Ch. 1636..1640
Chapter 1636
They all turned to John with congratulatory smiles.
John smiled faintly, then he carried off Caprice and walked away.
His stride was confident and filled with purpose.
Caprice gazed at her father, her eyes were filled with question marks.
Either way, she was glad to see her father beaming with joy, even though she could not fully understand. just what it was that made her father so happy. She was smiling from ear to ear, revealing a row of milky white teeth underneath.
John noticed Caprice staring at him and asked, “Caprice, why are you smiling so happily?” Caprice remarked warmly, “I’m smiling because Daddy is happy.” John was moved by this. He gently pinched Caprice’s cheeks. “Thank you, honey.”
She deserved most of the credit. If it was not for her wanting to explore the house, they would not have stumbled into the underground tunnel. Chances were they would still be stuck and left to wander where Sherry had ended up.
The innocent child was a gift from God.
Caprice smiled with pride. “You’re welcome, Daddy.”
John chuckled, then he picked up his pace.
He knew that the woman had hurt her head even before the fire broke out, she must be in poor physical condition. He had to find her quickly!
Several days later.
At the Stockton villa.
The weather in the past few days had been quite unpredictable. One moment, the sun was shining brightly above and the next, there would be a heavy downpour.
It was an apt metaphor for the mental state of the people in the house. Their moods rocked back and forth between relative calm and dreadful trepidation from one moment to the next.
Peter had just parked his car outside the courtyard. He quickly got out and marched urgently into the courtyard.
Two housemaids happened to be resting outside the house and having a casual chat. As soon as they notice Peter and the frantic expression on his face, they quickly ducked around the corner to get out of his way.
Peter walked straight into the courtyard.
The two housemaids murmured to each other, “Assistant Peter looks very nervous, do you think it’s something to do with Mrs. Sherry?”
“If | had to guess, it’s because they still haven’t managed to find her.” The other housemaid remained silent.
Peter did not hear the two housemaid’s senseless speculation. After he marched into the courtyard, he took a deep breath and stepped into the living room.
There was an eerie silence in the air.
Aman dressed in a common shirt and trousers was sitting on the sofa.
He had one of his arms lapped around Caprice who was sleeping soundly and was checking messages on his phone with his free hand.
Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, he immediately turned around to find Peter stepping into the living room. He asked without skipping a beat, “Have you found the surveillance footage?”
Peter answered in a hushed voice, “No, we couldn't find anything because the surveillance cameras along that stretch of road were all damaged by the fire and there was no way to restore the footage. We still don’t have any leads on who drove Mrs. Sherry out of that forest.”
Aheavy gloom set upon John’s face. “What about the hospitals?”
“No,” Peter informed dejectedly. “Just as you have instructed, we went to all the hospitals in Glanchester and went through their records to see if Mrs. Sherry was admitted to their faculty around the time the fire broke out. We couldn't find any clues whatsoever.
“My men went through the surveillance camera footage of the hospitals as well. It doesn’t seem like she’s sighted in any of these hospitals. | think there’s a strong chance that she’s no longer in Glanchester.”
No longer in Glanchester? John frowned. His thoughts went to the mysterious tunnel.
Who was this mysterious person? How did this person know about his secret hideout in the middle of a forest and managed to sneak Sherry out of there without anyone noticing?
His thoughts went to Odell. Was this the work of Odell and Sylvia? 2
Coastrock.
Chapter 1637
Sherry was still inside the hospital, but her condition had improved significantly. She was doing much better compared to when she had just been admitted to the hospital.
Her headache was gone and her body had largely made her recovery. She could walk around without any
assistance now.
The burn on the right arm left behind a large and hideous scar, but she could simply cover it up with a long -sleeved shirt At the present, she had just finished handling some work for Sager Corporation.
She shut off the laptop and leaned against the recliner positioned next to the window. She took some time for herself and enjoyed the gentle sea breeze.
Ding! Her phone rang suddenly.
Her previous phone was confiscated by John and was never returned to her. This was a new phone she bought after arriving at Coastrock.
She changed her number as well and registered a new profile on her social media.
She had just wrapped her tasks at work, who could this be?
She turned the phone over and saw a text from Carl.
It was a voice message. “Hey Sherry, there’s something | need to tell you, it's about Master Carter from Westchester.” Master Carter? Odell Carter?
Sherry replied, “What about Odell? Did something happen to him?”
Carl replied, “He’s doing fine, the thing is he called me two days ago and asked me if | had seen you. | told him | didn’t know anything and didn’t tell you yet because | figured you weren’t in a good state of mind back then. Anyway, he just called me again and asked the same thing. He said his wife is getting very agitated trying to track down where you are and to tell him if | knew about your whereabouts.”
Sherry heaved a sigh of relief upon finding out nothing bad had happened to Odell, then she began to worry.
