50 Dug his own grave

The next day early morning, Charles Miller returned from his business trip. He had gone to different cities trying to build contacts to secure his company. Although he couldn't get much help, one small finance company had agreed to lend him money. But the condition was that he had to stabilize his company within six months, else they would seize his properties. Satisfied with the result, he had returned home.

As Charles drove through the gate, he saw the two servants and the housekeeper waiting outside. He stopped the car at the driveway addled. He approached the servants and looked at them.

"What happened? Why are you standing outside?"

"Master, we are not sure if we can enter. For three days, Madam, Young Master and the Young Miss have not returned home." The house keeper said.

"What do you mean they have not returned home? Where have they gone?" Charles raised his voice. He did not know that in his absence his family would go missing.

"Master three days back, we arrived at 6 a.m. to start our work for the day. But the door was wide open and nobody was inside. We do not know where Madam has gone, we were not informed of their plans. We waited for three days, yet none of the three returned. We didn't know what to do. So, we were waiting outside."

"Let's go in." Charles was dejected. 'What could have happened three days ago?'

He sat on the sofa while the servants stood in front of him.

"Get the watchman here," Charles said, after thinking for a while.

One of the servants ran outside and came back with the watchman.

"Master, did you call for me?"

"Yes, what happened three days ago? Even if the three servants were not in the house, you were here. You must definitely know something."

"Master. I don't know a thing. As usual, I was doing my duty at night. Suddenly, there was a noise outside. So, I went to take a look. But, someone attacked me from behind and pushed a cloth to my face. I felt dizzy and the next time I woke up, it was already afternoon." The watchman recalled all the things that had happened to him.

Charles realized that his family members had been kidnapped. He felt terrible and angry. 'Why would anybody try to kidnap them? What would they gain out of it?'

He picked up his phone and made a call to the police. "Hello, police station. I want to file a missing report."

After an hour, the police had arrived and were taking statements from the servants and the watchman. After doing so, the inspector walked towards Charles to get his statement.

"Mr. Miller, did your family have any enemies?"

"Yeah. Some, maybe. I am a businessman. So, I might have made some enemies."

"Do you suspect anyone?"

"Look, Inspector. Recently, my business has not been doing well. So, many shareholders were angry with me. Some, even threatened me with my family. But I cannot point out the names." Charles replied sadly.

"Okay, Mr. Miller. We will inform you as soon as we find out anything." The police left his house.

Charles hauled his body towards his bedroom. He was tired mentally and physically. He opened the door to his room and walked in. He looked around and something caught his eye. There was a file at the bedside drawer. He picked up the file and went through the details. It was a DNA test report. He wondered who could have taken a DNA test.

Looking at the result, Charles was completely shaken up. It stated that Eddie was Samuel Carter's son.

"That means Beth lied to me. Eddie is not my son." Charles shouted in rage.

Thirty years back, although Charles had known that Beth was married to another man, he had kept an affair with her. After Beth divorced her husband, she immediately proposed to Charles. At that time, his business in real estate had just started and he was slowly building a name for himself. So, he rejected her proposal at once. However, when she revealed that she was pregnant with his child, he married her the next day.

Now, Charles was beyond angry. Beth had lied to him about Eddie.

'Maybe she has gone back to Samuel Carter.' He thought. He knew how rich the Carters were. The amount of money he had was not even 0.1 percent of what they had.

"She must have gone back to him. What a greedy woman!" Charles seethed. He grabbed his coat and went out of his room. He sat in his car and drove towards the Carter mansion.

At that moment, Samuel was doing his regular exercise. He was walking on the treadmill as he watched the news on the television. One of the servants knocked at the door and entered inside.

"Master a person named Charles Miller is here to see you. He says he is the husband of Beth Sommers,"

Samuel stopped the treadmill listening to the servant. He wondered why Charles had come to meet him. Although he had never met him before, he still wanted to know why he had come to visit him.

"Ask him to wait for me in the living room. I'll be there in five minutes." The servant heard the orders and walked out.

Samuel wiped his sweaty forehead and neck with a small towel. He switched off the TV and proceeded towards the living room. He saw a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa. He had lost hair at some places and was especially bald in the middle of his head. He looked quite fat.

Hearing the footsteps, Charles lifted his head and saw Samuel walking towards him. He was wearing track pants and a sweatshirt. He was very tall and looked quite fit. As soon he saw him, he stood up.

"Take a seat, Mr Miller."

Samuel sat down and crossed his legs. Charles sat down looking at the domineering man. He couldn't compare himself with Samuel in any category. He was miles ahead in everything, except for his age as Samuel was younger than Charles.

"Why are you here, Mr. Miller?"

Charles stared at him for a few seconds before he started.

"Mr. Carter. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Come to the point." Samuel stopped him at once. He was not interested in his chit chat.

"Mr. Carter, as you already know your ex-wife, Beth Sommers, is my wife."

"So?" Samuel looked disinterested.

"Did you know that Eddie is not my son?"

"Yes, I got to know a few days back." Charles nodded. He knew that if Samuel had known before, he would definitely have taken away Eddie form Beth.

"Mr. Carter, I just wanted to tell you that Beth, Eddie and Caroline are missing."

"Does it have anything to do with me?" Samuel raised his eyebrows.

"No. No. I did not mean that. I do not care about Beth, she has lied to me. But I do care about Eddie. I still consider him as my son even if he isn't. So, could you please help me find him?" He was telling the truth, he sincerely considered Eddie to be his son.

Charles asked Samuel to find Eddie and not both Beth and Eddie on purpose. Since, Samuel had had a failed marriage with Beth, he would not care about her. But Eddie was still his son. No father would want to harm his child, unless he was a lunatic.

"Mr. Miller, did you know that your wife and your son planned to get my son killed?" Samuel asked calmly.

"What are you saying?"

"Beth hatched a plan to get my son, Noah, killed, so that after his death she could bring back Eddie into the Carter family."

Charles could not believe his ears. He did not know Beth had planned such a devious plan. And above all Eddie was also involved in her tactics.

"Seeing your horrified expression, I assume you did not have a hand in this and I hope that's the case. Otherwise." Samuel didn't have to continue. The threat was clear in his voice.

"Also, Mr. Miller. I only have one son, Noah. The day Eddie tried to harm Noah, he lost his birthright of being my son. Although you were having an affair with my wife when we were married, I am not angry with you. Do you know why?"

Charles looked at him, waiting for his answer.

"You saved me from the hands of a greedy woman. For this, I thank you with all my heart."

Charles chided himself. Though he had saved Samuel, he had dug his own grave.

"An advice for you Mr. Miller. Don't waste your time trying to find those people. You will never find them."

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