"Mia, the thing is, you can give him a smack now and he won't remember a thing," Mia said, looking at the little munchkin snoozing away, too young to remember anything.
Andre tried to enlighten his wife, "While he's got no memory, now's the time to do it. He won't know any better. Wait till he's older, and he'll start remembering."
The couple spent a good fifteen minutes discussing the merits of disciplining their child before Andre had to hang up as he arrived at his hotel.
Mia gazed at the little bub blowing bubbles, "My own flesh and blood, too cute, I just can't bring myself to do it."
After hanging up with his wife, Andre's smile lingered. Not until he stepped into the elevator did his expression turn serious, "How's the search going?"
"Boss, I'll have a location for you by tomorrow."
Andre replied, "While you're at it, schedule a meeting with Old Man Walker."
...
The next evening, the head of the international division located Andre at the hotel, "Boss, we've found Jillian's address, but the house was empty, and the Walkers are on her trail too."
If Old Man Walker had sent his third son overseas to find Tom, he'd definitely dispatch people for Jillian too. The longer it took, the more uneasy Andre felt.
He even wondered if the child's cries that day weren't his son's at all, but just some random kid Tom used to deceive him.
Having kept his superior waiting a whole day, the division head wouldn't just bring disappointing news, "We followed the trail and located Jillian hiding out in a rural area. Seems like the Walkers haven't found her yet. Should we move now, boss?"
Knowing she'd be hunted, Jillian had taken the baby girl and fled to the countryside instead of going home.
Even in the countryside, she was fraught with anxiety.
The drive to the rural hideout took two and a half hours, with not a soul in sight. To evade the Walkers, she had no choice.
The baby girl kept crying, pushing Jillian to the brink of abandoning her, only to remember the contract - a yearly check-up on the child's wellbeing was mandatory for the payout.
Not her own flesh and blood, Jillian lacked empathy, once throwing the bottle in frustration, "Cry again, and I'll strangle you." Her father was jailed because of Finley, leaving her with no warmth for either Finley or the baby.
The child's cries grew fainter, a sign of poor health.
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