Chapter 41
The children were initially stunned. Then, they started buzzing with discussions.
“We know you don’t get along with your mommy, but you can’t deny it. Besides, she’s so kind to you. You’re being
too much.”
A boy with a bowl cut spoke seriously. A few kids holding snacks beside him began to chime in. “Don’t throw tantrums. Otherwise, no one will like you.”
“But considering the snacks and toys your mommy brings, we’re willing to be friends with you too.”
Sanford’s eyes turned gloomy, and his hands were clenched into fists. Just as he was about to overturn the table and beat up those kids who talked nonsense, a little girl suddenly blocked him.
“Sanford already said that that lady isn’t his mommy,” she said. “Can’t you guys understand?”
Her hands were on her hips. Her two small pigtails, which were adorned with pink bows, moved along as she talked.
‘Later, I’ll tell Ms. Fryer that you guys don’t cat proper meals,” she continued. “And you guys even play with toys during class. I’ll ask her to tell your moms and dads!”
The children were all stunned. The boy with a bowl cut threw the toy he was holding onto the floor and started crying loudly.
“Don’t tell my mommy,” he said. ‘She’ll scold me!”
Seeing this, the other children started crying too, creating a chaotic scene.
“Humph!” The little girl gave them a disdainful glance, pulled Sanford, and walked out of the classroom. They stopped behind the slide in the play area.
“You’re Sanford Hill?” the little girl asked.
She looked at Sanford with an air of superiority, unlike other children who stayed far away from him when they saw him.
Sanford nodded, carefully sizing up the girl in front of him and thinking, ‘She seems… a little familiar!
Just as he was about to ask if it was fine that she made those children cry, he saw the little girl jump down from the slide. She curiously circled around him and said, “You really look like Ballard…”
Sanford’s expression suddenly changed. “You know Ballard?” he asked.
“Of course, the little girl said. “He and Abby are both my good friends.”
At the mention of that, Sanford finally remembered. He thought, I’ve seen this girl in the group photo Abby gave me. She’s Moira!’
“Abby said you are her brother, and I didn’t believe it,” Moira said. “I didn’t expect you and Ballard to look so much.
alike.”
Sanford found Moira’s eyes particularly bright, looking like stars sparkling in the sky. However, her eyes suddenly
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turned teary at the mention of Abby.
“That darn girl transferred to a new kindergarten without telling me,” she said. “I can’t believe she’d treat me like
‘that…..”
“Not really,” Sanford hurriedly explained, not only sharing what Abby had said before but even offering to take Moira to meet Abby.
“You really can take me to meet Abby?” Moira said.
Sanford nodded vigorously and even called Abby right in front of Moira.
Hearing that he wanted to take Moira to see her, Abby was very excited. Although Moira did not say much, her eyes. were filled with joy.
Sanford and Moira decided to set off immediately. After the quarrel the other day, Alick’s people had left the kindergarten. Therefore, Sanford and Moira could easily slip away from under the security guard’s nose.
“Miss Joan, that seems to be Mr. Sanford…”
Joan looked out of the window and happened to see Sanford hailing a taxi with Moira by his side.
She thought, “Didn’t expect this son of the b i tc h to slip out of the kindergarten. He’s just like that bitc h, always stirring up trouble. Alick will be very angry when he finds out.”
“Do you want to inform Mr. Hill?”
Joan hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, thinking. T’d like to see what Sanford is up to by sneaking out.
Maybe he will give me a big gift?’
After all, she received an exclusive black card from Alick after visiting Sanford in the kindergarten every day. She had just used this card to buy several handbags in the mall.
Seeing Sanford and Moira getting into a car, Joan immediately asked the driver to follow them.
It took over an hour to drive from the east side of the city to the west. Sanford and Moira were still on the way, and the kindergarten had already noticed their disappearance.
“We’ve checked the surveillance. Mr. Sanford has slipped out with Moira.”
Travis thought, “What a shock! How could I have let Sanford go missing? How am I going to explain this to Alick?”
Travis was extremely anxious. While instructing people to go out and search for Sanford, he tremblingly took out his phone.
At the Hill Group. Alick was conducting a meeting about financing. When the meeting was at a point where important discussions were taking place, Bill burst into the meeting room in a hurry, causing Alick’s expression to instantly turn gloomy.
“Mr. Hill, there is a call from Travis,” Bill said.
Alick took the phone. Before he said anything, he heard Travis’s voice, which sounded like he was about to cry.
Chapter 41
Mr. Hill, Mr. Sanford has gone missing.” he said.
Alick suddenly stood up from his chair and said sternly, “What’s going on?”
Travis briefly explained what happened at the kindergarten today. Alick frowned as he listened. After hanging up- the phone, he was about to instruct all his subordinates to take action, but the phone screen flashed again.
Looking at the words “Joan Taylor” that flickered on the screen, he hesitated for a moment but still answered the phone.
“Hello?” he said.
“Don’t worry, Alick,” Joan said. “Sanford is with me now.”
