He looked at me and frowned. “Sienna, I’m just as anxious about this as you are.”
I sneered. “So what? She’s been with me for four years. I’ve been with her and caring for her all the time since I was always worried that something bad might happen to her. She’s only been with you for less than half a month, but you dare to tell me that she got lost? Jared, do you think you’ve qualified? Are you even qualified to be her father?”
Jared’s face paled. Just then, the waiter brought over his order.
He took in a breath before pushing the dessert toward me. Then, he said in a low voice, “Sienna, I must admit that this is my fault. However, the most important thing now is to find Summer.”
I simply pressed my lips together and stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
“I’ve checked the surveillance footage and all the cameras on the roads around Crest Residence. There’s still no trace of her.”
He then looked me in the eye and asked solemnly, “Sienna, do you have any enemies?”
I frowned, looking at him in shock. “Are you suspecting that someone took Summer because of their hatred for me?”
He replied, “Not many people in the Crest family know of Summer’s identity, so our long-time enemies couldn’t possibly have found out about her so quickly.”
I sneered. Looking at him, I could not help but laugh. “Jared, I’d always thought you were pretty smart, but I’m doubtful now. If someone really wanted to capture Summer because of me, why didn’t they do anything while I was in R Province for four years? Why did they choose to do it only when Summer was in a heavily guarded place like the Crest Residence?”
I paused, then continued, “Also, you said that not many people know of Summer’s identity. But the Crest family has over twenty people. Do they know of Summer’s identity?”
He frowned, then nodded after a while.
“So, do you seriously think that out of the twenty-odd people in your family, all of them only have good intentions toward Summer? I was born in a small family, so I don’t know about whatever scheming that goes on in a big family like yours. But for so many years, you’ve just been hanging around Anthony and not interfering in your family business. I’m sure you know why you did that.”
Summer’s disappearance had happened so quickly that we had neither evidence nor witnesses. There was no way to confirm the details of what happened.
However, although I only said those words because Jared angered me, there was a possibility that this was part of the Crest family’s plan.
Judging by Jared’s darkening expression, it seemed as though he was starting to have his own guesses.
After a pause, he looked at me. “I’ll definitely find Summer.”
It was both a guarantee for me and a promise to himself.
I simply sat there in silence.
Then, John called to ask where I was. I gave him the hotel address before hanging up, then glanced at Jared before leaving the café without saying another word.
Anthony followed after me, but I simply ignored him and waited in the hotel lobby for John.
Anthony was always a prominent figure no matter where he went. Thus, many guests constantly looked over at him while we sat in the hotel’s lobby.
Both of us kept silent while waiting. He was sending messages on his phone the whole time, likely to settle his work matters.
About half an hour later, John arrived with Louis.
The two men had rushed over through the night and thus looked terrible. John stepped forward and said, “Don’t worry. Uncle Louis has already spoken to the police in W City. We’ll definitely be able to find Summer.”
Upon seeing him, my eyes started to well up with tears. The emotions that I had been repressing the past few days were finally released. Looking at him with reddened eyes, I nodded.
As Louis and Anthony conversed, a hotel room had been prepared for them.
John frowned when he noticed the weird atmosphere between Anthony and me. Before we stepped into the elevator, he asked, “Did you guys just argue?”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head, then looked up at him and smiled. “No. I’m just really worried about Summer.”
He stroked my hair helplessly and tried to soothe me. “Don’t worry. We’ll surely find her.”
Just as they entered their room, Louis got a call. The police had found a white teddy bear dog and were asking if we wanted to go over for a look.
Since we did not know the exact situation, we rushed over immediately. Our destination was an abandoned factory in the suburb of W City.
Although W City rarely snowed, it was constantly drizzling. As a result, the roads in the suburbs were muddy and difficult to drive through.
The area had been blocked off by the police. When we reached the entrance of the factory, a middle- aged man in police uniform came out to greet us.
He looked at Louis and said, “Mr. Stanhope, you’re finally here. We’ve been looking through all the traffic surveillance footage throughout W City for the past few days. Yesterday, we started a thorough search of all factories in W City. However, we didn’t find any children, but a white dog. You guys can go see if the dog was with the child when she got lost.”
Louis nodded as he kept silent and walked over composedly. My legs felt weak, and my heart was beating very quickly with anxiety.
The things in the factory were old and tattered. They looked to have been abandoned for a very long time.
We hurried in after the policeman, seeing many old items along the way. Although reinforcements and protective measures had been taken, many places in the factory still seemed to be falling apart.
“How did you find the dog?” asked Anthony as his eyes swept across the old factory.
The policeman who was leading the group could tell that Anthony was no ordinary person. “While we were carrying out our search and rescue, we noticed a lot of footprints around this area, so we followed them here.”
Anthony nodded. “It hasn’t been raining for very long. You can try to continue tracking the footprints.”
The policeman shook his head and sighed. “That’s what we thought at first. However, after we found the footprints, we noticed a lot of stray dogs around the area, and it also started to rain. The tracks have basically been washed off. There are mostly farms around here, so it’s not that easy to check thoroughly.”
When we entered the factory, the policeman turned to Louis and said, “Look, it’s here. Take a look and see if it’s something that was with the child when she got lost.”
Naturally, Louis did not recognize Snowfluff. He looked at me and said, “Letty, come over and see.”
I was feeling a little weak in the legs and had been trembling ever since I entered.
Looking at Snowfluff lying lifelessly on the ground, I instantly lost strength in my legs and started to fall to the ground.
Luckily, Anthony acted fast enough and caught me in time, hugging me tightly to himself. He stared at Snowfluff and frowned. “It’s Summer’s dog.”
When he was done speaking, he placed me on a chair and patted me on the arm. He said comfortingly, “Don’t worry. No news is good news. They have found Snowfluff, so they’ll be able to find Summer soon.”
I pressed my lips together as tears constantly flowed down my face. With a choked voice, I asked, “Will they harm Summer?”
He shook his head and looked at me with determination in his eyes. “Trust me, I won’t let anyone hurt Summer.”
He then walked over to look at Snowfluff’s corpse.
The forensic pathologist beside him said, “The dog was poisoned. The time of death was less than twelve hours.”
John glanced at the surroundings, then turned to the policeman who led us in. “Is there any surveillance footage around here?”
“This place has been abandoned for a very long time. It’s impossible that there’s any.”
I looked at Snowfluff and could not help but shut my eyes. Then, I turned to look at Jared.
There was a strange, cold feeling in my heart.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply