Mr. Payne had been by Yates Donovan’s side ever since he graduated from college.
Among their colleagues, he was likely the one who understood Yates Donovan best.
At first, he hadn’t wanted to work for this lunatic, always feeling like he was one second away from being hacked to death.
But after working with him for a while, he discovered that Yates Donovan was far more perceptive and sensitive than most people.
’So he wasn’t a lunatic at all. He just saw things from a different perspective.’
Still, for all his sensitivity, this was the first ti he’d ever seen him cry.
To an outsider, that single tear would have looked exactly like a crocodile tear.
Only those who truly understood him knew how devastated he was.
There was no screaming or wailing, no frantic outburst. It was as if a sudden wave of sorrow had simply washed over him, and an irrepressible pain began to spread. His expression was desolate. His eyes seed to smile, yet they looked so utterly mournful.
Forget crying—Mr. Payne had never even seen him wear such an expression before.
It was bizarre.
Mr. Payne began to recall what he had just overheard.
He didn’t know what Miss Grant had said on the other end of the line.
But he’d heard what Yates Donovan said.
’The two of them didn’t sound like they were arguing. It was more like... flirting.’
’At least, just listening to Yates Donovan’s side of it, he sounded pretty childish.’
’And it had been a while since they hung up. Why start crying all of a sudden?’
From the words he’d just spoken, Mr. Payne could be certain it had sothing to do with Mia Grant.
’But... he couldn’t figure out why.’
Before he could dwell on it, the man in the back seat had already composed himself. "How’s that matter I had you look into?"
Mr. Payne snapped back to reality and looked up again.
The man was still lounging lazily, leaning against the center console. A careless smile played in his eyes, making it seem as if the teardrop from monts ago had been a fignt of Mr. Payne’s imagination.
"Hm?" The man raised an eyebrow, eting his brazen gaze.
At the sound, Mr. Payne imdiately averted his eyes and reported, "After our investigation, we found the orphanage where Miss Grant was adopted from."
"But it’s been too long, and the building was torn down ages ago. I did, however, get in touch with the director from that ti. After a brief phone call, she told that Miss Grant arrived at the orphanage when she was about three. A good Samaritan had found her in Adjacen and brought her to the police station."
"But because they could never find her family, the police sent her to the local orphanage."
"In almost the sa year, Miss Serena Grant went missing. Not long after, Mrs. Grant ca to the orphanage in Adjacen and took Miss Grant away."
"Did you ask for details?"
Mr. Payne nodded. "But it was too long ago, and the director is quite old now. She said there were too many children, and she couldn’t recall certain details off the top of her head."
"If there’s anything else you want to ask, I’ll have Annie pay her a visit first thing in the morning and inquire further."
"Ask if Yuna Hughes specifically chose her."
"Yes, Sir." Mr. Payne said, looking down to text Annie in Jynsia. "Are you trying to help Miss Grant find her family?"
"Based on what we know so far, the outlook isn’t very optimistic."
"How so?" Yates Donovan looked over.
Mr. Payne put away his phone and turned around. "Well, you see, Miss Grant was found in Adjacen, so she’s most likely from there. It’s highly unlikely a two or three-year-old could have wandered very far on her own."
"So, Annie checked with the police. From the year Miss Grant was sent to the orphanage up until now, there hasn’t been a single report of a missing girl filed with the Adjacen police that matches Miss Grant’s age or appearance."
"It’s not just Adjacen. We also checked Jynsia and a couple of other neighboring cities. While there were so matches for her age, the ti they went missing and their descriptions didn’t line up."
As he spoke, Mr. Payne scrolled through his phone, found a photo in a long chat history, and sent it to Yates Donovan. "This is a photo we found in the Adjacen police archives."
"We’ve been using this photo to coordinate with police in other cities, and there really haven’t been any matches."
Mr. Payne had sent the full-resolution photo. The reception in the car was poor, and Yates Donovan stared at the blurry image as it struggled to load.
’He’d never been this anxious before.’
Yates Donovan repeatedly closed and reopened the image. After several attempts, the photo finally finished loading.
It was the photo the police had taken at the ti.
A little girl was being held in the arms of a policewoman, her nose red from crying.
She had been beautiful even as a child, though she was more cute than anything back then. Now, she had blossod.
Mr. Payne was still reporting, "Based on our joint analysis with the police, there are only two possibilities."
"Either Miss Grant’s family isn’t from the Adjacen area. But this is less likely. Because even if she’d been abducted, a child that young wouldn’t have been able to escape."
"The other possibility is that she wasn’t lost or abducted, but... abandoned."
"..."
At this point, Mr. Payne carefully checked the man’s expression and lowered his voice. "The latter is highly probable. So if that’s the case, I personally think... there’s no point in searching any further."
"If we find them, it will only bring Miss Grant more trouble."
"For her, it probably wouldn’t be a happy reunion."
"After all, she just escaped the Grant family, only to be thrown into another tiger’s den, even if it *is* her family’s ho..."
"And what if her family has so precious son they’re trying to set up for life? Miss Grant would just be ’sold off’ all over again."
"They might even see how well Miss Grant is doing now and co crawling out of the woodwork to harass her."
Hearing this, the man in the back seat looked up with a smile.
The faint light from the phone screen reflected on the side of his face, adding a trace of warmth to his smile.
But the next second, his words sent a chill down one’s spine.
"When did I ever say I was going to send her ho?"
"Then why are you going to all this trouble to find her family?"
"To kill them."
"What?" Mr. Payne’s mind went completely blank.
"Once you find them, kill them all."
"..."
He switched off the phone and tossed it onto the empty seat beside him with a dull thud.
"To prevent the situations you ntioned from ever happening... once they’re found, the entire family... Don’t leave a single one alive."
"You planned to do this... from the very beginning?"
"What else?"
"...I thought you wanted Miss Grant to reunite with her family."
’So this was about preventing future problems before they could even start. A preemptive strike to eliminate any potential threats.’
"Has Miss Grant ever ntioned anything about her childhood to you? Perhaps a clue that could help us find them sooner?"
"No." As the word left his lips, an image surfaced in Yates Donovan’s mind.
He paused, then called out to Mr. Payne again. The assistant imdiately turned, his gaze snapping back to him.
"Yes, Sir!"
The man’s gaze was ice-cold. "Have your people check for any won in Adjacen whose husbands died shortly after they gave birth to a daughter, and who later remarried."
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