Chapter 163:.

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The sculptural features of this 30-something man had a sophisticated coolness and sharpness. Beneath his thick eyebrows, his eyes were deep as the abyss. The corners of his pursed lips curved downward. This temperament made Payne startle.

“Drop it!” William looked at Liam as he said that. Liam understood when their eyes met.

He immediately said to Payne, “Let go of Sherry, Mr. Jones. Why have you involved her in this entanglement when you already know Ashley’s whereabouts? This will only complicate matters further.”

For his ego, Payne continued to point the gun at Sherry’s head even though his hand had begun to tremble. He was contemplating.

Liam added, “What she’s doing now will not only make the situation worse, but even the Rowland Group…”.

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He didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was clear enough. The Jones’ corporation would have its way in the business world if they offended the Rowland Group. Sierra shook her head at Payne, however, “No, don’t let go! Sherry is our charm when we still have no idea what Cohen is going to do.”

Hearing this, Sherry’s face paled. Complex emotions intermingled with the pain she felt…..

William shot a sharp glance at Sierra, which made her recoil. She stood close to Payne, “Let’s go back now, Payne! We’ll trade her for Ashley! We can’t let her go until we get Ashley back!”

“Mrs. Jones, do you think you can just take Sherry just like that?” The domineering aura coming from William’s manly yet delicate face made everyone fall silent.

He took a step forward. “Stay away from me!” Payne snapped and shouted.

“What are you afraid of? I don’t have any gun with me.”

“I’ll shoot you if you come any closer! I don’t mind doing it the hard way.”

“Hmph, you’d better know your place!” The hands hanging at William’s side had clenched into fists. He suppressed his anger, “Payne Jones, do you want to make an enemy of me?” He was no longer trying to be polite and called Payne by his full name.

Payne was stunned. The emotion of ‘I’ll do whatever it takes for my daughter! Get out of my way or I’ll fire the real gun!’ showed on his face.

“All right, William!” said Sherry.

Her voice was filled with extreme anguish that she could barely suppress. “Don’t worry, Sherry! It’s going to be all right.”

William looked around the room, trying to find a way out of his predicament. Sierra was frantic.

“Come on now, Payne, if he comes…”

“So what!” Payne held his ground. “Get out of the way, William. Or I’ll shoot for real.”

Breathing, Sherry put on a wry smile. She looked at Sierra and accused, “Sierra, may I know why you’re doing this to me?”

Sierra was stunned into silence. Clenching her trembling fists, Sherry raised her head. Although her frail body was being held at gunpoint, there was no fear in her heart at this moment. William felt uncomfortable with her reaction. He sensed that Sherry’s expression was not appropriate. He looked at Liam. They looked at each other tacitly.

“All right, I’ll let you go, Payne Jones. But if anything happens to Sherry, it will mean the end of Jones Chemical Corporation.”

William’s eyes darted daggers at Payne, which stunned him. Suddenly, Liam shouted, “Hey, look! Ashley’s back!” Everyone glanced at the door.

William made his lightning move when Payne was distracted. He kicked Payne’s gun in the air, and the weapon fell within Liam’s reach. As he punched Payne’s face, William grabbed Sherry and grabbed her arm. It all happened so smoothly that when Payne came to, his face was covered in blood.

“Sorry, I was kidding, there was no Ashley. I can’t believe they fell for it.” Liam blinked derisively and looked down at the gun in his hand.

“Mr. Jones, should I shoot your belly to find out if it’s a real gun?”.

“No, don’t!” shrieked Sierra, “It’s a real gun!”

“That’s enough!” William comforted Sherry.

Sherry leaned into his arms. Turning, she latched onto William’s neck and buried her face in his chest. She murmured, “I want to go home, William. Shall we go home?”

“Sure! Let’s go home.” William patted her back. “It’s okay, I’m here!”

“Are you okay, Sherry?” Susan was also disturbed by the scene.

Snuggled in William’s arms, Sherry didn’t speak and merely shook her head. Payne and Sierra were running away at that moment. Suddenly, Leon said, “Will, Mr. and Mrs. Jones were just worried about Ashley, I hope you understand. Sherry is fine now, you guys go home!”

Celia was silent the whole time but her gaze did not leave Sierra’s face. She couldn’t take it anymore and walked over to Sierra. “Sierra, I just realized that you are the worst mother in the world. It’s funny that you don’t care at all about your own biological daughter and only care about your stepdaughter. We should make a statue of you and put it in the center of the City so everyone knows you are the best stepmom in the world.”

