“Pull up the security footage! We have to find out which courier delivered this!"


    Samuel stared at the person in the photo, his voice sharp as he addressed a staff member.


    Though the staffer had no idea what was happening, he dutifully went to ask the neighbors for their security footage.


    Hannah, seeing Samuel''s intense reaction, asked, "What is it? Is there something wrong with this picture?"


    Samuel pointed a finger at the photo. "Look at this face. Doesn''t she look incredibly familiar? Even if you''ve never met her, just look closely."


    Hannah looked at him, her brow furrowing slightly. She blinked, then lowered her gaze back to the person in the picture.


    At first, she felt nothing, but after Samuel''s words, a sense of unease began to creep in.


    "Her eyes and brow... they look so much like mine."


    The moment she said it, Hannah shot to her feet. “This person... could this be my mother?"


    Samuel nodded firmly. "Yes. That''s right. This is your mother!"


    He stared at the photo, his breathing growing heavy, his hands clenching into tight fists.


    "Once we find out which courier delivered this, we can follow the trail and see who sent them. And what are they really after?"


    Someone had delivered a photo of Cheryl not long after Hannah had returned home. What did it mean? What were they implying?


    Were they trying to say that Cheryl was in their hands, that she''d been kidnapped?


    If that was the case, they had to rescue her immediately.


    Hannah said nothing, but the hand holding the photograph began to tremble violently.


    So this was her mother. She looked so beautiful, so gentle.


    Hannah finally spoke. "Look at this photo carefully. Is this recent, or is it an old picture?"


    Samuel immediately understood what she meant.


    He picked up the photo and examined it closely. After a long moment, he said, "From the looks of it, this picture was taken recently it''s not an old one Aunt Cheryl''s hair is different. Could it be that she was really kidnapped by this person? If so, you have to tell your


    grandparents!"


    "Go tell them about the photo right now." As soon as Hannah finished speaking, she noticed a handwritten letter inside the envelope and picked it up to read.


    [If you want to know your mother''s whereabouts, be at this location tomorrow at 7


    PM sharp. You muste alone. If you bring anyone else, I will never tell you where your mother is!]


    An address was attached below.


    It was a remote, ruined area in Sova, a considerable distance from the Temple estate.


    Samuel read the letter, his pupils contracting in shock. "Hannah," he asked in disbelief, "do you think this


    is a trap? Hannan t really don''t think you should go. Don''t believe them."


    Demanding that Hannah go alone—no matter how you looked at it, it screamed of a setup.


    But judging by Hannah''s expression, it was clear that stopping her would be impossible.


    "If you insist on going, you have to


    take people with you. Don''t go in


    there by yourself. It would be terrible if you got kidnapped. Everyone. knows Aunt Cherylis missing the perfect bait to lure you into a


    swnl.ne


    trap."


    Everyone knew about Cheryl''s disappearance.


    In the first couple of years after she went missing, countless people had tried to


    scam them with the same story, iming they knew where she was.


    They would say they''d seen her somewhere, or even im they had kidnapped her, demanding ransom money from the Temple family.