Chapter 188

Chapter 188

Damian's voice came through clearly over the line to the other end of the phone.

Ethan held his phone, unable to speak for a moment.

Damian's words struck his troubled mind - but instead of providing clarity, they only deepened his confusion.

Going abroad...

It wasn't like he hadn't considered this possibility. Grace had been preparing documents, and he'd run into her doing it a few times.

She'd even said that once she left this time, she wouldn't come back.

But just like that? Without a word?

"Just that suddenly?" Ethan's voice carried a dryness he himself didn't notice. "She... didn't say anything to the family."

"Did she contact you before leaving?"

Damian leaned back slightly in his office chair. The leather seat made a soft sound.

"She's an adult, Ethan. Where she goes, when she goes, whether she needs to tell anyone - that's all her choice." Damian's tone carried a hint of barely detectable impatience. "I'm just her former boss, not her guardian."

"But she went to Wolfe Corporation headquarters." Ethan kept holding onto this point. His gut told him something was off, but he couldn't afford to lose his temper with Damian - he could only ask in an almost restrained tone.

"Like I just said," Damian's voice grew colder, "she only came by to handle her resignation paperwork. I approved her resignation application. As for whether she went to the airport or train station after resigning, I have no interest in knowing."

His words were simple and clear, like stating the most ordinary fact.

Ethan fell silent.

But at the moment, this seemed to be the only possibility.

Damian had a fiancée, too - Grace had nothing to do with him. So Grace must have gone abroad completely after resigning.

Thinking this through, Ethan let out a helpless sigh.

"Okay, I understand." Ethan's tone softened. "Sorry to bother you."

"That's your family business." Damian cut him off, completely ending the conversation. "If you still have questions, you can check immigration records or call the police. Don't call me again."

With that, Damian hung up.

Ethan stood there holding his phone for a long time. The crystal chandelier in the living room shone brightly, making his face look a bit pale.

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, pacing back and forth in the living room.

Damian's attitude was clear - he didn't want to deal with it, and it had nothing to do with him. Call the police? The Parker family couldn't afford that embarrassment. If it turned out Grace had run off on her own, where would the Parker family's dignity go?

He stopped walking. His phone screen lit up with a message Adele had just sent.

[Ethan, any news?]

Looking at those words, he took a deep breath and called Adele.

The phone was answered almost immediately.

"How is it? Ethan? Did you find your sister?" Adele's voice came through the receiver.

Grace was her daughter, her only daughter. Even though she'd wronged Grace over the years, Adele still cared about Grace deep down.

Grace's sudden disappearance now made Adele worry.

Ethan's voice sounded fairly steady. "I just asked - she submitted her resignation to Wolfe Corporation's upper management, they've already approved it, and she's probably already abroad now."

"Gone abroad again?" Adele's voice rose sharply, full of disbelief. "How could she not say a single word before..."

"From the looks of it now, this does seem most likely," Ethan replied.

A long silence fell on the other end of the line.

After a while, she said bitterly in a voice heavy with tears, "Just like before - leaving without a word, then not coming back for years!"

The more she talked about Grace leaving without saying goodbye, the angrier she got. "She's always like this - serves her right to suffer out there alone. This is too much!"

"If she's so capable, she better never come back!"

Listening to Adele's scolding, the doubts in Ethan's mind began to waver too.

Maybe he really was overthinking it.

Grace had always been inherently stubborn and aloof. She had always felt like an outsider in this family. Leaving without saying goodbye did seem to fit her personality.

Ethan said a few more comforting words before hanging up.

He looked at Grace's number on his phone, the number that always showed "powered off," yet his unease persisted despite this seemingly logical explanation.

At a high-end custom bridal boutique in the city center.

"Mia, try calling again - is it still off?" Amy asked, her face full of worry.

Evelyn, beside her, was also holding her phone and shook her head. "No good, same on my end - it goes straight to voicemail."

Mia put down her phone. "No luck, still off." She frowned, looking at Amy. "What's going on? Grace isn't this unreliable. She agreed to be a bridesmaid, and now we need to fit the bridesmaid dress, but we can't reach her."

"Exactly! The wedding is next week, and she's a bridesmaid - how can she disappear at a time like this?"

"Could her phone be dead, or maybe she's busy with other work?" Mia guessed.

"Impossible." Amy immediately denied it. "Even if her phone died, she'd charge it when she got home and contact us."

The three girls looked at each other, an uneasy feeling spreading in their hearts.

"What if we contact her mother?" Mia suggested.

"Wouldn't that be too intrusive?" Evelyn hesitated.

"At a time like this!" Amy made a quick decision. "Call! We have to find her!"

Mia nodded, found Adele's number in her contacts, and dialed.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Adele's tired and hoarse voice came through.

"Hello."

"Madam, hello, I'm Grace's friend, Mia Turner." Mia's tone was very polite. "Sorry to bother you. We haven't been able to reach Grace for the past couple of days - her phone keeps being off, and we're a bit worried, so we wanted to ask if she's come home?"

Adele, on the other end, was silent for a moment.

"She's not home." Adele's tone was flat.

"Do you know where she went?" Mia pressed.

"She went abroad." Adele's voice said, anger creeping back in.

"What?"

Mia's voice rose involuntarily, and Amy and Evelyn beside her both widened their eyes and leaned in.

"Abroad? When did this happen? Madam, are you sure you're not mistaken? She's supposed to be Amy's bridesmaid next week - how could she go abroad now?"

"She resigned yesterday afternoon and should be overseas by now," Adele said. "Don't come asking me about her business anymore. I don't know anything."

With that, Adele angrily hung up.

Just thinking about Grace leaving without saying goodbye made her angry.

Mia held her phone, stunned.

Abroad?

Though Grace was planning to go abroad, her plan was to wait until after Amy's wedding, handle everything in the country, and then leave.

For a moment, all three of them were dumbfounded.