Bradley was in his hotel room resting after a long day of meeting with the doctors; he got the materials needed for Esmeralda's father. Tomorrow morning he was going to get on a plane to return home. He worried about Amelia and her health but knew she would be in good hands. Bradley took out his phone and was about to call Gol D, but then his phone vibrated; it was Ace. "Ace, I was about to call your father."

"Uncle, listen, I don't have time right now! Esmeralda was kidnapped!" yelled Ace.

Bradley stilled. "What?"

"Uncle, this was a setup! Yhwach planned all of this! He knew you would leave the country to get the materials! He wanted to break us all up!"

Bradley couldn't believe he had fallen for his brother's plan. He should've known. However, his heart dropped when Ace told him that Esmeralda had been kidnapped; his brother had her. Bradley dreaded the thought. "Ace, where's Sosuke and Esmeralda's father!?"

"They're still at the house. I'm about to tell my pops and the rest of my uncles! It was Yhwach; I know it is!" yelled Ace.

The older man could tell Ace tried hard not to choke on his own words; Ace had feelings for Esmeralda. Bradley then thought about Sosuke and imagined how troubled he was. However, Bradley knew it wasn't the time to fear. "Ace, listen to me. You all will need to wait for me when I return home."

There was silence on the other end for a while. "Uncle, we can't wait for long! We don't know what that son of a bitch will do with Esmeralda! We-!"

"Ace!" Ace became silent on the other end. "I know you and Sosuke are afraid about Esmeralda's safety, but if we are to rescue her, we must plan this carefully. I hate to tell you this, but if Yhwach planned this, he would keep her somewhere we might not find her. I doubt that he's keeping her in one of his homes. He probably has a secret place that we don't know about."

"We can't give up, uncle."

"We won't, Ace; tell your uncle Issa to research Yhwach's history. Issa is the best when it comes to technology. However, I will call my pilot to prepare for my flight."

Nephew and Uncle hung up the phone. Bradley massaged his forehead roughly. "I was right; everything is going to hell. I should have known better." He got his cell phone, calling his pilots to return to the states immediately. The pilot informed him that they would get everything ready within three hours. Bradley heard footsteps from the distance as he was talking on the phone. He hung up the phone as he listened to the noise outside.

Bradley went to his suitcase and took out a long sword that used to belong to his grandfather, Arthur. He was able to get it through airport security with some bribery. The older man wasn't proud of it but always took a weapon with him for protection. He was right to do so. "So that's why Yhwach planned parts of this. He wants to get me out of the way. Clever Yhwach."

Suddenly, the door opened, and five men entered the room with AKA guns pointing at him. Bradley didn't seem fazed. "Let me guess; my brother sent you here to kill me. I have to credit him for thinking he could send dogs to kill me."

Without warning, the assassins began to shoot at Bradley. Before the bullets could hit him, Bradley took out his sword and used it to hit the bullets away; other times, he dodged them. The assassins were shocked; Bradley then went to two of them and sliced them in their necks, and blood spurted out. The blood blinded some of the assassins; Bradley took this to his advantage and slashed the other three men to death.

Blood was everywhere on the floor and Bradley's shirt. The gunshots alarmed the other occupants of the hotel. Many came out and saw the bloodbath. From the corner of his eye, he heard more running steps going in his direction. He knew that more assassins were going to arrive. Bradley let out an annoyed sigh, getting his sword ready. "I only have three hours to prepare for my flight. I still have some time, but I have idiots to kill first."

...

It was night, and Esmeralda sat on the bed looking out the window. Throughout the day, the young woman cried. She was worried about her father's well-being. "I wonder if Sosuke knows about my disappearance. Is he looking for me?" she asked herself. Her thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on the door.

Yhwach opened the door with trays in hand. "I brought you dinner."

The young woman didn't look at him; she put her arms around her knees. Yhwach put the trays of food on the table. "I decided to eat with you today. It's nice to eat with company." Esmeralda said nothing or didn't move an inch. Yhwach sighed. "If you don't sit here willingly, I'll be forced to tie and force-feed you. Will you act like an adult or a child?"

Esmeralda slowly turned to look at him, glaring at him. "Who has been acting more like a child all this time, Yhwach? I'd rather not eat with you. I don't have an appetite."

