Chapter 18 Joan Went Missing

The owner began digging for information on Daphne. She was surprised but replied with a straight face, “No, we don’t. He just happened to sample a bowl of noodles I’ve made once. I’m going back to work, boss.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

The chubby owner did not insist, seeing as Daphne was reluctant to say anything more.

Daphne hurriedly left, hanging her head. The chubby owner couldn’t help feeling slightly rueful as he watched Daphne leave.

‘How wonderful it is to be young!’

The elevator went one level down. Blaring music pounded against her eardrums from the moment the doors opened.

Daphne had just stepped out when someone grabbed her and pulled her aside. “Awesome, Nini. You’re really good at acting, aren’t you? You’re actually acquainted with Nicholas Wolfe!”

It was Cassie. She was staring at Daphne and looked very upset.

Every staff member in the bar used fake names. Daphne had used the last two syllables in her name, and the name “Cassie” was clearly a fake name.

Cassie had arrived just in time. Daphne was just about to look for her.

“It was an unintentional meeting. By the way, I didn’t get a tip.”

Cassie wasn’t in the private room when she served the noodles. Thus, Daphne was worried that Cassie would accuse her of taking the tips for herself.

“You’re still thinking of tips? Don’t you know how lucky we are to avoid compensation? Our annual salary combined won’t even be enough to cover those liquor bottles you’ve smashed,” Cassie replied.

Daphne nodded.

“By the way, what’s the story between you and Master Nicholas?”

Cassie was curious and continuously tried to question Daphne.

“Hey, you two! We’ve got an order. What are you waiting for? Serve this vodka. Don’t you know that you’ll get penalized for chatting?”

The supervisor’s sudden scolding saved Daphne.

…

The bar was closed for the night. Daphne changed out of her uniform. By the time she left, it was almost 3:00 a.m.

Luckily, the bar wasn’t too far away from her home. Daphne dragged her tired body and quickly headed back home.

When Daphne finally arrived downstairs, she looked up at the lights in her building, which were mostly off. Joan was probably asleep by now.

Only Daphne’s footsteps could be heard in the dark as she quickly made her way upstairs.

She opened the door and tiptoed inside, afraid of waking Joan.

This small house had already given Daphne a sense of home. She turned on the light to the front porch and changed her shoes at the doorway. She inadvertently looked around and paused.

There were two house slippers at the doorway, one was hers, and the other was Joan’s.

Joan’s slippers were there, but her favorite canvas shoes were missing…

Daphne’s mind flashed with one possibility. She immediately ran into Joan’s room.

Click!

The room lights turned on, and Daphne gasped.

‘Empty! Joan isn’t here!’

“Joan!” Daphne called out, then immediately went to the other rooms to look for her.

Three minutes later, Daphne stood in the living room, trembling.

‘Joan is missing!’

Daphne snatched up her phone and lodged a police report without a second thought.

Unfortunately, the last time she had seen Joan was this afternoon, and the police had informed her that they could not launch an investigation since Joan had been missing for less than 24 hours. Daphne ended the call. Her eyes were filled with despair.

‘Joan has no children or relatives. Where could she have gone?’

Then, it hit her. Daphne ran towards the door, grabbing her keys and handbag along the way.

There was only one person that Joan would meet!

Daphne ran to the street and hailed a cab. Then, she gave the address to the Montgomerys’ villa.

Half an hour later, the taxi stopped at the entrance gate to the villa residence. Daphne paid the cab driver and got out of the car. Then, she made her way toward the villa. Unfortunately, a security guard stopped her.

The middle-aged security guard sleepily asked Daphne for her identification card, but she couldn’t give it to him.

“You can check your system. I live in villa number 3-07!”

Daphne suddenly remembered a different way to gain entry.

The security guard looked at Daphne, then impatiently turned on his computer. He looked through the system before turning to Daphne to say, “No name, no entry!”

“That’s not possible!” Daphne stared at the security guard in disbelief, then looked at his computer.

Every member of the Montgomery family was listed under the names of residents in villa 3-07, except hers.

‘But I managed to get in with just my name, not too long ago!’

“You can’t go inside if your name isn’t in the system. You’ll have to wait outside or ask someone you know to let you in.

The security guard chased her away.

Left with no choice, Daphne was forced to wait outside the villa residential area.

The weather in G City at night was vastly different from daytime. Daphne was dressed in a flimsy dress. She shivered in the night breeze.

The security guard had gone back to bed and was snoring away. Daphne stood at the entrance for a few minutes, gritted her teeth, then picked up her phone and called Cedric.

No one else could help her. She had no choice but to turn to him.

If she tried calling the house phone at the villa, the maids would hang up on her without hesitation.

Soon, she heard the call connecting. It sounded particularly clear on this quiet night.

Daphne waited silently until her heart gradually sunk. Right before the phone call was about to end, someone picked up.

“Hello?” Cedric’s low voice answered through the receiver.

Daphne tightened her grip around the phone and spoke urgently. “Cedric, it’s Daphne. I’m at the entrance of the residential area. Can you let me in?”

“Mm? What are you doing there?” Cedric asked.

“I need to get in. It’s really important!” Daphne anxiously replied.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of running water from the receiver, and Cedric said, “I’m outside right now. I won’t be back so soon. Wait for me, okay? Hmm, Daphne? Wait for me?”

Something in Cedric’s voice didn’t sound right, as if he were hinting at something ambiguous.

“Are you okay, Cedric?” Daphne asked suspiciously.

‘Wait? I have to get inside the villa and find Joan!’

“Heh…” Cedric chuckled. “I’m fine. I’ll be back soon. Daphne, I—”

“Cedric, who are you talking to?”

A soft and sweet female voice suddenly interrupted Cedric. Daphne frowned.

“Mr. Woodfields is waiting for you. What’s taking you so long? Why won’t you go inside? Who are you talking to? Is it that important?” Beatrice’s voice suddenly spoke again.

Silence.

Daphne could hear faint noises in the background.

That explained why Cedric had asked her to wait for him. He wasn’t at home.

Daphne kept her hold on her phone and was about to speak when Cedric suddenly said, “I’ll send someone over to discuss the contract with you tomorrow. I’m currently at a dinner party, and it is inconvenient for me to talk now. Let’s sit down and have a chat some other time.”

Cedric sounded like a completely different person—professional, business-like, and extremely calm.