The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 315

Susan rushed home in a flurry, hopping out of the cab only to spot Grace, anxiously awaiting at the entrance of the neighborhood.

“What’s going on?” Susan asked frantically, “How did she just vanish into thin air?”

“I have no clue, I swear I tucked her into bed after lunch.” Grace was on the verge of tears, “It’s all my fault, I slept too deep and didn’t even notice her getting up.”

“Enough!” Susan interjected irritably, “Finding her is what matters, is this really the time for tears?”

Grace clammed up immediately, sobbing and looking somewhat pitiful.

Susan was beside herself with worry: “Think hard, did Theresa say anything about wanting to go somewhere before she left?”

On the way back, Grace had already told her about how Theresa disappeared, but Susan was baffled – how could such a little girl have the motive or the guts to run away from home?

But she couldn’t believe that Grace would mistreat her.

From the time Sophia was pregnant, Grace had been looking after them, and her affection for Sophia and Theresa was nothing but genuine.

The little girl trotting away from home in the surveillance footage didn’t show any signs of unhappiness, in fact, she looked full of anticipation.

“She kept on yammering about her mom’s drawing going missing, wanting to find Handsome Unkie,” Susan reminded her.

With that prompt, Grace had a lightbulb moment: “She did go on about it a bunch of times, even tried to go out looking for it, but I brought her back. She couldn’t have gone to Mr. Crawley, could she?”

In a flurry, Grace fumbled for her phone: “I’m gonna call Mr. Crawley right now.”

While talking, Grace was shaking so bad she misdialed several times. Susan was also frantic. Thankfully, Grace finally got it right and dialed the number.

After two rings, the call was answered.

“Hello.” A deep, calm voice, faintly accompanied by the scratch of pen on paper – Brandon was clearly busy.

“Mr. Crawley,” Grace steadied herself, “has Theresa come looking for you?”

Brandon paused mid-task at his desk: “Theresa?”

“Yes,” Grace nodded eagerly, “she ran off on her own, and we can’t find her anywhere.”

“What?” Brandon shot to his feet, startling everyone outside who was busily at work.

Kent, puzzled, looked toward the office to see Brandon with a stern expression, phone in hand, already striding away from his desk, his voice cold: “When did this happen?”

Grace was intimidated by his tone, hesitating: “I just realized she was missing, but she’s been gone for an hour, she left all by herself, I can’t find her on any of the neighborhood cameras.”

“She’s not with me,” Brandon said, grabbing his car keys from the desk and heading out, “Have you checked with Theresa’s mom? Is she with her?”

“No, she would’ve said something if she was there.”

As Grace spoke, she couldn't help but start crying again.

“Did you call the police?” Brandon cut her off with his composed voice, already out of the office.

Passing Kent’s desk, he tapped twice to signal him to follow.

Kent caught on immediately and hurriedly stood up to join him.

Grace nodded from the other end of the line: “Yeah, I just did.”

“Try contacting the neighborhood management to check the cameras again, and ask around your neighbors. I’ll reach out to the police,” Brandon said, ending the call as he reached the elevator, about to call the authorities when his phone rang.

Brandon answered reflexively: “Hello?”

“It’s me.” Theresa’s timid little voice seeped through the phone.

Brandon froze, unsure, and called out to her: “Theresa?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Theresa,” her sweet, timid voice came through the speaker.

Brandon was about to ask her location and who she was with when a calm male voice came through: “Hello, I’m Officer Noah from the police station.”

The officer rattled off a series of digits: “Do you know a little girl around 2 years old named Theresa?”