Chapter 377 She Is Throwing a Tantrum

Chapter 377 She Is Throwing a Tantrum

Just as Mason said, the phone was turned off.

Caspian frowned and called his assistant Elijah Roberts.

"Coralie has been out of contact for several days. Find out where she went."

Harriet took a sip of juice and asked, "Caspian, nothing bad happened to Coralie, right?"

"She's an adult with the ability to protect herself. Under normal circumstances, she should be fine."

"But we still need to find her as soon as possible."

"I know." Caspian added food to her plate. "Eat properly."

"Okay."

It wasn't until evening that Elijah got back to Caspian.

"Mr. Romanov, I can't track down Ms. Walker's whereabouts."

"How is that possible?"

"It's true. Starting four days ago, Ms. Walker has had no online payment records and no records of taking any transportation, so there's simply no way to track her location."

"So you're saying from the moment she walked out the door of the Romanov family villa, she left no trace? Could something really have happened to her?" Caspian frowned. "Contact the police and check the surveillance system. I need you to find her."

"Yes." Elijah said, "But it might take some time."

"Just get on it quickly."

"Understood."

After calling to ask about the progress, Harriet let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" Ondine came in carrying a calming soup. "Are you worried about Coralie?"

"I'm worried about Coralie, but I'm more worried about Grandpa."

Ondine smiled. "You've lost your memory, and you haven't met Mr. Mason Romanov yet."

"That's true, but Caspian told me that Grandpa has been in a bad mood worrying about me, and he was even sick for a few days recently." Harriet looked uneasy. "Now something's happened to Coralie too. Both Caspian and I are making him worry."

"It'll be okay." Ondine comforted her. "I believe nothing bad has happened to Coralie."

"Yes."

It didn't take Elijah long to get the surveillance footage.

"How did you get it so fast?" Caspian asked casually. "Didn't you say it would take some time?"

"Because Ms. Walker's trail is very limited." Elijah took out his tablet to play the video. "Mr. Romanov, look. That morning, after Ms. Walker left the Romanov family villa, the driver took her to the airport."

"But she never got on a plane, and there's no trace of her inside the airport either."

"How is that possible?" Caspian questioned. "People can't just vanish into thin air, can they?"

"She didn't vanish into thin air, but I think Ms. Walker deliberately doesn't want to be found."

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Romanov, look at this." Elijah pulled up another video.

In the video, Coralie pulled a black suitcase into the airport restroom but didn't come out for a long time.

"Mr. Romanov, I'm certain Ms. Walker didn't come out, so I reviewed the footage for a long time and found this person is very likely Ms. Walker. She changed clothes, covered herself completely, and didn't even take her suitcase."

Although the woman on screen was covered up tightly, Caspian could tell at a glance from her posture that it was Coralie.

"Did you track where she went?"

"After changing clothes, Ms. Walker took a taxi back to the city, but she didn't return to the Romanov family villa. Instead, she got out in a suburban area with no surveillance coverage, and after that, there's been no trace of her. So I think Ms. Walker didn't have an accident—she deliberately doesn't want to be found. I checked with the phone company, and Ms. Walker's SIM card hasn't been used since, and she has no other numbers registered under her name."

"Deliberately doesn't want to be found?" Caspian laughed coldly. "She's really gotten bold."

"Mr. Romanov, what should we do now?" Elijah asked. "Although surveillance coverage is extensive, if someone really wants to hide, it's quite difficult to find them."

"Don't bother looking." Caspian's face was icy. "If she wants to leave, of course I'll grant her wish."

"But Qiana is still so young. She can't be without her mother."

"Qiana has always been looked after by the nanny. Without Coralie, she can still grow up healthy." Caspian ordered, "Go to the Romanov family villa and explain the whole situation to my grandfather. Let him know that Coralie chose to leave on her own."

Elijah felt helpless but could only nod. "Yes."

The door closed, and the office became quiet.

Caspian pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking several hard drags, but his chest felt even more stifled.

He irritably stubbed out the cigarette and got up to walk to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The weather had been bad these past few days. The sky was gloomy and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

He thought his irritation was caused by the weather.

It must be.

That evening, Caspian returned to the Romanov family villa.

