Chapter 1351 Missing


    "Okay. Let''s ask Dad toe with us next time," Sheryl promised as she held rk''s and Shirley''s


    hands to lead them to the park gate. Suddenly, rk stopped walking and shook Sheryl''s hand.


    "What''s wrong, rk?" she asked with concern.


    "Mom, I want to go to the bathroom."


    "Mom, me too," Shirley chimed in. With all that had been going on, Shirley seemed to have forgotten


    about even going to the bathroom before rk brought it up.


    As Sheryl wondered how she would manage to take them to separate bathrooms on her own, Le


    seemed to understand what she was thinking and offered to help.


    "Sheryl, I can take rk to the bathroom while you take Shirley," she suggested. Though she spoke


    casually, she was thinking about the evil n she was about to carry out. She would have someone


    kidnap Shirley on their way back from the bathroom and she was expecting to see that Shirley''s


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    missing would trigger some kind of breakdown in Sheryl.


    Meanwhile, Sheryl was oblivious. Nodding at Le, she turned to her son and said, "rk, Aunt Le


    will bring you to the bathroom. You two have to wait for me here after, okay?"


    "Okay," he replied obediently. With that, he followed Le as she led him to the bathroom. Meanwhile,


    Shirley held onto her mother''s hand as they followed behind.


    Since the park bathrooms were a little far from the front gate, they had to walk past a small bamboo


    grove area. Because it was already evening, most of the visitors had already left, and there weren''t


    many people around the bathroom area.


    Everything was going well until Sheryl led her daughter out of the bathroom and began walking back to


    the front gate. Suddenly, a masked man struck her from behind, and she fell to the ground in an instant.


    Scared out of her mind, Shirley screamed as hard as she could. The man covered her mouth


    immediately and picked her up to take her away.


    Meanwhile, Melissa and Le waited at the front gate for over ten minutes. Not seeing Sheryl or Shirley


    return, they were assured that their n had been carried out sessfully. Though the two were d


    that everything went as nned, they knew they had to pretend to be worried because rk was still


    with them.


    The boy, who was genuinely concerned about his mother and sister, stared at the bathroom area in


    worry, waiting for them toe into sight—he was so anxious that he kept trying to drag Melissa to the


    bathroom.


    "Where are they? Let''s go to the bathroom in case something''s wrong," Le suggested finally. Then


    they rushed to the bathroom, only to find Sheryl lying unconscious on the ground.


    rk went into a panic. Tears streamed down his face the moment he saw his mom on the ground.


    Apprehension and fear filled his heavy heart.


    Running to her as fast as he could, he shouted her name and tried to shake her awake.


    "Mom! Mom! Wake up! What happened? Where''s Shirley? Wake up, Mom!" he cried over and over.


    Meanwhile, Melissa and Le, who knew exactly what had happened, could only smile under their skin,


    but wore the appropriate worried look on their faces. Rushing to Sheryl, they helped her sit up beside


    rk.


    Slowly, Sheryl starteding back to herself as she heard rk''s voice. The stinging pain on the back


    of her head came rushing immediately. Still feeling woozy, she didn''t realize what had just happened.


    When she opened her eyes, rk''s face came into view, already bathed in tears. Scanning the area,


    she found Melissa staring at her with a grim look on her face.


    Before Sheryl was able to get her head straightpletely, Melissa began questioning her. "What


    happened? Why were you lying there? Where is Shirley? Did you lose her?"


    Knowing it would break Sheryl''s heart, Melissa spoke as if it was her fault Shirley was missing.


    Though her head still hurt badly, Sheryl began to recall what happened as she heard her daughter''s


    name.


    "Shirley? Where is Shirley?" she murmured to herself. In an instant, she pushed herself to stand up


    and looked around in worry. She began to realize that Shirley was kidnapped. Still in a slight daze, she


    was ready to run around to see if she could find her daughter on her own.


