His eyes landed on Josie playing with Grape in the yard. The sight of the two figures, one large and one small, filled his entire field of vision.
The heaviness in his heart instantly vanished.
“Hello? Mr. Russell…” Larry’s voice came through the phone. Dexter snapped back to reality. “It’s nothing.” He quickly hung up the phone.
Josie also noticed him.
“You’re awake?” The politeness and unfamiliarity in her words made Dexter quite uncomfortable.
However, Josie muttered to herself. “I have some things to take care of and will bring Grape to the nursery later.” Her words, both explicit and implicit, were a polite way of indicating that it was time for her guest to leave.
“It’s fine. I can take Grape,” Dexter blurted out without hesitation. He walked over to Grape and picked her up.
“Continue with your work. Leave the child to me.”
Josie had a hint of doubt about his suggestion. In her mind, she could already imagine the chaotic scene of Dexter trying to handle the children, which she found somewhat amusing.
“Are you sure?”
Dexter grunted in agreement, his gaze fixed on Grape. “No problem.”
“Okay, then,” she agreed.
Josie had hired a private investigator.
At ten in the morning, Josie arrived promptly at the agreed-upon location. Not long after, a blond man dressed in a black trench coat and wearing black-framed sunglasses entered.
“Ms. Warren, sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“It’s alright. I just arrived as well.”
After the man took his seat, he got straight to the point. “Ms. Warren, regarding your father’s situation, I’ve uncovered some leads…”
For the past two years, Josie had been tirelessly searching for any information about Paul’s whereabouts. Despite her efforts, there had been little to no progress. Now that there was news, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. “Have you found Paul?”
The man pulled out a thick stack of documents from his bag and promptly handed them over to Josie.
“Ms. Warren, during this period, I have thoroughly investigated the entire Clusian community in Sumanthova. Regarding the man with the scar you mentioned, he did indeed appear in Sumanthova two years ago. He was smuggled in, and due to the lack of a visa, his stay in Sumanthova was short. He only stayed for about three months before leaving.”
“What about my father? His disappearance was undoubtedly connected to the scarred man. Since the scarred man had been to Sumanthova, could it be that my father was also brought here by him?”
“I checked. He came to Sumanthova alone. There were no signs of Mr. Warren being with him.”
A wave of despair washed over her. “How could this be…” Initially, it was Scar who had indeed taken Paul away!
Josie couldn’t help but feel that there was a perplexing mystery, as if the truth of the matter had been constantly concealed by someone.
“Ms. Warren, I understand how you feel. However, all current investigations indicate that the chances of Mr. Paul Warren being in Sumanthova are extremely low.”
Josie’s gaze suddenly dimmed, and a wave of weakness washed over her.
Seeing this, the man couldn’t help but raise his gaze slightly. “Ms. Warren,” he began, “based on my years of experience, is it possible that the scar was just a cover-up, a smokescreen to mislead us? We might have been heading in the wrong direction from the beginning.”
This statement was not a baseless claim from the man, but rather a conclusion he had reached after synthesizing information from various sources.
“You’re saying my dad isn’t in Sumanthova? Then where could he be?”
Josie was completely lost. For the past two years, she had held onto the belief that Paul had been abducted by Scar and that her father was probably in Sumanthova.
However, it was now becoming clear to her that the path she had taken from the start might have been incorrect…
“Ms. Warren, there is a chance. Is it possible that Mr. Warren has never left the country and has always remained within it…”
