The Alchemists

After the lunch was over, London Schneider excused himself to take care of various things and promised to return to meet them at the gala dinner later. He greeted all his guests and then left accompanied by Jan. John and Caroline Wendell looked at each other and smiled when they saw him leave.

John patted his daughter's shoulder and said, "Very good, Caroline. I am very happy to see your relationship with Mr. Schneider. He is a suitable man for you."

"Yes, Father. I think so, too," said Caroline. "But what about Danny? Have you taken care of him?"

John only smiled faintly at Caroline's question. He turned to his daughter and said in a cold voice, "Of course. He won't bother you anymore."

Caroline could only guess what her father had planned. But she did not dare to ask. Her father could be cruel even to his own child. Because of that, she just nodded and stopped asking questions.

***

Meanwhile, in a hotel in the middle of the city, Danny Swann was pacing anxiously. He kept looking at his cellphone and then took a deep breath. The news that he had been waiting for had not yet arrived.

He had contacted the assassin group recommended by John Wendell. They said they would contact him directly, but after waiting for hours, he still had not heard from him. His heart began to feel doubtful.

RING

RING

Suddenly his cellphone rang. Anxiously and hurriedly, Danny immediately picked up and spoke, "Hello?"

There was a cold voice on the other end of the phone.

"We can do this job immediately. You must send the money according to the instructions I will give you shortly. You have half an hour to do it. Otherwise, there will be no deal."

Danny nodded and quickly replied, "Fine, I understand. Anyway, I want the girl to die as soon as possible."

"Take it easy, we are professionals. We can do that," said the man on the other end of the phone. He laughed insultingly and immediately hung up.

Not long after, Danny noticed that there were several incoming messages giving instructions on how to pay for the hitman services recommended by John Wendell. He looked carefully at the instructions and then immediately moved out of his hotel room to make payment.

Everything that transpired didn't fall under London's radar. He had put several people in charge of watching Danny Swann in his hotel and also John Wendell and Caroline in the conference hall.

He did not want to miss even the slightest info. At 3 pm, he got a call from Mischa, who informed him that the assassin group had received a contract from Danny Swann.

"The man has paid in advance, just as they asked. Now everything is in our hands. When do you want to get them?" Mischa asked.

"As soon as possible, we can settle everything tonight," answered London. He was satisfied because everything he planned was going well.

"Of course. Oh, by the way... I promised the group forgiveness if they worked together with us to punish the mastermind responsible for the murder of the De Maestri family before the law. But, again, this is up to you. I don't mind if I have to dirty my hands and kill them, "Mischa said with a chuckle.

London was distracted by the man's offer. He knew Mischa wasn't joking. This made London think deep down. He did not know whether he would be able to dirty the hands of others to avenge the death of L's family, or he would let the law punish them.

Finally, he could only sigh.

"I can't decide for myself," he said to Mischa. "I will ask my wife. After all, it was her family who was killed, and she held a grudge to the killers."

Mischa understood what London meant. He calmly replied, "Of course. Just let me know what you want. As soon as possible, so that I can immediately take the necessary action."

"Thank you," said London. After hanging up the call from Mischa, he contacted his wife. L had just finished nursing Lily and was playing with her baby in the her basket while humming.

"Hello, Honey. How was your day?" L asked in a sweet voice.

London then told L what happened. L was almost hysterical when she learned that Danny Swann really wanted to kill her.

"Oh my God, is Danny really going to kill me ?? I had a bad feeling the last time I saw him. I could feel killing intent coming out of him when we met the last time, but I didn't expect he would actually proceed ..." L had to press her own c.h.e.s.t to calm down. She really felt devastated. "How could anyone be so evil? I don't understand ..."

"Honey, I know there are bad people are everywhere and we can't understand their point of view. However, you're safe. My people will always protect you." London immediately calmed L down so that she would get hysterical. He also needed to ask what L thought about Mischa's offer. "I need your opinion to know what you want because John Wendell hired assassins to kill your family twelve years ago. Currently, the assassin group is working with Mischa to trap John Wendell and Danny Swann. Mischa promised forgiveness to them, provided the mastermind behind your family's murder could be brought before the law to get their punishment."

He paused to hear L's opinion, but the girl remained silent, waiting for him to finish speaking. The young man continued his words very carefully. "If you also hold grudges against those who take your parents' lives, they are the ones who shoot the guns at your father, mother, and younger brother, then Mischa will not hesitate to kill them. The decision is yours, Dear."

L was stunned to hear London's words. She recalled the video she saw when Mischa tortured a member of the assassin group to get information about who was behind her family's murder.

"I don't want to have more enemies," L finally said. "They just did it as a job. Those people don't have personal grudges against my family."

"Then, do you want to forgive them?" asked London.

"I don't want others to get their hands dirty with the blood of my family's killers," L later said.

"I understand," London answered softly.

The woman had been possessed by a grudge for a dozen years. But after having Lily in her life, the girl changed her mind and slowly tried to get rid of the grudge in her life. Now her only focus was on how she could be a good mother to their child and a good wife to him.

London and L agreed that the people most responsible were the ones behind the murder, the real mastermind, and they cannot be allowed to go without punishment.