Chapter 233
Chapter 233
Frederick stood there as if he hadn't seen anything, his body trembling slightly.
That one punch seemed to drain every ounce of strength from his body.
He stared at his own hand, then slowly raised his head, his gaze falling emptily on some distant point.
She wasn't dead.
Beatrice wasn't dead.
What hit him next wasn't wild joy, but towering rage.
Rage at Dennis, but even more at himself.
He'd been played for a fool all this time.
He'd been dying inside over her 'death,' turned himself into a walking corpse, while she'd been living her life just fine somewhere else, in a world that didn't include him.
A massive, indescribable tidal wave of emotion obliterated every shred of rationality he had left.
Joy, fury, resentment, longing... a thousand different feelings tangled together, threatening to burst right through his chest.
He whirled around, grabbed his car keys, and bolted for the door.
"Where are you going?"
Dennis forgot all about the pain, scrambling after him and throwing his arms around Frederick's legs. "Frederick! Get a grip! You won't find her even if you go now!"
Frederick stopped in his tracks. He looked down, his gaze like an ice-cold blade dragging across Dennis's face.
"Let go."
Dennis's face crumpled. "She's already gone! She even sold the shop!"
Frederick's body went rigid.
Gone?
Had she left again?
Just when he finally knew she was alive, she'd vanished from his world all over again.
"Where did she go?" Frederick's voice came out raw and hoarse.
Seeing him calm down slightly, Dennis carefully released his grip and scrambled to his feet, clutching his burning cheek as he mumbled, "She said... she was coming back to Silverwave City."
Back to Silverwave City.
Those words were like a key, instantly illuminating Frederick's desolate world.
He didn't stick around. Shaking off Dennis, he tore out the door like a man possessed.
The roar of the engine cut through the curtain of rain.
Dennis stood in the doorway, watching that black car disappear at the end of the road before his legs finally gave out. He sank to the ground.
He touched his swollen face and wanted to cry.
He is going to be in big trouble.
---
Frederick drove straight to Willowford Town.
He didn't know why he was going when he already knew she'd left.
It was as if he needed to see with his own eyes the place where she'd been, just to confirm this wasn't all a dream.
The rain intensified, hammering against the windshield and blurring the view ahead.
He found the handcraft shop called 'Bella Willow.'
The door was locked tight, a white sheet of paper taped to the glass window with black marker scrawled across it: 'For Lease.'
Below that, a phone number.
Frederick stood in the rain, letting the icy water soak through his shirt.
He stared at those words as if he could see through them to the image of Beatrice sitting inside the shop, head bowed over her handwork, peaceful and quiet.
Then he found the house where Beatrice had been renting a room.
That gate was locked too. Through the gap, he could see chaos inside.
The place looked like it had been through a fire. The walls were blackened with soot, and a faint smell of smoke still lingered in the air.
Frederick's heart clenched violently.
A fire?
Dennis hadn't mentioned that!
A wave of retrospective terror and fury shot straight to the top of his skull.
What the hell had she gone through here?
He pulled out his phone and dialed Dennis's number.
The call connected almost instantly.
"Hello, Frederick..."
"Her place had a fire." Frederick's voice could've frozen water.
Nearly identical to what happened before.
The thought made his blood run cold.
Dennis was silent for several seconds before speaking with difficulty. "Yeah... someone set it deliberately. Beatrice was traumatized... it triggered early contractions..."
"What did you just say?" Frederick's breathing hitched. "Early contractions?"
"She was pregnant, Frederick." Dennis's voice dropped to barely a whisper.
"When I saw her, she was already showing. Based on the timing, it has to be your kid."
Pregnant...
She'd been carrying his child.
Frederick leaned against the cold courtyard wall, rain sliding down his sharp features. Impossible to tell if it was rainwater or something else.
Immense joy and terror, like two massive hands, seized his heart in a death grip, squeezing until he could barely breathe.
He hung up, then slowly sank into a crouch, letting the rain pour down.
Frederick, who ruled the business world like a god, now huddled in a small town's freezing rain like a lost child, his shoulders shaking beyond his control.
She was alive, carrying his child.
She was coming back to Silverwave City.
That was enough.
After a long while, he stood back up, wiped the rain from his face, and in those dark eyes, a searing light rekindled.
---
The rain in Silverwave City was colder than Willowford Town's.
