Chapter 86: Surveillance

Miss Lynch worked quickly and soon had the room tidied up.

Felix Ford waited a moment, then splashed some water on his face before running to the study. "I’m done cleaning," he announced.

Samuel Ford glanced at him, seeing the boy still pretending to be out of breath, huffing and puffing. He couldn’t be bothered to call out the boy’s clumsy acting. He took a doll from the drawer, tossed it to him, and asked casually, "Where did you get this?"

Felix Ford caught it before it could hit the ground. Annoyed by his father’s attitude, he huffed, "I’m not telling you."

With that, he ran off, making a point to slam the door hard behind him.

’How childish.’

Samuel Ford glanced after him, then turned his attention back to the group of stunned faces on his computer screen. "Continue," he said.

"Oh, right." The company executive snapped back to reality and resumed his presentation. He was still a little surprised. ’The little prince is actually okay? I thought with President Ford’s temper, he’d give the kid a serious talking-to.’

’I never would have guessed President Ford was such a doting father in private.’

He had only let his mind wander for a second, but Samuel Ford caught him. Samuel tapped his fingers on the desk. Hearing the sound, the executive on the other end immediately reined in his thoughts, not daring to let them drift again.

Downstairs, Miss Lynch was eating at a chair. She was a little surprised to see how much Felix was eating. She’d assumed that after fighting with his father, he wouldn’t have much of an appetite. But not only did he have an appetite, he was eating a lot.

Ignoring her surprised gaze, Felix Ford patted his stomach, stuffed in two more bites, and only put down his chopsticks when he felt he couldn’t eat another thing. Then he headed upstairs.

’I have to eat more. I’ve got a long walk ahead of me.’

Once upstairs, he began stuffing things into his backpack. Seeing how bulky the bag had become, he took everything out again. He changed into clothes with more pockets, stuffed his belongings inside them, and grabbed his small phone and the charm before heading back downstairs.

’Just as I thought, Dad is still working and hasn’t come out.’

There weren’t many people downstairs either.

Miss Lynch was washing dishes. Seeing him come down, she asked in confusion, "Young Master, where are you going?"

Felix Ford cleared his throat and said calmly, "I ate too much. I’m just going out for a little walk."

"That’s a good idea. Do you need me to go with you?" she said, wiping her hands as she started to walk over.

"No need." Felix Ford quickly stopped her. "I can go by myself. I won’t go far, just around the front gate."

"Alright, but don’t go too far. Be careful you don’t get snatched by kidnappers."

"I know, I know." Afraid that talking any longer would draw his father out, Felix Ford quickly dismissed her and ran outside. Whenever someone he met outside asked, he used the same excuse. He made it to the gate smoothly, the smile on his face growing wider.

’Mom, here I come!’

Upstairs, Samuel Ford stood by the window, watching the small, sneaky figure slip toward the gate. He looked down and sent a message. It wasn’t long before he heard a child’s shouts.

He paid it no mind, rested his eyes for a moment, and returned to his desk to continue dealing with company matters.

In stark contrast to his father’s composure, Felix Ford was about to go crazy with anger. "Let me go! I want to find my mom!"

Rocco carried him back to his room. He sighed inwardly but kept his expression neutral. "Young Master, it’s best if you just stay home quietly."

’How many times has he tried to find her? Has he ever succeeded?’

’Kids are just so stubborn. If it were me, I would have given up long ago.’

"I don’t want to! This isn’t my home! I don’t want to be here!"

But no matter how much of a fuss he made, Rocco didn’t yield an inch. The man was built like a mountain; there was no way Felix could escape.

Already knowing what would happen next, Felix Ford grit his teeth in frustration. "Get Samuel Ford over here!"

Hearing his words, Rocco’s heart skipped a beat. ’Only this little ancestor would dare call the boss by his full name.’ He was terrified, but he maintained an unshakable, cold expression. "Sir will come see you when he is finished with his work, Young Master."

"No! I want him here now!"

Rocco repeated impassively, "Sir will come when he is finished with his work."

’Blockhead!’

Knowing he couldn’t order Rocco around, Felix Ford threw things all over the floor again until he was exhausted and collapsed onto the bed. Seeing this, Rocco finally backed out of the room, secretly wiping the sweat from his brow. ’A moment ago, I was really afraid the boss would hear the Young Master’s demands and come storming out to give him a piece of his mind.’

’But the Young Master really is too much of a troublemaker. If my son were like this, I’d have spanked him long ago.’

’Ah, forget it. I don’t even have a wife, what’s the point of saying things like that?’

Samuel Ford didn’t leave his study until after midnight. He walked toward Felix Ford’s room. The small nightlight by the bed was on, so the room wasn’t too dark.

Glancing at the things on the floor, he walked quietly to Felix Ford’s side. The child was already asleep, sprawled out messily as usual. He hadn’t even changed into his pajamas. ’He probably planned on waiting up for me.’

He didn’t understand where the boy got so much energy to cause trouble, especially when he knew it would be fruitless.

Seeing the little one’s brow furrowed in his sleep, Samuel Ford sighed softly, gently picked him up, and started changing him into his pajamas.

"Bad daddy," a mumbled voice suddenly sounded near his ear.

Samuel Ford’s hands paused for a second before he continued changing the boy’s clothes. He wasn’t surprised to see the doll charm in his hand.

Once Felix Ford fell asleep, he slept very deeply. He showed no signs of waking even after Samuel Ford finished changing his clothes.

After placing him back on the bed and covering him with the blanket, Samuel Ford finally left.

Rubbing his fingertips together, he made a phone call. "Hello, it’s me... Can you check the entry and exit logs for the hotel on that day? Don’t bother with the guest registry. It’s very likely she didn’t use her real ID to check in."

He nodded at whatever was said on the other end. "Good. Send me what you find."

At Amanda Vance’s place, the bedroom light was also still on. The sound of keyboard taps was particularly loud in the quiet room.

After a long while, Amanda Vance finally stopped, rubbing her sore neck. Her brow was furrowed in concentration.

She had been searching all the records from the area around the hotel from that year, trying to find out who had been coming and going. But as it happened, the footage from that specific period had vanished. It was normal for old recordings to be incomplete due to the passage of time, but all the other recordings were intact. Only that particular day was missing.

Whoever did it had destroyed it so thoroughly that there was no possibility of recovery.

No matter how she looked at it, it seemed deliberate.

Holly Vance didn’t have the means to do this, much less the ability.

’In that case, who could have done it?’

She couldn’t figure it out for the life of her. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that something else must have happened that day.

She had no interest in other people’s affairs, but this meant she couldn’t find what she was looking for, either.

As she thought about it, her eyes darkened and her mood soured.

Her expression only softened when the door was pushed open. Seeing the child at the door, she smiled. "Jean, what’s wrong?"

Jean Vance walked in. Noticing her mother’s grim expression and glancing at the laptop in her lap, she understood. "Mom, are you looking into what happened back then?"

"Mhm."

"You didn’t find anything?"

"No. The surveillance footage was destroyed."

’What a coincidence.’

Jean Vance frowned. "So what are you going to do now, Mom?"

"I’ll just take it one step at a time. There’s nothing else I can do. Oh, right," Amanda Vance remembered something else. "Where’s the doll I gave you? I haven’t seen you with it these past couple of days."