Chapter 265


    Joyce’s mind went nk as though her soul had left her body, so to speak.


    After a while, Joyce slowly regained consciousness. All she could feel was that she had been in a short


    daze, so she was not sure whether she had misheard those words earlier.


    She interrupted Hazel, “Sorry, Hazel, what did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly. Who’s missing


    now?”


    When Hazel first heard the news, she was shocked. Right when she was about to inform the Sce


    family about it. Joyce called her. With that, she told Joyce the whole incident without hesitation,


    completely losing her usual calmness.


    Only after Joyce interrupted her did she calm down and realize what that piece of news would mean to


    Joyce.


    Hazel went silent for a while and regained her senses. After deliberating for a moment, she said, “Mr.


    Hernandez called me a while ago and said that while Mr. Sce was on his way to the site, a car


    ident, and the car fell into the river valley.”


    he got into


    Hazel paused for a while on that note. She could not bring herself to continue saying what was on her


    mind.


    That would make sense, for Joyce was only in her early thirties. Not only was Kendrick the chairman of


    Sce Corporation, but he was also the patriarch of the Sce family, Joyce’s husband, and the father


    of their son.


    “What happened next?” asked Joyce stiffly.


    After all, Hazel did not follow Kendrick to Nardor, so she could not have known much about the


    situation there. She could only pass Hugh’s words on to Joyce. Yet, the truth was way too cruel for


    Joyce. Hazel could not help but utter in a heavy tone, “The car has been salvaged, and the driver’s


    body was found in the car. Kendrick’s assistants, Lloyd Fenton and Dn Fairwood, had also


    apanied Kendrick to Nardor. Their bodies were also found by the nearby river. Only Mr. Sce


    was nowhere to be found.”


    Judging from the message Hazel had gotten in Nardor, they learned that Kendrick had gone missing.


    Even so, everyone could more or less guess what the oue would be. The river valley was deep,


    and the river was turbulent during that season. Because of that, the car that had fallen into the valley


    was ripped apart, and even the driver’s corpse was deformed. As for Lloyd and Dn, it was said that


    their corpses were gruesome to look at.


    Kendrick was only human, after all. He was made of flesh and blood, just the same as the driver, Lloyd,


    and Dn, so it would be pretty unlikely for him to have any chance of survival.


    Hugh, on the other hand, had not been able to limate himself to the environment over there, so


    much so that he had been vomiting and having diarrhea. He had even been admitted to the hospital for


    the past two days, so he could not join the group on the journey. Just like that, he managed to escape


    death and survive.


    After the incident, Hugh had been cooperating with the police and search and rescue personnel in


    Nardor, hoping to find survivors of the crash. Even after they had finally found the three men who had


    been with Kendrick along with the car, there was still no sign of Kendrick anywhere. It was then that


    Hugh decided to call back and inform people.


    Hugh had wanted to call La, but she never picked up the phone. Hence, he chose to call the


    Secretarial Department.


    La’s son was sick, so she applied for a half-day leave in the morning to get her son to see the doctor


    Sull, she had yet to finish her work, so she worked overtime in the office, which was why she had not


    answered Hugh’s call.


    Joyce clearly heard everything Hazel said at that time.


    However, she still could not ept the truth.


    “How could this have happened? He was only at Nardor to survey an energy project. He’d also been


    there not long ago and came home just fine. How could he have met with an ident this time?” she


    wondered.


    Joyce clenched her phone tightly and stared nkly ahead. She froze and kept mum for a very long


    time. Her blood seemed to have frozen, and her limbs were numb and painful.


    “Mrs. Sce?”


    Seeing that Joyce had not spoken for quite some time, Hazel called out to her, “Are you okay?” Hazel’s


    voice jolted Joyce back to reality. Thetter closed her eyes and furrowed her brows. Biting her lip, she


    suppressed the suffocating feeling in her chest and replied calmly, “Yes, I’m fine.”