She did consider contacting Sylvia when she got herself a new phone, but she had second thoughts when she considered how John and Odell were always in contact with each other. Right now, she would rather not have any form of connection tracing back to John. She could not risk having the man know that she had made it back to Coastrock. More than anything, she was worried he would come to her to finish the job since she somehow managed to survive the fire.
She had thought long and hard about it and decided that she would contact Sylvia only after the heat had died down and everyone in Glancehster was convinced that she had died.
She did not expect Sylvia to contact Carl not once, but twice. It would appear that Sylvia was extremely worried about her.
She struggled with the idea for a while but at last, she sent a text to Sylvia that read, “It’s me, Syl. I’m alive, don’t worry about
me. Westchester. Carter’s household.
Madam Carter’s condition had been rapidly deteriorating these days. Furthermore, Flint always caused trouble at the kindergarten Isabel was not any better in that department either and frequently got into trouble at school. Although Odell and Liam would help Sylvia around the house now and then, Odell had his business to worry about and Liam could not risk distracting himself from his schoolwork. The end result was that Sylvia found her every waking hour occupied by her children.
A few days ago, when she happened upon the news of the forest fire in Glanchester, her thoughts immediately went to Sherry. She recalled that the Stockton Villa was also located deep within the forest of the region and immediately called Sherry to check if she was safe. Besides, she felt guilty because the two have not been in contact for some time.
To her astonishment, the call would not connect. She tried again every few hours for the entire day and yet there was no reply.
She began to grow anxious and asked Odell to contact John.
For some reason, John was not picking up his phone either..
With that, Sylvia asked Odell to send someone to investigate. Soon, they were caught up with the situation John had been frantically looking for Sherry for the past few days, and yet there was no new development made in his search.
Sylvia’s instincts told her that Sherry had to be involved with the forest fire somehow.
She was deathly afraid that something terrible had happened to Sherry.
She was so worried that she found herself losing the appetite to eat anything at all.
On this day, she was holed up in the studio and anxiously staring at her phone, hoping for some news, any news at all. Soon, her phone rang.
She frantically reached for her phone and read the message. It was a line of text from an unknown number that read, “It’s me, Syl. I’m alive, don’t worry about me.”
Sylvia’s eyes sparked immediately, she replied, “Sherry, is it really you?”
The reply came immediately as well, “Yeah, it’s me. It’s not really convenient for me to call you right now and | can’t tell you where I’m hiding either, but | just wanted you to know that I’m fine and to not worry.”
Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “Alright, all | need to know is that you're safe.”
Despite that, she could not shake off her restlessness and proceeded to enquire, “Did something happen between you and John? | haven’t been able to contact you using your previous number and when | asked Odell to call John, he wouldn’t answer. Odell told me that he found out that John has been searching for you for the past few days. There’s also the news that came up about the giant forest fire at Glanchester. You're not involved with that, are you?”
Chapter 1638
On the other end of the phone, Sherry frowned uneasily as she read the text she had just received from Sylvia. John was looking for her?
How did he find out that she survived the fire?
The thought unsettled her. She condensed everything that happened to her in Glanchester in recent times, starting from the point where Madam Stockton got into a tragic car accident and was hospitalized for a long time. She told Sylvia everything that happened to her when she was imprisoned by John in his house buried and hidden deep within the forest that was later set on fire. She laid out all her traumatic experiences of how she was starved in the house. She told everything she could.
Ding!
Sylvia sent a reply immediately after she read Sherry’s long paragraph, “So you're saying that he was the one who burned the house down? | can’t believe this, he tried to kill you!”
Sherry was still unsure at this point and answered, “I think it’s him.”
Why would a forest fire start out of nowhere otherwise? Someone must have done it and John was the first one on the list since no one hated her as much as he did.
Sylvia replied, “What a heartless, vicious man!”
Sherry took a deep breath and replied, “I was the one who broke his heart nine years ago, he had to go through a lot because of me. Even his mother is permanently bedridden because of me, it only makes sense that he’d hate me and want to see me dead.”
Sylvia protested. “What happened to her mother was because of the car accident, what does it have anything to do with you?” She continued, “And what’s this about breaking his heart nine years ago? What happened back then?” Sherry was tired of explaining and brushed it off. “It’s all in the past now, | don’t want to talk about it.”
Sylvia went back to her previous concerns. “How are you doing now? How did you manage to escape? You're not injured, are you?”
Sherry replied, “A friend managed to break me out before the fire started, I’m not hurt, don’t worry.” Sylvia was relieved to hear this. “Alright, that’s good to know.”
Sherry considered for a moment and sent another text, “Hey Syl, promise me you'll keep the fact that I’m still alive a secret.” She knew it was a matter of time before John approached Odell.
