Chapter 188

At that moment, Josiah’s nerves snapped taut, as if his soul were about to burst forth. He thought, “Sienna is inside!” Dropping the baseball bat, he sprinted toward the locker room.

Josiah Yosef didn't have time to ask him anything. Josiah ran so fast he left a trail of afterimages. The locker room was chaos.

“What’s going on?”

“The natural gas pipeline leaked, and some idiot lit a cigarette!”

The locker room exploded. The door frame was detached, the outer glass shattered. Smoke billowed, and flames roared.

Josiah thought, Sienna is inside! His face pale, he pushed through the crowd, about to charge in.

“Josiah!” Yosef, arriving shortly after, panted, desperately holding him back. “What are you doing? You ran—”

“Let go!” Josiah’s eyes were bloodshot. “Sienna is inside!”

“So what?” Yosef recoiled, incredulous. “When did you become so irrational? What can you do by rushing in and getting yourself killed?”

“Look at that?”

“Heaven! It looks like someone was blown out.”

“Heaven! Can you even recognize who it is?”

Hearing this, Yosef swallowed hard, a pang in his heart. Could it be Sienna?

Josiah’s muscles tensed. He gritted his teeth, glaring at Yosef. “Aren’t you going to let go?”

Intimidated, Yosef released his grip. His gaze stopped; he saw a familiar figure. He quickly pulled Josiah back.

“Yosef!” Josiah fumed. “Damn it—”

“Quick, look over there!” Yosef urgently pointed. “Sienna, it’s Sienna!”

Josiah was taken aback. Through the crowd, about ten meters away, Sienna stood on tiptoe, holding an ice cream cone, straining to see inside. Hearing the discussion about someone being blown out, she frowned sympathetically, asking, “What about the fire department?”

“They’ve already been called, but it takes time, right?”

“Hmm.”

The sound of approaching fire trucks grew louder.

“Here they are!”

“The fire department’s here!”

Stadium staff shouted, “Everyone, please step back and don’t interfere with the rescue efforts!”

Sienna followed the crowd, stepping back.

“Sienna!” Amidst the noise, someone called urgently. She turned and saw Josiah, in his baseball uniform, struggling through the crowd.

“Sienna!” He raised his arm high. “Stay there and wait for me!”

He raised a hand, as if to embrace her, then hesitated. His gaze swept over her, inch by inch. Uncertainly, he asked, “Are you okay?”

Sienna blinked. Wasn’t it obvious? “Yes, I’m fine.”

His expression was unreadable—happiness or sadness? Sienna wasn’t sure. She pointed at the ruined locker room. “Did you think I…”

“Where did you run off to!” Josiah shouted. “I told you to wait for me in the locker room, didn’t I?”

“I wanted ice cream, so I went to get some.” She realized something. “You… you’re not angry because I wasn’t blown up, are you?”

Before she finished, Josiah leaned down and embraced her. Sienna was bewildered. What’s going on?

“Great!” He cupped her head, pressing her deeply into his chest. “It’s good you bought ice cream, very good!” His heart pounded. He felt like his heart had returned to his chest. He murmured, still fearful, “You’re okay. Fortunately, you’re fine…”

Sienna thought, Is this guy having a nervous breakdown, or is he schizophrenic? But the man leaned on her, getting heavier. She pushed him. “Josiah! Get up! You’re too heavy!”

“I don’t care.” He clung to her. “My legs are weak. I can’t stand.”

“Weak legs!” Sienna didn’t believe him. “Come on, get up!”

“I won’t.” He rested his head on her shoulder. “You little ungrateful one, don’t you know why my legs are weak?”

Sienna heard him whisper, “You scared me to death, let me recover… hold me, hold me a little longer.”

Sienna stopped moving. The noise seemed to fade. What does he mean? It’s not good! He seems to always unintentionally reveal ambiguous meanings, as if he cares about me. Is it my illusion? If it’s true, it’s terrible!

Suddenly, Josiah lifted his head. “What’s this?” he pointed at her ice cream cone.

Sienna held it up. “An ice cream cone, of course.” Doesn’t he recognize it?

“Hmm,” Josiah nodded, then lowered his head and took a big bite. When he looked up, the cone was nearly gone. Sienna’s anger flared. “What are you doing?”

Josiah laughed loudly and ran away.

“Don’t run! Josiah, give me back my ice cream! If you want to eat, can’t you buy your own! Ah!?”

“Hey, I’ll buy you one!” He ran, arms wide. “I’ll buy the whole store for you!” This store held a life-saving grace for Sienna.

It’s night, in the study.

Hervey said, “Sir, we’ve almost finished checking the orphanages and welfare homes, but we haven’t found anything yet.”

“Yes,” Hervey continued, “All children around three years old, within six months before and after, are within the scope of our investigation. So far, we haven’t found any children who meet the conditions.”

“I see.” Howard nodded, sighing softly. “If we can’t find them in orphanages, we need to expand the scope. They might have been adopted.”

“Yes,” Hervey said.

“By the way,” Josiah said, remembering something, “Any progress on that matter?”