Adrian glanced down at his phone and saw that it was Joshua calling. He picked up the call and walked over to the window. “It’s late to be disturbing me,” he said. “This had better be important.”

“Mr. Wrenford, we have a lead on Shelley. I heard she’s in Longdale. I’ve managed to get her phone number. Should I send it to you?”

“Send it over, please.”

“Got it, Mr. Wrenford.”

After hanging up, a message alert popped up on his phone. He glanced at it, then called the number, but it went unanswered. He figured that Shelley was asleep. He didn’t think much of it and ended the call.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom next door, Damien had just stepped out of the bathroom. He noticed Celeste’s phone on the bedside table, its screen lit up. By the time he approached, the call had already ended. This was an old habit of Celeste’s. She always kept her phone on silent. They had argued about this before, as it was always hard to find her at crucial moments.

Celeste’s phone was locked, and Damien was unable to access it. So, he shrugged it off and went to bed.

The next morning, Celeste woke up, but she didn’t see Adrian. Only the sound of running water from the bathroom broke the silence. When she took in her surroundings, she realized that she had gotten drunk again the previous night. The moment she remembered climbing over the balcony railing in front of Adrian, she felt her scalp tingle with embarrassment. Every time she drank, she wound up doing something absurd. She was determined not to drink at the Wrenford residence again next time.

Quickly, she climbed out of bed and crept to the door. After confirming that no one was around, she gently closed the door behind her.

As she turned around and looked around the room, she suddenly heard the door of the adjacent bedroom open. She quickly walked toward it, only to meet Damien’s grim face. His expression was displeased. “What’s with the sneaky behavior first thing in the morning?” He clearly hadn’t seen the scene from earlier.

Chapter 55

Celeste steadied her thoughts and indifferently said, “You’re the one sneaking around.” Without waiting for his response, she walked into the room.

“Were you in Grandpa’s guest bedroom last night? Did his condition worsen after I left?”

Celeste’s back stiffened, and her steps faltered. It was clear that after Damien came back and found her gone, he had asked Adrian about her. Celeste thought that Adrian’s response was a bit of a stretch. It made her feel like she was sneaking around, like she was involved in some affair.

“Why aren’t you answering? Why are you lost in thought?” Damien waved his hand in front of her face.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Celeste gave a slight nod. “Yeah. He’s much better now.”

At that moment, her phone, sitting on the table, rang. She quickly walked over and picked it up. It was a message from Eloise’s homeroom teacher, reminding her to bring Eloise to school at nine for registration. She had forgotten that she needed to take Eloise to school that day.

After replying to the teacher’s message, she was about to put the phone away when she noticed a missed call. It wasn’t from her primary number but from her secondary SIM. This secondary SIM was the one she used to communicate with patients and her emerald crafting clients. It had been in Annie’s care while she was imprisoned, and it had only recently been returned to her.

Chapter 56