Chapter 345: Severed Limbs
Aurora noticed that John looked unwell and asked gravely, "Honey, what's wrong?"
"Something happened to Jax," John didn't hide it from Aurora. She was the child's mother, and this couldn't be kept from her.
Aurora immediately spoke, "Put it on speaker."
With the speaker on, Aurora asked into the phone, "Mom, what happened to Jax? What's going on?"
"Aurora, it's all my fault. I didn't keep a close enough eye on him. Jax is missing. I took Trey and Jax to pick up Summer and Loren from school, and in the blink of an eye, someone took Jax from the stroller. I called the police, but it's been a whole night, and there's still no news."
Helen was crying anxiously on the phone. Initially, when the child went missing, she didn't dare inform John and Aurora. After a whole night with no news from the police, she panicked and called John.
The child went missing under her watch. If they couldn't find him, how could she face John and Aurora?
Aurora's legs went weak, and her face turned pale upon hearing the news about Jax.
Aurora uttered, "Let's go back, John. We need to go back immediately."
"Aurora, don't worry. We'll find the child," John reassured Aurora while shouting outside, "Lachlan and Gideon, get ready. We're heading back to Silvercrest City."
The helicopter was still parked in the outskirts.
They quickly packed up and prepared to return.
Todd approached, "Mr. Lewis, why are you leaving in such a hurry? What about Nick?"
"None of that matters. Jax is missing," John spoke. "Todd, you stay here and take full charge. The Cooper family must be destroyed."
John was using Nick as an example, partly because Nick had targeted Aurora and Todd, and partly to establish his authority.
Nightfall had been severely weakened, and there were still doubts about their strength, which could lead to unnecessary trouble. John was using Nick to set an example.
Upon hearing about the missing child, Todd understood the gravity of the situation and agreed, "Alright, Mr. Lewis. You and Mrs. Lewis go back. I'll stay here."
It would take five to six hours to get back to Silvercrest City from the small town.
Aurora wished she could grow wings to fly back.
Luis quickly learned about Aurora's departure and immediately called Wendy, "Wendy, Aurora just left in a hurry. Something must have happened."
"Okay, got it." Wendy hung up the phone, looked out the window, seemingly making a big decision, and then turned to the man coming down the stairs, "Samuel, I want to go back to Silvercrest City."
Samuel was very surprised. Wendy had lived with him here for over a decade, and this was the first time she said she wanted to go back.
Samuel walked over to her, gentle and elegant, "Alright, when do we leave? I'll pack our things."
For over a decade, they had been confidants, more like family.
More than friends, but not quite lovers. This phrase suited them best.
Samuel was also in his fifties and had never married, and Wendy had never remarried.
"Now," Wendy explained, "Something happened to Aurora."
Samuel naturally knew who Aurora was. Hearing that something had happened to her, he uttered, "Alright, I'll pack our things now, and we'll leave immediately."
Six hours later, Aurora and John arrived in Silvercrest City.
The night was deep.
The Lewis Villa was brightly lit, shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.
The police came for the second time to take statements. Helen was crying and beating her chest, "Jax, it's all my fault. I lost you."
Helen was filled with guilt.
Aurora couldn't hold back her tears. Lloyd, holding his cane, couldn't control his emotions and questioned the police, "It's been a whole day and night. How come you still don't have any clues? Kidnappers take children for money, right? The Lewis family isn't short of money. I'll have the media put out the news right now. As long as my great-grandson comes back, I'll pay any amount."
The police replied, "Mr. Lloyd Lewis, please give us more time."
Aurora couldn't bear the pain of losing her child and looked at the police with pleading eyes, "I beg you, please find my child. I'll even kneel if I have to."
Saying this, Aurora was about to kneel.
This time, it was a baby just a few months old. If lost, the chances of finding him were slim.
When Summer and Loren had gone missing a few times, she could comfort herself, thinking that with their intelligence, they would be okay and come back. At worst, Summer and Loren would eventually find their way home according to their memories.
But Jax was different. A few months old, completely defenseless, at the mercy of others.
John held Aurora up, "Aurora, don't do this."
Then John asked the police, "Do you really have no clues at all?"
