Finally, the old man looked away and said in a loud voice, “Mario, where did you get that wench? Get her out of here. How dare she challenge me? Does she want to die?”
I sneered and said with disdain, “If it hadn’t been for my daughter’s accident at your Bennett house, do you think I would have entered the Bennett house?”
“Bullshit!” The old man was completely angry, swinging his crutch towards me.
“Mr. Bennett, long time no see!” Outside the door came a man’s loud voice.
The old man frowned, and his eyes fell on me. Mario looked back and frowned.
I got it. It was Dennis.
Sure enough.
In almost a matter of seconds, Dennis’s tall figure was standing in front of me. He raised his hand to press the old man’s walking stick, smiling gently, and he was polite and noble. “Mr. Bennett, all visitors are guests. Even if you Bennett family didn’t want my wife, you wouldn’t need to beat her with a club, would you?”
Mr. Bennett’s face sank and he snorted. He looked at him and pointed at me, “And this shallow hussy is your wife?”
Dennis nodded and smiled, “Yes. My grandfather picked her out for me. Are you happy with that?”
“Hum!” Mr. Bennett snorted coldly and said with some disdain, “No wonder. What kind of granddaughter-in-law that old prick could pick out? It’s just so-so.”
Dennis didn’t get angry. He just looked at Mario and said, “Where’s my daughter?”
Mario didn’t look very well. After a pause, he said, “Yesterday, Clarie said she wanted to go for a walk with Snowball, so I asked my aunt to follow her. When they came back, it rained and Clarie disappeared while sheltering.”
Dennis’s anger had subsided from his face, but as noble as he was, he asked quietly, “What’s going on now?”
“I have contacted the police in H Town, and the investigation is focused on the import and export people in H Town. The Bennett family has also sent people to search all parts of the city.”
I pressed my lips together to suppress my agitation.
I looked at Mario and said, controlling my anger, “Clarie went missing with Snowball?”
He nodded.
Dennis frowned, pursed his lips, and said, “A child with a dog is not easily lost. Snowball is a dog trained to bring Clarie back even if they get lost. Looks like it wasn’t just a case of getting lost.”
He looked at Mario and said, “Get in touch with the police, investigate anyone with a problem with the Bennett family. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious around the Bennett family, especially these last few days.”
Mario probably got the message, too. He nodded and took out his cell phone.
A group of people were silent in the hall. Dennis gave them a look and smiled, greeting them.
Then he looked at Mr. Bennett and said, “Mr. Bennett, we’re running out of time. My wife is worried about the child, and she can’t help but speak impulsively. Hope you can understand. We’ll call another day. Now, excuse us.”
Then he pulled me toward the door. Mr. Bennett was going to say something more, but he just opened his mouth and said nothing.
Dennis and I were silent outside the Bennett family’s house.
The car was parked at a hotel not far from Bennett’s house. Dennis looked at me and said, “It’s late tonight. You need to get a good rest. The Bennett family is on it. It’s gonna be okay.”
I looked at him and got angry, so I got out of the car and went straight into the hotel.
The receptionist looked at me, smiled and greeted me, “Hello, may I help you?”
“A room, please.” I handed my bank card and ID card to the receptionist.
Instead of taking them, she looked behind me at Dennis, who was following. He was tall and handsome. He was the spotlight everywhere.
Dennis stopped beside me, looked at the receptionist and said, “Don’t bother. The room is already reserved.”
This was clearly addressed to me.
The receptionist was embarrassed and handed me my bank card and ID card, “Please keep your credentials, miss.”
I frowned and said in a heavy tone, “You’re a five-star hotel. How can guests check in without ID card?”
She desperately looked up at Dennis with her lips pressed together.
I handed her my bank card and ID, and I said, “Please hurry. I need a room.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she offered me a room.
Dennis seemed to let me go and didn’t say much.
I took my key card and got into the elevator. Dennis followed me, silent and frighteningly silent.
People could be weird sometimes. We both knew that we had grudges in each other’s hearts, and we both knew that we were in a bad mood. We also knew that we needed to forgive each other and make things clear to each other. We knew it, but nobody wanted to talk about it.
I went into the room and Dennis followed me. I went in, turned around, and blocked him out.
I made it very clear that I didn’t want him in there.
He frowned, and his thin cold eyes fell on me. Then he said playfully, “Clara, is this necessary?”
He was a head taller than me. I looked up at him, pressed my lips together, ignored the coolness of his eyes, and said almost without mercy, “Yes.”
Then I raised my hand and pushed him out of the room. Then I slammed the door shut.
By the way, I locked it inside.
This extremely expensive hotel was just like home. It had a living room, bedroom, and kitchen. It was not as large as the villa in City P, but it had got everything.
After taking a quick look at the room, I called Leo and the call was put through in no time.
He seemed to be asleep, and said in a low voice, “Clara, what’s up?”
I looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was early morning.
I didn’t want to disturb him, but now that he answered the call, it would be worse to keep silent than to disturb his sleep.
I thought about it and said, “Could you please ask Link to help contact the leaders of H Town? Clarie’s gone missing. It’s been almost 72 hours. The Bennett family are looking for her, but they haven’t found her yet. I didn’t know what to do. I had to call you.”
At the end of these words, I got a lump in my throat.
There was a moment’s silence on the other end of the line, and then Leo clearly woke up and said, “Don’t worry. Link and I will be right back in H Town, and we’ll find Clarie.”
For a moment, a warm current ran through my chest. Tears filled my eyes and my voice broke for a moment.
After a while, I said, “Thank you, Leo.”
I noticed Leo frowning on the other end of the phone. He said seriously, “Clara, we’re family.”
I nodded, tears running down my cheeks, somewhat moved.
After hanging up the phone, I felt somewhat relieved.
I breathed a slight sigh of relief from the fear and worry I had just felt. I realized, belatedly, that I had just broken out in a cold sweat.