Joanna's heart skipped a beat before she got back to her senses. "Nancy, what happened?" she asked gravely. "Calm down and tell me slowly."
"I felt that something was wrong just now, so I forced my way into Adie's laboratory, but I… I found that he wasn't there. I looked around the island, but I still couldn't see him. He's so young. Could some bad guy have taken him? Miss Joan what should we do?"
Nancy cried profusely and described the incident with a shaky voice.
Joanna had left the two children in her care, but a second of carelessness caused her to fail to realize that the child had gone missing. She wished so much that she could just kill herself now as an apology, not to mention Joanna blaming her.
"What did you say?"
After Joanna heard Nancy's words, she felt like she had received a fatal blow to her heart. Her mind then went completely blank.
Both Adie and Abby were of the greatest significance to her, her sole motivation to strive hard and live on.
However, Adie disappeared just like that, and it was hard to tell whether he was safe. At that moment, Joanna was just a desperate and helpless mother, no matter how calm and strong she was.
Liam realized the seriousness of the affair, so he took over Joanna's phone and looked at Nancy calmly, who was similarly desperate and helpless. After that, he asked, "Nancy, get the surveillance video of the island to look for Adie's whereabouts. Check if he left any notes or something in the house. This boy is smarter than an adult. He'll be fine. Let's not scare ourselves."
"Oh… Okay, I'll go and check it out right away."
Nancy scrambled up quickly and ran to the tool shed to get the surveillance video.
Liam had long set up a surveillance system on the island for safety purposes. He even installed an alarm system. That system would notify them immediately if any villains approached them. The bodyguards stationed around the place would also immediately rush over to protect the children.
It was Joanna and Liam who meticulously picked and trained those bodyguards. Ordinary people were no match for those trained professionals.
"Wait!"
Joanna finally calmed down. Her face was slightly pale, but it was full of indomitable perseverance.
"Nancy, give the phone to Abby. She might know where Adie went."
Only then did she recall that Abby had been acting strange lately. As long as she claimed that she wanted to have a video call with Adie, Abby would find various excuses to divert her attention. Besides, Abby would manipulate her extremely adorable face to make Joanna let down her guard.
Now it seemed that the children had cooperated to frame Joanna and Nancy.
"Miss Joan, let's not disturb Abby now. She's also very anxious, so anxious she cried. It took me a lot of effort to put her to bed. I even lied to her that her brother is only temporarily missing and that we'll soon find him. Only then did she stop crying…"
"It's fine. I know Abby. She's not as weak and delicate as you think unless she's guilty. Just ask her to join the video call."
Nancy's description finally convinced Joanna that Abby was related to Adie's sudden disappearance.
"Umm… I'll get her now."
Nancy held the phone and ran to Abby's room.
Sitting at the side, William had heard much even though he did not know what had happened in detail.
He asked Clara in a low voice, "Does Miss Pierce's child go missing?"
Clara nodded and reminded him. "Don't talk too much. Just keep it in your heart. Those two children are of utmost importance to my bestie. She doesn't like too many people knowing that she has kids."
"Got it."
William secretly clenched his fists.
He had a bad premonition, but he did not dare to say much.
"Abby, your mommy wants to talk to you. Stop sleeping. Wake up"
Nancy walked into Abby's small bedroom and called the little girl, who was still lying in her tiny pink bed.
"Hmm… I'll talk to her another day. I want to sleep."
Abby curled up and retreated into her blanket.
She knew that Joanna would interrogate her sternly, but she promised Adie that she would never expose his whereabouts. She could offend neither, so … she chose to hide.
"Abby, be good. Your mommy has to ask you something very important. Come out now!"
Nancy tried to persuade the small bundle that was balled up under the sheets.
"No, I'm sleepy, and I want to sleep! Tell Mommy to call later!"
After that, Abby said tenderly before she made snoring noises, "I'm sleeping, so I can't hear you guys."
Nancy appeared slightly awkward. She tried her best to pull aside the blanket that Abby was under, but the little girl had wrapped herself as tightly as a burrito. Consequently, Nancy failed to pull it aside.
After a few failed attempts, she was so exhausted that her forehead was drenched in sweat. She panted and exclaimed, "Miss… look. What should I do now?"
Joanna's face turned cold, and a serious expression took over her calm face, infuriated by Abby's willfulness.
She took a deep breath and put her hands on her waist before she shouted, "Abigail Pierce!'
Almost instantly, Abby whooshed out from under the blanket and revealed a fair and pretty face. Her face looked like a red apple, which was rather charming.
"Mommy, mommy, don't be mad. I'll tell you everything!"
Abby blinked her large, watery eyes. She had given up fighting.
She could not help it. Whenever her mother called the siblings by their full names, it meant she was indeed furious. If she did not behave, the consequences would only prove too severe to handle.
"I'm sorry, Adie. I've got to betray you for the time being so Mommy won't be angry…' she thought.
Joanna's serious face softened slightly before she said gently, "Good girl, Abby. Tell me what happened. Where is Adie now?"
"Mommy, promise me one thing: You can't get mad at Adie and me if I tell you."
Abby was smart, so she negotiated a term with Joanna first.
"Don't worry. I won't get mad."
Joanna tried her best to force a bright smile. However, she had long clenched her fists into tight balls.
She exclaimed inwardly, "Humph! I'll teach them a hard lesson if they dare to act recklessly!"
"Mommy, it's like this. Adie was very worried that you'd get bullied by bad guys after you went to the City, so he came up with a way to protect you… He successfully came up with the plan a few days ago, and he's now in the City."
Abby told Joanna the ins and outs of the whole incident with very clear logic.
Adie was her superhero. The plan he designed to protect their mother was no mean feat-it was a perfectly sound and operational plan that was scientifically viable.
If Nancy did not realize that Adie went missing that day and subsequently exposed their plans, she would have given it her full support.
'What? Did Adie… come to the City?"
After Joanna listened to Abby's description, she had a headache. She immediately pinched the spot above her lips, afraid she might faint from the wave of anger that washed over her.