Katherine knew what she was worried about.
Just as Maureen was about to discuss next steps with her, the phone rang.
She checked her phone and saw it was Gareth calling.
His magnetic voice came through: “Reenie, I’m boarding now. I’ll land in Karaville at 11 tonight.”
“Okay.”
Eleven at night…
Maureen didn’t know if she could go pick him up.
On the other end, Gareth gripped his phone tightly, gazing at the clear blue sky.
“Tomorrow’s your birthday, right?”
Maureen froze.
She’d almost forgotten her own birthday.
Because her birthday was a calamity for her mother Noelle. After returning to Karaville and living with her parents, she never celebrated it again.
Later, after marrying Geoffrey, every birthday was spent alone.
Over time, she simply stopped observing it.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll spend tonight with you.”
Gareth said,
Maureen thought for a moment: “Yeah, I’ll pick you up tonight. I’m staying at a friend’s place today,”
Hearing this, Gareth asked: “Won’t it bother your friend?”
Maureen glanced at Katherine eavesdropping nearby, who shook her head repeatedly: “No bother, tell
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him to come.”
Over these four years, Katherine had only seen Gareth from afar a few times.
She thought him devastatingly handsome–like a male fox spirit, if she had to describe him.
“She says it’s fine, come over.”
“Alright then, I’ll hang up now. See you tonight.”
Gareth ended the call, his lips curling upward unbidden.
Alex boarded the private jet as the doctor examined his wound: “Avoid strenuous movement at all costs. Once back in Karaville, proceed with caution–any strain could reopen the wound and cause infection.”
“Got it.”
Gareth gazed at the clouds outside, fingers tightening around an exquisite little box. Never had he antic- ipated meeting someone this much.
After hanging up, Maureen pondered how to report to Geoffrey.
Katherine shrugged: “Just text him. You’re not his slave.”
“True.”
Back when Geoffrey traveled, he’d simply text Maureen without consulting her.
She drafted the message and sent it.
Corporate Headquarters.
Main conference room.
Geoffrey’s phone buzzed mid–meeting.
He opened Maureen’s text:
“Out with friends tonight. Not coming home.”
Frost instantly frosted over Geoffrey’s expression.
His icy demeanor made executives tremble with fear, each suspecting they’d blundered.
“Carry on!”
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Geoffrey rose and strode from the room.
Everyone was taken aback.
Geoffrey had never left a meeting halfway before.
Under the group’s pleading gazes, Wayne reluctantly followed him out.
“Boss.”
Geoffrey signaled him to be silent, then picked up his phone to call Maureen.
But as his finger hovered over the dial button, he hesitated.
Calling her outright would make it seem like he cared too much.
Forget it.
Geoffrey powered off the phone.
Restlessness plagued him all day.
As night fell, he skipped dinner and had his driver take him home.
Pushing the door open, he was met with eerie silence in the living room.
Darkness enveloped him instantly.
He didn’t turn on the lights, collapsing onto the sofa in frustration.
He kept checking his phone, unsure what he was waiting for.
Time crawled by as he sat there in the dark.
After what felt like ages, his screen finally lit up.
Geoffrey snatched the phone–a text from his bodyguard:
“Ms. Ramirez left home. Seems headed toward the airport.”
His pupils contracted.
Instinct screamed she was running.
The thought of her vanishing for four or five years again-
He bolted outside without even grabbing his coat, car keys in hand.
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Seated behind the wheel, he floored it all the way.
He called the butler at the Private Country Estate: “Go check if the child’s still there?”
The butler was already asleep but had to get up and go to Ethan’s room upon hearing the order.
Ethan lay quietly in bed.
“Still here.”
Geoffrey’s tense heart relaxed slightly.
Since the child was there, Maureen definitely wouldn’t run away.
Security at the Private Country Estate was tight; no ordinary person could take that child.
“Be extra careful tonight.”
He added as a precaution.
“Yes.”
The butler lost all chance to rest, ordering every security device on the estate activated.
Geoffrey soon reached the location his bodyguard had sent.
From afar, he saw Maureen step out of a car and enter the airport.
Inside the terminal.
Maureen checked the time–still over ten minutes until Gareth’s flight landed.
When leaving tonight, she’d deliberately scanned for tails before directing the driver to the airport.
She assumed Geoffrey’s people would’ve clocked off by now.
Unbeknownst to her, Geoffrey watched from the airport’s second floor, observing her every move.
Soon, eleven o’clock arrived.
Maureen stood and walked to the arrivals exit.
Geoffrey only realized then that she was here to pick someone up at the airport.
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Soon, a group emerged, surrounding a tall, imposing man in cool–toned clothes with arrogantly hand-
some features.
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Maureen waved at him.
Gareth quickened his pace toward her.
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