Chapter 200

I thought back carefully to Paula's behavior before. She wouldn't just disappear without a reason.

Paula was a self-serving person. Unless Renee posed some kind of threat to her, she wouldn't leave Renee, or she might have found something more useful.

From what I knew about Paula, she might have discovered that Shirley had taken my child and tracked her down.

If we could find Paula, we could find Shirley and my child.

After I shared my theory, everyone nodded in agreement. I wanted to call Paula to test the waters, but Simon stopped me.

"Don't get too excited, Caroline. We need to plan this carefully. Calling her now might alert her."

I nodded, realizing he was right.

For now, we could only wait and see.

After Royce and Savannah finished eating, they took a nap on the couch. They didn't sleep for long before getting up again.

Simon was on the phone, saying, "We've sent out the child's description. Make sure to check any vehicles where you can't see the back seats, especially vans and small trucks."

"But don't overlook regular family cars either. The child could be disguised as a normal kid in the back seat."

"Pay special attention to a mole on the child's neck."

He gave his instructions.

I watched him anxiously, hoping he would bring some good news, but deep down, I knew it was unlikely.

Shirley had been very cunning this time. Finding my child would be a challenge.

Still, I held onto hope, thinking about what Royce had told me about something happening within a week. It was like a reassurance, making me believe my child would come back to me.

We made it through another night. It had been thirty-six hours since my child went missing.

I hadn't slept for thirty-six hours, but I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aria crying for her mom.

I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. When I went downstairs, Simon and Savannah were still comparing surveillance videos, trying to find my child. I felt a wave of sadness.

I knew I should tell them to rest, but I selfishly hoped they would keep searching until they found my child. I knew it was selfish, but any mother would feel the same in this situation.

Just then, Simon shouted, "We have a video of the child!"

I rushed over, stunned. Simon looked at me and asked, "Caroline, why aren't you sleeping? You've been up for so long. You need to rest."

I shook my head. "You haven't slept either. How can I, as a mother, sleep? It's okay, just show me the video."

Simon nodded and pressed the space bar to play the video on the computer.

The video showed an unknown town, and Shirley was holding Aria.

The footage was a bit blurry, but I recognized Aria immediately. Shirley was looking at her with a loving expression, playing with a toy to make her laugh.

Aria was laughing heartily.

Then, James, a tall and strong man, walked over, handing Shirley a train ticket.

They seemed to be discussing something, and then Shirley took the ticket and boarded the train.

I watched Shirley and Aria intently until the video ended, staring at the dark screen.

Savannah said to me, "Caroline, don't worry. It looks like Shirley took the child back to her hometown. I recognized the train station name as being near her hometown."