Chapter 294
Chapter 294
Chapter 294 He Looked So Haggard
If it wasn’t for the fact that Lewis had ditched Josephine in order to save Sierra, she wouldn’t have gone missing.
Lewis had to be the one taking responsibility for this incident.
Then again, her disappearance didn’t matter.
Josephine was just a mute who didn’t have anyone to turn to. Even if she were to go missing,
die, or vanish from the face of the planet, no one would care about her at all.
Naturally, no one would demand justice for her.
She deserved to be treated that way.
That was the outcome of the ones who were neglected by everyone else.
Seth added, “Did she leave her phone in her hotel room?”
Lewis recalled Josephine didn’t take her phone with her. He could only place his hopes on the watch that Josephine wore on her wrist. It had a GPS tracker installed in it, but he didn’t know where she was because it was unable to establish a signal for such a long time.
The man suddenly suggested, “Tell Gerald to check out the areas without any signal reception in Hardington.”
“He’s combing the entire city right now, but there are too many areas without signal reception.” Seth threw the cigarette butt to the ground before crushing it with his foot. He turned around and was about to get into the car when he suddenly remembered something, which prompted him to glance at Lewis.
The latter’s expression was stormy as ever. He had yet to recover from his injury, let alone get any sleep in the past 24 hours. To make matters worse, his injury worsened when he rescued Sierra. Despite his determination not to let the pain and fatigue overwhelm him, it was evident that he appeared extremely haggard at that moment.
“Just don’t die while you’re searching for her.”
Seth got into the car after he was done speaking.
The car drove past Lewis, causing his windbreaker to flap in the wind.
He continued to gaze at the sea the whole time. A few couples were strolling along the beach while holding hands with each other, their shadows stretching across the sandy surface courtesy of the setting sun.
Occasionally, a few seagulls would fly over the sea and hunt for dinner by swooping down to peck at the surface. Once they ate their fill, they shot up to the skies and soon disappeared.
As the sun finally sank beyond the horizon, the lamp posts lining the road lit up gradually, casting a bright fluorescent light over the entire area. Simultaneously, the noise level
increased, with cars continually cruising down the road.
Lewis retrieved an envelope from his breast pocket. He opened the envelope to reveal the series of pictures taken the previous night.
In the pictures, Josephine struck all sorts of poses. She smiled happily, which made her eyes crinkle slightly. The joy and delight she radiated were evident in the dimples adorning her cheeks.
The man just stood beneath a lamp post. Soon, the beach became a hub of activity. Despite his physical proximity to the bustling crowd, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being distant and removed
from the lively scene.
No matter how boisterous the atmosphere grew on the beach, it seemed to lack a certain charm that had been present the previous night. Even the fireworks, which illuminated the dark sky from time to time, appeared strangely discordant.
Lewis returned to his car before going through the pictures again. After that, he put them back into his pocket before driving away from the beach.
Sierra was still sitting in the lobby by the time he returned to the hotel. At that time, she happened to be touching up her makeup while looking very bored.
When she noticed Lewis returning to the lobby, she quickly got up to her feet and approached him. “Have you found her, Lewis?”
The woman intended to spend the day shopping with him, but he decided to waste it on looking for the damned mute and leaving her in the lobby all by herself.
Lewis headed toward the elevator without bothering to acknowledge Sierra’s presence.
The latter trailed behind him immediately. Soon, they took the elevator all the way to the 18th floor.
Lewis opened the door and entered his room. The room remained untouched. Josephine’s jacket was still draped over the couch, her luggage was still sitting on the ground, and her phone was still where she had left it-on the bed.
It was just that she wasn’t there at all.
The man walked over to pick up her phone and unlock it. It appeared that Quintin had sent her a few messages on Whatsapp and called her phone more than a dozen times.
Sierra walked behind Lewis while mentally grumbling, “How could an adult go missing on her own? She’s so pathetic!”
Naturally, she only dared to make those complaints mentally instead of saying them outright.
It was obvious that Lewis wasn’t in a good mood right now. Sierra would never dare to provoke him at a time like this.
After going through Josephine’s phone, Lewis sank onto the couch before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it on the spot.
Gradually, wisps of smoke shrouded his features, causing his face to appear blurry under the dim light. Despite the haze, Sierra could vaguely discern a trace of depression on his face.
