Chapter 4 Investigate Mrs. Barnes' Whereabouts

At night.

The Barnes Group's 33rd-floor office was brightly lit. Frederick sat in his chair without saying a word. The man's cold aura made the office feel like an ice cellar.

It should have been easy to remove the trending topic, but the technical department had tried their best, but they couldn't do it. It was as if there was a pair of invisible iron palms supporting it in the dark.

In the technical center downstairs, hundreds of computers were busy at the same time. All members of the technical department worked overtime together, and the director of the department had never dealt with such a difficult problem before.

He walked into the president's office. "Mr. Barnes, the latest results show that Miss Jenkins' video was sent from a computer owned by someone named Aaron, who was a doctor that died in a car accident this morning."

How could it be possible that the video was sent from a dead person's computer?

Frederick's brow furrowed deeply. Dealing with this situation was more difficult than winning a project worth billions of dollars.

The director of the technical department sensibly left.

Eric's brow furrowed, and he opened the video again, handing his phone to Frederick. "Mr. Barnes, please take a look. Perhaps you can find a new way of thinking."

Frederick glanced at Eric imperceptibly before his gaze settled on the phone. He immediately saw the small boy wearing sunglasses.

That face, that nose, that lips...

Frederick took the phone and stared at it intently, watching the entire video from beginning to end. He stared at the phone in disbelief as he had just been electrified.

Images of the woman, the child, and that face flashed through his mind.

His heart beat uncontrollably. It seemed like something was about to burst out of his chest. Yet, his reason told him it was impossible.

Eric was considerate enough not to say a word, just observing every expression of Mr. Barnes, waiting for his next order. Perhaps, they were both thinking the same thing.

At this moment, Frederick stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with one hand in his pocket and another holding a glass of red wine. He took a couple of sips as he gazed upon the city. He radiated an aura that made others hesitant to approach him.

After a long while, he ordered, "I want to know the whereabouts of Mrs. Barnes."

"Yes." Eric reminded him, "And what about your engagement ceremony with Miss Jenkins?"

"It will be held as scheduled." The man spat out the words without hesitation.

The dark night had swept away many people's schemes.

Fortunately, Frederick had connections and social status. He hastily joined hands with an entertainment company and produced news about top-tier celebrities. The news would be released three hours later in the morning. When the netizens woke up in the morning, they would see the earthquake in the entertainment circle, and the popularity of Nicole's video would naturally drop.

However, Frederick didn't feel relieved at all. Whether it was the child in the video or Nicole's trending topic, they were all weird. He could only passively accept all of this.

This feeling of being completely out of control made Frederick feel bad.

Frederick didn't sleep and didn't leave his office all night.

The office on the 33rd floor was like his own world. Here, it felt like he was at the top of the city. Eric came in to report, "Mr. Barnes, we've searched the immigration records for Bardwell countries and our own country for the past seven years, but there's no information on Mrs. Barnes."

Frederick's heart skipped a beat. He knew his intuition was right. There was really someone behind this. This time, he really encountered a difficult problem. "Continue to investigate."

"Yes." At this moment, Frederick's cell phone rang. He picked it up and saw a text message: [Your credit card made a purchase of a princess bed for 27,600 dollars at Weston 5th Ave department store.]

Had his credit card been stolen?

Never mind, that amount of money was insignificant to him. There were more important things at hand. When Frederick was about to put down his phone, it rang again.

Another text message came through: [Your credit card has been used to purchase a princess dress for 29,600 dollars at a department store on Weston 5th Ave]

Frederick couldn't help but curse under his breath. "Fuck!"

Frederick thought it was impossible!

Who would dare steal his credit card?

Then, another text message arrived: [Your credit card has been used to purchase a girl's crown for 778,000 dollars at Weston 5th Ave department store.]

The consumption was higher and higher, and the last one was nearly eight hundred thousand dollars.

Frederick immediately took out his wallet and saw his credit was in his wallet.

This was no longer about money. Someone was up to something.

Frederick decisively chose to call the police!

The credit card was swiped for over eight hundred thousand dollars in just two minutes, and the credit card was in his hand. This was undoubtedly a high-tech crime, and the culprit was definitely not simple.

The police came in and out, and the technicians reported again and again, and the president's office on the top floor of the Barnes Group was brightly lit until late at night, but there was no progress.

Frederick reported the case, and the police took it extremely seriously. They spared no effort to find the real culprit behind it all. The police and technical staff worked overtime and tirelessly, working for two whole days but found no trace.

At this moment, Frederick's phone received another message: [Your credit card has been used to pay tuition fees of 1.2 million dollars at Orbell Kindergarten in Weston.]

In just three days, two million dollars had been stolen from his credit card, and the money was related to children.

Princess beds, princess dresses, girl's crowns, and girls...

Frederick was always calm, suddenly became furious, tightly holding his phone and almost crushing it. He gritted his teeth and looked at Eric behind him. "You find someone to go to Weston. No, you have to go there in person."

Eric was a little confused. "Mr. Barnes?"

"They're trying to lure me to Weston, so you need to go there aboveboard."

After years of being close partners, Eric and Frederick had an unspoken understanding. Eric would bring a team there, and he also would go there aboveboard. Then he would return silently, leaving others to investigate. And he won't make Weston become the main battlefield.

...

Jenny rented a house, found a kindergarten, and looked for a job, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

At the kindergarten gate, Chuck smiled and waved to Jenny. "Bye-bye, Mom. I wish you luck with your interview. After school, I'll take Brittany back on the school bus, and I'll protect her. Don't worry, Mom."

The teacher who greeted the children at the gate with a gentle smile in her eyes said, "This child is so sensible."

But Brittany suddenly cried out, hugging Jenny's leg, "I don't want to go to kindergarten! Mom is not there."

Compared to the hardships of raising her children alone for many years, the small trouble in front of Jenny was not even trouble. Before Jenny could say anything, Chuck took Brittany's wrist with one hand. Then he leaned over and whispered something in Charlie's ear.

Brittany immediately stopped crying and said in a childish voice, "Chuck, don't lie to me, or I'll tell Mom."

Chuck nodded solemnly and said, "Pinky swear. If I lied to you because I would become a puppy."

Jenny didn't pay attention to the secret conversation between the two children. It was Chuck's little trick to make Brittany happy. Over the years, she was grateful for having a sensible son, which allowed her to focus more on work.

After that, the two siblings left hand in hand, with their small backpacks swaying on their backs. Behind them, Jenny looked at them, and her eyes were full of endless love. It was the most beautiful scene in the world.

After Jenny turned around and left, Brittany secretly looked back and said mysteriously, "Jenny, now that Mom is gone, can you really bring Dad back from Jesus' side?"

Chuck smiled confidently and said, "Brittany, let me try first, don't worry."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."