What the Hell Was Going On?

Hugh stopped his car at the location where Serena was. The man immediately stepped out of the car with a worried face. Serena's location indicated that she was currently in the building directly in front of him.

"She should be in this building," Hugh muttered softly as he stared at the building in front of him. From the outside, the building in front of Hugh looked like a restaurant that had long since fallen into disuse. Through the open windows, Hugh could see several neatly arranged tables, complete with chairs.

"Is it possible that Serena is inside?" Hugh intended to go inside. However, Hugh immediately stopped when he saw a woman who suddenly came out of the building with a sad face.

It wasn't until the next second that Hugh realized that the woman who had just come out was Serena. "Serena!"

Serena turned towards the sound and could see Hugh approaching with a worried expression. As soon as she spotted him, Serena ran towards Hugh and hugged him tightly. She cried in Hugh's embrace.

On the other hand, Hugh was genuinely surprised by Serena's actions. The man remained silent for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. Various questions immediately crossed his mind.

"Hugh..." Serena buried her head in Hugh's embrace. Her tears couldn't be held back any longer. Since talking to Rhys inside, she couldn't bear it. Serena felt like crying because she had to lie to Rhys once again, just to keep him away.

Keeping away from Rhys was truly tormenting for Serena. However, it was the best thing she could do. She had to distance herself from Rhys to ensure her and Shawn's safety.

"What happened? Why are you crying? What have they done to you?" Hugh looked at Serena with a worried expression.

"I-I'm fine," Serena murmured in a restrained voice. She tightened her hug. Serena didn't want Hugh to see her sad face. He always got fiercely angry when he saw her in distress.

"Tell me, what have they done to make you cry? I'll teach them a lesson for making my wife cry. And I'll make sure they won't dare to bring you any harm again."

"I'm really okay, Hugh. Just let me hold you until I feel better."

"You can hold onto me as much as you need, Serena." Hugh murmured while returning the embrace and gently rubbing Serena's back. Meanwhile, Serena began to cry in Hugh's arms until she could feel a sense of calm.

I'm sorry for failing to protect you, Serena. I'll make sure incidents like this won't happen again.

*

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hugh looked at Serena, who was now seated beside him, holding a bottle of mineral water he had bought for her.

After crying it out, Hugh took Serena to genuinely relax. He brought her to a park not far from the place. Hugh asked Serena to wait for a moment while he bought a drink to calm her down.

"I feel better now," Serena murmured softly with a smile.

"Your eyes are puffy from crying. Shawn would be confused if he saw you like this." Hugh extended his hand, wiping away the tears still lingering on Serena's face.

"Oh my goodness! You're right. We need to pick up Shawn. It's time to go home, isn't it?" Serena panicked as soon as she heard Hugh's words. She just remembered that it was time for Shawn to come home from school.

"Calm down. I've asked his teacher to keep an eye on Shawn until we pick him up. So, he's safe." Hugh tried to reassure the visibly panicked Serena.

"Really?" Serena asked. Hugh simply nodded in response.

After some confusion about what to do, Hugh finally decided to contact the teachers at Shawn's school, and asked them to look after their son while they arrived. Luckily, Hugh had gotten the teacher's number yesterday, so he was able to call them for help.

"Thankfully, I'm relieved to hear that." Serena smiled. She was really relieved that Hugh had moved quickly to make sure their son was okay there.

Hugh was silent as he looked at Serena. There were still so many questions that came to his mind about what happened to Serena while she was inside the restaurant building earlier. But, it seemed that Serena was not ready to explain everything.

"There are actually a lot of things I want to ask you about what happened to you. But if you're not ready to explain everything, you don't have to force yourself. I'll wait until you're ready to explain everything." Hugh took a sip of his drink before getting up from the park bench.

"Thank you for understanding, Hugh." Serena locked eyes with Hugh.

"No need to thank me. Now, let's go pick up Shawn. He must have been waiting for us all along." Hugh took Serena's hand and led her away from the park.

*

Shawn sat pensively on the bench. He was waiting for his parents, who had yet to come to pick him up. "Why aren't mom and dad here yet?" muttered Shawn quietly. He was getting tired of waiting for Serena and Hugh, who never came.

While Shawn waited for them on a bench near his classroom, it was different with his teacher, who was now busy tidying up all the books on the table. After getting a call from Hugh, she asked Shawn not to go far from his classroom so that she could keep her attention.

"Shawn, you're not home yet?" He heard a girl's voice. Shawn, who realized this, then turned his attention to Loui who was standing not far from where he was. The girl looked at him with a puzzled face.

"Loui?"

The girl quickly approached Shawn, who had been sitting on the bench. "Why haven't you gone home? Haven't your mom and dad picked you up yet?"

Loui sat next to the visibly downcast Shawn. He could only shake his head with a lackluster expression. "I don't know why mom and dad haven't picked me up. Usually, they're never late."

"Maybe your mom and dad are just busy? So, they're a bit late. Don't be sad, okay?" Loui tried to comfort him.

"You haven't gone home either? Hasn't your dad picked you up?" Shawn raised an eyebrow in confusion. He had seen Loui being picked up by Aiden and leaving the classroom earlier, but for some reason, she suddenly reappeared.

"I had to grab my things left in the classroom. But seeing you here, I thought it'd be better to keep you company first. It's okay if I stay with you, right?"

"Just go get your stuff first. After that, you can keep me company."

"Alright, wait here." Loui got up and went into the classroom to retrieve her forgotten belongings. Shortly after she left, Shawn heard the voices of Serena and Hugh calling his name.

"Shawn!"

The boy shifted his attention towards the approaching voices and saw Serena and Hugh walking hurriedly towards him. "Mommy, daddy!"