As soon as he reached the master bedroom door, he heard Qiana crying.

Caspian opened the door and strode in.

The nanny was holding Qiana, trying to soothe her.

"What's going on?" Seeing Qiana, Caspian immediately frowned. "I haven't seen her in just a few days—how has she lost so much weight?"

"Mr. Romanov, I'm sorry." The nanny quickly apologized. "Without Ms. Walker here, Qiana isn't eating or sleeping well, so she's gotten thinner. Before, when she cried, Ms. Walker could calm her down right away just by holding her, but now she has to cry until she's exhausted before she stops. Her voice is hoarse from crying."

Caspian took Qiana from the nanny's arms. "Qiana, be good. Don't cry. Daddy's home."

Qiana cried for a while longer before finally falling asleep in Caspian's embrace.

The nanny breathed a sigh of relief. "Mr. Romanov, let me take her. You should go rest."

"It's fine." Caspian raised his hand to wipe away the tears at the corner of Qiana's eyes. "Go have the kitchen make me something to eat."

"Yes."

As soon as the nanny left, Mason came in. "You're back."

"Grandpa."

"Qiana has been fussy these past few days. Looks like she really can't do without her mother." Mason sat down on the sofa and sighed. "What exactly happened between you and Coralie? Why would she leave without saying goodbye and deliberately hide her whereabouts so no one can find her?"

At the mention of Coralie, Caspian became even more irritated. "Grandpa, nothing happened between us. She's just throwing a tantrum. Don't worry about it—she'll come back on her own in a few days."

"How do you know she'll come back on her own?"

Caspian laughed lightly. "Someone so obsessed with romance—what else is in her head besides love? Even Qiana is just a tool for her to secure her relationship. I don't think someone like that would suddenly change."

"Then tell me, what kind of person is Coralie? What did she do to wrong you that you have to put her down like this?" Mason questioned sternly. "You may look down on her, but the men of the Romanov family have always been responsible, which is why I made you take responsibility for her back then."

"As your fiancée, she gave up her own career and stayed with the Romanov family to care for you wholeheartedly all these years. I'd think even a stone would have warmed up by now, wouldn't it? But Caspian, despite all her efforts, she still couldn't warm your heart."

"If you had completely ignored her, maybe she would have given up long ago. But what is it when you look down on her while still sleeping with her regularly?"

"You ignore her on one hand and give her hope on the other. Is she just a tool for your sexual release in your eyes?"

Caspian's expression grew even colder.

Because even he couldn't answer these questions.

He didn't like Coralie.

He wasn't particularly passionate about sex either, but he was a normal man with sexual needs.

Every time he came home, she was always bustling around more attentively than the servants, constantly in his sight. It was hard not to notice her.

When he saw her, he would feel aroused, and he'd just follow his body's instincts and have sex with her.

Over time, this had become a perfectly normal thing.

Besides, she was willing.

If she had shown even the slightest reluctance, he definitely wouldn't have forced her.

"What, cat got your tongue? Nothing to say?" Mason saw right through him. "Caspian, your whole life has been too smooth."

"You've had everything you wanted—a privileged background, outstanding abilities. Even your love life has been smoother than Tristan's."

"Tristan and Harriet went through so much hardship and still couldn't be together. And you? You have Coralie's complete and devoted love."

"Maybe what comes too easily isn't valued, so you think her devotion is cheap."

"But I can tell you, what's often most overlooked is the hardest to come by."

"There are plenty of women out there who want to marry you, but how many of them are after you as a person, Caspian, rather than the Romanov family's money?"

"If you weren't the Romanov family heir but just an ordinary person, how many women would still want to marry you?"

"I value Coralie because she doesn't love the Romanov family heir Caspian—she loves the real you. That's very rare."

"Grandpa, I've never been down and out," Caspian looked at him. "So how can you be sure Coralie doesn't love the Romanov family heir?"

"At my age, if I still can't tell whether there's calculation and greed in someone's eyes, I've lived in vain."

Caspian was dismissive. "But you can't guarantee you've never misjudged someone."

