Chapter 95
When Emily passed by the market downstairs, she made a special trip to buy lots of groceries.
During this time she hadn't been working, so she could prepare meals for her family. Plus with plenty of money on hand, even Nina had gotten noticeably chubbier.
But she'd be starting work soon and wouldn't be as free as now. Even if she could still prepare food for her family, it probably wouldn't be as easy as it was now.
She'd make the kids a big feast today - they'd definitely be thrilled.
After finishing her errands, Emily headed home and opened the door.
"Mom, Oscar, Nina, Aiden, I'm back!" Emily was in good spirits, her voice much livelier, sweeping away her earlier gloom.
She changed her shoes and put the groceries on the dining table.
Aiden and Nina rushed out from their room. "Mommy, you're finally back!"
Nina beat Aiden and hugged Emily's leg, nuzzling against her affectionately.
"Mommy, if you didn't come back soon, Nina would have missed you to death."
This little one always had a sweet tongue and was so good at saying things like this.
Emily pinched her chubby little cheeks. "You missed me already? I actually have some good news to tell you all. Where's Grandma?"
She looked up toward the living room. Even Oscar had come out of his room, but her mother was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did she go?"
Both kids pointed toward the door at the same time.
Oscar said softly, "Grandma went out."
"Went out?" Emily's smile tightened.
Although her mother seemed like a normal person, the doctor said she couldn't handle stress, or she might have another episode. What if something happened to her outside?
"When did Grandma go out?" Emily asked urgently.
"Half an hour ago." Oscar glanced at the clock.
Emily relaxed a little.
Half an hour wasn't too long. Since Amelia just went out for some fresh air, she should be back soon. Better wait a bit.
Although Amelia had only been back for two days, Emily could feel that her mood was much more stable. Her behavior was no different from a normal person's. Just going downstairs for a walk shouldn't cause any problems.
Emily comforted the kids a bit and let them go play. She took the groceries to the kitchen.
It was almost lunchtime anyway - time to start cooking.
However, by the time Emily had cleaned all the vegetables, another half hour had passed, and Amelia still hadn't returned. Now Emily couldn't stay calm.
Just going downstairs for a stroll - how could she be gone this long?
Emily felt a bit regretful. When she picked up Amelia yesterday, she'd wanted to buy her a phone for easy contact, but Amelia said she wouldn't go out much and didn't need a phone - didn't want Emily to spend the money.
Plus Emily had other things to handle at the time, and figured buying one today wouldn't be too late, so she'd put it off.
Now look what happened - she couldn't find her and could only worry helplessly.
"Mommy, don't worry." Nina ran over. "Grandma won't get lost. Maybe she's already back. Should we go downstairs to look for her?"
Hearing the word "lost," Emily's heart trembled. She couldn't sit still anymore and quickly stood up.
"Oscar, you stay home and take good care of Nina and Aiden. I'm going to find Grandma."
"Mommy, I want to go with you."
"No." Emily refused.
With Amelia missing, that bad feeling in her heart was getting stronger. If she took the kids out too and something else happened, what would she do? She didn't want to take any more risks.
"Oscar, listen to me." Emily gently stroked his head, forcing out a smile. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
Oscar nodded hard. "Mommy, go ahead. I'll take good care of Nina and Aiden."
Emily smiled with relief.
During this time, Aiden had practically made this place her home and never mentioned going back. She even learned to help Emily with things she could manage.
Emily saw all her carefulness. This child was truly thoughtful and knew what she was worried about.
Emily didn't dare delay any longer. After quickly comforting the kids, she hurried out.
When she bought the house, the sales person had said this was an upscale neighborhood with low occupancy. Emily bought here for the peace.
She went downstairs - there weren't many people around, and everything was very empty.
Emily searched for a long time but couldn't find any trace of Amelia. The more she searched, the more panicked she became, her heart pounding like it would jump out of her throat.
She took out her phone several times but didn't even know who to call.
Emily searched outside for over half an hour, covering every inch of the entire complex, but found nothing. Now she couldn't hold it together anymore.
The complex was only so big. Amelia couldn't have just wandered off randomly. She knew Emily would worry - how could she do something like this?
So where on earth did she go? In such a big complex, how could there not be a single trace of her?
Before she knew it, cold sweat broke out on Emily's forehead, and her heart grew more and more frantic.
She kept taking deep breaths, trying to comfort herself that everything was fine, it would definitely be fine.
Maybe Amelia had just gone a bit farther, or maybe something had caught her attention, which was why she hadn't come back yet. It must be that.
Emily walked hurriedly. Time kept passing. She'd come home around eleven, and now it was almost one o'clock, and still no sign of Amelia.
How could this be?
Emily was beside herself with worry. She took out her phone and called William. He answered quickly.
"William, where are you right now?" Emily gripped her phone nervously, her hands trembling.
William heard something was wrong in Emily's tone and paused. "What happened?"
"My mom is missing."
With just that one sentence, Emily's voice was already tearful.
"I went out to look for work and when I came back she was gone. I don't know where she went. I've searched the entire complex and I really don't know what to do. Have you seen my mom?"
William's heart sank, his expression growing serious.
He'd heard Emily mention that Amelia had a serious mental illness and had only improved slightly after years of treatment. But she was still sick - how could she just wander off?
"I never thought something like this would happen." Emily raised her hand and roughly wiped away her tears.
William quickly said, "Now's not the time to blame yourself. Finding your mom is what matters. Don't panic, I'll come back right away and look for her with you."
"Don't worry, your mom will be fine."
"Okay." Emily nodded quickly, feeling somewhat more relaxed.
After hanging up, William sighed.
Since returning to Emily's side, he hadn't been to the organization, only sending people to report on the organization's situation daily.
He was already on the road now, but seeing how anxious Emily was, he had to go back.
As for the organization's situation, he could only have someone else handle it temporarily. He could go after Emily's matter was resolved.