Chapter 3

The surveillance showed that when I stopped the car to get something, Lily bounced down from the vehicle cheerfully.

The next second, Catherine suddenly pulled her behind the car.

After that, Lily never appeared again.

My chest heaved violently, my ears buzzing.

Just then, Catherine arrived and opened the door.

I lunged forward and grabbed her collar.

"Tell me! Where did you hide Lily? Why would you do this!"

Her expression changed, then she forced herself to stay calm.

"Oh, I just hid her in the trunk to scare you a little and test these officers' competence."

"Today is April Fool's Day. Don't you people have any sense of humor?"

I had no time for her nonsense. I threw her aside and sprinted outside.

Lily already had asthma. Being trapped in the trunk for so long—the consequences were unthinkable!

But when I reached the car, gasping for breath, and opened the trunk, there was nothing inside.

My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground.

The others caught up immediately. Seeing the empty trunk, their faces changed color too.

I rushed forward, ready to fight her with everything I had, but the police held me back.

Seeing this, Catherine slapped her thigh and sat on the ground wailing.

"You can't blame me for this! I only hid her in the trunk as a joke for you all."

"How was I supposed to know she'd disappear? She has legs of her own. She probably just ran off wherever she wanted to go."

The officer tried to comfort me.

"Ms. Harper, don't worry. We'll continue investigating and we will find your child."

"We've already stationed someone at the surveillance room."

Soon, they called from the surveillance room.

Unfortunately, the rear of the car was in a blind spot.

Whatever happened afterward, the surveillance cameras couldn't capture it.

To track Lily's movements, they'd have to continuously pull footage from all the surrounding cameras.

Everything spun around me.

Lily's whereabouts were unknown, and she had asthma on top of that.

Every minute we delayed finding her meant another minute of danger!

I turned to Catherine, softening my tone, trying to appeal to whatever conscience she might have.

"Catherine, you've had your fun now, haven't you? I'm begging you, please stop lying. Just tell me where Lily is!"

"You locked her in the trunk—how could she possibly have gotten out on her own!"

Catherine pursed her lips and turned her head away.

"I put her in the trunk and left. Maybe I didn't close it properly and she just ran off."

"I've been saying this girl is ungrateful, but you never believed me. She just abandoned you to find some richer family."

I glared at her fiercely, the red in my eyes making her flinch and finally shut her mouth.

Just when everyone was running around like headless chickens with no idea where to start searching...

I suddenly thought of something and looked toward the rear of the car.