Audrey Sutton gave him a playful glance and joked, "Don’t say that in front of my husband."
"No more jokes." Jasper Jones glanced at Vanessa Sterling again and quietly asked Audrey Sutton, "Does Vanessa have a boyfriend?"
Audrey rembered that Vanessa had ntioned her crush was already married. If Jasper liked her, there was no harm in giving it a shot. Whether it would work out depended on their own fate.
"Not yet, but Vanessa is only twenty. I’m not sure if she’s in a hurry to start dating. You could try."
Jasper sighed, "That’s what I’m afraid of. I’ll be twenty-seven by the end of the year. What if she thinks I’m too old?"
"If you can make her like you, age won’t be an issue."
Just like how she liked Shane Warner.
Even though Jasper was twenty-seven, he still looked like an overgrown kid.
He’s quite famous in the circle. Audrey had heard of him, but this was the first ti they t in person at this event.
Though their interaction was short, Audrey found Jasper to be a pretty decent guy.
For instance, during als, he would take the lead in livening up the atmosphere and be considerate of everyone’s feelings. He seed like a warm, humorous guy.
For soone as introverted as Vanessa, perhaps Jasper’s fiery personality could spark sothing.
After finishing a phone call, Vanessa walked over. It was unclear if it was Miles Sterling who had called, but she seed a bit gloomier after the call.
Jasper proactively struck up a conversation, "Vanessa, long ti no see. Last ti at your signing event, I wanted to catch up, but unfortunately, I got stuck in traffic and missed it."
Vanessa seed to snap back from the call, smiled at Jasper, and said, "Why bother with the signing event? Just ask the editorial departnt to send you a couple of books directly."
"Having a signature makes all the difference!"
Vanessa joked back, "Hurry, give a pen, and I’ll sign two for you."
Audrey noticed that the two seed already familiar with each other. When talking with Jasper, Vanessa’s tone beca more cheerful, making Audrey think there might be sothing between them.
Feeling like a third wheel, she said, "You guys chat. I’m going to feed General."
As Audrey walked towards her tent, she looked for General’s figure.
Suddenly, she realized there was no sign of General anywhere.
The group that had been playing with General was now sitting on the grass, playing cards.
Audrey approached and asked, "Have you seen General?"
A man with glasses responded, "I just saw him lying and sunbathing over there."
"Try looking around the tents."
Crystal Wilson urged, "Hey, hurry up and play your card."
Audrey frowned and searched around the tents, calling General’s na.
At ho, he usually appeared imdiately when called once or twice.
But even after checking all the tents, General was still nowhere to be seen.
Audrey began to panic, rembering Shane’s reminder to take good care of General. What if she lost him?
She opened her own tent but didn’t see General inside, her eyes starting to well up with tears.
She had hoped to find General peacefully asleep inside the tent...
No one seed to notice her anxiety; everyone was busy with their own activities.
Audrey walked a long way along the lakeside, but there was no sign of General, neither by the lake nor on the shore.
With a trembling voice, she sent Shane a voice ssage on her phone: "I think I lost General... What do I do?"
As soon as Shane got off the plane, he received the ssage.
Her voice was tearful, and even through the phone, he could imagine how anxious she must have been when she sent it.
He checked the ti the ssage was sent, half an hour ago.
While heading out of the airport, he called her, "Have you found him yet?"
Upon hearing his voice, Audrey’s long-suppressed emotions nearly broke down. She seed to be crying, trying hard to speak steadily, "I can’t find him. I’ve looked everywhere... He seems really gone. I’m sorry, I didn’t take good care of him..."
Hearing her nearly crying, Shane wished he could be by her side at that mont: "Don’t worry, wait for , don’t cry. It’s okay, I’m coming over right now."
Audrey didn’t expect that instead of blaming her, he would use such a reassuring tone to soothe her anxiety.
After Laura Yates learned about General’s disappearance, she gathered people to help find him, but Audrey had little hope.
She had already searched everywhere she thought possible.
Now she was terrified that General might have drowned in the lake...
Jasper tried to comfort her, "Dogs have a good sense of direction. Don’t worry too much, maybe he just went out to play and will co back soon."
Audrey still wore a dejected expression, worried about how to face Shane later.
Noticing Jasper suddenly looking behind her with a smile, he patted her shoulder and said, "Here cos your emotional support."
"Not only did you lose my dog, but you’re also flirting with so wild man outside?"
Hearing that voice, Audrey quickly turned around, and upon seeing the man standing behind her, tears began to fall uncontrollably again.
Shane frowned, pulled her close, and gently wiped the tears from her face with his slightly rough fingertips, saying, "You’re never calm in a crisis; you just know how to cry."
Audrey felt guilty and self-reproachful, thinking that such a well-behaved dog was lost because of her and she might never see him again.
"Audrey, haven’t you found the dog yet?"
Audrey turned her head, looking at Crystal Wilson in confusion. Crystal’s sudden approach seed suspicious to Audrey, making her think she might have had a hand in this.
But the next mont, Audrey realized Crystal ca over because Shane was there.
Crystal turned to Shane and said, "When Audrey ntioned the dog went missing, everyone’s been helping to search, we haven’t even had lunch, but unfortunately, we still haven’t found the dog."
Turns out she was there to claim credit, but Audrey distinctly rembered that when she asked about General’s whereabouts, Crystal was urging her card-playing friends to hurry up.
When Laura Yates gathered everyone to search, Crystal was just leisurely sitting at the dining table, cracking sunflower seeds with her friends.
Shane glanced at Crystal, uncertain about her relationship with Audrey, only responding with a polite "thank you," then led Audrey away.
"I don’t like her," Audrey said sullenly, sounding a bit childish.
Shane was taken aback, chuckled lightly, and asked, "Why? Did she bully you?"
Audrey didn’t respond, rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, and pulled her spirits together to ask Shane, "You know General better. Where do you think he would go? Let’s go look again?"
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