Another day of searching passed by, but William was still nowhere to be found. The longer the time went by, the less hope there was. Valeria’s heart felt heavy. She had not rested well for two consecutive days, and she was extremely exhausted. If it had not been for her persistence to find William supporting her, she would have broken down long ago.
Tonight was another sleepless night. She sat in the van as she waited for news with low spirits.
In the wee hours of the morning, there was still no news about him, and she fell asleep in her chair.
Bobby put a blanket over her and got off the car quietly, then he discussed with Richard and Marcus how to deal with the situation.
The critical time for rescue had passed. After searching through all the places that were within 100 kilometers along the river, the chances of William’s survival were getting slimmer.
Everyone was smoking in silence, and no one started the conversation.
Later, Marcus’s phone rang, and the bodyguard who was searching along the river called, “Mr. Field, I found a broken limb by the river.”
“A broken limb?” his face suddenly changed, “Which part?”
“An arm. It has been in the water for a while so it’s very puffy. There’s a ring on its finger. I’ve seen it on Mr. Howard’s hand.”
Marcus’ face turned pale with shock, “I’ll be right there!”
“What’s going on?” Richard and Michael asked at the same time.
“A bodyguard reported to me that they found an arm by the river. The ring on it is exactly the same as Mr. Howard’s.”
“Impossible! There must be something wrong!” Richard, Michael, and Bobby didn’t believe it, “Go and check it out now.”
Valeria, who was in the van, had just closed her eyes to rest for a while when she was awakened by the sound of the car. She got off the car immediately to check it out. When she saw Marcus and the others starting their engines, she stepped forward and stopped them, “Where are you going? Is there any news about my husband?”
“No, Miss Brown, please rest here first. We’ll go over and see what’s going on.”
Noticing Marcus’s lack of eye contact, she realized that something was wrong, “Did you find something? Don’t lie to me.”
“No…”
Richard closed his eyes and interrupted Marcus, “Fine, let’s take Valeria to have a look. If it’s really him, we can identify him…”
When she heard this, she couldn’t stand still and collapsed to the ground. Michael and Richard supported her sides and brought her into the car.
The car went straight to the side of the river where the arm was found. The sky was getting brighter. The bodyguard with the arm was waiting for them in the same place. Bobby stopped the car, and they rushed to the shore where the arm was found.
A white cloth wrapped around a swollen arm was on the ground. Richard held Valeria as Marcus gently lifted the cloth, and the ring on his finger fell into Valeria’s eyes.
It was the ring on William’s finger. How could she ever mistake it? She cried out in a sorrowful voice, “No! I don’t believe it! It’s not him! It can’t be him!”
“Valeria!” Richard and Michael held her in their arms. They had also seen the ring on his finger, and their eyes turned red.
Valeria would never believe that William didn’t make it. She said incoherently, “It can’t be him! He won’t leave me! I haven’t given birth to a baby for him and our family hasn’t lived a happy life yet. He won’t leave me! He will never lie to me! I don’t believe it!”
With great grief, she couldn’t bear it and fainted.
After Richard pinched her cupid’s bow for a while, she slowly woke up. The arm had been taken away, and the ring had been taken off and put away by Richard.
Everyone was discussing the discovery of the body part, but Valeria still could not accept it.
“It can’t be him! Maybe it’s just the same ring. It can’t be him. I must see his whole body before I believe it.”
Richard knew that she had gone crazy, “Valeria, we are not willing to believe that it’s him either. Don’t worry, we have arranged a DNA test to prove it.”
In the hospital, Hayden’s lips were dry and cracked. He stared blankly at the ceiling without moving. Lucas and Andrew exhausted all their energy, but they couldn’t persuade him at all.
They could only supply Hayden with nutrient fluid to sustain his life when he fainted. Three days had already passed, and the chances of William’s survival were getting slimmer.
Andrew was deep in thought. He never thought that he would ever have to face this situation.
Hayden’s illness, the company’s business, and his revenge for William. There were still many unknown factors in the future. What should he do?
He had just taken over the company and was improving slowly. It was difficult for him to face great pressure like this.
“I hope that God will bless Uncle William, and he will come back safe and sound!”
As he thought to himself, Marcus sent someone over to retrieve Hayden’s DNA specimen. When Andrew heard that they had found an arm with a ring on it, he was dumbfounded.
His hands trembled as he helped Marcus’s men retrieve Hayden’s DNA. He sat on the sofa in a daze without knowing what to do.
This was completely unexpected!
Since Lucas was older than him and had more experience, he set aside his grief and immediately reminded him, “Sir, if something really happened to William, you have to be prepared to face it. The company has to make a statement that includes what to do in the future. We also need to figure out how to tell Sir Hayden. If he finds out, it’s likely that he won’t be able to live any longer.”
“Stop talking! Let me think about it!” Andrew waved his hand, “It’s not confirmed yet, maybe it’s not him?”
“It has already been three days…”
“He is lucky and will live a long life!” Andrew calmed himself down. He couldn’t panic since he was the only one left in the Howard family who could be in charge of the affairs. If he panicked, his family would be wiped out. He had to think of a plan that was the best of both worlds.
In the Anthony family’s villa, Hardy returned home from the hospital with Bevan. He just got out of the car when Natasya called him.
“Mr. Anthony, I heard that someone found an arm that was wearing William’s ring by the river. What do you think of this?”
“Is that so? So he’s finished?” Hardy sneered.
“Probably. I heard that Marcus has arranged for someone to do a DNA test and make the final verification. Mr. Anthony, are you not going to do anything about it?”
“Miss Anderson, what do you mean?”
“Nobody knows if he is dead or alive. But if we can’t find him for a day, it won’t be over. So, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, you should make his DNA report real.”
“Why is that so?” he asked in reply.
“This way, once he’s determined to be William, people will stop the search for him. Even if he’s still out there, he’ll lose his chance of survival, won’t he?”
Her reminder brought a sneer to his lips, “You are right. I will pay attention to it.”