Chapter 11
The villa remained silent. No one answered Shawn’s calls. His heart was in turmoil, and he felt as if his head might split apart at any second. He rushed out of the villa and grabbed a maid who was passing by.
“Where is Mrs. Hamilton hiding?” he demanded. “If you keep the truth from me, I won’t forgive you!”
“M–Mrs. Hamilton took Jamie and left last night!” the maid stuttered. “She also burned all the gifts she gave you along with the love letters.”
“She burned them all?” Shawn croaked out as he stumbled two steps back. “She loves me more than life itself. How could she bear to burn the gifts she gave me? How could she abandon the title of ‘Mrs. Hamilton?‘
“She must have run off to the house her mother left behind for her. She must be waiting for me to pick her up!”
Shawn quickly regained his composure. He gritted out, “Don’t think you can control me this way, Candace. I’m going to wait and see how much time passes before you come back!”
He was certain that Candace would return sooner or later. It would take at most two hours before she came crawling back to beg for his forgiveness. She would probably have a gift with her to make amends with him.
However, Shawn couldn’t help but feel anxious and annoyed as he sat in the banquet hall and watched the sky darken outside.
Candace still hadn’t shown up. Her temper had worsened after she gave birth to Jamie. She dared to leave him waiting for so long? When she returned, Shawn was going to set down some strict rules.
“Shawn, you had better hurry in bringing Candace and my darling grandson here, do you understand?” Lucia was wearing a gloomy expression. “The guests are waiting for them. Are you just going to leave the Hamilton family’s reputation in shambles like this?”
The guests began to approach him one after another to offer him advice. “Fine!” he exclaimed impatiently. “I got it! I’ll go and get her now!”
He rose to his feet and planned to make a quick exit, but the doors to the banquet hall were suddenly thrown open. One of his assistants ran in while wearing a panicked expression.
“What happened? Where’s Candace?” Shawn demanded.
“Mr. Hamilton, Mrs. Hamilton sold off the house her mother left for her as well. There’s no one there!”
The buzzing in Shawn’s head was deafening as he took two steps back. Candace only had Marika when she was growing up. She loved her mother dearly and treasured the house Marika had left for her more than her own life. He couldn’t believe that she had actually sold it off!
Was she truly planning to sever all her connections in Bloomingville? Was she going to leave and never return?
“You useless bastard! What did you do to Candace to drive her away?” Lucia raised her cane and battered Shawn with it. “Candace’s body is weak since she’s still recovering postpartum. How dare you argue with her and anger her?
“Why did I give birth to such an ungrateful son? Get out there and look for her now!”
“Mom, don’t panic. Candace must be angry with me because I asked for a divorce last night. She must be throwing a tantrum, which led her to hide herself from me. She loves Jamie so much. She definitely wouldn’t do anything drastic!
“You! Put up a missing person’s notice all over the city. Find her and bring her back to me, no matter what!”
“Mr. Hamilton, Mrs. Hamilton got rid of her ID and household registry. There’s no information about her taking any public transportation either.”
“I found a witness, Mr. Hamilton! He said he has a clue about Mrs. Hamilton’s whereabouts!” One of the assistants exclaimed excitedly while jogging toward Shawn with an elderly man in tow.
Shawn’s pupils contracted as he grabbed the elderly man’s sleeves. He croaked, “Where did you see my wife? Where is she now?”
The elderly man trembled as he raised his hand and showed the items he was clutching. He stuttered, “I… I was fishing by Whiston River around midnight yesterday. I saw these under a few rocks. The signature belongs to Candace Brightshield.”