Shawn got up and ran towards his parents, hugging them tightly. "Sorry for making you wait, Sweetie," Serena reciprocated the hug.

"Why were you late?" Shawn pulled away from the embrace, looking at Serena and Hugh alternately.

"We had a little issue on the way, so we're a bit late. Daddy and mommy apologize, okay? Next time, we won't be late to pick you up." Hugh gently stroked his son's head.

"Promise?" Shawn raised his pinky finger. Hugh chuckled softly before linking their pinkies as a sign of the promise.

"Alright, let's go home now." Serena stood up, holding Shawn's hand. But as they were about to leave, Shawn suddenly stopped them, remembering that Loui hadn't come out of the classroom yet.

Shortly after, Loui emerged from the classroom with their teacher. The girl looked so delighted to see Shawn no longer feeling down, knowing that his parents had come to pick him up.

*

Time passed, and night fell. After everything that happened, Hugh and Serena tried their best to act normal so that Shawn wouldn't wonder about what happened while he wasn't with them.

"I thought you were already in bed. But when I went in, you weren't there. Why aren't you asleep yet?" Hugh walked down the stairs, approaching Serena, who was sitting in the dining room.

Serena shifted her attention to Hugh upon hearing his voice. "I'm not sleepy," Serena murmured while sipping the tea in her hand.

Hugh approached Serena and sat next to her. "Don't you have a busy day tomorrow?"

"I just have a few online meetings with some clients in Future City."

"Oh, I see—"

Crash!

The sound of something breaking immediately caught their attention. Hugh and Serena were startled upon hearing the shattering of a window in their house. They widened their eyes, quickly getting up from their seats. "Hugh, what was that?"

Serena looked at Hugh with a panicked face. Meanwhile, Hugh immediately seemed to be on guard about the situation they had just experienced. The man hurriedly tried to calm Serena down. "Stay calm, and don't panic. I'll check the origin of the sound, and you'd better go to Shawn's room and make sure he is safe."

"But—"

"Just follow my request, okay?"

"Okay." Hugh and Serena left the dining room. Hugh intended to check which window was broken. From the sound they had heard earlier, it was coming from the direction of the front room. Probably in the ta room.

However, just as Hugh and Serena arrived near the stairs, several masked men suddenly appeared with weapons. Their appearance immediately caught the attention of Serena, who had just stepped on one of the steps.

Serena's face turned pale as soon as she saw their appearance, and Serena was immediately filled with overwhelming fear. They all made Serena remember what happened a few years ago when Serena was first chased by the people who had been trying to kill her.

"It turns out you've been hiding here all this time! Now you won't be able to run anymore. Your history is over!" One of the men spoke.

Damn. How did they find our house? Hugh looked at the masked men one by one. There were about six of them with a knife in each hand.

"Hugh!" Serena shouted frantically.

"DON'T TURN AROUND! GO AND MAKE SURE SHAWN IS SAFE! I'LL HANDLE THEM!" Hugh shouted as he saw Serena getting closer.

"But—"

"GO! NOW!" Serena really didn't want to leave Hugh. But unfortunately, the man who became her husband was already involved in a fight with them.

The six masked men approached and fought with Hugh, who was trying to protect Serena.

Serena looked very panicked, and scared. In a hurry, the woman ran up the stairs to her son's room, who was currently asleep. Once there, Serena immediately closed the door tightly.

Serena's body was trembling violently, and tears were streaming down her face. She was really worried about the condition of Hugh, who was facing the six masked men. But even though she was so anxious, Serena couldn't help but pray, and hope that Hugh was okay and could face them.

Vaguely, Serena could hear them fighting down there. Serena became even more afraid that Hugh would not survive. Moreover, she saw that the six men had sharp weapons in their hands.

Serena, who panicked, unknowingly, made Shawn, who was sleeping, wake up. The boy who became his son opened his eyes slowly and saw Serena, who looked so panicked with a pale face. "Mom?" Shawn called softly.

Serena turned to the bed where Shawn was lying. As soon as she saw Shawn intending to get up, Serena immediately approached him. "Why are you up, Sweetie? It's late. You better get some sleep; you have school tomorrow." Serena tried to stay calm so that Shawn wouldn't panic.

"Why is Mommy here? Is mommy not sleeping in the room with daddy?" Shawn raised one eyebrow.

"I was going to sleep, but I wanted to check on you first, so I came here. Now go to sleep, okay?" Serena stroked Shawn's hair tenderly as she pulled the blanket back over Shawn's chest.

Shawn nodded slowly and laid back down while hugging Serena. But just as he was about to close his eyes, Serena and Shawn were suddenly startled by the sound they heard.

Thud!

The door to Shawn's room suddenly opened. At the same time, Shawn and Serena were surprised by the man who fell right in front of the door. Serena almost screamed in shock, while Shawn got out of bed and approached the man.

"DADDY!" Shawn shouted as he approached Hugh, who was lying there. Serena, who realized that the man was Hugh, immediately got down and approached him with a worried face.

Shawn shook Hugh's body with his tiny hands, trying to ascertain what was happening to his father, while Serena, who arrived there, immediately widened her eyes as soon as she saw the trail of blood coming from Hugh's body.

Serena became even more panicked. Tears instantly seeped out and ran down her cheeks. The woman immediately turned Hugh's body over, and Serena was stunned to see the wound on Hugh's abdomen that he was holding in his hands. The blood Serena had seen earlier was the blood coming from the wound.

"Hugh!" Serena pulled Hugh's body apart. She patted his face lightly, trying to confirm his consciousness. What the hell was going on?

***