"Looks like you still won't listen to me." Mason waved his hand helplessly. "Fine, I'll say no more. But one thing—Qiana can't be without a mother. You must find Coralie and bring her back. Even if you don't love her or marry her, you can't treat her unfairly or waste her time."

Caspian said expressionlessly, "I told you, she'll come back on her own."

Mason said nothing more and got up to leave.

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and Coralie still hadn't returned.

Qiana cried inconsolably every night. The nanny couldn't soothe her—only when Caspian personally came home to comfort Qiana could her emotions be calmed.

Even when Qiana fell asleep, she would wake up two or three times during the night, either needing a diaper change or wanting milk, exhausting Caspian both physically and mentally.

Past three in the morning, the nanny prepared formula and tried to feed it to the crying Qiana.

For some reason, Qiana refused to drink it, kept rejecting the bottle, and wouldn't stop crying.

"What's going on?" Caspian frowned. "She was drinking fine during the day, wasn't she?"

"Mr. Romanov, Qiana has always been breastfed, only occasionally having formula. Now that she's off breast milk, she's definitely not adjusting well. Actually, during the day she only drinks more when she's really hungry. When she's not that hungry, she acts like this."

Caspian felt a headache coming on. "So tell me, what do we do now?"

"Mr. Romanov, with Coralie not here, there really isn't another way."

Caspian instantly felt even more irritated.

"So we're supposed to let her cry all night?!"

"Mr. Romanov, let me try to soothe her." The nanny quickly took Qiana. "You go rest."

"Didn't you try last night? She couldn't stop crying at all."

The nanny looked equally helpless.

"Qiana depends on Ms. Walker. With Ms. Walker suddenly gone, it seems she's having a hard time adjusting."

"Don't tell me all this right now!" Caspian's face turned cold. "I want a solution, not an analysis of the current difficulties!"

The nanny trembled with fear. "I'm sorry."

Caspian closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. "Forget it. You can go."

"Mr. Romanov, taking care of Qiana is my job. I have to stay."

Caspian said nothing more. He set the bottle aside and picked up Qiana to soothe her.

After quite a while, Qiana finally fell asleep.

Caspian waited another ten minutes or so before placing Qiana back in the crib.

"She's finally asleep." The nanny also breathed a sigh of relief. "If this keeps up, you won't get any sleep tonight. Mr. Romanov, you should go rest now."

Caspian looked at Qiana sleeping in the crib and asked, "Did Qiana wake up this many times every night before?"

"Yes, it's normal for babies at this stage to wake during the night. As long as you figure out what she needs—whether she's hungry or needs changing—you can handle it."

Caspian asked again, "When she woke up, was it Coralie who handled it?"

"Yes, Qiana is breastfed, so even when she sleeps with me, she still needs to be brought over to nurse when she's hungry. Unless you were staying at home, we didn't want to disturb you."

Caspian suddenly remembered that on the occasions when he stayed at home, no one did come to disturb him in the middle of the night.

So Qiana had always been waking during the night.

Even if she didn't fuss as much as now, Qiana woke up once or twice every night, so Coralie couldn't possibly have been sleeping well.

He had always thought that with a nanny around, Coralie would have it easy.

But after personally caring for Qiana these past few days, he realized how difficult it was.

Caspian had been very tired, but after this commotion, he passed the point of sleepiness and suddenly wasn't tired anymore.

He returned to the study and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, lighting a cigarette. Looking at the ink-black night outside, a face that shouldn't appear kept surfacing in his mind.

Actually, Coralie had never complained to him about the hardships of caring for the baby. Every time he came home, she would share the cute and wonderful things about Qiana.

Like how Qiana smiled, made sounds, learned to roll over.

When he came home and saw Qiana smiling at him, he would naturally be happy.

He hadn't known that behind Qiana's sweet and adorable behavior, the person caring for her worked so hard.

Caspian finished the last drag of his cigarette and took out his phone, opening WhatsApp.

He scrolled down for a while before finding Coralie's WhatsApp.

Her profile picture was a photo of Qiana, cute and soft.

Their last chat was from half a month ago—Coralie had sent him a video of Qiana.

Scrolling up, almost all the messages were from Coralie, and he rarely replied.

In their relationship, she seemed to be performing a one-person show.