Chapter 99 - The Chaos

Alvin went towards the second master suite with the tail of five more men who hadn't received any orders on where they will have to go. "Boss, any instructions?"  They weren't sure if they still had to follow the cruise ship, speed up to the country, or en route to the nearest airport.

Alvin would have considered going to the nearest airport as it would bring them to the country by morning. But it would be more exhausting for Anya to cope and her health might be affected. He chose not to take a chance.

Alvin's men paused at the door of the suite when Alvin silently marched inside. The suite was similar to the master suite but it was smaller and only one side of it had a glass wall overlooking the ocean. 

Alvin stretched his body. It was the first time he felt so exhausted, which he obviously didn't like. He unbuttoned his wet shirt looking outside at the water while recalling Anya asking him to let go of her. Although he could understand her and her motive, it somehow made him angry and he didn't want to vent it on Anya.

He looked at the smart wristwatch that wasn't working. He unbuckled it and accurately tossed it to the bin that was at the corner of the room. He swore in his mind never to buy that brand again.

He entered the ensuite with just a pant loosely hanging at his low waist. He dropped his pants to take a shower when he heard the hurried footsteps inside the room. 

One of his men hesitantly called him out, standing by the door of the ensuite, "Boss, your skin will be scalded and leave heavy rashes if you take a hot shower after being in cold water for so long." He said everything in a breath.

Alvin paused in his actions and glanced at his hands. His palms were heavily soggy, he could see wrinkles of the skin on his body. He realized why his men were staring at his body when he took off his shirt. He could feel the sensitivity of the skin was high. He took the suggestion and washed his face with cold water near the sink bowl. 

He was drying himself when he recalled Anya was thinking of taking a bath. Although he stopped her due to her weakness, he doubted if she would listen to him. The smell of the saltwater and its residue on the skin was uncomfortable so he wouldn't be surprised if she tried to take a bath.

Quickly wrapping himself in the robe, he went out of ensuite as he questioned his men, "What else should we keep in mind?"

His men were confused without understanding the question. They saw him wearing slippers and rushing out of the room. They discerned Alvin was asking about the precaution to take care of the lady.

A serious-looking man suggested as Alvin was thinking of bathing, "You can use a wet towel to wipe instead of bathing."

Another man suggested thoughtfully, "Boss, you can use a hot water bag if the lady feels very cold."

Another one shrugged following Alvin out of the suite, "Sleeping is the easy and best solution."

A man didn't suggest anything. Instead, he rushed in a different direction as he stated, "I will prepare a soup to warm up the body."

Another man who looked at others who were actively giving suggestions thought hard and reminded them, "Boss, the first aid kid has medicine for the cold." He looked proud of himself.

And the suggestions went on. Alvin heard all of them without understanding how these single men know so many things. He chose what he felt was reasonable. 

When Alvin turned around, those men stiffened like wooden logs without showing any emotions. They stood in a position as if ready to take his orders and complete them at the cost of their life, "Bring me the hot water bags. Send the soup after some time, medicine is after dinner." His men responded and left from there.

Alvin quickly went to the master suite and knocked on the door. He heard no response, "Little Donut…" He didn't want to barge in if she was still changing.

When he still heard no response, he pushed the door open and rushed inside. He quickly alighted the steps and found her wrapped in the bath towel lying on the footbed with her feet still on the white carpet.

Looking at the white hand towel over her head and her hand on the towel, Alvin could guess as she was drying her hair and fell asleep due to no strength. He let out a sigh. At least she heard him and didn't take a bath. He quickly reached her, noticing her body still shivering. She was still cold as ice.

Carefully carrying her to the bed, he laid her down. He checked her limbs, the skin was still pale and all wrinkled. The skin of her foot looked translucent. He shook his head in resignation. This woman doesn't know how to cry her pain. 

He pulled the comforter over her, rather very cautiously, afraid to hurt her skin in any way. He turned off the bright lights, shut the blindfolds though it was getting dark outside.

He went to the closet where his clothes were present. While changing to leisurewear, his eyes fell on the socks. He took them out, meticulously putting them on for Anya. He looked proud of his work.

'Knock Knock'

"Boss, hot water bags." One of his men's voices sounded respectful.

Alvin fetched them from the door without a word and returned downstairs.

His men soundlessly alighted a few steps and peeked at their boss. They saw Alvin testing the hot water bag on his skin multiple times. They looked at each other in amusement. It was just lukewarm and won't burn his skin. They felt like they should have told Alvin who looked clueless.

Then Alvin lifted the comforter at the feet of the lady and placed one near her feet. Then he lifted the comforter in the middle and placed another bag over her stomach with her hands on it.

Those men didn't leave yet. They curiously watched Alvin who was standing in confusion while looking around. Then he set the temperature of the room and went to the bathroom. He exited the ensuite with a wet towel and dabbed the lady's face. They never witnessed this side of Alvin. The one they knew was a cold emotionless man.