The police exchanged glances, and one of them voiced, "Given the Lewis family's reputation and status in Silvercrest City, there are only two possibilities for someone daring to steal from them. Has the Lewis family made any enemies recently?"
John quickly understood that it was someone familiar.
Aurora immediately thought of someone, "Sandra, it must be her. She hates me and has targeted Loren several times. She must be the one who took Jax this time."
Helen, hearing the name, also became emotional, "Yes, it must be Sandra."
Sandra had the strongest motive.
After Sandra escaped from prison, she disappeared, and even using John as bait couldn't lure her out.
The police commented, "Sandra has a motive, but there's also another possibility..."
John finished the police officer's sentence, "That it's really human traffickers. They don't know the Lewis family and took the child. Now that the situation has blown up, if they realize who they took, they wouldn't dare show up. This is the most dangerous scenario."
Human traffickers might kill the child out of fear of the Lewis family's power.
The police nodded in agreement with John.
At that moment, a servant came in, "Mr. John Lewis, Mrs. Aurora Lewis, Mr. Wade Lewis is here."
It was Wade and his girlfriend Angela.
When the child went missing, Helen had been chatting with Angela. By the time she realized the child was gone, the traffickers were long gone.
Angela, who was Summer's teacher, had come specifically to provide clues.
Angela walked into the hall with Wade, her eyes first glancing at John.
Even more handsome than on TV.
Angela quickly averted her gaze and voiced elegantly and intelligently, "Mr. Lewis, Mrs. Lewis, I was there when the child went missing."
The police had already questioned Angela, but she had come to the Lewis Villa specifically, and Aurora didn't know her intentions.
Helen added excitedly, "Yes, I was pushing the stroller, waiting to pick up Summer from school, and I ran into Angela. We started chatting, and the stroller was right next to me. In the blink of an eye, the child was gone."
Angela continued, "Yes, that's exactly what happened. I was talking to Mrs. Helen Lewis about Summer's studies. I even played with the two children; they were so adorable. The child went missing at the school gate, so the school is also responsible. Mr. Lewis, rest assured, our school will fully cooperate to help find the child."
John replied politely, "Thank you."
There were no surveillance cameras at the school gate, and it was pick-up time, with parents crowding the area and many cars parked. It would be very difficult to investigate.
Aurora asked urgently, "Angela, were you facing Helen when you were chatting?"
Angela nodded, "Yes."
Aurora asked anxiously, "Then the stroller was next to my mother-in-law. She couldn't see it, but you could. Did you really not see who took the child?"
Aurora's words were like a wake-up call.
If Angela and Helen were facing each other, she should have been able to see the stroller.
Angela felt a bit panicked. She hadn't expected Aurora to have such sharp insight even in this situation.
"Maybe I was too engrossed in the conversation with Mrs. Helen Lewis and didn't notice. There were many parents coming and going, and some familiar parents greeted me. It might have been during one of those moments that the traffickers took the child." Angela's explanation was entirely plausible.
At that moment, a child's cry came from upstairs. It was Trey crying, and Aurora felt even more heartbroken.
The twins had a special bond. Since Jax went missing, Trey often cried, and the nanny couldn't console him.
"Mrs. Lewis." The butler came running in with a large box, "Someone just delivered a package and left it at the door. I saw it was addressed to Mrs. Lewis, so I brought it in."
At this moment, Aurora had no interest in who sent the package.
The police guessed, "It could be from the traffickers. Mrs. Lewis, why don't you open it and see?"
Hearing it might be from the traffickers, everyone in the hall became highly tense.
Aurora was about to open the package, but John voiced, "Let me do it."
The box was quite large, big enough to hold a child.
Aurora nodded and let John open it.
As John began to open the package, everyone's attention was focused on it, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Suddenly, Angela screamed, "Is that blood? It looks like blood is coming out of the box."
With Angela's scream, everyone else noticed it too.
Aurora felt a chill all over her body, trembling uncontrollably.
John quickly opened the box, and when everyone saw what was inside, Helen fainted on the spot, Angela covered her eyes and screamed, and Lloyd collapsed to the ground.
Aurora, in a state of emotional collapse, screamed and then fainted as well.
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