C394 The Final Goodbyes

At the Mooney residence, morning arrived quietly. Everyone woke up expecting Alicia and me to come downstairs. Mark sat in the living room, occasionally glancing toward the staircase. After some time, he looked at Peter. "They still haven't woken up?" Peter shook his head. "Nobody has come downstairs yet." He paused. "Maybe they changed their minds." Georgia immediately shook her head. "That can't be." Mark looked at her. "Why?" "I remember hearing voices early this morning." Peter frowned. "Voices?" Georgia nodded. "Yes. I woke up for a few minutes during the night. I heard someone moving around."

Mark's expression changed. He looked toward the staircase. "Could it be?" Peter laughed. "What?" Mark didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at one of the maids. "Please go and wake my daughter." The maid nodded and hurried upstairs. When she entered Alicia's room, she saw one of the maids sleeping soundly and little Emmanuel was sleeping next to her. She returned. Her expression was confused. "Sir..." Mark looked at her. "What?" "I found Mrs Watson sleeping next to Emmanuel." Peter's eyes widened. "What?" Quinton immediately stood. "Where did they go? Did they change their minds?"

Mark suddenly laughed. "I knew it." Everyone looked at him. "My daughter has done her tricks again." Peter shook his head. "What do you mean?" Mark smiled. "She didn't want us to see them leaving." Mary looked worried. "But why?" She paused. "We couldn't even say goodbye." Mark sighed. "My daughter hates goodbyes." He shook his head. "I'm sure this was her plan from the beginning." Georgia smiled faintly. "She really is stubborn." Mark nodded. "Very." Peter laughed. "So they left before everyone woke up?" "Apparently." Mary looked toward the door. "I wish she had at least allowed us to hug her."

Mark's expression softened. "I know." He paused. "But perhaps this was easier for her." Nobody answered. They all knew that if Alicia had stayed long enough to say goodbye, leaving would have been much harder. Mark eventually stood. "Well, it's time to go to work." He looked at his phone. "I'll wait for Hammer's call." Peter nodded. Mark walked toward the door. Before leaving, he looked back toward the staircase one more time. Then he left. At the Wood residence, things were very different. Sarah and Samantha were finding it much harder to leave. There was nothing simple about saying goodbye to their children.

Sarah stood in the living room with Tristan in her arms. The baby was still so young. She looked down at him. Tears slowly filled her eyes. "My child..." Her voice trembled. "You've only just come into this world, and now I'm leaving you." Tristan moved slightly in her arms. Sarah smiled through her tears. "Please be safe for me." She kissed his forehead. "Mommy will never forget you." Her voice became stronger. "I'll fight harder than anyone so that I can come back to you." Sarah continued holding Tristan. "I promise I'll come back." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I have to."

On the other side of the room, Samantha sat on the sofa with Monica on her lap. She looked at her daughter for several seconds without speaking. "Monica..." The little girl looked at her mother. Samantha smiled sadly. "I know you're still young, but everything I've invested for you will help you have a good future." Monica didn't understand. She looked at Samantha's tears. "Mama?" Samantha quickly wiped her face. "Mama, why are you crying?" Samantha pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "Nothing is wrong, baby." She kissed her forehead. "Mommy loves you, okay?" Monica smiled. "I love you too, Mom." Those words almost broke Samantha. She hugged Monica even tighter.

Kelvin and Tracy exchanged worried looks. Neither of them knew what to say. Ben, however, sat calmly in his chair. He watched his wife and sister without showing much emotion. Finally, Tracy spoke. "If leaving is this difficult, why are you two going?" Nobody answered. Tracy looked from Sarah to Samantha. "You both know what you're doing." Still, neither woman responded. After a moment, Ben finally spoke. "You two chose this." Everyone looked at him. "So why are you crying?" His voice was sharper now. "You're abandoning your children just to go with Mike." Sarah's expression changed, but she remained silent.

