Sebastian furrowed his brow. “Speak!”
“The young master Howard has run away! He’s more capable than we imagined! He tricked us into playing a game, then tied us up. Now he’s gone!”
Just when things couldn’t get worse, a storm hits when it’s already raining!
Caitlin had already disappeared, driving him insane, and now his son Howard had vanished too.
If he’s not mistaken, it was likely Howard’s troublesome idea. He probably tricked Vaughn and the others, escaped, and went after Caitlin! Or perhaps, Caitlin had planned this from the beginning-after the divorce, maybe she intended to take their son away with her!
The only way to find his son now was to find Caitlin!
“Everyone, go find Caitlin! We must find her!”
After a moment of thought, Sebastian gave another order. “Lock down the airports and all exits. Caitlin must not be allowed to leave the country!”
What he feared most was Caitlin disappearing once again, taking their son and fleeing without a trace. If that happened, what could he do?
—
At CL Group, CEO Office.
Caitlin stood by the window in a black evening gown, resting her left hand on her right elbow while gently swirling a glass of red wine.
Sunlight streamed down upon her, bathing her in a golden glow. It illuminated her hair, making the tips appear to shine.
She gazed thoughtfully in a certain direction, deep in contemplation, when a man’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Mr. Lewis, the video of Laura apologizing has already been posted on the NYU forum. It’s now trending with a hot tag, ranked number one. The comment section is exploding with people bashing Laura!”
“She deserves it.”
“And, Mr. Lewis, you should check the news. Jasmine has hit the headlines! The title is: ‘One of New York’s Three Beauties, LIG’s daughter stuns the audience at the school anniversary ceremony.'”
Opening the news page, the first thing to appear was Jasmine’s story. The content of the news was rather conventional, simply describing what had happened during the ceremony.
But the real gems were in the comments section.
[Gross, stop calling her one of the three beauties, just rename her the number one *expletive* in New York!]
[This has to be the most *expletive* school anniversary ever!]
[Jasmine surrounded by *expletive* like: I can’t see, I can’t see anything, Romeo, where are you?]
[Hahaha, I guess even jumping into the sea can’t wash this away!]
The netizens were as savage as ever, mocking without mercy.
Caitlin didn’t pay much attention to Jasmine’s news. Suddenly, her expression changed as if she’d just remembered something important.
“Quincy, Yosef! I’ve figured it out! The word Una muttered before her death-could it have been Departure City? Check Departure City!”
Yosef quickly switched to another browser tab and searched. “Boss, look!”
Caitlin walked over to the screen, her eyes tracing the screen filled with images of jacaranda flowers, which created a dreamy blue-purple landscape.
“These are jacaranda flowers!”
“Yes! The city tree of Departure City is the jacaranda! The Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio you mentioned is in Departure City. It makes sense that they’d use jacaranda flowers in their clothing designs.”
“What if the disappearance of my mother’s ashes is somehow related to V Country’s Departure City? Otherwise, why would I have received a jacaranda flower?” Caitlin wondered aloud.
Yosef, still puzzled, checked more information related to Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio.
“Boss, I found something. There’s a legend about Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio in Departure City, V Country.”
“A legend?”
“Yes. It’s said that Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio has been around for over a hundred years. Over a century ago, the Yun family’s dye shop was a small workshop. It was said that Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio could produce fabric with a magical fragrance. If clothes were made from this fabric, they would naturally attract butterflies.”
“One time, a palace concubine who was not favored had a dress made at Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio. She danced at a royal banquet, and butterflies surrounded her, catching the king’s attention and causing him to shower her with affection.”
“Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio was then recognized as a tribute, exclusively providing for European royal courts. But later, wars caused the studio’s decline.”
“Eventually, the studio lost the ancestral ‘Yun’s Aromatic Codex’ and could no longer produce those magical scented clothes.”
“But Yun’s Fragrance & Dye Studio is still in business today, and it’s still quite famous for its clothing designs.”
Yosef looked at Caitlin after finishing the story. Caitlin seemed to be lost in thought, reminiscing.
She vaguely remembered hearing this legend when she was young, from her mother.
Young Caitlin had been curious-did clothes that smelled really exist? How magical would it be to see colorful butterflies fluttering around someone?
Yosef continued his explanation, “The ‘Yun’s Aromatic Codex’ is the secret recipe of scented dyeing. It’s said that if you collect the entire codex, it might be possible to bring the fragrant clothing back to the world. But we don’t know if it’s true.”
Caitlin wasn’t too interested in the mythical scented clothes. What she wanted to know was whether there was any connection between her mother and these things.
The man she saw at the reunion, who had given the jacaranda flowers, and the blue jacaranda qipao Ximena wore at the anniversary ceremony-did these have anything to do with each other? Were they trying to tell her something?
Finally, Caitlin said to Yosef, “Find a way to send someone to V Country’s Departure City and see if we can uncover anything there.”
“Got it!”
Quincy glanced at his phone. “Mr. Lewis, Faith has brought Howard over. Should we head to the racetrack now?”
“Yes! Let’s go!”
Today, Caitlin was going to teach her son how to ride a horse.
They arrived at the largest racetrack in the suburbs of New York.
Caitlin held Howard’s small hand as they walked and asked, “Howard, do you know how to ride a horse?”
Howard shook his head.
“Today, Mommy will teach you how to ride. We’ll pick the right pony for you.”
Caitlin patted Howard’s head, and Howard felt extremely happy. Today, it would be just him and Mommy, no Bruce or Arthur around. He could finally spend time with Mommy alone!
They arrived at the stable. Caitlin helped Howard pick a chestnut-colored pony, and Howard liked it very much.
The equestrian coach helped Howard secure the saddle, lifting him onto the horse. Caitlin stayed close, helping him get used to it.
After about half an hour, Howard was already able to ride on his own. His little face was filled with excitement, and in his heart, he was shouting to Mommy:
“Mommy, look! I can ride a horse now!”
“My Howard is amazing! Wait for Mommy, I’m coming to chase you!”
Caitlin mounted a white horse and galloped after him.
—
Sebastian, having learned that Caitlin was at the racetrack, rushed over at full speed.
A convoy of cars stopped outside the racetrack, and Sebastian strode toward the entrance.
As he approached, the sound of galloping hooves reached his ears.
Following the sound, he saw a white horse galloping toward him, a woman in red riding gracefully, her black boots and hat adding to her elegance.
She was stunning, full of vitality, and left a trail of dust behind her.
The moment Sebastian recognized Caitlin, his heart skipped a beat.
Once again, he was dazzled by this woman!
No wonder Vincent had fallen for the woman on horseback at first sight-there was something dangerously captivating about her.
As the white horse rushed past him, Sebastian could no longer control his heart. He quickly walked toward the racetrack, following her.