Back to Love: A New Beginning
Chapter 194

Chapter 194:

I made eye contact with Derek and shook my head. For some reason, his gaze seemed gentle; almost as if he was comforting me. Alvaro turned to me and smiled.

“If I didn’t have a weakness for women, I wouldn’t let a woman escape a room so easily.”

Derek took a puff on his cigarette. “The law of this country is not an ornament. What I say doesn’t count.” Alvaro suddenly burst out laughing.

At first, I thought he was a quiet, but stern individual. But now, he was laughing like a madman. “Isn’t the law of our country an ornament? You, my friend, are hilarious. That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”

Everyone else broke into laughter as well. After a while, Alvaro finally stopped laughing. He slowly cracked his neck before looking Derek in the eye.

“I don’t care what you think of the law. I’m sure you’ve got your ways, yeah?” His manner of speaking hinted that Derek should accede to his demand.

The truth is, I didn’t understand what they were talking about. I only guessed, from their conversation, that it must have had something to do with breaking the law.

But before I could figure it out, I heard Derek say “Ok.”

Then he picked up the pen from the small table and wrote his signature on the paper. Judging by the look of it, I assumed it must be related to their agreement. I wanted to avoid it, but it was too late.

When Derek put the pen down, the cigarette butt in his other hand fell to the floor.

“I’m sorry I dropped a little cigarette ash on your expensive carpet,” he commented. Alvaro seemed pleased with the result, so he flashed a broad smile. “It’s my carpet’s honor.”

Now that they had achieved their goal, the men holding me released me. Once free, I hurried to the coffee table to grab the document. But before I could get a look at it, Derek pressed it with the palm of his hand. He stood up and tugged at me.

“Let’s go home, honey!” He spoke so calmly, and yet it felt a little overbearing. When we left the villa, no one stopped us.

After getting into the car, Derek drove me away from this hellish and dangerous place.

He just stared at the open road in silence, holding the steering wheel with one hand, and with the other he grabbed my hand.

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He probably sensed that my palm was sweaty. “What did you promise him?” I asked him as I drove on.

It was very quiet inside the car.

It wasn’t until a few moments later that Derek finally answered, “That man’s name is Alvaro Barton, and he has a younger brother named Raul. Raul was sent to prison along with Lean. Alvaro found out that we were going to overturn Lean’s verdict, so he wanted me to help Raul get out of prison as well.”

However, Alvaro’s methods were certainly not a good way to ask for help. It made me wonder if this was how they used to deal with things. Besides, even if he had no choice but to hold me hostage and use me to blackmail Derek, he shouldn’t be so aggressive. He even forced Derek to sign his name, as if Derek owed him something.

Somehow, this whole thing made me think Alvaro bargained for something else. I didn’t know what it was exactly.

What the hell was written in the contract Derek had signed?

Honestly, I had no idea. But as far as this matter was concerned, Derek could certainly help Alvaro if he had a way to do so. But he couldn’t do anything if he didn’t have a method to do it.

Was there a follow-up plan for this?

I was there when Derek had lunch with Edward that day. It seemed like it wouldn’t be easy to get Lean out of prison, considering that Derek, of all people, needed someone else’s help to do it. Prison wasn’t just someone’s home, after all. Getting someone out of there was certainly a Herculean task. It was no wonder Derek said the law wasn’t an ornament.

But Alvaro took his comment as a joke.

“Is that even possible, to overturn the verdict of two people at the same time?” I asked him. That’s when Derek uttered something that hit me full on.

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