Chapter 232 Make Their Whole Family Die

Chapter 232 Make Their Whole Family Die

Karen cursed Susan out in her head.

You little bitch, think you're so tough? You dare ask me to pay you back? I'll make sure you don't live long enough to spend it!

For the past couple of days, Susan had been noticing some shady-looking people hanging around outside her studio.

That day, she found a threatening letter slipped through the door crack, and someone had spray-painted words like "bitch" and "get out" on the wall in red paint.

Susan called the police, but these people were slippery as eels — they'd scatter the moment the cops showed up and come right back once they left. There was no catching them.

Sean sent two bodyguards to stand outside the studio, and things calmed down a little after that.

But the online harassment didn't stop.

Susan's social media accounts got dug through completely. Her photos, her studio's address, her phone number — all of it got posted online.

Every day, people sent her private messages filled with disgusting content.

She didn't read them, didn't reply. She set her accounts to private and focused on her work and taking care of Liam.

Liam had been in the hospital for seven days. The wound on the back of his head was healing well, and the stitches could come out in another two days.

That afternoon, Susan wrapped up things at the studio and drove to the hospital to see Liam.

She pushed open the door to his room and found the bed empty.

The blanket was thrown back, the pillow was crooked, and Liam's little water bottle was still sitting on the bedside table.

Susan paused, figuring a nurse must have taken him for a checkup.

She walked over to the nurses' station and asked, "Excuse me, where's Liam in bed thirteen? Did he go for a checkup?"

The nurse on duty flipped through her records. "Bed thirteen doesn't have any checkups scheduled for this afternoon."

Susan's heart sank. "Then where did he go?"

"I just started my shift, so I'm not sure. Let me check." The nurse picked up the intercom and asked around. The answer came back: no one had taken Liam out of his room.

Susan's mind went blank.

She knew. Someone had taken Liam on purpose.

Her hands started shaking.

She grabbed her phone and called Sean. It rang once and he picked up.

"Shay, is Liam with you?" Susan kept her voice as steady as she could, but the end of her sentence still trembled.

She wanted to believe Liam was with Sean. She didn't want to think about the other possibility.

"No, I'm at the office." Sean's voice tightened. "What's wrong?"

"Liam's gone." Susan couldn't hold it together anymore. "I just got to the hospital. He's not in his room, and the nurses say they didn't take him for any checkup."

Two seconds of silence on the other end.

"Stay at the hospital. Don't move. I'm on my way." Sean hung up.

Susan stood in the hallway gripping her phone, her head buzzing.

She forced herself to calm down and started checking every room on the floor one by one.

She went through the entire floor. No sign of Liam.

She ran down to the lobby, out to the hospital entrance, through the parking lot. Liam's small figure was nowhere to be found.

Sean strode into the hospital with his assistant and a few bodyguards behind him.

"Pull the security footage." Sean's voice was low and flat. His face showed nothing, but Susan noticed his clenched fist trembling slightly.

The security room footage showed it clearly. At 2:40 in the afternoon, a man in a white coat, mask, and cap walked into Liam's room.

Three minutes later, he walked out carrying Liam.

Liam was wrapped in a large coat, eyes closed, as if he were asleep.

The man carried Liam down the stairs, left through the hospital's back door, and got into a gray van with no license plates.

The van drove off and disappeared into a blind spot in the camera coverage.

Susan stared at the footage, her whole body shaking.

She bit down on her finger. Her nails dug into her flesh, but she didn't feel any pain.

"Call the police," Sean told his assistant Quinn. "Alert everyone. Pull every camera feed at every intersection around the hospital and go through them one by one."

Quinn turned and walked away to make the calls.

Susan took out her phone, hands trembling as she scrolled through her contacts. When she got to Perry's name, she hesitated for a second, then called.

"Susan?" Perry's voice carried a hint of surprise.

"Perry, someone took Liam." Susan's voice finally broke, and tears poured down her face. "Someone pretended to be a doctor and took him. They got into a gray van with no license plates. Please, help me. Help me find him..."

Every extra person meant more help. Right now, all she could do was reach out to everyone she knew and ask them to look.

"Don't panic." Perry's voice turned serious. "Send me the security footage. I'll get people on it right away. I promise I'll help you find him."

Susan hung up and sent him the video.

The police arrived quickly, pulled the footage, and based on the man's build and the part of his face that was visible, put together a composite sketch.

"The suspect is male, approximately five feet ten inches tall, slim build, between thirty and forty years old," the officer said, pointing to the sketch. "He has a noticeable scar at the outer end of his right eyebrow. We'll distribute this sketch to all local stations and communities and ask the public to come forward with any information."

The sky slowly darkened.

Susan sat in the hospital hallway, arms wrapped around her knees, eyes fixed on her phone screen, waiting for it to ring.

Sean stood beside her, one hand resting on her shoulder, saying nothing.

Time crept by.

At nine o'clock that night, Susan's phone rang.

It was Perry.

"Found him." Perry's voice was urgent. "Abandoned lumber yard on the east side of the city. My people are outside. I'm heading there now."

"I'm coming too!" Susan jumped to her feet and started toward the exit.

"Don't!" Perry's voice shot up. "It's complicated. Wait for my update..."

Before he could finish, a dull thud came through the phone, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

"Perry? Perry!" Susan called into the phone several times. No answer.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

By the time Perry reached the abandoned lumber yard, his men had already surrounded the building.

"Perry, the guy's inside. Just him and the kid," one of his men reported quietly.

"Wait out here. I'm going in," Perry said.

"Perry, it's too dangerous. Maybe we should all—"

"I said wait out here." Perry cut him off, pushed open the rusty iron door, and walked in.

The inside of the building was dark. A single dim bulb hung from the ceiling, casting a small circle of light.

Liam was tied to a beat-up chair, tape over his mouth, bruises on his face, his eyes red and swollen. The moment he saw Perry, tears streamed down his face.

The man stood next to Liam, holding a knife. The blade caught the light with a cold gleam.

"Let him go," Perry said calmly. "Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."

The man laughed. His voice came out muffled from behind the mask. "I don't want anything from you. I just want this little brat and his parents dead!"

"You came running in here to save him — don't tell me you're his dad? Perfect. I'll send you both to meet your maker!"