Ben looked directly at Samantha. "My own wife is leaving our child just to go with her ex-boyfriend." Samantha lowered her eyes. Ben shook his head. "And you..." He looked toward Sarah. "My sister." His voice became more bitter. "Tell me what is really wrong with you." Sarah didn't answer. Ben continued. "First, you fall for my enemies, and now you're becoming their right-hand woman?" He paused. "Is blood really thicker than water?" Sarah and Samantha exchanged glances. Neither had any interest in answering him. They had already made their decision. A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked toward the entrance. Chris entered with Valeria and David.

The moment they saw the atmosphere in the room, they understood what was happening. Valeria immediately walked toward Sarah. "Everything okay?" Sarah nodded. "I'm fine." Valeria knew she wasn't. Chris, however, walked directly toward his son. He looked down at Tristan. "Tristan..." The baby was sleeping peacefully. Chris smiled. "Be strong for Dad." Sarah immediately looked at him. Chris continued. "One day, you'll be the one leading your army like this." Sarah stared at him. "Of all the things you could say, why that?" "My son will never be a warrior." Sarah shook her head. "I don't want that life for him."

Chris looked down at their sleeping son. Then he looked back at Sarah. "Well, if you can become one and I can become one, what can stop him?" Sarah immediately stood. "I will never allow it." Tracy looked at her daughter. "Then does that mean we must also refuse to let you go?" Sarah froze. She looked at her mother. "Mom..." Her voice broke. Then she sighed. "You know what?" She looked at Tracy. "We're leaving." She carefully handed Tristan to her mother. "Take care of my child." Tracy nodded. Sarah wiped her tears. "I'll try to find a way to contact you." Tracy hugged her daughter. "We'll be waiting." Sarah nodded.

Soon, the others began saying their final goodbyes. There were no promises that everything would be fine. Because nobody knew if it would be. Eventually, Sarah, Chris, and Samantha left the house. Each drove a separate car. They didn't look back. A few minutes later, Alicia and I arrived first at XXX Road. We parked exactly where Hammer had instructed us. Soon, Amanda arrived. Faith followed shortly afterward. Then Laura arrived. Finally, Chris, Samantha, and Sarah appeared. One by one, we parked our separate cars along the pavement of the busy road. I looked around. Everyone was there. For a moment, nobody spoke. We all knew what this meant. Alicia looked at everyone. "Everyone ready?" We nodded. Her phone suddenly vibrated. A message from Hammer. Now all of you drive toward the corner. Slow down enough to cause traffic. Alicia frowned.

She immediately called him and put her phone on speaker. "Hammer, what is the plan?" Hammer laughed softly. "Madam..." There was excitement in his voice. "Look up." We all looked toward the sky. At first, I saw nothing. Then the sound became louder. A police helicopter appeared above us. I stared at it. Hammer continued speaking through the phone. "That's us." Alicia frowned. "You're pretending to be traffic police?" "No, I am with the traffic police. We are patrolling." Hammer continued. "We will capture everything live from above." I looked at the helicopter again. A camera was clearly visible underneath it. Hammer continued explaining. "Wang's team is waiting behind the corner." Everyone immediately became serious. "They will open fire on the cars once you reach the designated point."

Alicia's expression tightened. Hammer continued. "One of the cars must go over the cliff." Everyone became silent. "The driver will jump out before the vehicle goes over and surrender." I looked at Alicia. Hammer's voice continued. "The remaining cars will be trapped in the traffic." He paused. "Do not overreact." I understood what he meant. "All of you must surrender." Alicia nodded. "Fine. We understand." Hammer ended the call. I looked at the road ahead. The plan was dangerous. But it had to look real. If the disappearance was too clean, our enemies would become suspicious. If it looked chaotic enough, everyone would believe that something terrible had happened.

I looked at Alicia. She was staring toward the curve in the road. I smiled. "I'll be the one jumping out." Alicia immediately looked at me. "Mike..." "It's risky." I shrugged. "But someone has to do it." Chris nodded. "I agree." Sarah looked worried. "Are you sure?" I smiled. "I'll be fine." Alicia didn't look convinced. But eventually, she nodded. Everyone returned to their cars. Engines started one after another. We began driving toward the designated curve. The road ahead was busy. Cars moved in both directions.