Sierra’s face turned very pale. She lowered her head and immediately raised it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Celia smiled, “Yes, all a woman like you knows is to play dumb and act for your own prosperity. Of course you’re not going to admit that you abandoned your children so you could marry into a richer family!”

Sherry raised her head. She said painfully, “Stop it, Celia. Stop it.”

But Celia couldn’t take it anymore, “Why not, Sherry? I’ve had enough of her after all these years and I’m going to expose her today. Listen up, everybody. This woman, last name Anderson, is Sherry’s biological mother. And if you recall, just a moment ago she asked Mr. Jones to target Sherry so she could get her stepdaughter back in exchange for her biological daughter. Well, how confusing is that?!”

Birth mother? William’s jaw dropped. No wonder, no wonder Sherry’s face was so pale. No wonder he felt sorry for her-Sierra was his birth mother! The woman in his embrace was trembling. William hugged her tighter. How could she have suffered through all this?

“Oh God, I can’t believe there’s such a mother!”

“Yeah, that was weird, asking her husband to pull a gun on her biological daughter!”

“It’s funny to think that a woman who doesn’t even like her biological daughter would have a stepdaughter!”

“…”

“Celia, please stop!” This woman was none other than a long-time stranger in Sherry’s heart.

Celia was too angry at this point to notice how pale Sherry’s face was. She continued, “Sherry, why do you keep trying to be nice to her? She doesn’t deserve to be your mother. And I also want her to know how inhuman she is. I want everyone to know that she doesn’t deserve to be anyone’s mother.”

Payne’s face darkened. Glaring at Celia with a cold, evil expression, he snarled, “Shut up!”

“Are you asking me to shut up?” Celia smirked, “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Ashley! You think I want to have a sister-in-law from your family? Luckily, Ashley is not a despicable person like you two, otherwise I would never let her be my sister-in-law! But I really wonder what kind of animal you are. You know that Sherry is Sierra’s daughter but you pretend to be ignorant about it, do you even have a head?”. Sierra fell silent. Celia couldn’t contain herself. “Take a good look everyone. Mom, Dad, I’m against Leon’s wedding not because of Ashley, but because of his parents! They’re too vicious.”

“Celia, can you please stop?” Sherry didn’t want these things to torture her again. Even though she had gotten stronger and was able to face this reality, it still hurt her to have someone talk about it openly. She felt as if something very heavy was being pulled into her chest.

“Let’s go home, Sherry!” William picked her up. He looked at Susan and said to Liam, “Send Susan back and guarantee her safety!”

Then he left the scene. The crowd was now gossiping about Payne and Sierra. Leon was still flabbergasted that Sierra was Sherry’s biological mother.

“Just go away, Mr. Jones!” Liam waved the gun in his hand.

“Your daughter will be back!” Susan repeated, “Mr. and Mrs. Jones, don’t worry. Ashley will be back safe and sound.”

At this point she was still in awe. She seemed to know why Cohen was doing this! She couldn’t quite understand at the moment, but thoughts were racing through her mind. She turned to Leon, “Did he threaten you?”

Leon was stunned. He turned on the recording and handed the phone to Susan. “This is the recording from a moment ago!”

Susan picked up the phone and heard Cohen’s deep voice, “Leon, Ashley’s in my hands!”

“Who are you, what do you want?” Then it was Leon’s voice.

“It doesn’t matter who I am! What matters is that you can’t marry Ashley!”

“What do you want, don’t hurt her!”

“I want you to marry Susan! She’s always loved you and never forgets you! I know her pain, and I know you really love her! Leon, propose to her now! Propose to Susan now in front of everyone!”

“Will you let Ashley go after I propose to her?”

“After you two get married, then I’ll let Ashley go! You love Susan, don’t you? Do as I say and marry her now! Do it now or you’ll never see Ashley again!”

“Okay! I’ll do it!” Susan was stunned after listening to the recording. She finally came to her senses.

“I’m so sorry, Leon. I’ll make sure you get your wife back to you unharmed.”

Leon glanced at Susan, “Is it that guy?”

Susan nodded uncomprehendingly, “Leon, this is a misunderstanding!” With that said, he walked over to Liam and Sarah. “Can you send me back now?”

Without the gun, Payne and Sierra couldn’t make any more threats, but could only go back and sort things out….

At Villa 15.

The moment they arrived at the house, Sherry told William to give her some space and leave her alone.

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