After pausing for over a minute, Wesley’s hoarse voice finally ca from his cupped hands. "On New Year’s Day that year, your grandparents took Zilvia to the pedestrian street to play. In front of the departnt store, there was a comrcial square with an acrobatics performance, and the three of them gathered there to watch. They hadn’t been watching for long when Zilvia said she wanted a candied hawthorn skewer, so your grandpa went to buy one."
Wesley continued, "Before he could return, Zilvia saw so kids nearby playing with balloons and said she wanted one too. The balloon vendor was only about ten ters away, so your grandma thought it would just take a few minutes to go and co back. She told Zilvia to stay put and wait while she went to get the balloon."
Basically, the direction of this kind of story was always predictable. The sad and heavy atmosphere gradually spread. Avery closed her eyes, her heart slowly sinking as she silently prayed, hoping it wasn’t as she feared. Wesley’s voice had already choked up, filled with endless pain: "When your grandpa ca back with the candied hawthorn, Zilvia was nowhere to be seen..." He was holding back, trying not to cry or break down.
Avery’s nails dug deeply into her palms, the pain piercing sharply. After another two to three minutes, Wesley continued, "Your grandpa and grandma were nearly driven mad. With their bodies over sixty, they stumbled around searching everywhere, asking everyone, even kneeling on the ground and begging people for help to find their grandchild."
He sighed. "There were surveillance caras in the mall, but they weren’t as widespread as they are now. There were blind spots. The caras showed that after your grandma walked away, Zilvia seed to notice sothing and walked toward the side of the mall on her own. Her figure disappeared into a blind spot in the surveillance caras. We tried every possible way—posting missing person ads everywhere, crying on TV and websites, asking relatives and friends for help."
"The dia, police, and citizens of Rosemont City also joined the search, but Zilvia... seed to have vanished into thin air and was never seen again." Avery closed her eyes, not knowing what to say. For any family that loved their child, losing a child was a devastating blow.
"Your mom, grandpa, and grandma cried every day because of this, falling ill one after another. Your grandma’s eyesight, which was already poor, nearly deteriorated from all the crying. The worst part is..." Wesley’s voice trembled. "The matter was very big at that ti. With the entire city searching for Zilvia but finding no leads, many people started saying that your grandpa and grandma were biased towards boys and intentionally took their granddaughter to a crowded, complicated place during the holiday, deliberately abandoning her."
He went on, "So even said that your grandpa and grandma sold their granddaughter and had arranged for human traffickers to be on-site, suggesting that the investigation should start with them. When your grandpa and grandma heard these rumors, they were deeply traumatized. One had a stroke and collapsed on the spot, while the other fell down the stairs and broke a leg. Although they received prompt dical attention, your grandpa was left with delayed reactions and mobility issues, and your grandma not only had her eyesight severely impaired but also had to use a wheelchair for daily mobility."
Wesley looked regretful. "This disaster also drained all the family’s savings. We sold our original three-story ho and moved to a worker’s dormitory area, renting an apartnt in the sa building, so the family had to split into two separate units. Your grandma and grandpa didn’t want to be a burden to us and insisted on moving to the countryside, planning to grow so vegetables and raise chickens to help support the family. Of course, we couldn’t let them go alone, so your mum decided to go with them to the countryside to take care of them."
At that ti, Avery’s older brother, Jaden, was fifteen years old and had just six months left before his high school entrance exams. Unable to bear the thought of his parents being separated and his younger brothers being away from their mother for extended periods, Jaden suggested that he go to the countryside to look after his grandparents. He transferred to a middle school in the county and later to a high school there. During the day, he attended classes, and in the evening, he returned to stay with his grandparents. After Jaden was accepted into college, he transferred his younger brother, Joshua, to the county high school to take over the responsibility of caring for their grandparents. After Joshua was admitted to college, his younger brother, Zayn, was transferred to the county high school to take over the responsibility of caring for their grandparents. Thus, the brothers took turns going to the countryside to care for their grandparents, managing to hold on until now.
Wesley recalled the most tragic period: "Six months after the incident, Catherine returned to her hotown with Maria. After that, Maria was sold by her biological father to be a child bride, and we went to adopt Maria."
At this point, Wesley seed to calm down a bit. He finally lifted his face from his hands, picked up a glass of water, and sipped it slowly. After finishing his drink, he said softly, "For thirteen years, we never gave up searching for Zilvia. Every year, we regularly paid a sum to professional missing person agencies to help with the search."
Avery nodded silently, understanding why the Carter family’s financial situation was so strained.
Wesley continued, "Two years ago, during the sumr vacation, the reason we decided so quickly to adopt Josie was because she reminded us of Zilvia. Having Josie with us helps sowhat to ease the pain of losing Zilvia."
Avery poured a glass of water for her father and asked softly, "Dad, what kind of girl was Zilvia?"
When talking about their missing beloved daughter, Wesley’s gaze was both sorrowful and gentle. "Zilvia... she was very cute and incredibly smart. Everyone who t her said she would be sothing extraordinary when she grew up."
He continued, "She was only two years into kindergarten, and we didn’t pressure her to study at ho, yet she could correctly write over a thousand characters, communicate in a simple foreign language with foreign teachers, and master two-digit multiplication and division. She learned anything she was shown just by seeing it a few tis. The teachers all said she was a prodigy, the smartest child they had ever seen. She had once undergone an IQ test in kindergarten, and her score was 150. The testing teacher said she might have been deliberately controlling her score, or it could have been even higher."
Avery’s eyes flickered slightly upon hearing this. As twins, Zilvia’s intelligence was probably quite similar to hers.
Wesley murmured, "Zilvia was so smart, she never caused us any worry. We were always careful to teach her how to protect herself. For example, when she was outside, if no adults were around to watch her, she was taught not to leave her original spot. She had to be aware of the surveillance caras around her and make sure she stayed in a place where the caras could see her. She knows all that."
He looked despondent, shaking his head repeatedly. "We can’t understand how such a smart girl like Zilvia could have left the place where her grandparents told her to wait that day, and why she would walk towards a place without any surveillance caras on her own." His voice was filled with regret. "We even suspect that maybe Zilvia’s exceptional cuteness and intelligence made her a target. The perpetrators might have been a group who observed her in secret for a long ti, waiting for the opportunity to take her away..."
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