Chapter 98
But now, looking at Oscar, he had this strange feeling that Oscar was William's real son, and he was the one who didn't belong.
Oscar had already walked over and was reaching for the doorknob.
Just then, Emily finally came back.
"Mommy!" Nina was the first to rush over, with Oscar right behind her, his furrowed brow relaxing a bit.
Seeing Emily safe and sound, he felt relieved.
Emily didn't hug Nina like she usually did, didn't acknowledge Oscar, and even Aiden standing nearby became invisible to her.
She headed straight for her room and slammed the door shut.
All three children froze in unison.
Aiden looked toward the door, then toward Emily's bedroom, and turned around in a daze. "Oscar, was that person who just flashed by really your mom?"
He'd been living here for quite a while now. Although he didn't call Emily "mom," she treated him just like her own son—no different from how she treated Oscar.
Before, when Emily came home, no matter how tired or busy she was, she'd always play with them for a while. But today she went straight to her room and even locked the door. What on earth had happened?
Oscar didn't say anything. Nina was also startled, hiding behind Oscar without daring to make a sound.
Before, when Nina reached out her arms for Emily to hold her, Emily would always happily pick her up and kiss her little cheeks. Who knew what was wrong today?
"Oscar," Nina looked up and asked, "does it have something to do with Grandma?"
Oscar nodded without saying much.
"Grandma didn't come back. Looks like Mommy didn't find her."
"What do we do?"
Nina and Aiden said in unison, "Nothing bad happened to Grandma, right?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Oscar's heart skipped a beat. He glared at Nina. "Grandma is a good person. She just went out for a walk. Nothing will happen to her."
He was saying this to comfort Nina, but also to comfort himself.
But seeing Emily's strange attitude, he knew things weren't that simple.
In her room, Emily stared at her phone in silence for a long time.
She didn't know whether she should do what Brian said. If she did what he asked but Brian went back on his word and refused to hand over Amelia, what then? Wouldn't she have lost her last card to play?
She didn't believe Brian would be kind enough to make a fair deal with her.
She had dirt on Brian, and Brian had taken Amelia—wasn't that another kind of leverage?
Better not to take the risk.
But if she didn't do this, knowing Brian's personality, he definitely wouldn't return Amelia.
Should she call the police? But what if Brian decided to go down fighting if she called the police?
Even if the police eventually caught him, Amelia would definitely get hurt.
Emily didn't know what to do anymore.
She stared at the dark phone screen and thought of William, but felt even more desperate.
On the way back, she'd called William several more times. Without exception, no one answered.
What was he so busy with? Didn't he say he'd be back soon? Why couldn't she reach him at this critical moment? He clearly said he'd come back to help her.
He was the eldest son of the Brown family. Even though he wasn't with the Brown family now, he still had connections. If he was willing to help her, maybe Amelia could come back soon.
Why wasn't William answering his phone? Was he lying to her?
Emily sat there for a long time, then slowly reached for her phone. She wanted to try one more time to see if William would answer.
Maybe he was busy, or maybe something was temporarily holding him up.
But since he already knew something had happened on her end, he surely wouldn't just ignore it. He would definitely come back.
Why not wait patiently a bit longer? Maybe William was already on his way back right now. When he arrived, he'd definitely think of a solution.
At this moment, Emily didn't realize at all that she had become dependent on William.
Just like when Amelia went missing, her first reaction wasn't to call the police, but to seek William's help.
It was as if in her subconscious, as long as William was around, there was no problem he couldn't solve.
And indeed, that was the truth. In the past, William had helped her handle everything.
This time, she was really in trouble, so naturally the first person she thought of was William.
As for calling the police, Emily was already too worried about the consequences. But just staying stuck like this wasn't a solution either.
Emily picked up her phone and dialed William's number again.
"William, answer the phone, please answer!" she murmured in her heart, her nervous palms covered in cold sweat.
However, the phone rang once, twice, but it was like throwing a stone into the ocean.
William never answered, as if he had completely gone off the grid.
Earlier when he said he was on his way back—that was just a brief dream Emily had.
Emily wouldn't give up. She called several more times.
When she made the last call, she heard a cold automated message: "Hello, the number you have dialed is switched off."
Switched off?
Emily's expression changed. Her hand loosened, and the phone dropped onto the soft carpet with a dull thud that hit her heart hard.
William had actually turned off his phone!
He turned off his phone at this critical moment? Didn't he know she was looking for him? Didn't he know how anxious she was right now? How could he turn off his phone?
What should she do now?
Brian was still waiting. If she couldn't give him an answer, would he get angry and do something even worse?
Emily didn't dare think any further.
"Mommy, are you feeling better?"
Someone knocked on the door. Nina's childish voice came from outside. "Mommy, are you very sad? Whatever happened, you can tell us. I'll stay by your side."
"Yeah, Mommy, come out. We're really worried about you." Oscar also spoke up.
Aiden didn't say anything, but nodded hard.
He hadn't told anyone, but in his heart, he already thought of Emily as his real mom.
Many times, he'd wanted to call Emily "mom," but was afraid she wouldn't like it, so he held back.
After staying with Emily for so long, this was the first time he'd seen such a vulnerable side of her.
And William wasn't here either. He didn't know what he should do, but at the very least, he wanted to comfort Emily.
Just like Oscar and Nina—whatever they did, he'd follow along. Maybe that way, Emily would feel a little better.
Emily heard the sounds outside the door. Nina's clear voice was like a knife, cutting at the most painful place in her heart.
For the children, for her mother, after much hesitation, Emily finally made a bold decision.