Ice and Fire

Chapter 81 Return To The Military's Residential Compound

Jackson drove his car from the military's residential compound to the pub at full speed.

When he got out of his car, Jackson saw that his gangsters had already surrounded the pub. He was

impressed by Bobby Li's smartness, because Bobby knew exactly what he was talking about on the

phone with him earlier.

It was afternoon, and Jackson walked straight into the pub and saw that lots of people were already

having fun at that hour of the day. His presence there drew lots of attention from the pub's customers.

Jackson passed through the hall and rushed to Stephen's office.

Bobby and the rest of the gangsters followed him closely from the back.

When he reached the door, Jackson kicked it open with a bang.

Inside the office, Stephen was sitting at his desk in front of his computer, and as soon as he saw

Jackson's furious face, he immediately knew what was happening.

Jackson said nothing, and instead came to Stephen's desk, lifted him up from his chair by his collar,

and stared at him with an intense fury gleaming in his eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Stephen. Stephen's face also turned dark, because Jackson

treated him in an extremely rude and violent manner.

"As you wouldn't know already." Jackson was so angry that he wanted to punch Stephen straight in the

face.

He added, "Tell me, where is she?"

Jackson gritted his teeth in silent fury. Why did Stephen know of Cherry's whereabouts, when he,

Cherry's own husband, didn't? 'What the hell is he planning with Cherry?' he thought.

Stephen tilted his head and avoided the fierce look Jackson gave him. He answered, "I don't know."

When he heard him, Jackson couldn't help but punch him in the face.

The pub's security personnel, who were standing outside, wanted to rush inside the office to protect

their boss, but were intimidated and stopped by Bobby Li's gangsters.

Jackson's sudden violence completely angered Stephen, and he started to fight back.

"Jackson, you're only a bastard! You can't even keep your wife around you, but you come here to make

trouble for me! Why are you so sure that I know where she is?" answered Stephen.

Jackson didn't reply in a positive manner. He was still holding Stephen by the collar, and answered,

"Stephen, I must have underestimated your abilities, my apologies. I have every confidence that you're

involved with Cherry's disappearance."

Stephen then became quiet, since he knew that Jackson must have realized by now of Cherry's

disappearance. However, even if he told Jackson about Cherry's hiding place, Jackson still couldn't

bring his wife back.

"Jackson, what's wrong with my abilities? Haven't I always been in your control? You're just beating the

air around here in my office." Stephen didn't resign himself to be intimated by Jackson.

"Stephen, don't play games with me. Tell me where she is, now!" Jackson was losing his patience, and

he desperately needed to know where Cherry was. If Stephen decided to waste his time, then he would

push him hard to tell him the truth.

"Jackson, do you actually think that I'll tell you everything?" retorted Stephen.

When he heard him, Jackson punched Stephen in the face again.

"Stephen, I'm warning you, if you don't want to die, tell me immediately!" Flames of fury had already

started to burn bright inside Jackson's heart.

Stephen endured Jackson's violence without any kind of protests. He was doing this for Cherry's sake,

and he was more than willing to endure the beating for her.

Stephen wiped the blood off his mouth and smiled wryly. He said, "Jackson, you've gone insane for

Cherry, like a rabid beast."

Jackson stared at Stephen, and slowly and clearly said, "She's my wife."

When he heard this, Stephen started to laugh loudly.

Jackson stared at Stephen, and said nothing.

Stephen wasn't scared by Jackson's infuriated expression. He had already known Jackson's fury a

couple of years ago, and he held no curiosity towards it, even though he was just a few inches away

from him.

"Jackson, I just recalled that you didn't become so unreasonable and violent just for Sally. Besides, I

also see you chose to play your grandfather's trump card this time, " said Stephen. He then curiously

looked at Bobby and his gangsters, and knew that they had once been led by Andrew.

"Stephen, we can talk about the old days later, I only want you to tell me where Cherry is." Jackson

didn't think about anything else, and almost shouted at him. His only wish was to find out information

about Cherry's hiding place.

"You know damn well that I won't tell you that. Why are you still wasting your time, Jackson?" Stephen

stayed calm, and paid no attention to Jackson's emotional response.

"Stephen, believe me when I say that I'll bulldoze your pub overnight..." Jackson wasn't neither joking,

nor bluffing. He could do that just to bring Stephen to his knees.

"I believe you, " immediately replied Stephen, while a sudden fear came over him. He then became

serious again, and with defiance, replied, "Didn't you also treat my family like this back in the old days?