A hint of puzzlement appeared in Alick’s eyes as he asked, “What did you say?”
“When Sanford sneaked out from the kindergarten, I happened to run into him,” Joan said. “Don’t worry. He’s safe now. I’ll bring him back in a bit.”
Just as Alick was about to ask where they were, Joan abruptly ended the call. It seem like she had anticipated that he would question further.
Bill heard Joan’s words as well. His expression looked quite complex, and he asked, “Mr. Hill, should we still look for Mr. Sanford?”
He thought. Doesn’t Mr. Sanford hate Ms. Taylor? How come he’s with her?’
That was something Alick could not figure out.
He thought. Since Joan has assured that Sanford is safe, there’s no need for an extensive city-wide search then. But what on earth is Summer doing? She doesn’t even know that her son plays h o o k y!”
Alick rubbed his temples. His gaze was incredibly gloomy.
Meanwhile, Summer received a call from the kindergarten. “How come the kids go missing?” she asked.
“We’re really sorry, Ms. Wright. We’re not sure how Abby and Ballard left the kindergarten, but don’t worry. We’ve sent people to look for them. If there’s any update, we’ll inform you right away.”
Summer hung up and immediately launched the location system on her phone.
Abby and Ballard did not go too far from the kindergarten. They went to a bookstore in the west of the city. Just as Summer was about to drive there, Ballard took the initiative to call her.
“Mommy, don’t worry,” Ballard said. “Abby and I just came out to buy two books. We’ll return later.”
Ballard also sent a picture of them in the bookstore. In the picture, Abby was sitting and reading a book. It was only then that Summer breathed a sigh of relief.
“Don’t do that again, okay?” Summer said. “I was so worried when the teacher called.”
“Sorry, Mommy,” Ballard said in a well-behaved manner. “I forgot to tell you in advance. When we return, we’ll
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apologize to the teacher. Don’t be mad.”
Summer refrained from getting angry now that Ballard had called her. She hung up after giving a few reminders. But she still felt a bit uneasy, so she decided to make a trip to the west side of the city.
At the bookstore, Abby looked out the window with a mixture of excitement and nervousness, saying, “It’s been so long. Why haven’t Sanford and Moira arrived yet?”
“They should be here soon,” Ballard said, sitting on a sofa and holding an iPad. “Think about what to say to Mommy later. The location tracking shows that she’s on her way here.”
“I’m not scared because you are right here with me,” Abby said.
Seeing Abby playfully wink at him. Ballard rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, he felt that being an older brother was not a good thing at all. He thought, I’m simply a scapegoat. Looks like I need to have a good talk with Sanford later.
“They’re here!” he said.
As Ballard followed Abby’s gaze and looked out the window, he happened to see Sanford and Moira getting out of
a car.
“I’ll go out to greet them,” Abby said.
Then, she excitedly jumped off the sofa, ran toward the door, and hugged Moira, saying, “Moira, you’re finally here! I thought you were mad at me and wouldn’t talk to me again!”
“Hmph, I’m still mad now.” Moira pursed her lips, but the joy in her eyes could not be hidden.
Abby did not care about that. She planted a kiss on Moira’s cheek. The two girls excitedly hugged each other and jumped around.
“Sanford, thank you for bringing Moira over, Abby said. “I’m so happy.”
“It’s nothing.” Sanford said.
Blushing, he scratched his nose. As he looked at Abby and Moira’s joyful expressions, his gaze softened.
“Let’s go inside quickly,” Abby said. “Ballard is waiting inside.”
Abby held Sanford with her left hand and linked arms with Moira using her right hand as she bounced into the bookstore.
As soon as the children entered the bookstore, the window of a black Bentley parked across the road was wound down slowly.
Joan stared intently at the children in the bookstore like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue. Her gaze was malicious and cold. She thought, ‘They’re still alive!”
Although she had not confirmed the identities of those two children, they did resemble Sanford a lot, especially when she had just heard Abby address Sanford in an intimate tone.
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Joan’s nails dug into her palm, and she was emotionally shaken, thinking. I never expected that none of those three little ba s a d s died back then.”
Joan took two deep breaths and gradually regained her composure. She thought. ‘It’s all my fault for going easy on them I should have asked the doctor to strangle these little b a s t a rd s to death back then! But they present me withra big gift right now.”
“Go to the Hiil Group,” she said as she curled her lips, revealing a cold smile.
As soon as Joan’s car left, Summer arrived. At a glance, she saw the four children happily chatting by the window. She widened her eyes suddenly, hurriedly went inside, and asked, “What are you people doing?”
Ballard had already given them a heads-up, so the children were not surprised by Summer’s arrival.
Abby pulled Summer to sit beside her and explained in a sweet and childish voice, “Mommy, don’t be mad, okay? I missed Moira a lot, so Sanford helped bring her over. And we haven’t caused
any trouble.
The other three little ones nodded vigorously. Summer was instantly irritated and amused. She thought, “They played hook y together, and they’re still saying that they didn’t run around?”
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