By the following morning, Frederick's sports car sent up a spray of water as it stopped in front of the villa.
He climbed out, his soaked shirt clinging to his body and outlining his lean frame.
He went to Dennis's villa again.
Dennis was holding an ice pack to his face, grimacing at his bruised reflection in the mirror.
The door swung open. His hand jerked, and the ice pack hit the floor.
Frederick stood in the doorway, his gaze heavy as it landed on him, still carrying the chill and dampness from outside.
"Frederick..."
Dennis's legs went weak. He instinctively backed up.
"Come here." Frederick's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an authority that brooked no argument.
Dennis shuffled forward step by reluctant step like a man walking to the gallows.
Frederick didn't hit him this time. He simply walked past and settled onto the sofa.
He tossed his car keys onto the coffee table with a sharp clink.
"Which hospital did she give birth at?"
Dennis blinked, then obediently rattled off the name of the hospital in Willowford Town.
Actually, he'd only found out this information through Nina.
Frederick picked up his phone and made a call. "Look into Willowford Town Starlight Medical Center. The patient's name is Bella Jenner."
The person on the other end was extremely efficient. Within ten minutes, an encrypted file arrived on his phone.
Frederick opened it, his finger scrolling across the screen.
Patient: Bella Jenner.
Newborn: Male, 6.2 pounds, premature.
The emergency contact line listed one name: Shawn Nguyen.
But the records showed the patient had been discharged. Current whereabouts unknown.
Frederick's pupils contracted sharply.
Why was it him?
A bitter surge of rage and belated fear rose in his throat.
In corners he knew nothing about, while he'd been tormented day and night over her, another man had been the one by her side.
Frederick closed his phone and looked up at Dennis, who was still standing there like a statue.
"She told you she was coming back to Silverwave City," Frederick stated it flatly, his tone unreadable.
Dennis nodded like a bobblehead. "Yeah! Beatrice said so herself."
Frederick didn't say another word. He stood and walked straight out.
Dennis watched that solitary, rigid figure disappear, his stomach churning with anxiety.
Frederick not yelling or hitting him somehow scared him even more.
---
The next day, every underground and above-ground power player in Silverwave City received the same order.
Find someone.
The airport, train stations, highway exits, every entry and exit point into Silverwave City got draped in an invisible net.
Countless pairs of eyes searched through the crowds. The moment any woman matching the description appeared, the information would reach Frederick's assistant, Liam, within ten minutes.
Frederick locked himself in his study, that dirty stuffed tiger Beatrice had made, sitting in front of him.
His people had recovered it from the rubble of that courtyard in Willowford Town.
He ran his fingers over the rough stitching again and again, as if doing so would let him feel the warmth of her fingertips.
Time crawled by.
One day. Two days.
Liam's calls came one after another, each lead turning into another dead end.
Frederick's patience was wearing thin, thread by thread.
He started to wonder if she'd never planned to return to Silverwave City at all.
She'd disappeared into the sea of humanity like a single drop of water.
---
Meanwhile, over three hundred miles outside Silverwave City, in the countryside...
A two-story house with a courtyard sat nestled in a lush bamboo grove.
The air here was fresh and clean. Apart from birdsong and the rustle of wind through bamboo leaves, there was no other sound.
Beatrice leaned against the headboard, her face still somewhat pale.
Cradled in her arms was a small bundle. She gazed down at the peacefully sleeping little guy.
His features strongly resembled Frederick's, though asleep like this, without any of that man's sharp edges, he was nothing but soft and serene.
Shawn pushed open the door, carrying a bowl of freshly made soup.
"Drink some. New mothers need to build up their strength."
He set the bowl on the bedside table, his gaze falling on the baby. His voice unconsciously softened. "Have you thought of a name yet?"
Beatrice shook her head, reaching out to gently touch the baby's chubby cheek.
"Not yet."
"This place is quiet, but the medical facilities can't compare to the city. I'm worried about you taking care of him alone out here."
Shawn chose his words carefully. "Come back with me. I'll make all the arrangements and guarantee no one will bother you two."
Beatrice looked up at him, her gaze clear and resolute.
"Shawn, thank you. From that fire in Willowford Town, to rushing me to the hospital, to helping me find this place... you've already done too much for me. I can't keep causing you trouble."