Chapter 297

Finally, it was Zola who suggested we go out for dinner, and only then did Royce and I reluctantly leave the room. Just sitting together and chatting felt incredibly precious to me.

I realized that I still had feelings for Royce. These feelings were even stronger than what I felt when I married Brandon.

The next morning, as soon as I woke up, Royce called.

"Hey, how'd you sleep last night?" he asked.

"Pretty well," I replied softly.

It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest, and I was happier than I had been in a long time. Plus, Royce's trial period was down to just one month. If everything went smoothly, we would officially be a couple in a month.

As I was thinking about this, I heard Royce say, "I didn't sleep well at all last night."

"Why not? Did you have to work late after you got home?" I couldn't help but complain. "I told you not to visit when you're so busy, but you insisted. Now I feel guilty knowing how busy you are..."

Royce's voice was gentle on the other end of the line. "Caroline, I didn't sleep because I was too busy. I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about how, in a month, I could officially be your boyfriend."

My mind went blank. I wasn't sure if I was embarrassed or nervous, but I definitely felt a sweet happiness in my heart. This happiness was different from before; it was a certain kind of sweetness.

"Isn't that a bit exaggerated?" I said softly.

"Not at all. I'm really looking forward to it," Royce replied.

We chatted for a bit longer before I urged him to get some rest since he had work later. Just as I hung up, Simon called.

He didn't say much, just asked if I was free to meet up in the morning because he had a lot of news to share. I quickly agreed, and we arranged to meet at a café near my place in half an hour.

When I walked into the café, I immediately spotted Simon sitting in a corner. He looked much more disheveled than he had a few days ago, with stubble covering his face. I was shocked to see him like this; it was hard to believe this was the same confident Simon.

"What happened to you?" I asked as I sat down across from him. "Did you run into trouble during your investigation? Why didn't you tell us?"

Simon seemed lost in thought and only looked up after a moment. "What did you say?"

"I asked why you look so rough. What happened over the past few days?"

Simon finally understood what I was asking and shook his head. "It's just a disguise. I haven't shaved for three days on purpose."

I realized, "Is this for your investigation? Did you do this on purpose?"

"You guessed right," Simon smiled. "I wanted to stay under the radar during my investigation. I've been around you guys a lot lately, and if I showed up looking like myself, they would definitely notice."

Simon was indeed a professional private investigator, and I didn't need to worry about his methods. He then got to the point of why he wanted to meet.

"I called you here today because of Adelaide, the woman we met when we were looking for the child. She's in trouble."

Adelaide? With everything that had happened recently, I had almost forgotten about her, but memories of her interactions with the child came flooding back.

"What happened?" I asked urgently.

I knew that after the child was brought back, Adelaide had been settled nearby. Simon had been handling most of it, and I hadn't followed up. With everything going on with Ronnie and the project, I hadn't had time to think about Adelaide.

I had assumed that since the child was back, there wouldn't be any major issues. But now I was nervous. "What happened? Tell me."

"Don't worry, it doesn't affect us directly yet," Simon said, glancing around. "But you need to calm down, or people might notice."

The café was scattered with customers, and I realized I was getting too worked up. I took a deep breath. "Okay, tell me."

"Adelaide was taken from her house. If you want to go check it out, I can go with you," Simon said. "She didn't leave any clues, and we can't involve the police."

"Why can't we call the police?" I asked, feeling a surge of anxiety.

"Because when we found the child and brought him back, we did it privately. And the police were already helping us with the Brandon case..."

I understood. This situation was tricky for all of us, and we had already been to the police station countless times.

"As a private investigator, I'll handle this according to our plan. So, do you want to go check it out?" Simon asked.

I initially wanted to refuse, not wanting to get involved with anything related to Adelaide. But the thought of her being taken made my skin crawl. After a long pause, I said, "I have some time now. Do you have anything else to do today? Let's go check it out."

Simon nodded.

As we were about to leave the café, Savannah called. "Caroline, where are you?"

I had sent Savannah on a business trip a few days ago, and she must have just returned. "Did you just get back?"

"Yeah, I got back last night. I was so tired I fell asleep right away. I thought I'd call you this morning," Savannah said.

"Perfect timing. We have something to do. Come with us," I said.

Savannah quickly agreed. We arranged a meeting spot, and half an hour later, I picked her up.

She hugged me as soon as she saw me. "I missed you so much!"

Then she noticed Simon and greeted him. "Hey, Mr. Lawson."

Simon shook his head. "Just call me Simon. No need to be so formal."

Savannah stuck out her tongue playfully. "I have a lot of respect for you."