Chapter 623: Something Must Have Happened to Quentin Blackwood

"Ivy? What made you call me out of the blue?" a teasing voice came from the other end of the line.

"Elijah, I might need your help with something."

The person Ivy was calling was none other than Elijah Hawthorne. Powerful and capable, he might be able to help capture Jason Summers. Although Ivy usually hated troubling others, she figured Elijah might have a solution in such a critical moment.

"Name it. I’m all ears."

Ivy gave him a brief rundown of what had happened, leaving Elijah astonished. "All of that happened?"

He had only been away from Lustre for a short while. With Quentin Blackwood and the entire Mercer family watching over Ivy, how did Jason Summers still manage to succeed? Furthermore, the grandfather had actually passed away. Elijah had shared a couple of meals with him before and thought he was a wonderful old man.

Elijah wasn’t an orphan; he had parents and siblings. However, having grown up in an environment filled with scheming and power struggles, even a simple family dinner was riddled with ulterior motives. After years of emerging as the ultimate victor in these domestic battles, his own house felt entirely devoid of warmth. In fact, those two casual meals he had crashed at the Mercers’ home felt much more like a real family dinner to him.

And now, she was telling him that the old man of the Mercer family was dead?

"Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find Quentin for you!"

After hanging up, Elijah immediately ordered his men to track down Quentin’s whereabouts. It was just Lustre; it wasn’t like the man could vanish into thin air.

It didn’t take long for his men to report back. "Mr. Hawthorne, Quentin might... he might..."

"Might what? Spit it out."

His subordinate hesitated for a moment before finally answering, "He might be gone."

Elijah froze. He wondered what his man meant by ’gone’.

"Quentin chased Jason out to sea. That cruise ship belonged to Jason, and both of them were likely on board at the time. The explosion was incredibly fierce and covered a massive radius. If they were at the epicenter, they might have been blown to pieces. Plus, it happened out in the open ocean. Finding anyone there would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

Even Elijah found this outcome hard to accept. Although he loathed Quentin, he had never once imagined that his bitter rival would just suddenly drop dead one day. Wasn’t Quentin supposed to be exceptionally formidable? Wasn’t he always in control of everything? How could he have perished alongside Jason Summers?

Did Ivy know about this?

She probably didn’t. If she had known, she wouldn’t have called to ask for his help in finding him. But how on earth was he supposed to break this news to her?

A short while later, Elijah’s phone rang again. It was Ivy. Looking at the caller ID, he didn’t even dare to answer it. The call ended, but moments later, the phone rang once more.

After dialing two or three times in a row without getting an answer, Ivy’s anxiety only grew. She sent Elijah a text message: "Mr. Hawthorne, are you busy?"

Elijah was still having his men investigate. He needed to get to the bottom of this. What if it was all just a smokescreen? What if Quentin wasn’t dead? A man as capable as Quentin couldn’t possibly die so easily. Didn’t he have a wife and child? Could he really bear to leave them behind?

It was obvious how deeply he and Ivy loved each other. Ivy had just suffered the agonizing loss of her grandfather; if she found out what happened to Quentin, how could she possibly handle it? Moreover, an explosion of this magnitude was bound to trigger a media frenzy. If Quentin truly met his end and never returned, it would be impossible to keep it under wraps.

"Arrange a flight to Lustre for me immediately!" Elijah ordered his secretary.

With Elijah suddenly going off the grid and providing no updates, Ivy grew increasingly uneasy.

"Nina, why do you think Mr. Hawthorne isn’t answering his phone either?" Ivy asked, the heavy weight in her chest refusing to lift.

Nina Scott pondered for a moment. "Maybe he’s busy? He could be investigating things for you, or he might have gone into a meeting and left his phone behind."

"I hope so," Ivy replied. All she could do was pray to the heavens that Quentin was safe.

Ivy looked up at the television nearby, which was still broadcasting the news. They were still at the crematorium. Some staff members were watching the screen and gossiping among themselves.

"Looks like we won’t be making a dime off this one," one employee remarked.

"Why not? The scale of the accident looks pretty huge. If there were a lot of people on a ship that big, we’d be swamped here."

"Are you stupid? This happened out at sea. How are they going to recover the bodies? They might not even find any remains of the victims. Plus, do you have any idea how many carnivorous fish are in the ocean?"

"That’s horrifying. The chances of survival are practically zero."

Ivy watched the broadcast. The footage was currently being captured by drones as rescue teams rushed to the scene. In just a short amount of time, the ship was already sinking; only the very tip of the burning cruise liner remained visible above the water.

Amidst the fierce wind and pouring rain, the drone’s feed of the rescue operations wasn’t very clear. Suddenly, Ivy spotted something.

Her pupils constricted sharply. "Nina, Nina, look at that person! Is that Zane Linton?"

Although the figure charging at the very front was blurry, Ivy recognized him instantly. It was Zane!

Nina squinted at the screen to get a better look. "No way. Isn’t Zane Mr. Blackwood’s secretary? Why would he be there? You can’t see anything clearly; you must be mistaken."

Ivy was absolutely certain it was Zane. Despite the poor video quality, she could tell just from his silhouette alone. If Zane was there, then where was Quentin?

A dreadful thought screamed at her—something terrible had happened to Quentin. It had to be!

"Nina, take me to the pier right now. It’s faster if you drive." Ivy stood up abruptly, determined to head over there no matter what.

Nina quickly followed her. "Ivy, could you be overthinking this? Besides, it’s raining right now, so the roads will definitely be jammed and unsafe. Why don’t we wait for more news? If your Mr. Blackwood knew you were running around like this, he definitely wouldn’t be at ease."

Nina tried to persuade her, but Ivy refused to listen, insisting on going to the pier. Left with no choice, Nina called the Mercer family as she drove Ivy over.

All the cruise ships at this pier were safely docked; nothing out of the ordinary had occurred here. "Go to the other pier! The abandoned one!" Ivy ordered immediately.

Nina turned the steering wheel and drove toward the other location.

Along the way, Ivy dialed one number after another without stopping. Quentin’s phone was still turned off, Zane wasn’t answering, and there was still no word from Elijah.

She sent Elijah another message: "Tell me the truth. Did you find out something? Did something happen to Quentin?"

Seeing this message, Elijah’s worst fear had materialized. He was already en route to the airport. He immediately called Ivy back.

His voice was incredibly heavy. "You already know?"