6:10 PM.
Elliana Lyle was drawn by an aroma and gradually awoke.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself nestled in Norman Bennett’s arms.
Why use the word "nestle"?
Because she was curling her legs, her whole body on the man’s lap, and... wrapped in a small blanket.
Like a cilantro chicken wrap.
But... it really slled like chicken wrap!
At that mont, Norman looked down at her with a warm smile, making her feel as if it could be spring, otherwise why would she feel the beauty of the distant spring mountains?
Moreover, it was a bit misty.
"Awake?" Norman said as he helplessly adjusted the little girl to sit properly on his lap.
The family bucket had just arrived and hadn’t been opened yet when the little girl sniffed it out and woke up in less than three seconds.
"Family bucket?" Elliana was quite shocked to see the takeout box on the coffee table.
Was she seeing things? The hotel actually had the food she dread of, and even cola!
Either she was dreaming, or she was... dreaming.
Nothing else could make sense.
After all, Norman would never let her eat this "junk food." It seed that everything she liked to eat was "junk food" in Norman’s eyes.
When she was a child, Norman kept her from eating too much, and as she grew up, she was simply not allowed to eat it at all.
She might as well go back to sleep, after all, anything is possible in a dream.
Seeing her close her eyes, Norman found it a bit strange, then asked, "Don’t want to eat?"
"Fake why..." Elliana suddenly opened her eyes, turning her head to look at the man holding her.
Saying that, she reached out and pinched Norman’s face, leaving a pink mark.
Yet the man showed no reaction, just watching her.
Why didn’t it hurt?
Was it really a dream?
"Sweet girl."
The man reached out to stroke the back of her head, his tone indulgent, and gradually, the haze in her eyes from not being fully awake cleared away.
She saw Norman’s face clearly, saw the mark on his fair cheek that she had pinched.
So it wasn’t a dream after all.
She suddenly felt a bit regretful for pinching Norman, touching the man’s face, gently rubbing it, and finally blowing softly on the mark.
No wonder she didn’t feel any pain; if she pinched Norman, why would she feel pain? Heartache, maybe.
Perhaps she was drowsy from sleep, or it could be ntal fatigue.
The aroma behind her tempted her, causing her guilt to vanish, and she hurriedly opened the box. Indeed, it was the family bucket!
Golden fried chicken pieces, Orleans grilled wings, grilled chicken legs, fried chicken legs...
Everything was there.
"Norman, did you buy this?" She spoke with her mouth full of a chicken leg, looking at him incredulously.
The man, however, had lost the previous smile and coldly said, "Just this once."
"Okay." She said and grabbed another piece of chicken.
A family bucket was quite a lot, and she certainly couldn’t finish it all by herself; it wouldn’t taste good reheated.
Though she handed a boneless chicken wing to Norman’s mouth, he showed no intention of eating.
"Wasted" her effort in deboning the chicken wing for him.
In the end, when she was about to pout and stuff it into her mouth, part of the chicken wing ended up in soone else’s mouth!
For a mont, she felt a bit shy.
Was this what they called imported food?
However, Norman only took a bite, and she ended up calling Lana to join her for a al.
Really, with such a tempting aroma, how did Norman resist?
Perhaps he was too self-disciplined and simply didn’t eat certain things.
After eating and drinking, she felt completely lazy.
It seed like the tensions between them were dissolved by the family bucket.
Only it didn’t last long, probably after Elliana digested, the warmth dropped again.
Neither distant nor intimate.
Just so indifferent.
Lana naturally could see it; it seed like there was a fight.
She didn’t know the exact reason.
Just thinking that the old lady’s wish to hold a great-grandson was a long way off.
In the bedroom.
Elliana turned her back and browsed her phone, and by ten o’clock, the man beside her, who had been paying attention to her, issued an order to take the phone away.
It was still the usual process: stretch the arms, lie down, turn sideways, and curl the body into a ball.
Being held entirely was always comforting.
Even if the atmosphere wasn’t right, she wouldn’t refuse being held to sleep.
After all, who would refuse an embrace that self-regulates temperature and calms the nerves?
The only downside was that Norman’s arm could be botherso against her head.
This would cause her to slide down while sleeping.
And at this mont.
Luna was still watching surveillance footage, reviewing the past couple of days’ recordings over and over.
Yet she found nothing.
It seed like Sumr Hue had vanished into thin air.
Finally, when her eyes were sore from watching, she noticed a peculiar image.
In the video, there was a group of people, and the face of one of them was obscured, leaving only a back view.
The silhouette was similar, but the clothes were obviously different, and the hair was loose.
Looking back at the airport surveillance of Sumr Hue, after several views, she noticed Sumr Hue had a jacket in her hand that was blended with her black bag.
Sumr Hue’s hair was tied up here.
Wait!
The blue checkered scrunchie, the person in black seed to have it too.
Going back for a look, and after magnifying it, she indeed found the sa scrunchie.
It appeared the person was indeed Sumr Hue.
Galen Collins arranged access to other crossroads’ surveillance and found that Sumr Hue had entered a hotel and four hours later, into the evening.
Then she left and wandered around a nearby mall, finally... going to a nightclub.
She seed to be tailing a few n in suits.
After that, there was nothing more.
Surveillance around the nightclub showed no footage of Sumr Hue leaving.
It seed the problem arose at that nightclub.
Galen Collins, who had been watching the surveillance with her, stood up, ready to head out.
Indeed, she hadn’t gone to find Galen Collins, but Galen Collins had co to her place.
Seeing Galen Collins packing up, she was a bit curious from her spot on the sofa, asking, "Where are you going?"
"On duty."
Sumr Hue must have run into trouble; otherwise, she wouldn’t have stayed out for so many days.
Luna said, "I’ll go with you."
With that, she was about to get up and put on a coat, as it was quite cold outside at night.
However, Galen Collins sternly refused her request, saying, "Stay ho, be good. I’ll be the first to tell you when we have results."
After Galen Collins left, Luna quickly put on her jacket.
Be good?
Being obedient was not going to happen, not in this lifeti.
Simultaneously, not forgetting to call Elliana Lyle.
...
――― North City.
Vicars Hotel.
After ending the call, Elliana looked a bit dispirited, murmuring, "Norman, it seems Sumr is in trouble..."
She didn’t know when it started, but even when sothing went wrong, she wasn’t as impulsive as before, trying her best to force herself to stay calm.
Sumr was her sister and absolutely couldn’t be in trouble. Now she could only wait for Galen Collins’ results, then make further plans.
After all, no one could do anything at the mont.
Norman comforted her, speaking softly, "It’s okay, take a rest, I’ll wait for the results."
She shook her head, leaning against the man’s shoulder; with sothing like this happening, how could she sleep?
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