without
warning, he let out a bark of laughter. It was a mocking and melancholic laugh.
He knew that Chandler understood his feelings. But in order to be a good friend, Chandler chose to pretend that he didn’t know of Roman’s love for Erin. In the face of life and death, Erin’s safety was the top priority. His friend’s unremarkable love for her wasn’t even worth
mentioning.
Deep in Roman’s heart, he’d long known the answer–Erin had always loved Chandler.
As long as Erin was safe, Roman silently swore that he would be happy with being a friend to her for the rest of his lifetime.
Meanwhile, Erin was on a deserted island, desperately tearing at a piece of cloth. The blue patterned curtain in her hands was torn to shreds. She had a disheveled appearance, as she hadn’t bathed for two days.
Erin had no idea where she was. When she woke up, she found herself locked in an old wooden shack. Her feet were locked in thick iron chains like she was some wild, rabid dog. Beside her feet was a tattered mat, and there was a wooden bucket for her convenience nearby.
The length of the iron chains allowed her to walk to the window. During the day, she’d observed the location of the wooden shack she was
currently in. The shack was built on top of a dome.
There were no paths reaching the ground around its wall. Looking down, she estimated the dome to be roughly five stories. Even if she could unlock the iron chains and jump down from the wooden shack, she would either die or be crippled from the fall. 1
Earlier today, a bag of food was dropped into the wooden shack via the sunroof above. The person who kidnapped her used a drone to
deliver food to her.
Her instinct for survival made her unwilling to wait around like a sitting duck. Even if she couldn’t unlock the iron chains, it was better for her to prepare a rope than to have nothing at all.
Erin’s hands were already blistered and bleeding. Despite the pain, she gritted her teeth and persisted. Without any tools, she could only
use her bare hands to tear at the curtain. Unbeknownst to her, every move she made was under surveillance.
Meanwhile, in an underground bunker near the wooden shack, someone had been observing her for the entire day.
Finally, Tessa couldn’t help but speak into the microphone in front of the monitoring screen. “Erin, do you think I went through all this. trouble to lock you up here just to let you escape easily? You’re even stupider than I imagined.”
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