“Stop! She’s stealing my child! Give me back my child! My child!”
The woman screamed as she ran after Nicole, immediately attracting the attention of everyone around. Their eyes latched onto the wailing child in Nicole’s arms.
“Is… Is she stealing someone else’s child?”
“Does she really think she can get away with doing such a thing in broad daylight?”
“She must be a human trafficker. Someone get her.”
“Yes, get her. Call the police!”
Several well-intentioned people started to chase after Nicole, while others called the police.
While walking, Nicole suddenly found herself being blocked. Her heart skipped a beat as she yelled, “What are you doing?”
“Put down the child!”
“Child?”
Nicole’s heart skipped a beat. I hid Juan overseas when he was just a baby so Evan wouldn’t find him. Can it be that my worst fears have been confirmed?
Were these people dispatched by Evan to snatch my child away from me?
Nicole hugged the child tighter in her arms. She addressed the people behind in panic, “This is my child. I can’t give him to you. This is my child!”
At this moment, the child’s mother ran up to her. Her heart broke watching her bawling child.
“That’s my child. Give him to me!”
“Yours? No, this is my child! My Juan! I gave birth to him! I won’t give him to you, I can’t!”
Nicole squeezed the child even tighter, eliciting an even louder howl from him.
The child’s mother was fraught with anxiousness and heartache. She tried to reason with Nicole. “There are so many people here. You won’t be able to take him. Just give him back to me!”
“No! I won’t!” Nicole’s eyes clouded over with hysteria. She wracked her brain for a way to safely escape with “Juan”.
As the two women fought, the people around began to wag their fingers at Nicole.
“She dolled herself up so prettily. Who would expect her to be a human trafficker? She must have earned a mountain of dirty money from selling children.”
“Yes. We can’t let her get away with this. Just wait till the police get here to investigate her.”
“How horrible. I can’t believe she would do that to children. It’s despicable.”
“What a cruel woman.”
Hearing herself being chided by the people around, Nicole’s head started to throb. Yet her arms clung fast to the child.
The child’s mother dared not to engage in a physical scuffle with Nicole for fear of injuring the child in the process.
Sheila, who was searching for Nicole, dashed over to where the people were crowding.
She could not believe what she saw.
“What’s going on, Nicole?”
When the crowd saw Sheila approach Nicole, they assumed that they were in cahoots.
Several people started to film the scene to post on social media. They wanted to warn their loved ones to take extra precautions when it came to their children’s safety.
After understanding the situation, Sheila murmured to Nicole, “This isn’t Juan, Nicole. He’s at the Seet Residence waiting for us. Give the child back to her.”
Nicole did not seem to recognize or hear Sheila. She clutched the child to her chest defensively as she cooed, “Don’t cry, Juan. Don’t cry, Juan.”
Since it was an emergency, Sheila called Davin. Davin immediately drove over in his sports car. If only I can turn this into a rocket. I’ll be there in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, Evan was in an urgent meeting.
John’s phone started to ring. He glanced at Evan before declining the call. When he checked WhatsApp, he was instantly stunned.
The message came from his friend. The message read – Two human traffickers have appeared at a shopping center. They strongly resemble Mr. Seet’s wife and the heir of Muir Group. Can you ask him if it’s them?
John peered closely at the image. When he confirmed that it was Nicole, he was absolutely aghast. He raised his head and stared at Evan, stupefied.
