Chapter 21
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Before reaching the airport, Patricia suddenly called.
Timothy stared at Patricia’s name on the screen, irritably swiping the answer button.
“What is it?”
“Timothy, I know where Shirley is!”
“But… could you come to my place first? I’m afraid it’s too complicated to explain over the phone.”
His grip on the phone tightened abruptly. Timothy turned and grabbed his car keys.
“Twenty minutes.”
The Campbell manor’s lights were piercing through the night.
Timothy had barely stepped onto the porch when Patricia threw herself into his arms, her perfume making him instinctively wrinkle his nose.
“What exactly is this about Shirley’s whereabouts you mentioned?”
He subtly stepped back from her.
“Don’t rush me.”
“Actually… I had a friend look into it. She’s in the Netherlands now, getting close with some man.”
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Timothy’s heart raced inexplicably at those words.
Netherlands was exactly where the detective had pinpointed. But who was this “man” Patricia mentioned? A friend? Someone new?
Countless questions swirled in his mind.
He seized Patricia’s wrist, his grip so tight she cried out in pain.
“Where exactly? Do you know?”
“Timothy, what are you doing? You’re hurting me!”
Patricia’s eyes reddened, tears rolling down in large drops.
“I only told you because I was worried-”
“The address!”
Timothy’s bellow made the crystal chandelier tremble.
“What’s the rush to find her?“:
“Are you messing with me?” Timothy’s voice was cold as ice.
Patricia’s tearful challenge. “You’re so harsh now–do you even love me anymore?”
She sobbed her way closer. “Timothy, dare you claim Shirley isn’t in your heart?!”
Met with silence, Patricia shoved him hysterically.
“Say something! Guilty conscience got your tongue?”
Her phone slipped from her fingers. Timothy instinctively bent to
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retrieve it, freezing when the unlock screen flashed dozens of messages -each one viciously attacking Shirley.
Timothy broke into a cold sweat, his trembling hand clutching the phone.
He spent several minutes steeling himself before gathering enough courage to tap on the screen.
“Timothy has eyes only for me. Isn’t that tough for you?”
“You’re married, but his heart remains with me. Have you considered divorce?”
“You’ve attempted suicide so many times, yet he feels nothing. Unlike me–he panics at my slightest discomfort. See? Your life doesn’t count for much.”
For over two weeks, such provocations flooded the messages.
A surge of fury rose within Timothy.
Then came evidence of a massive money transfer with a confirmation reply: “The task was completed.”
The transaction date coincided with their abduction.
Only now did Timothy realize that all of this was actors hired by Patricia.
“What exactly have you been doing behind my back?”
Timothy’s hand holding the phone trembled. He suddenly looked up.
“That time on her birthday when she was framed for stealing, was that also you?”
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“And that allergy incident and the burn, were those all arranged by you? Patricia, how could you be so vicious?”
Patricia’s face instantly turned pale. She instinctively stepped back but knocked over the vase behind her, sending it crashing to the floor.
“I did it because I love you too much…” she sobbed in defense, “She always pretends to be magnanimous, acts like she doesn’t care. I just wanted you to see clearly…”
Timothy couldn’t hold back any longer. He reached out and slapped her hard across the face.
Patricia covered her face as she slumped to the floor, disbelief written across her features.
“How could you hit me for her? Still claim you don’t care about her? Timothy, you hypocrite!”
Timothy felt a wave of crushing disappointment wash over him at her
cries.
“All these years, did you truly not see how well I treated you? Even the Campbell family embraced you as their own daughter. You could’ve lived a peaceful life.”
“Patricia, I misjudged you.”
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