His Devious Rule

At the Oasis mansion,

Elder Collins was sitting right next to Zane when the latter was on a video call. He was laughing hearing Zane being a brat as soon as his mother needed him.

However, his back straightened when the butler arrived and said, "Little master, your Mommy called me just now. She asked me to bring you to the conference. Let me help you get ready."

When Anya was on a call with Zane, how could she call the butler and instruct him?

If she had called the butler before the video call to Zane, wouldn\'t she have informed Zane by herself?

After staying with the mother and son for two weeks, Elder Collins was certain about how Anya treats Zane. She wouldn\'t treat him as a kid and order him around or ask somebody to get him here and there.

So he stood up and gazed suspiciously at the butler. He trusted the butler and his wife all these years. However, he didn\'t want to take a chance as they might be compelled to do something.

"When did Anya call you?" He started his interrogation.

Zane carefully looked at the butler who was in a hurry. He could read anything more. He glanced at Anya on the screen and looked back at the butler again.

Alvin trusts the butler and the housekeeper so, there shouldn\'t be a problem, right?

The butler turned to Elder Collins. He wanted to respond but he looked confused at the looks of the two. \'Did I make some mistake?\'

Meantime,

Anya didn\'t have a second to spare on Miles after hearing the butler. What butler said was suspicious but he was the one Alvin trusted. Thus Anya stayed calm and thought through.

If the butler had any ulterior motives, he would observe the situation and have taken the action carefully. Then he wouldn\'t have said something like that when Zane was on a video chat with her.

Getting in the car, Anya softly asked her son who was smart enough to read there was a problem, "Baby, could you please turn the iPad towards the butler grandfather?"

"Yes, Momma." He got off the couch and put the iPad on its stand that was on the coffee table.

The butler lowered and informed Anya, "Young Madam, I will get Little Master to the venue. Is there anything more?"

Hearing the butler, Anya managed to put the pieces together. Yet she asked calmly, "Uncle Oliver, could you take a seat? I want to speak with you."

The butler heard her and sat on the couch, facing the Ipad, "Young Madam, is something wrong?"

Elder Collins was confused. If Anya hadn\'t called the butler, shouldn\'t he panic looking at Anya? He rubbed Zane\'s head and stayed silent.

"Uncle Oliver, I haven\'t called you or asked you to bring Zane anywhere," Anya revealed the truth, trusting the man.

Zane spoke after her, "Yes, Grandfather butler, Mommy is on a video call with me. Mommy would have told me if I had to go there."

Elder Collins realized this mother and son trusted the butler. He sat down, yet kept Zane close to him.

Oliver was confused. He fished his mobile from the pocket of his pants and opened the call log, "Young Madam, you called me just now through this number." He displayed his mobile screen to the iPad camera.

Anya noted the time of the call, which was just a minute before. She tried to make him understand the situation, "Uncle Oliver, you got a call asking you to bring Zane. You might have heard my voice but that wasn\'t me. Somebody mimicked my voice."

Oliver was more shocked than them. He flustered realizing somebody was trying to hurt Zane. "Young Madam, I- I didn\'t..." He didn\'t know what to do or say, so he looked at Anya with a troubled expression.

This had never happened all these years. Alvin was like their son, why would they do something to hurt him or his family? But the butler didn\'t know how to make them believe him.

Elder Collins relaxed, believing the butler and Anya\'s analysis. Zane grinned ear to ear, proud of his mother for solving the confusion so smoothly. He ran over to the butler seeing him anxious. He patted his arm, flashing him a smile of assurance.

Zane faced the Ipad to look at Anya. "Momma, you are so cool." He exclaimed in admiration. "Don\'t worry. We will stay in the mansion. If there is anything, please make a video call." So that they could be certain that\'s Anya or Alvin\'s call.

Anya nodded at her adorable son who knew she was worried about him. But the one who needed support at the moment was the butler. She was idolizing her sensible son who quickly tried to soothe the old man. Now it\'s her turn.

Anya softly smiled at the butler to relax his nerves. "Uncle Oliver, it wasn\'t your mistake." Her voice was calm and reassuring seeing his eyes teary. "Please, don\'t fret over it. I will come home right after the conference. Ask Aunt Sohpie to ignore such calls and relax today."

The butler had unknowingly expected to get scolded and mistrusted. He got emotional from the mother and son\'s warm actions.

…

After a few more words, Anya ended the call and breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn\'t believe Matthews had a criminal mind to imitate her voice to get to her son.

Or is it the man outside her car? Anya glanced at Miles who was still waiting for her.

Never mind, she will find out soon.

As soon as Zane sent her the number, she forwarded it to Melvin who was at the office.

Starting the car, Anya ignored Miles and used the entry to exit the cafe. She sped away without getting to his hands.

Would Zane be in danger if she wasn\'t on the video call with him?

Mark would have called them to confirm. Wouldn\'t he?

Assuring herself, Anya drove towards the hotel that was close to the Skylark office.

––––––

At the Matthews mansion,

Gianna was restless the whole morning after her plan was put into action. She was furious when she heard Casper was planning to attend the conference instead of going to the office.

Casper would be enraged if she tries to stop him from attending. She was pacing in the bedroom, thinking about how she could turn the situation around.

Casper just cared for the Matthews to have control over their company. How does it make a difference if it\'s Alvin or Liam? Casper liked Alvin more as Liam was a soft-natured man who couldn\'t rule like Casper.

If Alvin becomes the CEO of the company, Cordelia will tolerate Alvin and also celebrate as Zane will follow in his father\'s footsteps. The problem of an heir would be resolved. What more could the Matthews family ask for?

Thus, Gianna was becoming more and more intolerant of the circumstances by believing Liam and his daughter were going to lose everything.

She was also waiting for a message or a call to inform her that Zane was kidnapped. But the call didn\'t come. The time went by, the conference was going to start in an hour, yet there was no clue of anything.

The mobile started vibrating after some time. She quickly grabbed it and ran into the bathroom to avoid Casper.

"Did everything go smoothly?" She whispered with high hopes and anticipation.

[Err…] There was hesitance in the voice of a man, [Nobody came out of the Oasis mansion. When we called again, that butler threatened us not to call again. They must have got to know our plan.]

Gianna paled, hearing the result of her plan. Her plans always worked in the past, why was everything failing now?

She nervously tapped her toes on the floor. If they can\'t bring Zane out, they need to wait for Zane to come out.

They didn\'t have much time left as the shareholders would start pressuring Casper anytime soon.

How to bring Zane out of the mansion?

They will have to use the media to bring Zane to the party by questioning the relationship between Alvin and Anya. If she stains Anya, Alvin would do anything to protect her. Wouldn\'t he?

"Hire some people to write…" She narrated another plan.

Thus she continued to dig her grave, having no idea Anya and her team were experts in digging out the Vishing and cybercrime criminals.