Sylvia assured her. “I understand, don’t worry about a thing.”
Sherry grimaced and put down the phone.
Westchester, Carter’s household.
Inside Sylvia's studio located on the third floor.
She sat by the window and reread the string of exchanges she just had with Sherry and frowned unnervingly the entire time as she was feeling incredibly restless.
John had Sherry locked in the house and went as far as to set fire to the house! How could this be? Did he hate Sherry that much?
She was in disbelief.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps marching up the stairs.
She hurriedly put away her phone and turned to see who was coming up.
In came Flint.
He was dressed in a panda costume and tumbled through the door with his weight hanging on the door handle. He stared at Sylvia with his eyes round and wide.
The child had been causing a lot of trouble lately and received a fair amount of scolding from his mother.
He was still very cautious about approaching Sylvia and did not dare to step further into the room. All he did was pout by the door and try to get Sylvia to lower her guard using his charms.
Sylvia cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What is it you need, Flint?”
Flint carefully approached her and informed warily, “Mommy, Uncle Stockton, and Sister Caprice are here. Daddy told me to call you downstairs.”
John was here with Caprice?
Something flashed across her eyes, and she immediately glowered.
Flint was frightened by her expression and quickly ran away.
He was out of sight in no time.
Sylvia grimaced tightly.
She took a deep breath and composed herself before heading downstairs.
Downstairs in the living room, John and Odell were seated on opposite ends of the tea table and were conversing about something.
As soon as Flint bolted downstairs, he went to Isabel and hid behind her.
Chapter 1639
Chapter 1639 Upon realizing that Sylvia was not paying attention to him, Flint slid next to Isabel and played video games with her. Liam sat nearby them and was immersed in a book.
Caprice sat huddled next to him and propped her head next to his shoulder, her eyes were fixated on the book as well even though she did not understand its contents.
The children seemed to be having a good, harmonious time.
The messages Sherry had just sent Sylvia were still fresh in her mind. She took another deep breath to compose herself again before she approached the tea table.
Odell smiled warmly at her. Sylvia sat down next to the empty chair beside him and turned to John. John was staring right at her and smiled warmly as a way of greeting.
He complimented her, “Mrs. Carter, we haven't met in two months but it seems to me that you’re younger than when | last saw you.”
Sylvia was not in the mood for this pointless chatter and went straight to the point. “What are you doing here?”
John noticed her apprehension and immediately broached the subject. “Sherry is missing. | was wondering if you’ve been in contact with her recently?”
Did he come here to pry information on Sherry? Did he suppose that they were the ones who broke Sherry out of the house and brought her to Westchester?
Sylvia scoffed with hostility. “I should be the one asking you where Sherry is. She was still fine when we left Glanchester two months ago. Now she’s suddenly missing, what did you do to her?”
Her tone grew more aggressive as she spoke, even her pitch rose and nearly turned into a shout.
An oppressing silence fell upon the living room.
Isabel and Flint tactfully turned off the game console and stayed silent.
Sensing the tension in the air, Odell straightened up from his seat.
John grimaced, his face darkened.
However, it did not seem like he was upset. It looked more like he was filled with guilt and remorse.
Sylvia was taken aback by his reaction.
He was the one who put locked Sherry in that house and set it on fire, what right did he have to be acting guilty? Was he trying to mess with her?
She considered for a moment and began to interrogate him. “A few days ago, | had Odell contact you. Why didn’t you answer it? Did you do something to Sherry?”
John stayed silent for a while, then he turned in Liam's direction and asked politely, “Liam, would you mind helping Uncle John out and taking Caprice upstairs to play with you for a while?”
There were things that he wanted to say that he could not risk Caprice overhearing, even if Caprice might be too young to understand what he was saying anyway.
Liam swiped a look at him, then at his parents.
Odell nodded affirmatively.
Liam rose from the couch immediately.
Caprice rose from the couch as well.
Before Liam could even carry her, Caprice herself offered him her arms.
Liam led her by her hand, then he turned to Isabel and Flint.
Flint took the hint and got up. Isabel followed after. The children marched up the stairs.
John turned back to Sylvia and began in a low voice. “Around the time Master Carter called me, a large forest fire had just broken out near one of my residences and the situation was just put under control. | was frantic and was trying to look for Sherry, | had no time and was also in no mood to answer anybody’s calls.”
Sylvia watched his expression carefully. Was he not the one who set the house on fire? Why was he worried about Sherry?
She reflected on this and asked in the same hostile and stern voice, “How did the fire break out? | read in the news that the fire first started in the woods quite some distance away from the house. Why was she not evacuated out of the house while there was still time?”
John frowned, he sensed that Sylvia was getting impatient and was very suspicious of him and confessed, “To be honest, a lot of things have been going on in my household lately.”
