<h4>Chapter 353: Worried</h4>


    "Any news on Melody’s ex. Did you find out his name at least?" Adam asked slowly, his voice low as he sat in Max’s office with his eyes closed. He hadn’t moved much in thest hour, legs stretched out and arms crossed.


    He’d been staying here for thest few days, hiding under the guise of working overtime. The only real motive being not to work but to avoid that woman.


    That woman who had the audacity to walk around in Mnie’s clothing. As if slipping into her dresses and lingerie could somehow ce her in his line of sight. As if acting indifferent, pretending not to notice him watching, would somehow make him chase after her.


    It didn’t. All it did was make him angrier. A slow, boiling fury that built up every time she passed by. And now, she was trying to force his hand by being ’invited’ by Mr and Mrs Thomas for dinner. He wanted to refuse. But right now, he needed to establish a quicker connection with the Thomas’ as well. Only then would he be able to find out about this woman sooner.


    But, he vowed, the moment his Mnie returned, the very moment he had her back, he would cut off all these people. He refused to believe that Marianne Thomas had no inkling that the woman pretending to be Mnie was not Melody. How could she not realize that? However, the only way to confirm this was to go to this dinner.


    Another thing that he nned to do was take Mnue shopping. A full overhaul. Every single item in her old wardrobe would need to be burned since it had been touched by that Melody... He’d even change the furniture and all that.


    Just then, Max looked up from his screen and closed theptop with a soft click.


    "The investigator will be here in a few minutes. He called a while ago. Said he has something, maybe a name. What a mess. It has already been almost two weeks since all this..." He paused and then looked carefully at his friend, a thought that had been troubling him," Adam... What if Mnie is..."


    Adam didn’t respond right away but he simply shook his head," There are no what if’s Max. I won’t allow them to be."


    A small buzz cut through the silence that had both Adam and Max turn towards the phone on the table. The screen of Adam’s phone lit up briefly, then dimmed. Missed call.


    Adam cracked one eye open, then the other, and reached for the phone. Unknown number. And not even an entire ringing.


    Frowning, Adam tapped on the number, copied it, and began a reverse search. The signal was slow, and he stared at the spinning circle on his screen, irritation already prickling his skin.


    Max, now leaning against the edge of the desk, crossed his arms. "Who dares to y missed call- missed call with you?


    "Don’t know yet," Adam muttered. "Could be spam. Could be something else." But somehow, he had a feeling this was important.


    The door opened just then and the investigator stepped in, hurriedly greeted the two men. Adam put his phone aside and directly asked the man, "What did you find?"


    The man flipped open the notebook, his voice brisk and to the point. "Not much. No official records under the name Melody but since she had left town a little while before all this happened, a few of her old colleagues recalled the name of the person she was dating. However, we have looked for the name but it seems that the name is protected. It is the work of someone powerful. Anyway, we are alread on the lookout for Cadence Sint...


    Adam’s head snapped up. The phone in his hand had vibrated again with the search results loaded. He had just looked down at his screen when the man had uttered the name..


    Cadence Sint.


    Max noticed the change in his expression instantly. "What is it?"


    Adam looked up at him, the phone still in his grip. "I just got a missed call from this man."


    A silence fell over the room as Adam held up his phone, the name <i>Cadence Sint</i> shing across the search results like a brand.


    The investigator leaned forward sharply, eyes narrowing. "You’re saying he called you?"


    Adam nodded once. "Missed call. Disconnected almost instantly."


    "Call him back," the man said immediately and excitedly. "Right now. We need to know where he is, what he wants. This is actually a good thing. Once he answers his phone, we can even try and..."


    "No," Adam and Max said at the same time.


    The investigator blinked. "What?"


    Adam lowered the phone staring at it with glittering eyes.. "The call didn’t ring properly. It connected for barely a second before it cut. It wasn’t a mistake. Whoever it was, Cadence or someone else, disconnected before they knew for sure if the call had connected."


    He paused, eyes darkening. "It could have been Mnie trying to reach us."


    The room fell silent again, heavier this time.


    "She might have gotten hold of a phone somehow," Adam continued, his voice steady but low. "But if the call disconnected that fast... then maybe she was caught. Or had to end it before someone saw. Calling back would be the worst thing we could do right now. It could put her in even more danger."


    Max gave a slow, grim nod. "So we wait. And we trace the phone number."


    Adam handed the phone over. "Can you trace it? Either a location or something tied to the number?"


    "I’ll try both," the man said, already pulling out apact device from his coat and connecting it to Adam’s phone. "If it’s registered under anything legitimate, we might get lucky. If not, I’ll see what I can pull from signal pings, tower hits, or secondary routing."


    He was already tapping quickly, focused. Max nced at Adam. "If she called once, maybe she might get to try again."


    Adam’s jaw clenched even as his heart seemed to light up with hope. "Next time, I’ll be ready."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!