The Royal Contract

"Why do you have to get yourself involved in this?" His wife looked at her husband with concern in her eyes.

Although she also wanted answers, she was wary that he was stressing himself in this matter. She did not want his health affected by his obsession to solve this case.

"Because our daughter's life is at stake here. If I don't find the person behind her accident, her life will be in constant danger." He could hear the agitation in her voice. He understood her fear, but he could not heed her plea this time.

He could not stop, not until he had unraveled the truth, learned the reason for the accident, and discovered the person behind it all. He would protect his daughter even if it was the last thing he ever did before his death.

"Please, just be careful, Ethan. You know I can't lose you. But do what you must to protect our daughter." She hugged her husband as she sat on the armrest of his chair, hoping she could be as calm as him.

Being married to a man at the top of the leader board had never been easy. She was in constant fear for his life. If he acquired many friends, he also collected numerous enemies.

Many of his competition wanted his position. A number of them also wanted his life, but Ethan had fended them off. He protected himself and his family in the best way he could. Nobody dared touch him or any of his kin until now.

If there was someone who could keep Dani safe, she believed Ethan could. But she was not disregarding what Alex was doing. But the more, the better, right.

"Sir, Mr. Stockholm is here." His butler informed him, mildly interrupting their private conversation. 

He never usually butted in any private meetings. But, he had clear instructions to bring the detective to his attention as soon as he arrived.

"Send him in," Ethan instructed, unable to wait for his final update.

He believed that if someone could get the information he sought. It would be him because he was the best in the field he had met so far. 

He waited for his best investigator to enter his room and tell him what he had discovered. He did not only deliver what he required but also what he needed.

"Mr. Hamilton." He acknowledged the great man in front of him. Then, noticed that he was not alone. "Mrs. Hamilton, lovely as usual." He approached her, took her offered hand, and graced it with a soft kiss on the knuckles as his sign of respect.

"It was also nice seeing you, Mr. Stockholm." She replied with a warm smile. "But if you will excuse me, I still need to finish packing for the trip."

She always admired the man for what he did for his husband. Some would use their skills to extort money from Ethan, but he never did.

She strode out of the room, leaving the two to continue with their meeting. She knew that Ethan would share whatever happened in that closed room with her after he had analyzed all the information.

"Sir, you have to forgive me for the slight delay. It had been a bit difficult to find this man. It appeared that they put extra effort to hide him." He began, deciding to forego the formalities. 

Whoever was protecting the real identity of the other driver of the car and hiding him had very unlimited resources. He kept moving around and getting ahead of him at every step. 

But he was not declared the best if he could not track him down eventually. It might have taken him time, but he already had him on his radar, and he was not getting away this time.

"So, you have his real name and location." Ethan confidently stated.

He did not need to ask to know that he had accomplished his mission. He knew he could count on him to get what he wanted.

"I do." He replied, at the same time, handing his boss the file containing his report.

He already guessed the value of this intel to him. This was not business but personal. He knew information like this would be useless for others but would quite pick a price with this man.

Ethan took the file and perused its content silently. Nothing much could be read from his expression. His eyes remained neutral, not indicating any kind of emotion.

"You never failed me. For that, expect my gratitude." Ethan expressed in words was he was feeling. Although his face remained stoic.

He had worked with Alex and the police to get this case solved as soon as possible. But he knew Alex was preoccupied with the wedding and the business.

The police, though using all their resources was still not good enough. Ethan could not rely on them to find the culprit behind Dani's accident. 

In his opinion, as long as the man who was behind hurting his daughter was out there, she would never be safe. They tried it once. They would try again.

"You have been one of the best clients that I ever have. Consider this as a gift to your daughter's upcoming wedding. I hope you catch the man behind this." Lord told Ethan.

He believed showing good faith would not only be beneficial for business but also to their friendship. Not everything was about money. He also valued the connection he had developed with his important and influential clients.

"Well, I would not say no to that. It was always a pleasure doing business with you." Ethan would not insult the man by insisting on paying for his services. 

After the long time that they had worked together, he also considered him a friend and a close ally. Something hard to come by in this line of business.

"If you need my help again, you know where to reach me." Detective Stockholm excused himself, leaving him with the information in his hands.

He also had a family of his own. He would have protected them in the same way that Ethan was doing. His respect for the man only increased because of how he valued family.

For the sake of their friendship, he decided to continue his investigation. He would dig deeper into this case.. Ethan did not ask for this, but he decided to join the manhunt.