Chapter 96
Although Henry had already located the organization, he shouldn't be able to stir up any trouble in such a short time.
Right now, Emily's situation was more important. It wasn't just about her alone—there were those three kids too.
If Emily broke down, those kids would fall apart as well.
William steadied himself and changed lanes, preparing to make a U-turn at the intersection ahead.
However, just as he put his phone back, it rang again. This time it was also a call from someone at the organization.
William froze, a clear flash of inner struggle in his eyes.
A call at this moment couldn't be good news. Should he answer it or not?
If he took this call and couldn't make it to Emily, what would happen?
But the phone kept ringing. After hesitating for a moment, William answered it.
His assistant's urgent voice came through: "This is bad—someone has broken into our organization!"
"What?" William froze, stunned.
"What have you all been doing? How could you make such a basic mistake? What the hell happened?"
The assistant wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "I don't know what happened either. Everything was so sudden."
"You're already back, right? How long before you can get here?"
The question stumped William.
If nothing had gone wrong, he'd definitely arrive within half an hour. But now things had changed—he'd just promised Emily he'd go back to help find her mother.
But now with outsiders breaking into the organization, this was no small matter.
The organization held too many secrets. Even if just a little bit leaked out, it would be enough to get William into serious trouble. He didn't dare take that risk.
"Mr. Brown, please come back quickly!"
His assistant kept urging him. "Our organization seems to have been targeted this time. They should be people sent by your second uncle. They came prepared and aggressive—we can't hold them off at all."
He spoke very vaguely, afraid the walls had ears and secrets would leak.
But even so, it was enough to make William overwhelmed.
Why did this have to happen now, of all times? It caught him completely off guard with no preparation at all.
What should he do now—go find Emily or return to the organization first?
The assistant kept urging him on the other end. William could clearly feel the fear in his heart.
Helplessly, William gritted his teeth. "Don't panic, I'll be right there."
After saying this, William seemed to have made some kind of decision and took a deep breath.
"Don't worry, I'll handle the organization's matters as quickly as possible and come back to see you!"
The intersection ahead had arrived. William didn't stop—he drove straight through, very decisively.
In the residential complex, Emily was still waiting for him.
While searching, she'd take out her phone from time to time to check, or look toward the complex entrance, but William never came.
No matter how many times Emily looked, there was never the figure she hoped for at the entrance, and she hadn't found her mother either.
She searched not only inside the complex but outside as well, even asking passersby, all to no avail.
Left with no choice, she had to call the police.
Before this, Emily hadn't wanted to call the police. Not because she wasn't worried, but because she couldn't be sure what consequences would follow if she reported it.
What if Brian found out?
Although Emily hadn't appeared online and it was all netizens spontaneously denouncing Brian, Brian wasn't stupid—he naturally knew what was going on. Emily couldn't hide it from him even if she wanted to.
Once she called the police, Brian would be able to trace his way back to her, and then she wouldn't just bring disaster on herself—the children wouldn't be spared either. It was just too risky.
But now Emily couldn't worry about all that. Time was slipping away incredibly fast, making Emily panic.
She didn't dare think about what she'd face if she couldn't find Amelia. Even when she went to check the surveillance footage earlier, she hadn't found anything unusual, which made her heart tremble even more.
With trembling hands, she took out her phone and had just pressed three numbers and put it to her ear when a call came in.
It was from an unsaved number, but Emily recognized it at a glance.
It was Brian's phone number. Why would he contact her at this time? Could Amelia really be in his hands?
The bad feeling in Emily's heart grew heavier and heavier. With shaking hands, she pressed the answer button, waiting for Brian to speak.
Brian didn't speak right away. After pausing for a moment, he suddenly laughed coldly. "I heard you took your mother out of the nursing home. Is that true?"
He acted as if he knew nothing about it, as if he was just calling to find out.
But Emily knew Brian was doing it on purpose.
"At this point, Mr. Johnson, are you still going to pretend?" Emily snorted coldly. "I took my mother away—there's no way you don't know. Haven't you been having people watch her all along?"
"Emily, you've misunderstood." Brian wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled, as if he were very amiable. "Your mother and I had a falling out years ago. Breaking up was inevitable. She was the one who wouldn't let go of me—what could I do?"
"At the end of the day, it's because your mother's family has a history of mental illness. Otherwise, how would she have gotten sick?"
"How can you say something so heartless?" Emily trembled with anger. "If you're just calling to mock me, then you've achieved your goal."
With that, Emily prepared to hang up.
Brian's cold voice came from the other end: "Don't you want to know where your mother went?"
This sentence successfully stopped Emily, her expression freezing.
She suddenly understood.
No wonder she couldn't find Amelia anywhere—Brian had taken her.
"What exactly do you want?" Emily's eyes were full of bloodshot veins, her voice extremely hoarse.
"You clearly know my mom has mental illness and can't handle stress, yet you took her away. If anything happens to my mom, I'll never let this go."
"You ungrateful girl, how dare you talk to me like that?" Brian shouted angrily. "When did I ever say I took your mother? I have a wife and kids. I've been divorced from her for so many years—whether she lives or dies, what does it have to do with me?"
"Then why are you calling me? And bringing up my mom—doesn't this have something to do with you?"
Faced with Emily's questioning, Brian stopped talking instead, and his attitude explained everything.
He was afraid Emily was recording, so he was covering himself this way.
"Fine, I understand." Emily took a rough breath. "I'll go get my mother back right now. Whatever your demands are, just say them directly."
"Smart—truly my daughter." Brian smiled sinisterly, extremely satisfied.
Although he didn't like his daughter Emily, he had to admit she really had inherited his good genes.