Chapter 177: Strangers in the Alley 2

The little girl trembled violently, her tiny shoulders shaking as tears spilled down her cheeks.

The boy tightened his arms around her.

"You little brats!" the man snarled. "How dare you run away after stealing my money? Do you have any idea what I’m going to do to you?"

The boy glared at him.

"We didn’t steal anything."

His voice shook, but he didn’t back down.

"That money was our salary. We earned it. We worked in your restaurant from dawn until night!"

His eyes burned with hatred as he stared at the man.

For a moment, the man’s expression hardened.

"If I say you stole it, then you stole it."

His voice was cold and absolute.

How dare this little brat talk back to me?

The man stepped forward. The little girl whimpered and buried her face against her brother’s chest.

"Please..." she whispered.

The man raised his hand.

The boy instinctively turned his body, shielding his sister.

But before the man’s hand could come down, a sharp voice cut through the alley.

"Don’t you dare!"

The man froze.

Isobel stepped forward, her eyes blazing.

"If you hit him, I’ll make sure you spend the night in jail."

The man’s hand slowly lowered.

He gave a nervous chuckle.

"Ah, Miss. There’s no need to get excited. I was only joking."

Isobel didn’t smile.

"Joking?"

Her gaze moved from his raised hand to the terrified children.

"They don’t look like they’re laughing."

The man’s eyes lingered on her. Up close, he noticed how beautiful she was.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

She’d fetch a good price.

His lips curved into a barely noticeable smile.

"Of course, Miss. I didn’t mean anything by it."

"Good."

Isobel stepped between him and the children.

"Then we’re finished here."

She pointed toward the street.

"Leave."

The man’s smile disappeared.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Isobel’s voice hardened. "I’m taking these children to a clinic to have them checked."

The man glanced at the boy and girl.

Then he looked back at Isobel.

Something dark flickered in his eyes.

"Miss, you don’t understand. Those children belong to me."

Isobel’s expression changed.

"Children don’t belong to anyone."

The man’s jaw tightened.

For several seconds, he and Isobel stared at each other, neither willing to back down.

Then, slowly, he smiled.

It wasn’t a friendly smile.

"These two are my nephew and niece," he said, his voice suddenly calm. "My brother entrusted them to me."

"He is lying!" the boy shouted.

The man’s eyes flashed.

"Shut up!"

The little girl flinched at the sharpness of his voice and buried her face against her brother’s chest.

By now, a small crowd had begun gathering at the mouth of the alley. People whispered among themselves, craning their necks to see what was happening.

The man noticed them.

His expression changed.

He straightened his shoulders and put on an aggrieved look, as though he were the one being wronged.

"You’re making a very big mistake, Miss," he warned loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Isobel didn’t move.

Something about his sudden change in attitude made her uneasy.

If these children were really his nephew and niece, why were they so terrified of him?

She looked at the boy.

He was staring at her with desperate eyes.

Please don’t leave us.

Isobel didn’t need to hear him say it.

She reached for the little girl’s trembling hand.

"Come on."

The girl hesitated. Her tiny fingers hovered just above Isobel’s outstretched hand.

Then she glanced over her shoulder at the man. The moment their eyes met, she recoiled.

Isobel’s heart sank.

That was all the answer she needed.

Her frightened eyes remained fixed on the man. Then, slowly, she slipped her tiny hand into Isobel’s.

The boy followed, never taking his eyes off the man.

As Isobel led them toward her car, the man remained where he was.

When Isobel opened the rear door, the man found his chance.

He lunged.

"Watch out!" the boy screamed.

Isobel barely had time to turn.

The man’s bulky body came at her with surprising speed, one arm swinging toward her head.

She ducked.

His hand sliced through the air above her.

Isobel stumbled back, but before he could recover, her body reacted on instinct.

She drove her foot straight into his groin.

The man froze. His eyes widened.

A strangled cry escaped his throat before he doubled over and crashed to his knees, both hands clutching himself.

"You—venomous woman!"

His face twisted with agony.

"How dare you kick me! You’ll pay for this!"

His threats dissolved into a string of curses and groans as he rolled onto his side, barely able to breathe.

Isobel stared at him, her heart pounding.

She couldn’t believe she had actually done it.

After her kidnapping, she had begged Morgan to arrange self-defense training for her. He had gone a step further, hiring both a martial arts instructor and a kickboxing coach.

For days, Isobel had trained relentlessly.

At the time, she had wondered whether she would ever actually need what they were teaching her.

Apparently, she had just received her answer.

"Get in the car!" she ordered.

The boy didn’t hesitate.

His eyes darted toward the groaning man before he grabbed his sister’s hand and hurried toward the vehicle.

The little girl climbed into the back seat first.

Her brother followed immediately, slamming the door behind him.

Isobel ran around to the driver’s side.

The crowd that had gathered in the alley had grown larger. People were shouting now, some pointing at the man on the ground, others staring at Isobel and the two children.

She didn’t wait to find out what would happen next.

She started the engine and sped away.

Only after they had turned several corners did Isobel finally slow down. She glanced into the rearview mirror.

The two children sat pressed tightly against each other in the back seat.

Now that the immediate danger had passed, Isobel could see them clearly.

Their clothes were little more than rags. Their cheeks were hollow. Their faces were gaunt, and their skin had a sickly, sallow pallor.

They looked exhausted.

Not just tired.

Exhausted in a way no child should ever look.

A strange sadness settled over Isobel.

She couldn’t explain why. She barely knew them.

Yet something about the way they sat there—quiet, frightened, and clinging to each other—made her chest ache.

She glanced at them again through the mirror.

"Where are your parents?"

The children looked at each other. It was a glance, but Isobel noticed it.

They seemed to communicate without saying a word, as though they had learned long ago that they had only each other to rely on.

Finally, the boy spoke.

"We don’t know where Father is."

His voice was quiet.

"As for Mom..."

He lowered his eyes.

"She has a new husband."

He swallowed.

"She didn’t want us anymore."

Isobel’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"She left us with Grandpa," the boy continued. "Then she ran away."

Silence filled the car.

Isobel looked at them again.

Two children abandoned by the people who were supposed to protect them.

And suddenly, the strange sadness she had felt made perfect sense.