But after giving it a second thought, Estelle found that it wasn’t actually that bad. She reasoned to herself, ‘I have a lot of work to do today, so I would pick up the kids later than usual. Letting Cristofer pick up the kids and bring them home so that they could have dinner and do homework in time is better than letting the children wait for me at school. Alas… I still have a lot of work to do. I’d better modify the sketches that are in urgent need first.’
But not long after that, Estelle’s phone rang again. And she saw Cristofer’s name on the screen. Thinking that Cristofer was calling her to tell her that he had picked up the kids, Estelle immediately picked up the phone. She said, “I’m still at the office. I have some work to do. And I’ll go to your place in an hour.”
“So when you’re done with work, can… can you bring the kids back for dinner before you leave? Mrs. Moorsum said she cooked ravioli today and wanted the kids to taste them,” Cristofer hesitated a whole day as to whether to tell Estelle about it before blurting it out over the phone.
“But haven’t you picked up the children? I thought you were calling to ask when I was going to pick them up from the Hans’ residence,” As she talked, her voice became lower and lower, and her tone became more and more serious. At the same time, Estelle wondered, ‘Cristofer, were you telling me that you didn’t take the kids home? Then if you didn’t pick up the kids, who would possibly pick them up?’
Cristofer also noticed something was off. And for a moment, they fell into deafening silence.
“Estelle, calm down. Tell me what is going on.”
Hearing Cristofer’s voice, Estelle clenched her hands and forced herself to calm down. Then she said, “The children’s teachers told me that their father picked them up. I don’t think they would mistake someone else for you unless…”
‘Unless Victor took them away.’ The thought was so terrifying that Estelle felt scared out of her wits simply thinking about it.
Knowing what she was thinking, Cristofer answered in a hushed voice over the phone, “Unless it’s Victor.”
Estelle’s head was spinning, and her vision was getting blurry. She said in a panicked voice, “It must be Victor. He hates us and the Hans family. I need to call the police right away, or it will be too late…”
She quickly reached for the phone on the table, but then Cristofer spoke up. He tried to calm her down, saying, “I’ve already asked Vincent to call the police. Estelle, please try to stay calm. Victor is not foolish. There must be a reason he took our children. I believe he’s after our family’s money, and I don’t think he’ll harm the kids. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let him go, and he wouldn’t get anything. The children should be safe for now.”
Cristofer was always dependable in critical moments. He had grabbed his car keys from the desk, ready to pick up Estelle so they could figure things out together.
But Estelle couldn’t shake her anxiety. “I should have picked up the kids on time. I just wanted to finish some work. I…”
Hearing her crying, Cristofer tried to comfort her, “It’s not your fault. Victor has been lurking in the shadows, watching us. We can’t guard against him twenty-four hours a day when he’s always looking to harm us.”
Cristofer felt a shiver down his spine when thinking about Victor’s evilness, but he repressed his worry so Estelle wouldn’t blame herself. Then he added, “They will come back safely. Please wait for me at your company. I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” Estelle answered with a broken voice. After hanging up, she stood up stiffly like a zombie.
Estelle knew that Cristofer was right. Only when they were calm could they think of a solution? But when the children were still in danger, the feeling of simply waiting here and doing nothing almost drove her crazy.
When Estelle walked around the office restlessly, the phone in her hand suddenly rang. It was someone’s message. ‘Cristofer wouldn’t be in the mood to send me a message at this moment, and other people will also call me or send me an email if something happens, which means that the only person who will do this now is….’
Estelle quickly unlocked her phone and looked at the screen. The message came from an unknown number with only two sentences.
‘If you want to meet the children, come alone to the house of Uncle Nelson by the sea, and I will be waiting for you with the children. Victor Fox.’
Estelle immediately dialed the number without hesitation. She wanted to talk to him. She could do anything he wanted if he could let her children go.
Beep —-
After the phone rang for a long time, Victor still looked at the phone in the darkness, looking extremely pleased. When the phone was going to be automatically hung up, he finally unlocked and answered it.
“What on earth do you want to do?” Estelle sounded furious.
Victor looked joyful. He smiled and quietly hung up the phone. Then he took out the SIM card from the phone and threw it on the floor. Finally, he leaned back and smiled widely like a cat who was enjoying the process of playing with his prey.
Estelle tried calling him a few more times, but a robotic voice told her that the person she was trying to reach had their phone turned off. She felt a sense of hopelessness. ‘Should I go to the villa or wait here?’ She was torn, not knowing what to do, and felt incredibly distressed.
Victor told her over the phone that she needed to go alone, which meant that he understood clearly that he wasn’t a match for Cristofer and that it was easier for him to control a weak woman.
“Mom…. Save us….”
At that moment, Estelle was so anxious that she seemed to hear the children crying. And then she shuddered, with the sweat soaking her clothes.
‘Christina is in poor health, and Yvonne has never suffered like this before. Yohan is a big boy, but he is Victor’s biggest threat because Cristofer intentionally tries to train him so that he can be his successor. If Victor wants the property of the Hans family, it is most likely that he will first hurt Yohan. I can’t wait anymore.’
Then she put a note on the table and drove alone to the villa by the sea. About an hour later, Estelle finally saw the villa. After quickly parking the car by the street, she hurriedly went to the iron gate and pushed it. With the creepy sound, the gate opened because it wasn’t locked.