Taking a seat beside him, she observed silently. After he smoked three cigarettes in a row, Sierra decided it was time to speak up. “Lewis, you should rest for a while. You didn’t sleep at all last night.”
However, Lewis continued to ignore her.
“Josephine’s an adult, you know. It’s impossible for her to go missing. Maybe she’s hiding from you on purpose because she’s mad at you.”
That earned her a warning glance from the man. Sierra shrunk away from him while blinking innocently.
Lewis took a deep drag from his cigarette, clearly looking very irritated. Suddenly, a violent fit of coughing overcame him, causing the pain from his stomach wound to intensify. He pressed a hand against the wound and discarded the cigarette in the ashtray.”
That was when Lewis lost his balance and fell off the couch. He quickly grabbed the coffee table’s edge while pressing his other hand onto his stomach. The veins on the back of his hand. bulged from the exertion against the coffee table.
Sierra was scared out of her wits, to say the least. She quickly approached him, intending to help him up, only to get shoved away instead.
“Get out.”
The woman looked flabbergasted for a moment.
She watched as Lewis attempted to pull himself up from the floor by using the coffee table as a support, a pained expression on his face. It had only been a moment, yet his face was already covered with sweat.
A frown graced her features as she balled up her fists which hung by her sides.
She might be angry at him, but she was also worried about him.
“Lewis-”
“Get out!”
The man sounded quite weak, so his order wasn’t threatening at all. He started panting heavily, which was more than enough to show how difficult it was for him to suppress the NôvelDrama.Org holds this content.
pain.
Sierra rarely saw him looking this vulnerable. After all, Lewis was the type who never showed his emotions. Just how much pain was he in to be able to show his haggard side?
“I’ll call you an ambulance.” The woman’s heart ached for Lewis. She pulled out her phone, intending to get him help regardless of what he said to her.
The man shot her a glance. His response was still cold and frosty despite being weakened from the pain. “I told you to get lost. Did you even hear me?”
“What happens if something happens to you after I leave you alone, huh? I’m calling you an ambulance right now! After I’m done, I’ll leave you alone!”
Sierra called the emergency hotline without caring about Lewis’ order.
Meanwhile, he managed to get to his feet even though he was trembling from the pain. He snatched the woman’s phone away before throwing it to the ground.
It clattered loudly against the surface, now completely shattered.
Sierra was shell-shocked upon witnessing Lewis’ outburst. She could only stare at him in a dumbfounded manner.
Now that the man had steadied himself on his feet, he closed his eyes for a brief moment to regain his composure. When he opened them again, his expression had already returned to normal. “Sierra, don’t make me repeat myself for the third time. Get out.”
His breathing was still a little ragged; even his voice was unusually weak.
Flames of anger shot up in Sierra’s eyes at that moment. She glared at the man before snarling out, “Fine! I’ll leave you alone! I was just trying to help you out of the kindness of hope you suffer forever!”
my
heart! I
Once she was done speaking, she stomped out of the room, resulting in her high heels clicking against the floor loudly.
When the door was finally slammed shut behind her, Lewis collapsed onto the couch before sliding down to lie on it. Then, he closed his eyes weakly.
The cold, fluorescent light cast a pallid hue on his face, making his complexion appear even paler.
Hours passed slowly, the passage of time seemingly stretched.
Gradually, the darkness of the night sky faded away, giving way to the gradual emergence of a pale blue tint as the sun began to rise.
The night was over, yet there was no news about Josephine.
Seth sat in his car, his gaze fixed upon the mansion before him. He absentmindedly tousled his
hair, a myriad of expressions flitting across his face.
This particular mansion had been abandoned for quite a number of years. Tall weeds grew around it. Even the vines snaked across the rusted iron gates, adorned with vibrant, blooming flowers of various colors.
The mansion stood a distance away from the gates, its roof covered by a layer of greenery. Creepers dotted with tiny flowers covered every inch of the mansion’s walls.
The weeds in the courtyard were so tall that they reached a child’s height. It was very silent there, save for the rustling sounds the weeds made whenever a gust of wind blew past.
If viewed purely as scenery, the sight was breathtakingly beautiful. However, if one were to view it as a potential residence, the scene took on an eerie resemblance to a setting from a horror movie.
Seth just kept gazing at the mansion while going through a few cigarettes. Once he was done, he finally opened the door and exited the car before walking toward the mansion.