The older man walked to the young woman, who still glared at him. He then grabbed her arm, forcing her out of bed and making her sit on the chair. "I also have important things to discuss with you. So it would be best that you sit and eat." Yhwach sat on his seat as he cut his steaks into pieces; Esmeralda sat silently. "Now, you must be wondering what is going to happen. You will be happy to know we won't stay here long."

This caught made her feel nervous. "What?"

"I know Sosuke and my brothers will find out that you're missing and will do everything in their power to find the location. However, I have the best hackers and online security. I made sure to hide my tracks."

"You are so sure of yourself."

Yhwach smirked as he took a bite of his steak. "I am. My dear, I didn't get to my position by being a soft fool. You and I will move to Europe."

Esmeralda's eyes became wide. "Wh-What!?"

"It was always my plan to retire to my homeland in Romania, and you will join me."

"To hell with that! I'm not going with you! I would rather die!"

"I knew you would say something like that, my dear. However, your poor father will suffer. Bradley went to Europe as planned to get the materials. My idiot brother doesn't know I halted the order of the materials."

Esmeralda felt her heart drop. "Why?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

Esmeralda bit her lower lip as she looked at her food. "They will find me, Sosuke, and the others."

Yhwach took a sip of his wine. "You are very confident."

"I am, Sosuke is intelligent. His love for me will never let him give up, like my love for him will never let me give up hope."

Yhwach squeezed his glass cup but let out a deep breath. "Well, I'm going to rid of them, one by one. I'm sure Bradley is choking on his blood."

"What are you talking about?"

"I knew that Bradley would go to Germany to order the materials. The old fool. Let's say that I sent him a little farewell gift."

Esmeralda's eyes became wide. "N-No! It's not true! He's your brother!"

"He and the rest are nothing more than bastards. Once they're all gone, no one will get in my way. I will leave Sosuke for last; I will enjoy getting rid of that mistake."

The young stood from her seat. "You are willing to kill your own family! You are sick, just like your father!"

Yhwach stilled; his eyes became a little wide. "What did you say?"

Esmeralda was breathing heavily but tried to calm herself. "Mr. Bradley told me everything about your father, mother, and Integra. I now know why you became what you are! You were born to parents who didn't love you! The truth is, you're jealous of your brothers and Sosuke!"

The older man stood from his seat. "Ridiculous."

"I see it now. You're jealous that your brothers could get the love and affection from your father and their mother, Integra, while you lived in despair and loneliness." Esmeralda let down some tears. "I hate you, even now, but I can't help but feel sad for you. After your father killed Integra, he became insane with despair. He blamed you for ruining his chance of happiness with another family he created."

Yhwach's body began to tremble. "Silence."

"That's always your answer for everything, Yhwach! When people get close to the truth, you try to silence it instead of facing it. That's why you could never be in peace. That's why you live in your misery. You just wanted someone to answer your cry for help all your life. You are filled with pain that you try to drown it with pleasure and silence. Do you think what you're doing is the right way? It will only hurt you, Yhwach. You are getting in your way!"

"I said silence!" yelled Yhwach.

"I won't be silent anymore, Yhwach. You need to hear the truth that you desperately tried to destroy! You were never loved, Yhwach, not the way you wanted. You don't love me, Yhwach. It's nothing more than just a sick obsession. I can never give you the love you want! I love Sosuke, and he will always be the man I want to be with!"

Suddenly, Yhwach got a hold of her neck, squeezing it tightly. Esmeralda struggled to breathe. She also noticed Yhwach's crazed look; his icy blue eyes turned red. It was a frightening sight.

"You think you know everything about me!? Well, you're wrong, my dear! You're wrong about everything! I've waited too long for this, and I will not have you or anyone ruin this moment! I will make sure to rid the world of everyone you hold dear, and you will have nothing to depend on but me!" Yhwach's smile got even more sadistic. "You will become mine, whether you like it or not! You will be my wife and will have my children! This is my vow to you! I would rather you die than let Sosuke have you!" Yhwach let her go.

Esmeralda fell to the floor, coughing, trying to regain her breathing. Yhwach got out of the room and locked it. All he felt was rage. "She dares say those things to me! The audacity of her! I have to break her faith and hope of her being rescued. It's time to put the rest of my plan in motion!"

...

Sosuke, Ace, Gol D, and the rest were in the private house where Esmeralda was taken. Anselmo was asleep from the drugs he was given to ease his pain. He was left alone to rest. Sosuke and everyone were in the living room, waiting for a call from Bradley. There was nothing. Sosuke was pacing around; his hands were on his hair, making his slicked-back hair disarray. "It's all my fault! I can't believe I fell for that son of a bitch's trick!"