Then they wondered why Alvin was staring at the lady's face so intently. As if to answer their curiosity, Alvin pulled the comforter up till the lady's chin, then held the edges of it and covered her ears. Except for her petite face, the lady was completely packed.

'Pat pat…'

The men slowly turned in shock when the leader of their group patted on their shoulders, catching them red-handed.

"Are you asking for death?" The leader hissed, closing the door without making a noise.

The men completely ignored the question and eagerly spoke with each other, "Who is the lady? I never saw the Boss so anxious and worried about anybody."

"Exactly, the boss had ignored Mr. Collins when he was sick on the bed." Linus was Mr. Collins.

"Mr. Watson always scolded the Boss for being indifferent to everything." Ean Watson, Alvin's assistant, and the childhood friend.

"Boss wasn't just showing his concern."

The leader of the group was speechless and heard the men continue to talk about Alvin. They were all loyal to Alvin so he didn't bother about them. He just instructed them to avoid angering Alvin by peeping.

Once Alvin was satisfied that Anya wouldn't be cold, he breathed a long sigh. He didn't know taking care of someone was this difficult. He didn't think it was difficult for him because he didn't know what to do. He hardly fell ill so nobody took that extra care to him either.

He went out of the suite and sat on the couch, crossing his legs. All the six men stood in a row and waited for him to speak. "How did you find dead bodies?"

A man who seemed to be the leader of the rest volunteered to answer as he took his mobile out, "Boss, as soon as we got your signal, we took off in the seaplane. After a course of distance, we noticed orange life jackets floating on the water." 

The life jackets are neon green, orange and yellow so that they could be easily noticeable from afar. Hence they considered them to be Alvin and went near them.

The dead bodies will drown in the stagnant water body, Alvin who had doubted how dead bodies could float, got the answer.

The man continued, "The three bodies were floating far from one another. Those men were strangled to death by a rope or wire." He passed his mobile to Alvin to show marks on the necks of the bodies.

Alvin's expression darkened as soon as he saw the face of the floating body in the picture. It was one of the spoiled young men who tried to molest Anya on their first day on the ship. Alvin quickly swiped on the screen and saw the other two men were his buddies who attacked him in the passageway.

Alvin doubted whether their death was as simple as Harper's men killing them. If Harper's men really did kill those three young men, why would they tie life jackets to the bodies?

Somebody was evidently making sure the bodies stayed floated on the water so that they could be easily found.

Why would anybody do that? Alvin tried hard to deduce the situation. 

Alvin's men looked at each other realizing their guess was right. Things were too complicated on the ship and that might be the reason Alvin and the lady jumped to the water without a life jacket or diving suit. 

Alvin's pupils contracted when he deduced the possible situation. Somebody was framing him and Anya as those three men offended them. 

If Harper's men didn't kill those three young men, then it was definitely by a politician who was aiming to be the president of the country or planning to stain Bernard Collins's name. As people on the ship believed Alvin and Anya to be members of the Collins family, the culprit believed framing the couple will certainly affect the whole Collins family and Bernard's career.

Alvin hoped this shouldn't be the case as it will badly impact Bernard and Anya. Whereas about him, he didn't care about these things. Rumors, slanders, gossip never affected him. Hence he never bothered to explain anything as his international business won't be influenced by these petty things.

However, one rumor he was going to clear up. That is Flora Dalton being his fiancée. Or should he create a new rumor that Little Donut is his fiancée? Well, he would love to hear that.

He passed the mobile back. Although he never mixed with politics, he felt the need to clear the situation as it involved Anya, her job, her life.

He couldn't believe when they went to save all those brainless people, they dared to frame them in return. Whoever it was, he was going to destroy them.

He instructed his men to continue being around the cruise ship and report him if the ship diverts instead of going to the country.

….

Returning inside the master suite, Alvin checked on Anya who was deep asleep. He went to the couch and laid down. He chose to stay in the same room so that he could be there if she needed something.

While closing his eyes and thinking about how to solve the mess, he also dozed off due to exhaustion.

-------

Meanwhile on the cruise ship,

Stefan didn't let his guard down even though they had taken the ship under their control. They weren't sure which staff members were mixed with that rogue group hence Stefan instructed his men to be very careful.

The huge hall filled with the guests were murmuring without understanding what was going on. After some time, a middle-aged woman suddenly cried, "I can't find my son. Where is my son? What did you guys do to him?"

As if it was a wake-up call, all the members started to shuffle trying to find their family members. Slowly two more families started to panic, cry, and blame the security asking about their sons.

The guests started to doubt whether there was some problem on the ship and the chaos started demanding responses to their questions. The junior security officers tried their best to control the situation but they failed to handle the uproar.. Those people started to hit and drag the junior officers.