Mrs. Protich thought to herself that if her daughter were with her, she would strictly discipline her, not allowing her to waste a single penny. This summer, she should make her work, experience some hardship, and understand how difficult it is to earn money.
Mrs. Protich also had stomach problems accompanied by esophagitis. Whenever she felt upset or angry, her throat would feel blocked and uncomfortable. After drinking two large glasses of water, she felt slightly better and called Winifred Dawson again, only to find that the user was busy.
She had memorized Winifred Dawson’s phone number by heart, but no matter how well she knew it, the other party never picked up.
Mrs. Protich always had a feeling that she might never see Winifred Dawson again or hear her voice.
If Winifred Dawson was living well outside, Mrs. Protich could feel at ease. But if she wasn’t… Mrs. Protich couldn’t sleep well at night.
Winifred Dawson always said she wasn’t doing well, but in Mrs. Protich’s eyes, she was already very good-stunningly beautiful, educated, intelligent, and with a good personality. What more could one ask for? Such an excellent girl; how could anyone not like her?
To have a daughter like Winifred Dawson was a blessing from a previous life.
In comparison, her daughter Lily Thompson was the one who didn’t understand things.
Mrs. Protich put down her phone. The buns had gotten a bit cold, so she put them back in the steamer. After drinking two large glasses of water earlier, she felt full and could only eat half a bun after it was reheated.
Leland Burns had restricted her from going out, but he hadn’t restricted her freedom within the house or the Autumn Joy Estate outside.
The morning air at Autumn Joy Estate was particularly good. July and August were the seasons for sunflowers, crape myrtles, and bellflowers to bloom. Mrs. Protich stood outside the sunflower garden, watching as the sunflowers slowly lifted their heads towards the sunlight.
Sunflowers have a romantic language of flowers: “With you in sight, I see no one else.”
When you are here, you are my sun; I gaze at you intently. When you are not here, I lower my head and look at no one else.
…
Autumn Joy Estate was vast; it took quite some time to stroll around it leisurely. While wandering around, Mrs. Protich did think about sneaking out.
Thinking was one thing; actually doing it was another. She had enough self-awareness to know that even if she managed to get out, Leland Burns’ people would quickly catch her and bring her back. If that happened, Leland Burns might threaten her daughter, making things even more difficult.
Moreover, there were cameras everywhere and guards at the estate’s entrance who would glare at her before she even reached the gate.
At ten o’clock, Mrs. Protich started preparing lunch. Today Wesley and Henry were coming over too; three grown men would eat a lot of food. Mrs. Protich prepared two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a bone broth soup.
The fridge was stocked with all kinds of ingredients. Henry was quite enthusiastic; as soon as he came in and smelled the aroma from the kitchen, he asked Mrs. Protich what delicious food she was preparing.
Mrs. Protich forced a smile: “Nothing special, just some home-cooked dishes.”
“I love home-cooked dishes the most; I’m tired of eating out all the time. Sometimes I’m so busy I don’t have time for a proper meal and end up eating bread instead. This morning I had bread too; is there any meat?”
“Yes, I’ve made boiled beef and sweet and sour ribs.”
“I also like sweet and sour tenderloin and steamed pork with rice flour.”
Mrs. Protich wasn’t very familiar with Henry, but his outgoing personality made him seem overly friendly. She thought it was good; perhaps she could build a relationship with Henry and ask him to plead with Leland Burns on her behalf to let her go sooner.
“I’ll make sweet and sour tenderloin and steamed pork with rice flour tonight then.”
“I might not be here for dinner tonight.”
“Then I’ll ask Mr. Burns to arrange for someone to send it to you?”
“No need for that trouble; I’ll probably come over tomorrow for lunch instead.”
“Alright then.”
Wesley quietly waited for Henry on the side and reminded him when he saw that Henry hadn’t come over yet: “Henry, it’s time to go; the boss is still waiting inside.”
