Aaron, Ivan and Daisy were just getting ready to drop Daisy off at the Clarke estate, when a large black limousine pulled up in front of the house.
The rear door opened and Michael staggered out, supported by his wife Linda.
"Mom! Dad! Is everything OK?" asked Daisy.
Michael was limping, and shivering. His butler uniform was hanging in shreds, and stained with blood.
"I-Inside! I’ll explain inside," panted Michael. With Ivan’s and Linda’s support he staggered into the house.
----
"Those girls are evil!" said Daisy, struggling to hold back tears at the sight of her father covered in welts and bruises.
"We need to call the police!" said Ivan, his face pale with shock.
"No! No police! They will just make things worse!" gasped Michael, clutching his stomach.
"What do you an?" asked Daisy, her voice trembling.
"Sarah has them in her pocket," said Michael hoarsely.
Feeling powerless, Ivan called Father Abel who ca imdiately along with a friend of his who was a lawyer.
"I’m afraid this employnt contract is pretty well-designed. While it is certainly possible to fight it in court, it will be a very long and very expensive process," said Andre Esposito, Father Abel’s lawyer friend.
"If I didn’t have crippling debt, I would have left as soon as Emily started bullying poor Daisy," gasped Michael as Father Abel dressed his bleeding wounds with a first-aid kit.
Andre’s eyes lit up. "I think I have an idea, we deport you, and you can start with a clean slate while Sarah gets stuck with paying off your debts," he said.
"Deported? But I’m an Arican citizen!" said Michael wincing as Father Abel applied antiseptic on an open welt.
"I have a friend in ICE who can make arrange for your citizenship to be revoked, and you to be deported. We stick you on a plane to England, and you’ll be able to start fresh.
Unfortunately, that would also an you would be declared a persona non grata and be banned from entering the US," explained Andre.
"Does that apply to just or to my entire family?" asked Michael.
Andre’s face fell and looked sadly at Aaron and Daisy. "Unfortunately that ans your family as well, at least until Daisy turns 18," he said.
Tears welled up in Daisy’s eyes as she processed this information.
"Can you apply it to just and Linda? Daisy was born here. With us out of the picture Daisy can stay here and finish her education without worrying about us," said Michael.
Linda nodded. "It doesn’t matter where we are as long as Daisy is safe and protected," she said.
But Daisy shook her head. "I hate this! I hate Sarah and Emily! Why do they want to destroy my family like this?" she wailed.
Michael and Linda hugged Daisy tightly. "It’s my fault Daisy. I led our family to ruin with my bad investnts. If I hadn’t been so carried away by the cryptocurrency boom, we would have been safe, happy and comfortable," sobbed Michael.
"I’m at fault as well. I thought working for Mrs. Clarke’s was a wonderful opportunity, and I foolishly asked her to help us. If only I knew what a horrible witch she was!" cried Linda.
"I hate to break this up, but blaming yourselves is not going to help right now," said Father Abel firmly. He laid a gentle hand on Daisy.
"Daisy, what would you like to do? Do you want to stay here with Ivan and Aaron, or do you want to go back to England with your parents? It is a horrible thing to ask of you, believe I know. But the fact is your parents are not safe here," he said gently.
Daisy took a deep breath, dried her eyes and looked at Father Abel with renewed resolve.
"They are my family. They have already made too many sacrifices for my happiness. I’ll go with them," she said firmly.
She turned to Aaron and Ivan. "Thank you both for everything. I an it from the bottom of my heart," she said tears welling up in her eyes.
"You are a very brave girl Daisy. It was a pleasure knowing you," said Ivan gently hugging her.
Aaron’s Stoic facade was crumbling. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Goodbye Daisy," he said softly.
"I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for . I owe you my life Aaron," sobbed Daisy hugging him tightly.
With their farewells said, Andre acted swiftly to put his plan in action.
Plane tickets were booked for Daisy, Michael and Linda.
An airport shuttle quickly and efficiently took them to the airport where they boarded the flight to London.
"Ivan. I want Aaron out of that horrible school!" snapped Annette as soon as Father Abel and the others had left.
"Calm down Annette -" began Ivan, but Annette was past reasoning.
"Don’t you dare tell to calm down! We have been subjected to investigations and scrutiny by the IRS and child services! That little tramp Daisy has brought nothing but trouble to us! And now she just breaks Aaron’s heart and runs off to England!" raged Annette.
"That’s enough, Mother!" shouted Aaron.
Ivan and Annette jumped.
They had forgotten Aaron was still there, and they had never heard him shout.
"I will be going to St. Ignatius Academy. It is where I feel I belong. The other students can go to hell for all I care. I will not be intimidated into running away!" growled Aaron. A fierce determination shining in his eyes.
Annette broke down into hysterical sobs. "Why won’t you listen to ?" she wailed.
Ivan held her gently. "We’ll be all right Annette. We’ll be all right. Aaron is strong. He feels alive in St. Ignatius. Even without Daisy, he will be all right," he softly assured her as her sobs subsided.
Annette slowly regained her composure. She looked at Ivan and Aaron reproachfully.
"Sumr break has started. Please use it to reconsider transferring. That’s all I ask," she pleaded.
"All right," said Aaron.
----
Natasha coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood as she swayed in the chair she was tied to.
Her face was bruised and swollen, and her clothes were torn and bloodied.
A massive hulking man stood silently behind her, his arms crossed, while his face had a cruel smirk on it.
"I told you to tail Zakhrov, so why is it that my pets have now gone missing?" snarled Sarah Clarke, her voice cold and furious. Her fists covered in blood.
Natasha winced as she touched her swollen face. "I did tail Zakhrov, but he is not the one who is responsible for the Michael Eddington’s disappearance. I found out that ICE had revoked Michael Eddington’s citizenship and deported him and his family to England," she said.
"This is the second ti Zakhrov has foiled my plans. Natasha, I want you to tap into his online accounts. I want dirt on him, even if you have to fake it!"
snapped Sarah, her eyes blazing with fury.
"He’s thirteen years old, Sarah. Why are you so obsessed?" asked Natasha.
"Don’t delude yourself! He forced Viola Davis to leave St. Ignatius Academy, and to lose a lot of political capital! He stole my Emily’s pet, and enabled even my pet to escape! I could kill him, but that’s not enough! I want him broken!" shouted Sarah, smashing her brass-knuckled fist into Natasha’s abdon.
Natasha doubled over in pain, gasping for breath.
Sarah grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back to look into her eyes.
"Get that dirt, or I will feed you to Jamal over here. If you thought Libya was bad, he’s worse," she hissed, her voice low and dangerous.
"Understood," rasped Natasha.
"There’s a good girl! Now run along," purred Sarah, gesturing to the man to release Natasha.
Natasha staggered to her feet and out of the office.
"Jamal, I need so fresh at. Go and find so, and you can have so fun as well, just not with mine," said Sarah.
"Yes, mistress," rumbled Jamal, and left the office.
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