Chapter 316
Driscoll kept glancing at the clock as dinner time approached, but Elyse still hadn't returned from the hospital. Jayden, arriving home in his wheelchair, saw Driscoll standing tensely outside the villa. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.
Uneasily, Driscoll replied, "Mrs. Owen hasn't come back from the hospital yet, and she hasn't called."
"And where's the driver?" Jayden pressed.
Driscoll shook his head. "I can't reach him. I sent someone to look for him half an hour ago, but there's been no word."
Just as Jayden was about to respond, Driscoll's phone rang. Jayden nodded for him to take the call. As Driscoll listened, his face turned ghostly white. "Th-the driver's dead," he stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "Found him in the hospital parking lot. Mrs. Owen and her sister are gone too. We're checking the security footage now."
Shocked, Jayden surged from his wheelchair and strode inside the villa. At that moment, a servant came running, panting. "Mr. Owen, Miss Bates is here to see you."
Jayden paused, irritation flashing across his face. "What does she want now?"
Uneasily, the servant replied, "She claims your mother misunderstood her earlier. She's here to make amends."
Jayden took a deep breath, fighting the urge to retaliate against Corrie. "Tell her I won't pursue her past actions, but let her know she'll regret it if she crosses me again," he instructed.
The servant hurried to the door, delivering Jayden's message to Corrie. Driscoll approached softly, whispering, "The car is ready at the back door. It's best to use the back exit. Be careful not to reveal that you can walk now."
On the brink of departure, Jayden suppressed his frustration and asked, "Is there a wheelchair in the car?"
"Yes," Driscoll confirmed.
Jayden quickly headed to the back door. Hearing Jayden's earlier remarks at the front entrance, Corrie's heart sank. She was there because Tess had confronted Brook at the company. Tess had openly demeaned Brook, declaring him no match for Jayden and accusing him of chasing a woman Jayden wasn't interested in.
Brook, intending to embarrass Jayden, had instead been embarrassed by Tess. Enraged, he'd called Corrie, harshly criticizing her and threatening to end their relationship. A breakup would cancel the collaboration between their families—a situation Corrie desperately wanted to avoid. To win Brook back, she'd reached out to Jayden, hoping he would mediate.
Corrie believed that if Jayden spoke up for her, Brook would hesitate to break up with her. For the first time, she regretted giving Tess so much attention. She'd originally planned to drive a wedge between Tess and Elyse, but now found herself caught in her own web. Tess's repeated public declarations of Corrie as her ideal daughter-in-law had put Corrie in a difficult position.
Corrie got back in her car, planning to go home. By mistake, she drove to the back entrance of the villa. Just then, a discreet gray Bentley pulled out of the garage. Suspecting Jayden was inside, Corrie impulsively decided to follow.
Jayden, focused on finding Elyse, urgently asked his men if they'd spotted her on the security footage. Their answer was discouraging: "We've only seen her going into the hospital; there's no footage of her leaving." Jayden's brow furrowed. Could Elyse have simply vanished from the hospital?
Arriving at the hospital, he went to the monitoring room. His team confirmed there was no footage of Elyse leaving. In the inpatient department, he found Glenda and Lanny, visibly distressed about Mabel's sudden disappearance.
"Mr. Owen, please, we need your help. Mabel's broken her leg. She couldn't have gone far, but she's missing," Lanny said desperately, gripping Jayden's leg.
With a grave expression, Jayden asked, "You only just found out about Mabel's disappearance? Don't you know Elyse is missing as well?" Confusion spread across Glenda and Lanny's faces as they exchanged looks. "We had no idea. Was Elyse at the hospital too?"
Impatient and about to leave, Jayden paused. "Is Mabel's phone still here at the hospital?" he asked.
...