    However, Melissa stopped her before she could even make a step. "Sheryl Xia, don''t tell me that


    you''ve lost Shirley! Where is she?" Melissa demanded harshly.


    Sheryl''s face growing more and more pallid. She began sobbing without control. ''Where is Shirley?!''


    she shouted to herself inwardly. Consumed by her worry, she seemed unable to breathe. As the fact


    that Shirley was missing sank in, Sheryl could feel the ache of her heart breaking.


    At that moment, Sheryl nearly went mad as she recalled what had happened. Sadness overcame her


    as the tears continued to stream down her face. Taking deep breaths, she tried to use her voice, but


    she couldn''t utter a word. Finally, she pushed Melissa away and ran ahead, getting anyone''s attention


    she could to find her daughter.


    Reaching out to stop the first passer-by, she asked urgently, "Have you seen a little girl? About this tall


    in a blue dress."


    It was obvious that she was nearing aplete breakdown as she animatedly described her daughter.


    "Sorry, I...I don''t think I''ve seen her."


    Disappointed and frustrated, Sheryl went from stranger to stranger, asking if they had seen her


    daughter.


    "No, I haven''t seen her."


    "No…"


    Again and again, she received only negative answers. When she went to the park''s management office


    to ask for help, the staff broadcasted Shirley''s disappearance. Still, no one reported any sighting of her.


    Though it had only been ten minutes since Sheryl woke up, it felt like a century had already passed.


    For every second that went by, she could feel the burden of guilt for losing Shirley—the fear of her


    daughter being gone forever began eating her up.


    Immediately after the incident, Melissa called up Charles to give him the news.


    "Charles, Shirley is missing! Sheryl lost her!" she shouted into the phone. The woman could hardly wait


    to me everything on Sheryl.


    "What are you talking about? Shirley is missing? Where are you now? I''ming!" Charles asked a


    string of questions in worry. Upon hearing what had happened, Charles couldn''t sit still. He was too


    afraid that something terrible had happened to his daughter.


    "We''re at the gate of the amusement park! How could Sheryl be so irresponsible? How could she lose


    her? Shirley is such a little girl. I''m so worried, and so sorry she has such a lousy mother," Melissa


    added in her best sobbing voice. It was clear that she was doing all she could to me everything on


    Sheryl.


    Hearing such usations, Charles lost his patience. Instead of cing me, he knew that their


    priority should be finding the kid.


    Without bothering to respond to her, he hung up on Melissa and ran to get the first car he saw in the


    garage to drive to the amusement park.


    When he arrived, he ran to the gate the minute he got out of the car.


    There were only a handful of people around the gate, so Charles found Melissa easily.


    Before he was even close enough, Melissa beganining once again. "Charles, you''re here! What


    should we do? My poor Shirley…If only Sheryl had taken good care of her, she wouldn''t have been


    missing!" she sobbed, grabbing Charles'' arm as he approached.


    "Mom, stop ming Sheryl. We don''t even know what happened yet. Our priority is to find her!" he


    replied urgently.


    Annoyed at Melissa taking every opportunity to speak ill of Sheryl, Charles shrugged off her hands and


    ran up to rk.


    "Dad!" the boy cried as tears rolled down his cheeks. Unable to control himself, he threw himself into


    Charles'' arms and burst into more helpless sobs.


    Shirley''s disappearance was too much for him. Because his mom was out looking for Shirley, he had to


    wait for her, feeling so alone and scared. The fear overwhelmed him to a point where he was at a loss


    what to do.


    Seeing Charles was a greatfort for him—he believed that his father would be able to find Shirley


    and have the family back together in no time. ''Shirley…


    Come back to us!'' he shouted deep in his heart.


    "Don''t worry, rk. You''re strong. You don''t have to be scared. I''ll find Shirley and bring her back!"


    Charles said gently but firmly, assuring the boy.


    With that, he picked rk up and nced around to look for his wife.


    "Mom, where is Sher? I don''t see her," he asked in worry. It was important for him to ask her directly


    about what really had happened before Shirley went missing.