All of a sudden, there was a sudden bang, and her head whipped to the direction the sound came from.


    Then there was a familiar faint voice.


    Anastasia tried to listen in as hard as she could, but the voice didn’t belong to the person she was expecting.


    Instead, it belonged to someone else.


    Mr Wace stepped out and red outside to find out what could be happening. Because his back was facing Anastasia, she couldn’t see his frightened face when he saw his son approaching him.


    "Thomas!!" Xander called as he matched in, while the henchmen with guns tried to stop him, but when Mr Wace didn’t give them any signal to stop him, they gave up and went back to their positions.


    Bruce was at the side, staring at Xander and wondering how he got to find out where they were.


    There was just one of the buildings Mr Wace had purchased in Radiantia as another one of his properties.


    Bruce recalled now that Mr Wace had informed Xander about it because he suggested if any day he had the time, Xander coulde over for them to hang out. Mr Wace even went as far as giving Xander the address thinking Xander would surprise him one day with a visit. And he did.


    "I’m your father. You should call me <i>father. </i>It’s very rude to call me by my name," said Mr Wace, his face molding into a smile. "Are you here to hang out with me? We can talk. Ignore everything here, including her." He pointed to Anastasia who was looking more than shocked to find Xander there.


    Xander made eye contact with her, his eyes trembling with a sort of emotion Anastasia couldn’t ce a finger on.


    Meanwhile, Xander still found it hard to believe the same woman who’d died almost a year ago, came back as someone else. And now...


    "You need to let her go," Xander said. Faster than lightning, Mr Wace’s smile faltered into something that creeped Xander out. "She had nothing to do with this."


    "Oh, she very much does," Mr Wace replied calmly, his grip tightening on the gun. "Everything happened because of her parents, and somehow, she always manages to escape death, not once but twice, or maybe even more." There was frustration evident in his tone.


    As much as Anastasia didn’t want to enjoy the moment, she felt proud of herself.


    She resumed trying to untie herself. The rope was tight, but she started by twisting her wrist, enduring each tear it gave her skin until she finally got an opening.


    "Where’s Samantha?" Bruce said, intervening.


    "She’s in the car," Xander lied.


    "Isn’t that wonderful?"


    "I will ask someone to get you some drink so we can talk about things," said Mr Wace, about to call someone over but Xander stopped him.


    "I didn’te here to talk or drink anything with you. I’m simply asking you to let Anastasia go," he said with so much venom in his tone, eyes ring at Mr Wace.


    The father cocked up an eyebrow at him.


    "You killed Anabe for your selfish reasons—"


    "I told you I didn’t kill anyone!" Mr Wace interrupted, rage evident in his gaze as he red at Xander, but then they softened almost immediately.


    Anastasia only listened to their conversation while subtly loosening the rope tied around her hands. When she felt her hands-free, she held the joy that rose in her heart. She kept her hand behind her, pretending to be tied together.


    "Let’s just have a good father and son conversation now, don’t you think—-" Mr Wace was interrupted when there was an explosion at the front gate. It was so loud and unsudden it caused everyone’s heart to jump in fear.


    Anastasia took the opportunity and jumped up from the seat she’d been tied to and ran towards the opposite side.


    When Mr Wace heard the sound of firing bullets, he ordered some men, "He’s here. Grab that woman and—" He paused when he found the seat Anastasia was tied to empty. He gritted his teeth out of anger and ordered. "Look for her, and when you do, shoot her down!"


    Xander froze.


    "Xander, follow me. If Xavier sees us, he’ll kill us."


    "I’m not going anywhere."


    "Don’t tell me you think Xavier would forgive you for everything you’d done to Anastasia." Mr Wace’s eyes shifted to the bruises on Xander’s face. "I bet he was the one who did that to you."


    "Yes, he was the one. And I’m d he did because now that I’m finally back to my senses, I want to be the one who kills you myself." Xander pointed a weapon at his father.