    After a brief pause, she went on. “Find Mr. Sce. Even if he’s dead, I must see his body. Tell Mr.


    Hernandez to continue the search at Nardor until they find him. Also, make sure the news is contained.


    The public should never learn about what happened to Mr. Sce!”


    Hazel immediately responded, “Understood, Mrs. Sce.”


    After ending the conversation with Hazel, Joyce sat there motionlessly for a couple of minutes.


    The weather was so hot, but Joyce could only feel a chilly sensation in her bones, so much so that


    even her limbs were hurting.


    A couple of minutester. Joyce still rose to her feet on the spot. She stepped inside the building of the


    inpatient department and boarded the elevator upstairs.


    In the ward. Winnie had woken up. She looked much better than before. She could also converse


    better with Christopher and Yuliana.


    Joyce ordered the kitchen to prepare some oatmeal for Winnie. Somehow, the staff managed to serve


    it in yet delicious. When Joyce came back to the ward, Christopher was feeding Winnie one


    spoonful of oatmeal after another.


    Even so, Winnie had no appetite. After finishing half a bowl of the oatmeal, she shook her head and


    said. “I can’t eat anymore.”


    “You’ve only taken half of it. Didn’t we agree just now that you would finish all of it?” coaxed


    Christopher patiently.


    in


    Winnie began to act like a child, trying to talk her way out of it as she pushed away the spoon


    Christopher’s hand and said, “I’m so full already. I can’t go on. There’s nothing I can do about it. Don’t


    tell me you want to force it down my throat?”


    She was still a little too weak to speak more. After saying those words, she was already panting


    Just then, Joyce came in and happened to see the scene. Her face turned pale, and her visage was


    icy. She was still holding the phone in her hand so tightly that even the pack of her hand became pale


    as


    well.


    “Oh, Joyce, you’re back.” Yuliana got up as she spoke. Just as she finished the sentence, she noticed


    that something was amiss with Joyce’s mien. Stunned, she questioned, “What’s wrong. Joyce?”


    Upon hearing Yuliana’s words, both Christopher and Winnie turned to look at Joyce.


    Joyce first met Christopher’s gaze before shifting her attention to Winnie.


    Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    Looking at how skinny and feeble Winnie seemed, Joyce held back the words she had been meaning


    to say in an instant.


    “I simply can’t tell Mom the news. She’ll be unable to cope. Dad’s ident has already crushed her. If


    she knows about Kendrick’s ident, nothing good wille out of it,” she mused.


    She mustered a smile at that thought. Yet, her lips curled upward without any emotions, and even her


    face appeared to be stiff. “It’s nothing. Chris, why don’t you let Yuliana feed Mom for a while? Come out


    with me. I need your help with something.”


    Yuliana and Christopher both noticed how strange Joyce was behaving. As for Winnie, she was a little


    perplexed but did not read too much into it. Since she really had no intention of continuing to eat, she


    was d that Christopher would be stepping out of the ward instead of trying to convince her to


    eat more.


    She hurriedly urged, “Go ahead.”


    Christopher said nothing. After exchanging gazes with Joyce for a couple of seconds, he got up and


    handed the bowl to Yuliana before following Joyce out of the ward.


    Once outside the ward, Joyce stopped in her tracks.


    She turned her back to Christopher. Thetter could not see her face, but he could clearly see how stiff


    her thin shoulders and back were. At that time, she looked as though she would copse altogether if


    she ever rxed.


    Christopher had never seen Joyce like that before.


    He pinned his gaze on Joyce and asked in a calm voice. “What happened, Joyce?”


    At that moment, Christopher’s phone suddenly vibrated. Obviously, it was only the same sort of


    vibration from the phone, just like always. For some reason, though, he could feel that the call was


    particrly urgent at that point.


    Taking out his phone, Christopher checked the caller ID, only to find that it was La.


    He looked at the time and thought, “She must have just gotten off the ne.”