“Alright then, Mrs. Protich, I’ll be going now.”
Mrs. Protich hurriedly called out to him: “Mr. James, could I ask you for a favor?”
Henry turned back: “What is it?”
“Could you please say something nice about me to Mr. Burns? I don’t mind cooking here; I just hope I can go out because my daughter would worry if she doesn’t see me.”
Cooking was one of Mrs. Protich’s skills; before becoming a housekeeper, she used to cook for others outside. Wherever she cooked didn’t matter; this house was big enough that she didn’t have to clean it herself either. Her room was spacious with a comfortable bed and an en-suite bathroom.
But no matter how comfortable the living conditions were here if she couldn’t leave and lost her freedom-it felt like being in prison.
Henry hesitated: “The boss’s decisions can’t be changed easily; just stay here for now peacefully. Besides not letting you go out, he won’t make things difficult for you.”
How could she be peaceful? Wasn’t this already making things difficult?
Seeing Mrs. Protich’s anxious expression, Henry tried to reassure her: “Don’t worry; once we find Miss Dawson, you won’t be kept here anymore-you can go wherever you want then.”
“But what if you can’t find her?” Wouldn’t that mean she’d be locked up here forever?
“We will find her; when our boss wants something found-it gets found eventually-it’s just a matter of time.” Henry hinted at some information: “Besides that-we already have some leads-it shouldn’t take much longer before you’re free to leave.”
“Mr. James-could you tell me-when we find Miss Dawson-will Mr. Burns do anything bad to her?”
“Uh…” Henry shrugged his shoulders: “That’s hard to say.”
Mrs. Protich’s face turned pale.
Henry continued: “But rest assured about one thing-you won’t be kept here forever…” Even if they couldn’t find Winifred Dawson-Leland Burns wouldn’t keep Mrs. Protich here forever-they had no real connection anyway.
After saying this-Henry walked towards Wesley-and both took the elevator up-to the third floor where Leland Burns’ office was located.
His office used to have an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows providing excellent lighting-a view of the rose fountain outside visible at a glance.
Since returning from prison-Leland Burns had sealed off those windows-leaving only a small window covered by curtains-the room remained dark without light coming through.
Nowadays-Leland Burns preferred artificial lights over sunlight-they gave off no warmth at all.
Henry reported their work progress along with completed tasks-mentioning that Liam Burkhart’s ship had met with an accident at sea-most likely resulting in his death-but without finding his body-they couldn’t confirm his demise 100%.
Hearing this news didn’t make Leland Burns happy either.
Henry then brought up Winifred Dawson: “We have some leads-from texts sent regularly by Winifred Dawson-we traced signal sources-the team is conducting a thorough search-we discovered she went to City J-and someone saw her along the way.”
“When will we find her?” Leland Burns wanted results-holding a pen while signing documents-he paused only when hearing about Winifred Dawson.
Giving an exact timeframe seemed difficult-so Henry decided on estimating longer-to give himself some leeway:
“A month…” As soon as these words left his mouth-Leland Burns shot him a cold glance-
Henry quickly adjusted: “At most-a month…”
“Hmm?”
“Tw… twenty days?” Henry cautiously offered another timeframe-his expression showing he was testing Leland Burns’ patience-
“Are you asking me-or am I asking you?”
Feeling awkward-Henry scratched his head-and smiled sheepishly-it seemed nothing he said would be right: “Then-you tell me how long?”
“A week at most.”
“What?”
Leland Burns frowned slightly squinting his eyes: “Can’t accomplish it?” His presence exerted an invisible pressure-
Wesley intervened: “We can do it.”
Dragging things out until now without finding Winifred Dawson specifically had pushed Leland Burns’ tolerance limits-to know where she’d gone narrowed down their search area significantly-it shouldn’t take twenty or thirty days-a week should suffice-
Applying appropriate pressure gave subordinates motivation-
“The sooner she’s found-the higher your reward-a million dollars each day earlier.”