The next day.
a.m., dawn just breaking.
Half asleep, Luna answered a phone call.
"Hello, who is it?"
Luna only got sleepy at 4 a.m. and was woken by the ringtone after an hour of sleep. She was now so sleepy she couldn’t open her eyes, and her tone was lazy.
"Oh..."
After a light response and several seconds of silence, Luna suddenly opened her eyes, then kicked the fast-asleep Elliana Lyle beside her!
"..."
Seeing she wasn’t waking up, Luna used a bit more force.
Finally, Elliana, in a daze, sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking at Luna with confusion.
Luna said, "Get up, Bella called, she wants to et us."
Last night, they had already arranged for Yan Xue to stay at the Vicars Hotel, likely still in bed at this hour.
Leaving the house, they went to the arranged location to et Bella, which Luna had arranged at the café in Lotus Park.
As usual, Elliana put on a baseball cap and mask, because her face was really inconvenient.
Upon arrival, Bella was already seated, and didn’t have much of a reaction when she saw them.
She seed very calm instead.
"Have you thought it over?" Elliana asked directly after sitting down.
Today, Bella was willing to et them mainly because of Yan Xue.
Although using another family mber as leverage is indeed unethical, for Nancy’s sake, it was worth a try.
Bella didn’t speak, her beautiful fox-like eyes gazing at the coffee cup, as if pondering sothing.
They weren’t in a rush, waiting quietly for Bella to speak.
After a long while, Bella finally looked up at them and asked, "How much money can you give ?"
Luna said, "That depends on what you have to say."
"Who exactly are you people?" Bella finally asked the question she most wanted to ask; she didn’t think Nancy would be associated with two seemingly rich heiresses.
Faced with the inquiry, Elliana naturally replied, "To tell you the truth, Nancy is my sister. She left ho because we were poor. Later, my dad won the lottery, and the family got rich, but my sister disappeared."
This was a prepared story from the start. Luna speculated that Bella’s resistance and fear were likely because of lower social status, and the identity she feared was definitely not simple.
Bella was visibly stunned after hearing this, staring at Elliana with suspicion, but couldn’t discern the truth just from her tone, with her face obscured.
After a long hesitation, she still chose to believe Elliana’s story and said, "You won’t find your sister."
Winning the lottery can indeed make soone rich, but such money is not enough to even shine those shoes. Trying to find soone from that person’s hands is as hard as reaching the sky.
"Why?"
Faced with Elliana’s inquiry, Bella habitually tucked her hair, "Don’t look for her; you won’t find her. Aside from Nancy, a few others are also missing. Two of them had pretty good family backgrounds, and their families reported it to the police for years, but no news at all."
"You don’t need to worry about whether we find her or not, just tell what you know." Elliana said, watching Bella intently, feeling a bit anxious.
Bella was still quite cautious, revealing just enough to prompt further questions.
Her purpose was also for Yan Xue’s sake; she needed to confirm Yan Xue’s safety. Only after Yan Xue appeared, would she continue.
"Is my sister alright?"
Luna said coldly, "You an you have to see your sister first before you’ll say more?"
"Yes!"
Bella didn’t deny it in the slightest, instead smiling, "I have a tight lip. No one coming to would work, but if my sister ca, then I’d tell you."
"Your sister is at Vicars Hotel. To be honest, I’m actually your sister’s savior. You know about your sister being kidnapped, right? The short girl ntioned in the reports..." Luna paused, unzipped her jacket to reveal her injured hand, and smiled, "Do I look familiar?"
Bella: "..."
This caused Bella to have a significant change in her perception of Luna, but... she stuck to her principles; she wouldn’t speak without seeing Yan Xue.
Since Yan Xue blocked her number last night, she had tornted herself all night, smoking a pack of cigarettes.
She didn’t originally smoke, not sure when she picked up the habit, perhaps feeling that only smoking could get her through depression.
"Alright, let’s go then." Elliana said, standing up.
...
After getting in the car, Elliana started the engine. Only then did Luna turn to Bella in the back seat and say, "You and your sister don’t seem to get along well?"
Bella stiffened, her slightly clenched hand indicating anger, but her face remained relaxed, "What does this have to do with you?"
"Nothing, yesterday Yan Xue told us about your situation, and she cried quite fiercely." Luna said, ceasing further conversation.
She said this to make Bella more truthful when speaking; for soone like Bella, there’s always so reservation in their words, and sotis what’s withheld might be the most important thing.
However, sitting in the backseat, Bella indeed fell into contemplation. The information Luna disclosed completely disrupted her thought process, needing to be sorted out well.
In reality, Luna had no idea what had happened to Bella, only knowing it was sothing very disgraceful, which must have deeply influenced Yan Xue.
In certain small communities, a single person’s spit could drown soone.
Throughout the journey, Bella remained silent, her heavy expression gradually changing, which Elliana observed through the rearview mirror.
Her heart sank; whether Bella spoke the truth might be crucial to Nancy’s whereabouts—even her life or death!
Clearly, Bella’s hesitance was due to fear of soone. She must show strength to make Bella unafraid.
She obviously didn’t want to expose her identity. Revealing it wouldn’t help, as she was rely a minor celebrity; without Norman Bennett, she was nothing, for she couldn’t rely on the Lyle family.
So, thinking for a long ti, she decided to involve Norman Bennett, for a person like him was known by anyone with a smartphone.
Yet she couldn’t decide this on her own, so she looked at Luna and raised her eyebrows to signal her.
Luna: "???"
Clearly, their communication failed.
A minute later, Luna took her mobile out with her left hand, typing a string of characters: You an to tell Norman Bennett?
Elliana saw it and imdiately exclaid, "You actually understood!"
Her voice was a bit too loud, drawing Bella’s attention. Luna, slightly embarrassed, glared at Elliana and then openly said, "It’s fine, not like it’s anything shady."
Their strange conversation left Bella uneasy, unable to comprehend their intent.
Her intuition told her this surely wasn’t anything good.
Though for the sake of Yan Xue, even if knowing the road ahead might be a trap, she’d still jump in, for that’s her sister—despite all the harsh words, Yan Xue remained her sister, an unchangeable fact.
Also, her only hope to keep going.
Over the years, even though Yan Xue’s been sarcastic and harsh, when cold weather ca, she would still phone her, asking if she’d frozen to death.
Although their conversations ended unpleasantly every ti, she knew Yan Xue cared, only neither willing to express true feelings, naturally leaving nothing but argunts.
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