After the call, Pedro Langley didn’t complain, he just asked for the address, then hung up and let Nora Scott focus on driving.
"Seatbelt."
Tossing her phone aside, Nora Scott buckled her seatbelt with one hand. Before starting the engine, she gave Marcus Shaw a heads-up in advance.
Marcus Shaw was startled, hesitating for a mont to pull the seatbelt, not expecting Nora to already be making a turn, almost causing him to hit the car window.
"..."
Marcus silently fastened his seatbelt.
Since the city often has traffic jams and the tro is convenient, Nora usually takes the tro and rarely drives.
But that doesn’t an she’s bad at driving.
Typically, Marcus had an inkling that Nora drove "recklessly," but tonight was his first ti witnessing it.
During the city’s evening rush hour, with vehicles congested everywhere, Nora forcefully forged a path through, stopping at red lights, moving on green, adhering strictly to the speed limit of sixty kiloters per hour, yet she—overtook cars.
She maneuvered through spaces with extre agility.
Amidst what seed like normal speed, Marcus felt thrilling monts repeatedly, pondering whether Nora used to race cars.
—Otherwise, such explosive driving skills couldn’t have been honed.
"We’re here."
Nora drove the car to the mall at an unimpeded speed.
Once parked in the underground lot, Nora instructed Marcus to lead the way directly to the arcade on the fifth floor.
"Based on your understanding of him..." Inside the elevator, Nora asked, "Would he co to a place like this when he’s upset?"
After a brief pause, Marcus said, "He usually goes to the library."
"..."
Nora raised an eyebrow.
Marcus changed his tone and said, "But at this hour, the city library is closed."
"So?"
"I recomnded him to co to the arcade."
"..."
Nora gave Marcus a once-over.
What a "good brother."
She rarely has such an exemplary blood relative...
Feeling Nora’s gaze, Marcus hesitated, then lowered his baseball cap further down and explained, "To de-stress."
However, as soon as he finished speaking—
The baseball cap on his head was taken by Nora.
Surprised by the sudden lightness on his head, Marcus glanced to the side.
He saw Nora pinching the hat’s brim and putting the cap on herself, pressing it down to cover her eyes.
Slanting her eyes at Marcus, Nora explained casually, "Forgot my sunglasses."
"..."
Marcus remained silent.
In a place like the mall, with Nora’s current level of fa, a baseball cap probably wouldn’t suffice.
The elevator doors opened, and the pair walked out.
Sure enough, just as they stepped out, soone recognized Nora.
Though the two walked quickly, so people snapped pictures even faster, with so not even bothering to turn off the flash, as if afraid others wouldn’t know where they were shooting from.
Getting photographed a few tis wouldn’t cost much, and though Nora was slightly frustrated by the comic artist-boosted fa, she resigned and didn’t bother with them.
...
Before long, they reached the arcade.
"It’s big." At the entrance, Nora scanned the scene, marveled briefly, then swiftly suggested to Marcus, "Let’s split up and search."
"Hmm."
Marcus nodded slightly.
At the parking lot, Marcus had checked the phone’s location, which should still be in the arcade.
As long as Oliver hadn’t left in the last few minutes, they should be able to locate him easily.
But—
The two of them each covered a section, and with sharp observations and mories, ensured they didn’t overlook anything, yet there was no sign of Oliver.
A few minutes later, they regrouped.
"Nothing."
"Nothing."
They exchanged glances.
Nora asked, "Are you sure about the location?"
"Yes."
Marcus affird.
"Then the only possibility is—"
Nora paused in her words.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, scanning the nearby arcade machines and crowd.
Marcus looked at her suspiciously.
"He left his phone here." Nora raised an eyebrow.
This guess...
It might sound odd, but hearing it from her mouth, Marcus found it quite convincing.
Since learning that Oliver was uncontactable, Marcus noticed, Nora didn’t treat it as a typical "teen sulking and running away" incident.
Other parents would assu that being unreachable was a sign of sulking on Oliver’s part.
But not Nora.
She seed to believe Oliver would never do sothing like "going missing."
From directly tracing Oliver’s location to the continuous overtaking while driving, and now this analysis—
Everything was approached from the perspective of "Oliver might have encountered so unexpected event."
This line of thinking was indeed unusual.
"Let check again—"
After hesitating slightly, Marcus started to say.
But before he finished, Nora interrupted, "No need."
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