?Chapter 2839:


    Ellis let out a low, icy chuckle, his eyes boring into hers.


    “Still not ready to talk?”


    Andrea’s eyes squeezed shut, her face ashen, as though the world were closing in.


    Under her breath, she muttered again and again, “How could this happen… how could this happen?”


    “What do you mean?” Hadley could no longer contain her impatience. She stormed inside with Eric at her side, catching Andrea’s whispered words.


    Hadley’s lips curled into a taunting smirk as she fixed her gaze on Andrea.


    “You thought you’d slip through the cracks, didn’t you?”


    “You?” Andrea’s eyes widened, darting from Hadley to Eric standing firmly beside her.


    “You two…”


    A spark of realization flickered in her mind.


    “Oh, now it clicks. You were tailing me. I was sure I’d shaken you off. So that’s the game… hahaha…”


    Herughter rang out brittle and empty, like the echo of a hollow drum. Her shoulders slumped, the fire in her spirit guttering like a candle in the wind.


    “Andrea!” Hadley surged forward, her voice sharp with desperation.


    “Where are my daughter and nephew? Where have you taken them?”


    “Where?” Andrea lifted her head, her eyes dull as stagnant pools, void of warmth or remorse.


    She shook her head slowly.


    “No use searching. They’re not here. I didn’t hide them…”


    “What?” Hadley’s eyes widened in disbelief, her head snapping toward Eric.


    “That’s impossible!” she cried, her voice trembling with fury.


    “You took the money, and now you’re spinning lies? Give me back the kids!”


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    “I can’t…” Andrea’s chilling smile sent a shiver down their spines.


    “I’m just the go-between—collecting the cash and doing the job. The kids… they’ve already been passed on. They’re long gone from my hands.”


    “Passed on?” Eric’s gaze locked onto Andrea’s, his voice low and dangerous.


    “To whom?”


    “Humph.” Andrea let out a smug chuckle and shook her head.


    “I don’t know. In this line of work, we have rules. We take the payment and get the job done, but we don’t pry into the buyer’s business. Keeps things tidy, avoidsplications like this…”


    She nced at Eric and Hadley, her expression almost pitying.


    “Parents and family showing up—it’s always such a mess, isn’t it?”


    “Rules?” Hadley’s eyes zed, red with rage, as she lunged forward and grabbed Andrea by the cor. Her voice shook with barely contained wrath.


    “You’re a human trafficker who steals innocent children from their family, and you dare talk to me about rules?”


    She shook Andrea with fierce desperation.


    “You know something! You have to know! Tell me—where are they?”


    “I don’t know…” Andrea’s voice was t, unyielding.


    “Liar!” Hadley’sposure unraveled, her heart teetering on the edge of copse.


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