"Your Dad is being held captive."

These words shattered the two sisters' world. They had never imagined their father to have been kidnapped, let alone being held captive.

"By whom?" Ivy asked, after some time. It was a lot to take in for both of them.

"That, I don't know," Danny replied with a long face.

"Then, how did you know that Dad is being held captive?" Ivy continued, while Aria remained silent. She was still in shock hearing about her Dad's state.

"I had my informants to look out for any hints about your father. They went around asking about your father in hospitals in case he was no more. At one of the hospitals, the head nurse recognized your Dad's photograph. She told them that your Dad was hospitalized for a few weeks, a couple of months ago. No hospital staff other than the Director was allowed inside the ward, not even the nurses.

"Then how did she recognize it to be Dad," Aria asked, now coming back to her senses.

Just then the waitress knocked and entered with the dishes. Looking at the silent atmosphere, she placed the food on the table silently.

"Enjoy your food." She gave them a warm smile and left the booth, closing the door behind her. Though the food looked delicious, nobody had an appetite.

Seeing that they were left alone, Danny resumed, " The head nurse had accidentally taken a look at you Dad when he was being shifted to his room."

"How can she confirm that it is Dad? It can be somebody else too." Ivy argued. She was still in denial.

"She told my informants that your Dad was being guarded by a lot of keepers. It was impossible for anybody to get close to his room. She vividly remembered the face when she saw your Dad's picture. She claimed that the events are etched in her mind like it happened just yesterday."

"I want to have a word with her. What is the name of the hospital?" Ivy stood up at once.

"Ivy calm down. It's quite late. Let's go tomorrow. I'll accompany you." Aria suggested pulling Ivy's hand.

"Aria is right, Ivy."

"Which hospital does the woman work at?" Aria asked Ivy's unanswered question.

"Royal Health Care Hospital. Now, ladies let's forget about it for a while and have dinner. I am starving and I don't want to waste such good food." Danny said, gesturing towards the dishes on the table. His words were quite effective as the atmosphere lightened and the sisters concentrated on filling their stomachs.

The West sisters reached home at half past 10. Their Dad's news had taken them by a storm. They were unsure whether to be happy that their Dad was alive, unlike his friends, or to be sad that he was being held captive.

"Ivy, may I borrow your phone?"

"What happened to yours?"

"It was broken."

"Who do you want to call at this hour?"

"Ian."

"Who is Ian?"

"Ian is the head doctor of the cardiology department. I told you about him before. I need to inform him that I'll be arriving late to work tomorrow."

Ivy gave Aria her phone and walked to her room.

"Hey Ian, Aria here."

"Hey, Aria." Ian chirped. He was still in Noah's ward. He had forcibly made Ian stay with him on the pretext that he was bored. He had nothing to do. Ian had forbidden him from doing any of his office work. Now he was taking revenge on him by making him entertain him.

"I'll be coming to the hospital a little late tomorrow."

"Any problems?" He questioned. Noah's gaze immediately landed on Ian and he raised his eyebrows in uneasiness.

"No Ian. Everything is fine. I have to accompany my sister somewhere."

"Ohh OK. Take care."

"Thanks. Bye."

"What did Aria say? Is she in any problem? Does she need your help? Is she in danger?" Noah started to bombard Ian with questions as soon as he cut the call.

"Relax. She is fine. She called to inform me that she'll be taking half a day's leave tomorrow."

"What? Why?" Noah whined. He had planned to pursue her starting tomorrow until she accepted him and he would make sure she did accept him.

"She has to accompany her sister somewhere."

"Aria has a sister?"

"Yes. A twin sister."

"Interesting. Have you met her?"

"No. I have heard Aria speak about her. That's it, I know nothing more. If you want to know more about Aria, do a background check on her. It is easy for you anyway."

"No. I don't want to invade her privacy without her knowledge. I'll wait for her to tell me about her on her own."

"What has happened to you? It's unlike you to know nothing about the people around you."

"Who said I know nothing about Aria?"

Ian folded his hands, waiting for Noah to continue.

"I know that Aria is a wonderful woman, unlike the other women I have met. She is beautiful, intelligent and straightforward."

"Wow. Someone is whipped." A voice spoke from behind the door.

Ian and Noah turned their heads to see Joshua walking in.

"Why did you come back at this hour? It's quite late." Noah commented.

"I had something urgent to tell you. It couldn't wait till morning. Take a look at this." Joshua handed Noah an envelope.

"What is this about?" Noah questioned, opening the contents of the envelope. Ian leaned over to take a look.

"Your murder attempt was planned by your stepmother." Noah's eyes widened on looking through the contents. It had his stepmother's bank statement. There was a transfer of the exact amount, as Marcus had indicated, to a dummy account.

Noah's father was first married to another woman before his marriage to Noah's mother. That woman was a drug addict and had cheated on his father. When his father learned about it, he got a divorce. He later met Noah's mother, fell in love with her, and married her finally. His stepmother had married another man and had had a son.

"And another thing. Your stepmother's son is actually your stepbrother. I have checked his DNA; they match with your father's. His records are still in the hospital, you can check them out if you want. Your father doesn't even know about him. His ex-wife hid it well. She and her son planned the attack, along with Caroline."

"Oh my god." Ian shook his head in disbelief.

"There's more," Joshua said, looking at Noah's enraged face.

"There's more to this?" Noah asked, his face darkening every minute. He now had some pests to take care of before they become hazardous.

"Yes. Caroline is your step-brother's wife, though they have not registered their marriage yet."

"How did you find out all of these in such a short time?" Ian asked perplexed. There was a lot of information for them to take in all of a sudden and every one of them was more shocking than the other.

"Oh, that was quite easy for me. When you told me about Caroline, I did a background check on her, and guess what? Those people are idiots. They haven't made any attempt to hide their trail at all. Everything is out in the open. Noah, you had one idiot of a girlfriend." Joshua said sarcastically.

Noah scoffed but he didn't deny it. He knew long ago that woman was a brainless chicken. But it came as a surprise hearing who was with her supporting her plan. He sat thinking about his next course of action and a wicked smile formed on his face. Those bastards would get their retribution and he would make sure of it.