Kidnapping

As Rafael quickly ran back home, he forgot he had stepped on some blood, painting his shoes and pants red.

Reina quickly realized that weird liquid; its murky red color gave her a bad feeling.

"Rafael… tell me honestly what happened?"

Hearing her sister's cracked voice made Rafael's heart throb. He quickly realized he had made another mess. 

'What an unlucky day.'

With reluctance, Rafael started telling Reina what happened. He skipped the incident at school and just told her about the bus hijacking. 

He didn't know if anyone had captured his face, but based on the card transaction, it would be easy for the cops to track him as one of the passengers on the bus.

In the best-case scenario, Aiyden's explanation would be enough for them, as they had already captured the perpetrator. 

In the worst case, they would probably contact Rafael through his guardian, who, in this case, was his sister.

Reina's face turned pale hearing his explanation. 

"I will buy an electric bicycle tomorrow. This way, you don't need to ride the bus anymore."

"Sis, we don't have the money."

"WE have it. I am not asking you, Rafael. I am just informing you. No matter what you say, I will buy the bicycle. 

Using it or not is up to you. Now go wash up and let's have dinner together."

With heavy shoulders, Rafael returned to his room. He felt complicated about Reina's gesture. He knew they had the money, but it was saved for emergencies.

Even though they owned their home, they still needed to pay taxes and a lot of maintenance for the house.

There were many things that needed to be fixed, and they also needed to make sure they had enough money in case one of them got into an accident or fell ill.

Cold water poured over his head. It wasn't that they didn't have hot water to take a shower. Rafael just wanted to clear his head. 

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, as he knew he needed to smile when facing his sister. Any small clue would make her realize more had happened than what he said.

"I need to find more information on every student in the class. And those bullies, their parents' information and weaknesses—I must find them," Rafael mumbled.

Other people feared those who were richer and stronger than them, as they had more ways to screw you over. 

But Rafael had a different opinion: the higher someone's status was, the more they had to lose if they fell. 

They cared about public opinion, and each of them had their own enemies.

The more information he had, the more he would be able to utilize it. Those bullies at school would just cry in tears when they faced real problems without their parents' backing.

Finished, he walked down to have dinner with Reina.

Meanwhile, at the police station, Aiyden had just finished recounting what happened. He wrote it all on paper.

The officer handling him let out a sigh, "Aiyden, you are a professional boxer. 

You should know getting involved in a fight, even for self-defense, will reflect badly on your record. You are just lucky now that I am the one getting your report."

Aiyden then wrote another word on the paper, "Thanks, uncle, but I couldn't just run away and let the others get mugged. 

Who knows if they would stop at that? There are kids on the bus."

"Fine, do what you want. For today, stay at my place. Tell your mother you are just spending time with me. I don't want her to see you with wounds like that."

"Alright, thanks, uncle. I just want to do that." Aiyden wrote another word, then left the office to let his uncle do his job.

Looking at his leaving back, Aiyden's uncle's gaze turned complicated, "I really respect you, Aiyden. As a victim yourself, instead of getting traumatized, you made yourself better and faced it head-on.

Still, take care of yourself more. I don't want my sister to worry."

Aiyden stopped at this step, turned around, gave a nod, and then left the room.

His uncle let out another sigh as he opened the cabinet. Inside was a file for the case where Aiyden got kidnapped. 

It was quite a big case, as more than 100 children were rescued when they were being sent out of the country. It was thanks to a random check done on the cargo boat.

"I still don't get it. Just who purchased all of these kids? Some of them even got mutilated like Aiyden, losing parts of their bodies."

Turning the pages in the file, he reached the casualty list. Seeing it made his heart shake.

After that incident went viral, Aiyden's father didn't waste time and went on his own. He didn't want to just sit at home waiting for the police to do their work.

As a sailor himself, he rode his boat and then infiltrated the cargo ship. 

At that time, the patrol that found the kids had already been murdered, while the border patrol and cops moved their units to search and capture the boat. It was a big hunt that became a headline on the news.

Aiyden's father then lost his life in the conflict. Turning to another page was his own investigation, detailing who owned the boat, the shipping delivery, and many other details.

On paper, it seemed like a case of human trafficking that got discovered, but he always felt there was more to it. 

Despite the scale of the case, the investigation was done at the bare minimum to appease the public.

There were many things and clues not explored. Based on his experience as a detective for years, he knew better than to ask the higher-ups about this.

That is why he could only do his own personal investigation. Only when he gathered a ton of proof could he do something by publicizing all his findings?