radicalducati Chapter 162
Chapter 162
Dominic felt restless, as if his heart and liver were being scratched. The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to reach for his phone. The screen lit up clean as a blank sheet of paper, with not a single new message. This confirmed that despite calling Alessia several times last night, she hadn't replied to any of his messages.
His heart was engulfed by a profound sense of loss, causing his brows to furrow even tighter. Long lashes cast shadows as he tapped on his phone screen with his slender, jade-like fingers, ultimately convincing himself.
Forget it, he'd forgive her for not replying, considering how much she liked him.
Dominic dialed Alessia's number, and a mechanical female voice answered. Had her phone been off since last night?
Dominic sensed things weren't so simple. Contemplating for a moment, he quickly used hacking techniques to change the phone number and dialed Alessia again.
This time, instead of the mechanical female voice, a pleasant ringing tone echoed through the phone.
Alessia had really blocked him?
Dominic's face darkened, indicating an impending storm.
"Hello," Alessia's voice came through the phone, clearly not fully awake.
Well, he hadn't slept much all night, and she seemed to be sleeping soundly.
"Where are you, Alessia?" Dominic suppressed his anger.
On the other end of the line, Alessia listened with closed eyes. Upon hearing Dominic's voice, she was slightly taken aback, remembering that the call had come from an unknown number.
Half of her drowsiness vanished instantly. She glanced at the phone number again, confirming it was still unknown. She knew exactly what was going on.
Without much ado, she closed her eyes again and asked coldly, "What's the matter?"
"Where are you?" Dominic repeated, restraining his frustration.
"Tired, don't call if there's nothing important," Alessia replied, equally evasive, and hung up.
Dominic glanced at the disconnected call, infuriated. He sat up in bed, forgetting his shoes and stormed out.
This low-pressure mood he was in, from this moment onward, persisted even when he reached the office.
Whether it was the household servants or the company's employees, whenever they saw Dominic, they dared not breathe heavily.
They only dared to whisper behind his back.
"What's wrong with Mr. Carter? He seemed to have changed a lot recently. Although there's still no smile on his face, at least he's not as icy as before."
"Could it be because of a breakup?"
"Mr. Carter, as outstanding as he is, could still experience a breakup?"
"No matter how outstanding a person is, they're still human. How could they not experience a breakup? Mr. Carter is so cold, frozen stiff. I always feel that it wasn't Mr. Carter who was disgusted by the former president's wife and divorced her, but it was she who found Mr. Carter too cold and initiated the divorce herself."
This conversation was getting close to the truth.
Dave was about to go to the office to deliver documents to Dominic. Upon hearing this, he stopped in his tracks, wanting to hear what everyone would say next. He was also afraid of his own boss. If the boss had really broken up, he wanted to hear if there was any way he could help him.
But as soon as he stopped, everyone fell silent and scattered.
Joking about the boss in front of the boss's assistant is like asking for trouble.
Dave pushed open the door to the president's office, feeling annoyed.
He cautiously placed the documents in front of Dominic, who glanced at them expressionlessly.
Dave started his report, "Mr. Carter, the laboratory reports that Miss Olsen didn't come to work today."
Dominic showed no reaction. Dave breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that Dominic's low mood had nothing to do with Miss Olsen. It was like passing a test. Having just cleared one hurdle, he continued, "Miss La Rosa, Dr. Sinclair, and Mr. Enzo Roberts also didn't come to work!"
In an instant, Dominic's gaze grew colder. He wasn't a fool. If Alessia, Riley, and Enzo weren't at work, it meant they had been together last night.
Enzo obviously had ulterior motives towards Alessia.
Seeing Dominic's increasingly dark expression, Dave felt like he had stirred up trouble.
If he had known, he wouldn't have said anything at all.
...
Last night, Alessia had only slept at three in the morning and was awakened by Dominic at six. By the time she woke up again, it was already eleven in the morning. Realizing she had to go to work, she hurriedly got up.
After getting dressed and coming downstairs, she found Riley and Enzo already in the living room. Upon hearing her footsteps, both of them looked up almost simultaneously.
"Awake," Enzo smiled, as if the shadowy man from before had disappeared overnight. Today, he wasn't dressed in all black but wore a white short-sleeved shirt and coffee-colored casual pants, looking particularly sunny and spirited.
Riley seemed to understand Alessia's thoughts and said gently, "I've already arranged for half a day off from the laboratory. There's nothing urgent there. Don't worry, after lunch, we'll go over together."
Since Riley had made all the arrangements, Alessia had nothing more to say and could only accept the plan calmly.
Considering breakfast and lunch together, it was already one o'clock. Along with Mrs. Cate, the four of them had just stepped out of the house and were about to get into the car when Alessia's phone rang urgently.
It was a call from the class teacher of Christian and Eleanor, saying that the two children had suddenly disappeared during lunchtime.
"Miss La Rosa, we've searched the kindergarten thoroughly, checked the surveillance cameras, but we haven't found any trace of the two children. We've already reported it to the police. Please come over as soon as possible."
The teacher's voice sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
As a mother, Alessia's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly thought of how mischievous Christian was and how talented he was in hacking skills she had taught him herself.
What if their disappearance wasn't because they encountered a bad person but because they had run away themselves?
After all, he had been wrestling with the idea of calling Evelyn last night.
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed to Alessia.
She calmed the teacher first, "Please continue searching there. I've thought of another possibility for the children's disappearance. I'll go somewhere first to check. We'll keep in touch."
Alessia hung up the phone and prepared to go to the hospital.
Just then, a car stopped in front of her, and Dominic got out of it.
Approaching without warning, he forcefully pulled Alessia to his side, his deep eyes filled with displeasure, suppressing his emotions as he questioned, "Where are you going, Alessia?"
Seeing this, Enzo and Riley both intended to step forward to help, but they were all deterred by Dominic's gaze.
"Dominic, let go first, I have something to do," Alessia pushed Dominic away, her resistance evident.
Alessia's resistance deeply stimulated every nerve in Dominic's body.
This feeling made him feel like an outsider here. He didn't want to let go, "What urgent matter? Can't you tell me?"
"Christian and Elle are missing,"
Dominic hesitated to release Alessia as he felt pain in his foot from her stomping.
Although she didn't want to agree to Dominic, he was still the children's father and had an obligation to know.
Dominic was nervous upon hearing that the children were missing, plus the pain in his foot. He naturally let go of Alessia.
Seeing Alessia was about to get into the car again, he hurriedly asked, "How could they go missing? What's the kindergarten's explanation?"
"The kindergarten is still searching. I'm going to the hospital first." Alessia had already gotten into the driver's seat and left the others behind, driving away alone.
"Mr. Carter, what should we do now?" Dave asked.
"You go to the kindergarten, I'll go to the hospital," Dominic's eyes flickered, and then he left Dave behind, driving away alone.
The children were all missing. Alessia would never abandon them, so if she went to the hospital, it was either because the children were there or because something more important had happened.
Regardless of the reason, he had to follow her.
At the hospital.
Christian and Eleanor stepped out of the elevator hand in hand.
Looking at the busy hospital corridor, Eleanor asked sweetly, "Chris, are you sure the grandma you're talking about lives on this floor?"
"There shouldn't be any mistake." Christian glanced around smartly. He had asked along the way, and besides, he had been here once before with their mommy.
After all, he was unbeatable at finding his way around.
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