You want to do it again, don't you?"

Jackson still had the confidence that Stephen might tell him the truth, and said, "If you want to

challenge my patience and authority, you will fail, I can promise you that." As long as he knew about

Cherry's whereabouts, he would forgive Stephen for everything. He only cared about Cherry.

"In those days you sacrificed my family for Sally's sake. We were brothers, but you abandoned both me

and my family, for a woman. Now, you're doing it again, aren't you? Well, you can do whatever you

want, I don't really care." Stephen made his mind to keep Cherry's hiding place unknown to Jackson.

He had promised Cherry that he would keep her secret to himself, and for that, he would definitely not

break his promise for anything in the world. He could also sacrifice everything for the woman he loved,

not just Jackson could do that.

Jackson saw the sadness building up in Stephen's eyes. He had never forgotten the tragedy, even

though many years had passed since it happened. He had acted unfairly to Stephen's family in those

years, but he had to do it for Sally's sake. He had never regretted for a moment what he had done, nor

had he ever felt sorry for what he had done. Deep down in his heart he knew that he had done nothing

wrong, except exposing hidden facts.

At that time, Derek also broke into the office, and when he saw the blood around Stephen's mouth, he

immediately knew what was happening.

Derek went straight to Jackson, and said, "Jackson, calm down, there's no need to be violent."

Derek then turned to Stephen, and stared at him in a rage. He knew that Stephen hated Jackson, and

he also knew that Jackson had no choice but to sacrifice Stephen's family in the past. If he ever had to

choose between Stephen and Jackson, he certainly would have chosen Jackson, without any sort of

hesitation. He wouldn't allow Stephen to do anything which might hurt either Jackson, or his wife.

Jackson seriously looked at Stephen, and in an infuriated tone, he asked again, "Tell me, where is she?

This is your last chance!"

"She's hiding somewhere you'll never know, " answered Stephen.

"Really?" Jackson was very angry, and he wanted to punch Stephen again, but his fist was stopped by

Derek.

Stephen also started to fight back, and he struggled to free himself from Jackson's control when

Jackson failed to punch him.

Stephen fixed his clothes. Looking at Jackson, in a defiant tone, he said, "Jackson, now please get the

hell out of my pub! Don't ask me about Cherry's whereabouts ever again; she's your wife, and if you

can't keep her around you, then please don't blame other innocent people for your incompetence."

After he said this, he turned around and left his office, and left Jackson and his gangsters behind.

Jackson slammed his fist onto the table so hard that the computer jumped. He felt resentful, not at

Stephen, but at Cherry.

'Cherry, who allowed you to leave my world? Who allowed you to run away?' thought Jackson.

Back at home, Jackson was engulfed by his fury. He smashed everything he grabbed into pieces, and

left a whole mess around him. Derek closely followed him and didn't dare to say anything, because he

knew that Jackson, at that moment, could never be consoled by words.

Jackson then went upstairs and into the bedroom, and he pulled the wedding picture off the wall and

smashed it onto the ground.

The back of his hand was cut by a piece of glass, and blood started to ooze out of his wound.

When Derek saw the blood, he grabbed Jackson's arm, and said, "You're bleeding; your wound should

be dressed."

"Leave me alone! If Cherry's gone, then why should I still keep this bedroom?" Jackson then pushed

Derek away with an uncontrollable fury. The only thought on his mind was Cherry, and all of his former

love towards her had turned into hate. He hated her for running away from him like that.

When they had first met, it was Cherry who had sneaked first into his bed in his hotel room, and it was

also she who had agreed to marry him, but now she had disappeared, and had left him in the dark. He

had thought that she would be a lovely and well-behaved wife, and that she would greet him every

night when he came home. What a fool he was for believing that...

Derek couldn't bear to see Jackson behave so unreasonably any longer, and as he grabbed Jackson's

shoulder firmly, he furiously shouted, "Jackson, stop doing this to yourself!"

Jackson was shocked by Derek's sudden outburst of anger, because this was the first time that Derek,

as Jackson's subordinate, had ever dared to behave like that.

He then soon calmed down. Derek ignored the possible reproach from Jackson for his rudeness, and

added, "Can't you live without her? You're an ambitious and brave soldier, and most of all, you're a

man. Just look at what you're doing to yourself!"

Although Derek's words couldn't bring reason back into Jackson's mind, they successfully mitigated his

anger.

After Jackson calmed down, Derek grabbed his arm, and said, "Come, we should return to the

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