The living room light was still on as Lucas sat on the sofa and sighed. He lit a cigarette and asked the servants to have an early night. He wanted to be alone for a while. Wisps of smoke rose from the burnt end of the cigarette, but Lucas only took a few puffs. He was lost in thought.


    Suddenly, a strong light shone through the French window and into his eyes. It was the headlights of a car.


    ''Who''de at this hour?'' thought Lucas irritatedly as he saw the car stopping at the main gate.


    When he flicked the cigarette ashes, his phone on the table rang. His eyes immediately lit up after ncing absent-mindedly at the caller ID.Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.


    He quickly picked up the phone and answered, "Hey, Corinne. What''s wrong? What can I do for you?"


    "Open the gate!" said Corinne from the other end.


    "Oh, that''s you out there?" questioned Lucas with a raise of an eyebrow. "Hold on a sec, I''ll get someone to open it for you right away!"


    While Lucas was still on the phone, he ran to the yard and asked two servants on duty to open the gate.


    When the gate was opened wide, Jeremy stepped on the gas and whizzed in, stopping right before Lucas.


    Corinne got out of the car hurriedly and ran toward Lucas. "Where''s your sister Anya?"


    "Anya?" Lucas was puzzled. "She''s still in prison, of course. Why do you ask?"


    Corinne was so panicked that she grabbed Lucas'' cor and interrogated, "Don''t you know she''s out of prison? You were so close to her, but you''re telling me that you have no idea where she is?! Tell me where she is now!"


    Lucas had never seen Corinne so frantic before, so he figured something terrible must have happened. He put his hands on Corinne''s shoulders to calm her down, then turned to Jeremy who had just gotten out of the car. "What happened? Why are you looking for Anya at this hour?"


    "Joey has been kidnapped today. We suspect it has something to do with Anya-she got an early release recently," replied Jeremy seriously.


    "What? Joey has been kidnapped?" Lucas was shocked. He finally understood why Corinne lost her usualposure. "Corinne, how did you know that Anya got an early release? No one, not even I, heard anything about it!"


    "Francine saw her a while ago, so Aaron looked into it. He confirmed that she got an early release for good behavior," Corinne answered hoarsely.


    Lucas frowned. That was different from what he gathered.


    He had been told that Anya refused to follow orders in the prison and often pretended to be ill to avoid work. Since she was a Rivera, the warden did not dare toy a finger on her. Instead, the warden sent someone to report her behavior to Lucas and asked for his further instruction.


    Lucas made it clear not to make an exception and that the warden should treat her like any other inmate. Only then did she start to behave.


    ''How did Anya get an early release with her previous performance? And why was I not informed about her early release?'' Lucas found the matter even more perplexing by the second.


    He then looked at Corinne and said, "Alright, let''s go inside for now. Give me a little bit of time to check whether Anya''s still in prison or when she was released, and I''ll let you know shortly, okay?" "Hurry up! Joey might not make it!" urged Corinne.