His uncles could only look at their nephew; they tried to calm him down, but it was pointless. Also, the brothers didn't tell Amelia what happened; it would have worsened her health. However, Ace told his father and uncles what Bradley ordered. Issa was sitting on the kitchen table with two laptops in front of him.

"Cuz, ya gotta calm down. I know you're unhappy with what Uncle Brad planned, but we need to get Yhwach's tracks to strike. Once we know Esmeralda's location, we must make the right plan to rescue her."

Gol D. walked forward. "Ace is right, Sosuke. Trust me; we want nothing more than getting Esmeralda back, but knowing Yhwach, he might have taken extra steps to hide his tracks."

Ace glared at his father. "So what you're saying is that we might not find her!?"

"All I'm saying is that we have to take careful tracks. This shows us that Yhwach has gotten mad, and Esmeralda is his only sense of sanity."

Everyone was quiet. Ace couldn't help but shiver at the statement.

"Roger, even though Yhwach is smart in his way, there has to be a simple mistake that he must have made," said Vlad. He noticed Issa's serious face. "Issa, any luck?"

Issa massaged his eyes. "He is careful to hide his tracks. If I had to guess, he probably hired professional hackers and other tech guys." Issa noticed his nephews, especially Sosuke, looking distraught. He felt terrible for them; as a father to four daughters, he couldn't imagine losing any of them. Issa didn't treat women very well when he was younger, but his wife and daughters made him a changed man. "However, I haven't checked his phone records." Issa kept on working; his nephews and brothers stood behind him.

Everyone watched as Issa worked. To his surprise, Yhwach's phone records were available. Vlad smiled. "I thought so. Yhwach never put to mind his phone records. He focused more on his laptop."

"I wouldn't be so sure; it seems a firewall is trying to block me. I need to find any important information." Issa tried hard to scroll down to find any clues or any names of importance. That's when he saw one specific number he recognized and that Yhwach called frequently. Suddenly, the phone records were blocked from his view.

"Did you find anything, Uncle?" asked Sosuke.

"I noticed a familiar number Yhwach called a lot; it's Jugram's."

Everyone was still. Ace scratched his head. "Hey, but I thought Yhwach and Jugram didn't like each other much. Since Yhwach found out that Jugram is gay, he didn't communicate with him much."

Sosuke bit his lip. "Jugram indicated that he and Yhwach kept in touch at the party. Why didn't I think of this before!?"

Vlad got a hold of his nephew's shoulders. "Don't blame yourself, Sosuke. None of us suspected that this would have happened." Suddenly, Vlad noticed something on the walls; he went to it."

"What is it?" asked Gol D.

Vlad got a hold of something small. "It looks like a camera." His eyes became wide. "Yhwach has put cameras in this house!"

Everyone was in shock. Issa stood and got a hold of the camera. "It looks like it's off for now. It's unsafe being here; we must move Esmeralda's father away from here."

Sosuke's eyes became wide. He couldn't believe it. Yhwach found out where they were keeping Metztli hidden. It would have never been enough, no matter what he or his uncle did. It also meant that Yhwach heard their conversation, his confession to Metztli. That might have been Yhwach's breaking point. However, Sosuke knew it wasn't the time to feel guilt. "Uncles, take Anselmo to a safe place, please."

Everyone looked at him. "Cuz, are ya thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sosuke merely nodded. Gol D stood forward. "If you're considering confronting Jugram, I'm going with both of you. I'm afraid that you both will lose your tempers. You need someone who needs to calm you both."

"I will take Anselmo to my home. My wife, Lisa, is an herbalist, so for now, Anselmo can take some traditional medicine to ease his pain," said Vlad.

"You all contact me once you get something from Jugram. I can help with directions."

Everyone went to do what they had to do.

...

In a cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, a large wooden house was lit by lights with a car parked. In a room, a bed was creaking, and moans and groans echoed throughout the house. Unohana was bare as she was on top of her lover, Kenpachi. Kenpachi held onto Unohana's waist as she rode on top of him. His cock was inside her; he felt close to cumming.

