Without receiving a reply from Shane Warner, Audrey Sutton felt increasingly uneasy.
She stood by the window in the room, looking toward the hotel entrance.
Anna, unaware of the situation, began interacting with her reflection on the glass.
Audrey, preoccupied, returned to the room where everyone was gathered without engaging in playti with the child.
Anna sat on the carpet playing with toys alongside a few other kids, while Audrey distractedly went to the corridor window several tis to look.
She anxiously awaited Shane’s reply, hoping he would return to her soon.
Although there was no particularly bad sign at the mont, she inexplicably felt uneasy, as if sothing was about to happen.
As half an hour passed, the ssage she sent still hadn’t received a response.
Audrey hesitated by the window, then dialed Shane’s number.
In the deserted police office, the faint sound of a phone ringing ca from a drawer at the desk, unnoticed by anyone.
Audrey listened to the "beep beep" of the call until it automatically hung up, without hearing Shane’s voice.
Just as Audrey was puzzled and worriedly putting away her phone, she suddenly saw several black cars stop in front of the hotel.
Audrey squinted, watching closely, as n in matching black suits quickly exited the other vehicles and surrounded the lead car.
When the bodyguards opened the car door, the person sitting inside finally got out.
It was a man in a red and black suit, with flamboyant flowers and colors on it, sporting a slicked-back hairstyle, wearing sunglasses, and a large gold chain around his neck, visible to Audrey from upstairs.
She watched the man step out of the car, stand by its side, waiting for a woman to erge from the other side.
The woman had long wavy hair, wore a short leather skirt, and red high heels, naturally linking arms with the man.
Audrey, slightly nearsighted, couldn’t clearly see the faces of the people downstairs.
Seeing the two turn around, and with a dozen bodyguards in tow, heading toward the hotel, Audrey quickly took out her phone and zood in on the cara to photograph them.
Though the man wore sunglasses, Shane had styled his hair in a similar slicked-back fashion before, and from the neck up, Audrey could almost be sure it was Shane.
However, the man’s flamboyant outfit was a world apart from Shane’s style, causing Audrey so hesitation.
Could it just be soone who resembled Shane closely?
But thinking of how Shane hadn’t responded to her ssage or call for so long, strange and peculiar thoughts and suspicions filled Audrey’s mind.
The more she stared at the person in the photo, the stronger her conviction that it was Shane grew, as if an inexplicable feeling was drawing her in.
With this thought, Audrey moved to the elevator.
She quietly watched one elevator travel from the first to the fifth floor.
She imdiately took the adjacent elevator down to the fifth floor.
As the elevator numbers slowly decreased, her anxiety grew.
"Ding-dong—"
When the elevator doors opened, it was eerily quiet outside. Before stepping out, she glanced up and saw the group of bodyguards spaced out along the corridor.
The sight halted Audrey’s curiosity, leaving her stunned inside the elevator. A quick glance around revealed the man and woman had already disappeared into a room on that floor.
The two bodyguards nearest to the elevator turned at the sound and looked towards Audrey. The one closest to the door glanced at her and then asked coldly, "Who are you?"
Audrey swallowed nervously, pressed her lips together, and replied, "...I’m looking for soone."
Without asking whom she sought, the guard responded directly, "You’ve got the wrong place. This floor is reserved for the boss outside; you should look elsewhere."
Though Audrey suspected many things, she dared not act rashly alone.
Especially since she already knew this place was unusual, and these people seed suspicious, probably not good people.
After being told off, Audrey awkwardly nodded, closing the elevator door.
But gazing at the photo on her phone, she still couldn’t shake the feeling it was Shane.
Thinking it might be a misconception, upon returning upstairs, Audrey showed the photo to a few other friends.
Flora Lane, after examining the photo, analytically said, "The face shape does resemble your husband, but I rember he didn’t have this hairstyle when he left."
Lucian Quinn, standing by, seed to have sothing to say but remained silent.
Seraphina Vaughn dismissively comnted, "You must be crazy to see your husband. It’s likely just a resemblance. When has your husband ever had such poor taste in clothes? This flashy suit and big gold chain, could that really be your husband?"
Barry Barrett, rubbing his chin, nodded, "Brother Seraphina makes a good point. But I have to say, judging just by the photo, despite the tacky outfit, the man carries it well. The vibe indeed resembles the Third Young Master."
"Let see, let see." Phoebe King reached for the phone, squinting and rotating it at several angles. Her conclusion was: "Probably your husband’s long-lost brother. The resemblance is there, but the outfit’s off. Besides, how could your husband possibly be holding another woman?"
Flora Lane: "That’s an ironclad logic. There’s no way the Third Young Master would be with another woman, so this person definitely isn’t your husband."
Phoebe jokingly said, "Why didn’t you go ask them? Maybe you’d find a new relative."
Laura Yates craned her neck to take a look, murmuring, "Why does that woman look familiar to ?"
Audrey was stunned for a mont, then quickly enlarged the photo to show a clearer view of the woman’s face, and asked Laura Yates, "Do you recognize her, Sister-in-law?"
Laura scrutinized it for a mont, shook her head, and said, "I just feel like I’ve seen her sowhere before, but I can’t rember where. I must be mistaken."
Lucian Quinn had seen the girl at the police station. Though she’d changed outfits, he recognized her imdiately.
The first thought that crossed Lucian’s mind about Shane’s outfit, which was entirely out of character, was that Shane had co to the hotel with another woman, fearing Audrey would recognize him and thus dressed up this way intentionally.
Now, his mind was filled with a single piece of information: Shane has been cheating.
He looked at the puzzled Audrey and then at Anna, babbling on the carpet, already feeling regret and pity for this once-happy family.
He even began thinking about how to persuade Shane to change his ways, to cherish the present, to turn back before it was too late, and live a good life with his wife and child.
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