Sebastian stopped in the air as his worried gaze fell on the boy he had been looking for the past hour.
Ian’s eyes were watered with tears and his nose was red.
Sebastian’s hand gradually lowered and guilt budded in his heart. He knew he should not have lashed
out at Ian for no reason. The kid would not have run away if he had not lost his temper.
“Where have you been?”
Sebastian knelt down before Ian, trying to soften his voice.
But he never expected that his gentle tone would make that stubborn boy broke down in tears. Ian ran up
into his embrace and dug his head in Sebastian’s chest. “Daddy…”
After everything that happened at Sasha’s place, Ian could not hold it in any longer when he saw
Sebastian. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks, soaking Sebastian’s shirt wet.
Ian felt Mommy and his siblings had all forsaken him.
And the only person he had now was Daddy. Sebastian was his only comfort when the whole world
turned against him.
Sebastian slowly wrapped his hands around the wailing child, not knowing how to react.
“What happened, Ian? Daddy’s here. Tell me what happened.”
Sebastian’s voice was rigid and awkward. He had attended countless business talks at work but never
had he felt this nervous and helpless.
A thought flickered in his mind and the expression on his face instantly hardened. I’ll turn the whole
Avenport upside down if I find out who did this to my child.
But instead of answering Sebastian, Ian just cried his heart out.
When he finally calmed down again, he looked at Sebastian and said, “Daddy, can I sleep in your room
tonight?”
Sebastian’s eyes widened as he looked Ian in the eyes. He scooped him up in his arms and fury
glistered in his eyes.
Ian was a withdrawn child. Although he was very attached to Sebastian, he had never once asked to
sleep in Sebastian’s room. Ian was a grown boy and he had his own ego. His dignity never allowed him
to ask to sleep in his father’s room.
Something must have happened to him. I know he’ll never put aside his pride and make such a request.
After bringing Ian up to his room, Sebastian mobilized all the bodyguards under Hayes Corporation to get
to the bottom of what happened. He wanted to know exactly what happened when Ian went missing.
——
Meanwhile, Sasha could not find Matteo after searching every nook and cranny.
She had been looking for him for the whole night, but still, she found no sign of him.
“Matt? Where are you? Matt! I’m sorry! I won’t force you to go back anymore, I promise!”
Sasha was on the verge of losing her mind. Her search had been unfruitful for the past hours. She
flashed her torchlight around desperately as she strolled down the streets of Old Town. Fear was eating
her up and she was contemplating if she should just knock on the neighbors’ door one after another to
look for Matteo.
Back at home, Vivian was also getting anxious. Mommy and Matteo had been out for a few hours
already, and there was still no news of them. Vivian could not just sit and wait any longer. She picked up
the phone and called Uncle Jackson.
“Uncle Jackson, Mommy and Matt are missing. What should I do…”
Vivian’s voice broke into tears once the call got through.
Jackson and Sharon were already in bed when the phone rang. The night was cold and it was already
midnight. Anyone would be in bed already.
Jackson immediately sat up in his bed the moment he heard Vivian’s voice. “Vivi? Is that you, Vivi?”
The girl bawled her eyes out over the phone. “Yes… I’m Vivi. Could you please come over? Mommy and
Matt have been missing the whole night, and I’m alone at home…”
Jackson struggled to get out of bed in a hurry as Vivian’s cry rang through the phone.
He told Vivian he would go over and hung up immediately, but Sharon quickly stopped him.
“Where are you going? It’s so cold outside. Go back to bed and leave it to me.”
Having said that, she got out of bed, bundled up, and made a call. In no time, a few people came over
and all of them set out for Old Town.
When Sharon and her friends reached twenty minutes later, they saw Sasha going from door to door,
asking people if they had seen Matteo.
“Hello! Open up, please. I’m looking for my son. Could you please open up?”
Her voice was growing coarse after a whole night of shouting, and her tears had dried under the chilling
cold. But the exasperated mother was still looking for her son in the cold dark.
Has she gone crazy?
Sharon shook her head as she came over and stopped Sasha. “What are you doing? Do you know what
time it is already?”
Sasha turned her stiff neck around slowly and saw her aunt. Her face was red and swollen under the
beating of the freezing wind.
“Aunt Sharon… Matt… Matt is missing…”
Speaking, she clung to Sharon as if she was her last hope and started weeping.
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