Sylvia immediately honed in on this remark. “What about your household?”
John took a breath. “My mother got into a car accident because Sherry tried to run away from Glanchester. She took Caprice with her as well. My mother tried to stop her and got into a serious
accident while all of that was happening.” “What happened after?” Sylvia prompted.
John continued, “I was furious. She wanted to take Caprice away and leave me, of course, I’d be furious. | thought she was the one responsible for what happened to my mother, so | had her locked in that house located in the middle of nowhere to punish
her.
Chapter 1640
Chapter 1640 John cast a wary glance at Sylvia upon saying this. Sylvia was seething with rage.
John stuttered uncharacteristically for a moment, then continued, “I told my men to bring food to her once every two days. That was, until the forest fire.
“One day, | just got home from work when | received a call and was told that my mother’s condition had worsened and that she had to be put on a ventilator Immediately after that call, my men called me as well and told me that Sherry tried to kill herself by slamming her head against the wall. | knew that she was only doing that to lull me to her but despite that, | went away and had a very heated exchange with her before | left.
“After that, | went home again. That was when | was informed that my mother’s condition had not worsened but had instead made a turn for the better. She was awake at last.”
Sylvia was astounded to hear this.
Odell asked, “What was that about her condition worsening? Did someone give you the wrong information?” John stated, “Someone fed me the wrong information.”
Sylvia made a wild guess. “Julie?”
“Exactly,” John continued. “That was the same night when | found out that she was the one who was behind everything that had been going on. She was the one who tampered with the brakes of the car and caused my mother’s accident as she knew that Sherry would try to sneak out with Caprice. Then there was the forest fire...”
“Was she behind that too?” Sylvia asked urgently.
John nodded and confirmed her suspicion. “She had someone do her dirty work for her and set the forest * on fire. Right now, they are all arrested and awaiting sentence.”
Sylvia was in utter disbelief.
It was all Julie this entire time?
That kind girl who seemed like a model housekeeper, the girl who was always gentle and friendly with everyone? “Why is she doing this to Sherry? What could she possibly gain out of this?” Sylvia was rattled by this revelation. John frowned, a look of utter disgust surfaced on his face.
He stated solemnly, “She built a secret room in our house and had the walls filled with pictures of me. There was even a life-size replica of me made of wax. My mother was the one who stumbled into it and tried to wed her off so she would stop obsessing over me. That must be what drove her to desperation and so she began scheming.”
-Sylvia was completely speechless. Asecret room filled with John’s photographs and even a wax figure of him... Had she been completely obsessed with John this entire time?
In one fell swoop, she was able to remove both Madam Stockton and Sherry from the picture by setting up the former to get into an accident and letting the latter take the blame for what happened.
What a sinister and devious scheme! If Sherry had not been rescued in time, she might have been long dead by now! No... something was not right.
Sylvia thought of something else and snapped at John again. “Julie might have been despicable and evil, but none of this would have happened if you had not made things difficult for Sherry and left her with no choice but to run away with Caprice! If you didn’t lock her up in that house, she wouldn't have nearly been burned alive by Julie!”
She grew more furious by the second and at one point snatched a cup with burning hot tea inside on the table. Just when it seemed like she was going to splash the burning hot tea over John, someone grabbed her wrist. It was Odell. He gave her a stern look and implored her to not be rash.
Sylvia glared back at him and reluctantly put down the cup.
An uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Suddenly, John spoke, “You're right, it was my fault, | was the one who did this to her.”
What happened nine years ago was still deeply traumatizing for him. He knew he should have moved on from what happened in the past instead of letting it trouble him and make him suspicious of Mason when he showed up.
If he had not acted rashly and terrified Sherry the night Mason showed up, she probably would not have overreacted and tried to run away with Caprice the very next day.
He also considered that Sherry did end up changing her mind and turning back after she made out a short distance with Caprice. If she had not done that, there would not have been anyone to save Madam Stockton from the burning car by pulling her out of that wreckage.
His trauma from nine years ago had distorted his sense of reason!
Deep down, he must have known all along that Sherry never meant to hurt his mother, and she had done. her best to save his mother as well. For all that, he rewarded her by keeping her imprisoned in that house. and left her to starve with no one around her, to the point where she chose to bash her head against a wall to end her suffering...
He had made a terrible, grave mistake. He had let her down. After a prolonged silence, he turned to Sylvia and asked sincerely, “Mrs. Carter, could you please tell me where she is?” Sylvia hesitated.
John sensed her great reluctance and promptly assured her. “Don’t worry, | just want to see her so | can clearly explain everything to her. | promise to not hurt her ever again. | won't even force her to come back with me if she doesn’t want to.”
Sylvia sighed and told him the same thing, “I just told you, | have no idea where she is.”