Chapter 188 All Loving Parents

Chapter 188 All Loving Parents

While waiting for Alton's update, Olivia dug deeper into Lloyd's background and social circle. His internship record was spotless, his relationships at work cordial. But two days before he took leave, surveillance caught him in a heated exchange with an unidentified man outside the company building. The footage was grainy, but the man was tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a cap that shadowed his face.

Olivia's frown deepened as she replayed the clip.

She pulled up the Wallace family's file. Married for years, no biological children. Lloyd had been brought into their home at the age of four — with no formal adoption papers. 

The Wallace family's relatives were few. Nico Wallace, Lloyd's adoptive father, had one nephew, five years older than Lloyd. Unlike Lloyd's clean-cut success, the nephew was a chronic failure, drowning in gambling debts.

That was when Alton's call came through.

"Olivia, Nico Wallace is indeed ill. He's still in the hospital. We found his wife, Seraphine Lawson. She said Lloyd called seven days ago, said he was coming home to help take care of Nico — but he never showed."

"Go to their home," Olivia instructed. "Search it. Thoroughly."

Once Alton was on his way, Olivia continued combing through Lloyd's records. A red flag appeared in his financial history — one month ago, a transfer of three million dollars into his account. The sender? Listed as a government department.

Armed with this, Olivia headed to the hospital to meet Seraphine.

Since hearing the news, Seraphine had fainted more than once. She still hadn't told Nico.

"My Lloyd… why him? He was so good, so hardworking. Life was finally turning around for him, and now this…"

"Mrs. Wallace," Olivia said gently, "I need to ask about Mr. Wallace's nephew, Atlas Wallace. Has he had any recent contact with your husband or with Lloyd?"

At the mention of Atlas, Seraphine's expression hardened. "That boy is nothing but trouble. We barely spoke to him for years. Then he somehow found out Lloyd wasn't our biological son and decided he had a claim on our property."

Olivia nodded. "The old house you owned in the city center — the compensation from its demolition went to Lloyd, correct?"

"Yes. That house was transferred to his name when he turned eighteen. The compensation was his as well. The place we live in now, we bought ourselves. Atlas wanted that payout. He came here several times to cause trouble, and we threw him out every time. If I'd known he would…"

Money, Olivia thought, had a way of stripping people down to their ugliest selves. She'd studied Lloyd's photos — the open smile, the unguarded eyes. He was the kind of person who carried sunlight inside him. His colleagues had nothing but praise for him. His supervisors had seen a bright future ahead. And now, he was gone.

When the statement was complete, Olivia asked, "Mrs. Wallace, Lloyd's biological parents have been located. They were devastated to learn what happened. Would you like to meet them?"

Shock flickered across Seraphine's face. "Are you… are you serious?"

"Yes," Olivia said. "But you should know — without legal adoption papers, your taking Lloyd in was against the law. I need to know exactly how he came into your care."

At the word "illegal," Seraphine shook her head quickly. "No, it wasn't like that. We… we bought him, yes, but he was being forced to beg on the streets. They'd broken his leg. We paid six thousand dollars to take him away, and we paid for his treatment. We loved him. We never hurt him."

Olivia already knew most of this. The Wallaces had raised Lloyd as if he were their own, giving him the chance to excel, to earn a place at Silverlight City University.

"We've investigated his upbringing," Olivia said. "We know you treated him well. But the law and the heart don't always align."

If Lloyd's biological parents pressed charges, the Wallaces could face consequences.

Seraphine's voice broke into sobs. "We raised him all these years. He called us Mom and Dad. He was our only child. Now he's gone, and my husband is sick… what's left for me?"

Olivia let the silence stretch before speaking softly. "Mrs. Wallace, please don't lose hope. The police will mediate. Lloyd's biological parents are not unreasonable people. My advice — let them see where he lived, how he grew up. They've searched for him for eighteen years without giving up."

Seraphine finally nodded.

Back at the station, Olivia brought Lloyd's parents into a meeting room. She laid out photos from his childhood.

"This is my boy," Thora White sobbed, clutching each photo to her chest as if she could hold him again. Her grief was raw, unrestrained.

Leroy Graham sat beside her, gripping her hand tightly, his own eyes rimmed red. He held himself together by sheer will.

"Mr. and Mrs. Graham," Olivia began, "there's something you need to know. Lloyd — your son Kevin — was taken in by the Wallace family after they found him at a train station in Everglade City eighteen years ago. He'd been injured, forced to beg by traffickers. The Wallaces say they paid six thousand dollars to take him away."

Thora's sobs deepened. "Back then, we were running a small watch repair shop in the south. Business was steady. Kevin was four. One day, a middle-aged woman came in to have a watch fixed… and she took him. Ms. Smith, we've been looking for him for eighteen years."

Leroy's voice was low, tight with emotion. "We never stopped. Every year, we went from city to city, putting up posters, chasing leads. We watched other people's children grow up while our own lives stayed empty."

And now, after all those years, they had found him — only to be handed a few charred bones.

"We don't blame the Wallaces," Leroy said. "They gave him an education. They cared for him. But someone murdered our son. We want the truth. We want justice."