But simply having a recording wasn’t enough.
What if the recording didn’t contain the information Mr. Palr wanted?
As Betty ate breakfast, she looked toward Kane, seemingly casual, and asked, "What did you just talk about?"
"Nothing. I’ll take you back to Zurich myself in the afternoon."
The girl was startled.
Going back to Zurich this afternoon?
So sudden?
She had just arrived yesterday!
And she had planned to enjoy a few days in China!
"Will you co back here then?" the girl asked anxiously.
"Betty, that’s my concern, please do not interfere with my privacy."
"Okay..." The girl sat down to eat her breakfast, but after a few seconds of silence, she suddenly asked again, "Is she leaving with you? And her children, are those... her children?"
Kane looked at her, visibly annoyed but still polite, "Betty, these matters do not concern you, please stop prying."
"Oh~ don’t get wrong, I just think they are adorable and couldn’t help wanting to see them again. They didn’t co back last night, so where are they staying? We’re free this morning; we could go pick them up to play!"
The look in Kane’s eyes turned from annoyance to surprise—he hadn’t expected her to be so friendly towards the children.
But after a mont of silence, he still declined, "No need, soone is looking after them."
"Okay..." With several attempts rebuffed, Betty didn’t know where to start and chose to drop the subject.
Kane cast her a glance, saying nothing, but suspicion arose in his heart.
Betty’s sudden appearance made him wonder if soone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
But Christopher Hart’s reach shouldn’t extend to Northern Europe, so he thought maybe he was overthinking it.
————
"Fine, the private plane will arrive this afternoon, I’ll take them and leave first."
"Why tell this? Don’t be like that, please. It’s my regret that I can’t help you."
"Qing, what are you thinking? Did Betty just say sothing to you? Don’t bother with her, when I get back to Zurich, I’ll take care of it."
"Wait, wait, wait! I asked you to take the children and leave yesterday because I didn’t want to explain to her. Moreover, I was worried she’d learn about the children’s existence—it’s just not good... After all, the safer it is for the fewer people to know about the children’s real identities."
"Are you saying we should et directly at the airport this afternoon?"
"Okay, we’ll be in touch this afternoon."
Christopher Hart listened to the fragnted recording, his face indescribably grim.
Despite the Chinese pronunciation being all over the place, like soone tripping over their tongue, the important information was still clear.
The private plane would arrive this afternoon, and that foreigner was indeed planning to leave with the two little boys first.
The fewer people who know about the children’s real identity, the safer it is—what did that an?
What exactly were the true identities of those two little boys?
Why can’t people know?
All the speculations in his heart bobbed up like gourds in water, making him so anxious that even breathing felt difficult.
Could it be...
That those children were really Alia Garcia’s?
With whom did she have them?
Could it be when she bore Hope...
His phone rang, snapping him out of his deep thoughts.
"Hello..."
Benny Palr had sent him the recording, guessing he had finished listening, so he made the call to ask.
"Christopher, what’s going on? I just went to Europe for a bit, and I feel like I’ve missed a lot of important information! What about the kids? Whose kids? Why the secrecy? Why are you looking for soone’s children?"
Christopher Hart didn’t know how to explain.
He was feeling very confused.
Both exhilarated and terrified.
He was both angry and scared.
After his friend bombarded him with questions, he wasn’t in the mood to answer them one by one. He replied tersely, "She was accompanied by two little boys, about four or five years old, who seed to have been with her since her return to China, but she’s been very careful to keep them hidden. Every ti Snow said he was bringing his nephew to play with Hope, I suspected those two little boys were who he was referring to, just... there’s no evidence."
Benny Palr was shocked!
"You’re saying... Alia had two more boys?"
"She won’t admit it, saying they were adopted with that foreigner."
"What about the children? If we find them, won’t that solve everything?"
"It’s easier said than done, is it that easy to find them?"
"..."
Benny hadn’t finished the conversation when Christopher Hart signaled that another call was coming in.
Seeing it was from his assistant, he quickly told his friend he’d call back later and switched the line.
"What have you found?"
Lucas King said excitedly, "President Hart, I’ve had soone ask every Fitch family relative, and after inquiring from yesterday to today, our diligence finally paid off!"
"Cut the crap and get to the point!"
"There is indeed a nephew in the Fitch family, but he just turned four last month. He attends an international kindergarten. I got a photo, but it’s not a clear frontal shot, it’s a bunch of kids playing together. Soone was photographing their own child and happened to capture the boy in the fra..."
"Send it to ."
"I’ve already sent it to your WhatsApp."
Christopher Hart imdiately picked up his phone and checked WhatsApp.
The photo showed a group of children playing, with Lucas having circled the "target" in red.
Upon closer inspection, Christopher couldn’t help but punch the table with his fist!
This wasn’t at all the child Snow had been taking around!
A bunch of people had colluded to act and had been taking him for a ride!
While the call was still connected, Lucas called out, "President Hart, have you seen the photo?"
"Are you sure there’s no mistake?" Christopher recovered his wits and asked sharply.
"No. A lot of people were asked. But we’ve gone to great lengths, disturbing every relative. Snow is bound to get wind of it soon."
Yes, of course Christopher understood.
But there was nothing to worry about; weren’t they scheduled to et at the airport that afternoon?
Then he’d seize the opportunity with a waiting ga!
————
Alia Garcia went to the office with no inclination to work at all.
She kept checking her wristwatch, mindful of the ti.
And kept an eye on her phone, afraid of missing any ssage from Kane.
Shaw didn’t co to the office today; she stayed ho on standby, preparing to take the children to the airport in the afternoon.
Despite her trust in Kane, the children were still very young, and it was a long-distance flight. Once separated, she didn’t know when they would be able to reunite.
After so thought, she still felt uneasy and decided she had to go to the airport to see them off in the afternoon.
Wary of being followed by Christopher’s people, she had a stroke of inspiration, got up, and went to Shaw’s workstation, where she rummaged through Shaw’s cosplay outfits.
At noon, Kane called, ready to head to the airport.
After phoning Shaw, Alia grabbed her bag and left the office.
She was no longer wearing the clothes she had on in the morning; her straight hair was now big, wavy curls. With delicate makeup, she slipped on a pair of oversized sunglasses on her nose bridge. She looked like a model strutting down a catwalk.
It was ti for lunch and a rest when a throng of people poured out from the office buildings. She beca well concealed among the crowd.
Fortunately, the office building was filled with elite executives, and every woman who ca and went was finely dressed, exuding a strong presence.
Otherwise, her "disguise" was too stunning and eye-catching, which would have made her stand out even more.
Having called for a rideshare in advance, she descended to the roadside where the driver was already waiting.
Opening the car door and sitting down, her heart raced in trepidation, but she maintained a calm exterior, "Driver, to the airport."
Her gaze swept across the sidewalk from behind the sunglasses. She couldn’t tell which people might be suspicious but hoped... she could evade Christopher’s surveillance.
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