The sight of her large breasts bouncing made him even more excited. He then moved his hips upward; his cock hit her g-spot, making Unohana moan louder as she came on him. Kenpachi's grip on her tightened as his thrust became more erratic. He let out a loud groan as he came inside of her. Both breathed heavily as Unohana slowly got off Kenpachi and lay beside him. It had been a month since she and Kenpachi had vacationed in Big Bear. Unohana invited her sons, Starrk and Tsukishima, to join them. Her sons accepted the invitation and stayed for the week.

Her sons work with her since they were never close to their father. They knew they were born out of obligation, but Unohana loved and raised her sons. However, Kenpachi helped raise the boys; they viewed Kenpachi as more of a father figure than Yhwach. Starrk announced his girlfriend was pregnant and would marry in a small ceremony. Tsukishima announced that his business idea was accepted and would be moving to Japan. Unohana was happy and proud of her sons. She grew up in a loveless childhood and had a loveless marriage, but her sons and Kenpachi held her together.

At the moment, she and Kenpachi lay beside one another. "We have to go back home tomorrow; it would be nice if we could stay here longer," said Kenpachi.

"I agree; I haven't felt this much peace in a while."

Kenpachi gently moved his hand up and down on his beloved's arm. "Unohana, I have been thinking about this for a while. I know your father was quite an asshole when he and Yhwach's father made it almost impossible to get your share if divorce happened." Kenpachi was silent for a bit. "Who cares about the share? Why don't you get divorced from Yhwach?"

Unohana sighed. "I told you many times, Kenpachi. We need that money to-"

"You think I care about the money? Being with you and your sons is my only sense of happiness. I have worked for so many years and saved a lot of money. You may not know this, but your sons have been saving too."

Unohana looked at Kenpachi. "What are you trying to say?"

Kenpachi let out a slight smirk. "Your sons and I have been saving money, and we bought a decent house to live in. Everything is paid for. It may not be as big as the mansion we lived in, but we can sell it and live in our home. Has money ever made you happy?"

Unohana was too shocked to say anything. If she divorced Yhwach, then she would lose everything. The same would go for Yhwach, so neither asked for a divorce. However, she didn't care about the money but only stayed married for her sons' and Kenpachi's sake. Yet, Unohana didn't know what they were doing behind closed doors.

"Look, we all saved money where we can live comfortably. You can sell or rent the homes in your name. I know it can be hard to leave everything you had, but-"

Unohana kissed him. "I never thought you all would do this. It's true; money brought nothing but misery. I will inform Yhwach that I will be divorcing him."

Kenpachi sat up as he got something from the cabinet next to him: a small box. "I know this is not the romantic way, but you know how I am." He opened it. Unohana's eyes were wide as she saw a small diamond ring. "When you divorce the bastard, will you marry me?"

Unohana felt her heart pounding as she saw the ring. She had always dreamed of this moment. She smiled and fell on top of Kenpachi. "Yes, I will marry you." They kissed.

Suddenly, Kenpachi heard a noise from the outside. He immediately got off the bed and put on his robe. "I heard something outside. Wait here and put that ring on for me, will you?" Unohana nodded as she put the ring on her finger and got dressed. Kenpachi went downstairs to go outside. He was annoyed that coyotes were making the noise. As he got out, he looked everywhere, but nothing was in sight. "It better not be you annoying coyotes, or I will skin y'all alive!"

Then, he heard gunshots coming from the other side of the house where Unohana was at. Kenpachi's eyes became wide. To his surprise, as he ran inside the house, he saw a dozen men all in black with machine guns. "What the hell!?" Guns were fired at Kenpachi, and he was shot everywhere. His thoughts were on Unohana as blood spilled on the floor; he felt no pain. "Unohana."

As for Unohana, she lay on the bed, drenched with her blood. She was about to reach for her sword when she saw figures outside. However, they were quicker. She was shot multiple times and knew that she was going to die. Unohana also knew that they had gotten to Kenpachi. Tears formed as she looked at the ring Kenpachi proposed to her. She would finally be freed from Yhwach, but he sent his men to kill her and Kenpachi. It made her wonder why. That's when she realized it had something to do with Esmeralda. She should have felt anguish and sadness for everything, but all she could feel was sadness for the young woman. Also, she felt sad that she and Kenpachi could never live what they wanted. No, they did.

She and Kenpachi never had the opportunity to be married, but they lived together as a family and were happy. Unohana smiled as blood and tears dripped. "Keep it all...Yhwach. I won...in the end." Unohana became motionless; her eyes looked like they were at the ring filled with blood.