Chapter 24
‘How much does she hate me for not answering my phone! Nathan wondered. He walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and saw Jayden place Paisley on the swing in the garden.
Paisley sat on the swing, her hair falling to her shoulders and fluttering in the wind Jayden stood behind her and pushed the swing gently. Only then did Paisley beam.
Cassidy and Josiah walked out of the police station. The sky had already turned dark, and she suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness. The police were retrieving surveillance footage along the road, but they hadn’t found anything yet.
Josiah, attuned to Cassidy’s inner anxiety despite her silence, comforted her, “Don’t worry. Paisley will be fine.”
Cassidy voiced her confusion, “I can’t make sense of it.”
“Huh?” Josiah mumbled.
“I can’t figure out who took Paisley, Cassidy said. It was neither Nathan nor the Jensen family. Just then, her gaze fell on Josiah’s watch. Suddenly, she thought of something and grabbed his hand. “Do you have a laptop in your car?”
“Yes. What’s wrong? Josiah asked.
“Give it to me,” Cassidy said.
Once settled in the car, Josiah handed her the laptop. Cassidy swiftly navigated to a program, entering commands to access a complex interface. As she keyed in the program code, she explained, “Remember the bracelet I got for Paisley?”
“Yeah. She was wearing it today,” Josiah affirmed.
“It contains a GPS tracking chip. I’ll attempt to locate her, Cassidy remarked as the screen finally displayed a coordinate. She clicked on it, revealing that the bracelet was at Cypress Residential
‘Cypress Residential Cassidy was no stranger to it–the leading high–end mansion district in Broburgh, developed by Cypress Corporation. She didn’t expect that Paisley’s bracelet was located in the Howell residence.
‘Is Paisley with Nathan? But he claimed Paisley was not there. He was lying,’ she concluded.
Seeing Cassidy’s gloomy expression, Josiah was nervous. “Have you found it?”
Cassidy raised her eyes and said coldly, “Yes. The bracelet is in the Howell residence”
Josiah was stunned. “Didn’t Nathan say that Paisley wasn’t there?”
Cassidy scoffed. “I don’t know what his game is. I’ll go to the Howell residence.”
Josiah grabbed her hand. Tll take you there.”
Cassidy hesitated briefly before nodding. “Hmm.”
“Bounce the ball, watch it fly. Up so high into the sky. Just as Nathan walked into the garden, he heard a child singing a nursery rhyme. Following the voice, he discovered Paisley engrossed in a ball game.
Her hands were so small that sometimes she couldn’t catch the ball when it bounced off the ground, causing it to roll to one side. When this happened, she would run to where the ball had fallen, bend down, pick it up, hold it in her arms, return to her spot, and throw it again. Jayden did the counting.
Paisley enjoyed bouncing balls. The more she bounced them, the greater her sense of achievement. She was happily slapping the ball while singing a few lines of a nursery rhyme. Suddenly, she hit the ball too hard, and it rolled toward Nathan, Nathan. bent down to pick it up.
“Stop rolling.” Paisley chased after the ball, and in her haste, she tripped and fell to the ground, dumbfounded.
Nathan stopped picking up the ball. Jayden looked at Paisley nervously, fearing she might break into tears in pain.
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12:22 PM
Chapter 21
However, Paisley did not cry. After a pause, she rose from the ground slowly, dusting herself off, and approached Nathan. Standing before him, she gazed up at him and instinctively reached for the ball.
Somehow, Nathan wanted to tease her and playfully raised the ball just out of Paisley’s reach. Annoyed, she huffed in frustration. This man is so naughty!”
Nathan slowly squatted down in front of her. This time. Paisley didn’t dodge and wasn’t as afraid of him as before. She just turned sideways, clearly unwilling to talk to him. Her cheeks puffed out in anger, making people want to gently poke them.
Nathan raised his hand and gently touched her face. “She is so adorable, he thought. The warmth beneath his fingertips reached Nathan’s heart, softening his usually cold expression. He casually placed the ball on his fingertips, and with a quick turn, the ball spun rapidly.
This instantly attracted Paisley’s attention. She looked at him in awe, wondering if he knew magic. Her eyes were fixated on the twirling ball, completely enchanted.
Right then, Jayden walked over. Nathan passed the ball to him and asked, “Feeling hungry?”
Jayden shook his head and asked Paisley, “Are you hungry?”
“No,” Paisley said. Jayden brought a lot of desserts to her in the evening, and she still felt full now.
“Mr. Nathan Howell” A servant suddenly walked to the garden and said respectfully, “Mr. Jensen and Mrs. Jensen are here.
Nathan stood up and turned around. “What are they doing here!”
“Ms. Jensen is also here. Mr. David Howell wants to see you,” the servant continued.
“Got it,” Nathan said and turned to Jayden. “You guys play first.”
“Okay,” Jayden responded. Then, he asked Paisley. “What do you want to play?”
“Your house is really big. Paisley smiled at Jayden. “Let’s play hide–and–seek, okay?”
“Okay” Jayden naturally complied with her wish and took her hand. They went off to play hide–and–seek..
Upon entering the living room, Nathan spotted Kenny and Samantha seated there. Meanwhile, Meredith sat beside David, tears glistening in her eyes, appearing deeply aggrieved.
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