?<strong>Chapter 231:</strong>


    For the past several days, Joelle had been unable to focus, with thoughts of Adrian stirring her emotions. Over the weekend, Gina offered to watch the children, giving Joelle and Rafael a rare break. However, their relief was short-lived when Gina’s call interrupted their day.


    “Joelle… I’m so sorry!”


    Joelle could hear Gina sobbing uncontrobly, which immediately set off rm bells in her mind. “Gina, what happened?”


    “Aurora and Rnd wanted to y in themunity garden, and I took them there. But then Rnd needed his diaper changed, and just after I turned away for a moment, Aurora disappeared! It happened in just seconds!”


    Joelle’s heart sank into panic. “How could she just vanish?” Rafael quickly put the phone on speaker.


    “I’m so sorry! I don’t know what to do. Joelle, I’m truly sorry.”


    Frozen in ce, Joelle could only repeat her daughter’s name in disbelief. “Aurora… Aurora.”


    Through her tears, Gina continued, “I’m really sorry, Joelle. It was an ident!”


    Joelle attempted to reassure both herself and Gina, clinging to a thread of hope. “Three-year-olds do tend to wander. It’s a society governed byws. We will find Aurora.”


    But inwardly, Joelle felt her confidence waver. “Have you contacted the police?”


    Gina sniffled loudly. “Yes, I have!”


    Rafael took the phone from Joelle. “Okay, let’s gather and review the surveince footage. I’m sure we’ll locate her soon.”


    After ending the call, Joelle’s hand began to shake uncontrobly. “Rafael… Rafael, what if something has happened to her? Aurora!”


    Her eyes blurred with tears, and panic clouded her thoughts. Memories of various news stories involving missing children shed through her mind, each one a sharp jab of fear.


    “Joelle, we need to stay calm,” Rafael urged.


    They hurried to the police station and requested ess to themunity’s surveince tapes. The footage quickly fast-forwarded to the moment of Aurora’s disappearance. Joelle watched the screen without blinking, her eyes searching desperately for any clue.


    The footage showed Gina attending to Rnd’s diaper, while Aurora yed in the sand nearby. Everything seemed normal until a woman appeared and waved at Aurora. The little girl looked up to call Gina, but Gina was too engrossed to notice.


    Joelle’s heart stopped as she recognized the woman approaching her daughter. It was an image she could never erase from her memory—Reba.


    Reba approached Aurora and waved her hand in front of the child’s face. Aurora then lost her consciousness. Watching this unfold on the video, Joelle’s fury surged, and she immediately dialed Adrian.


    “Adrian! Where has your woman taken Aurora?”


    “What? What happened to Aurora?” Adrian’s voice was filled with confusion and concern.


    Rafael, ever the steadying presence, took the phone from Joelle. “Adrian, it’s Reba. She took Aurora.”


    There was a pause on the line as Adrian processed this information. “Reba left Illerith.”


    Rafael nced at the timestamp on the surveince footage. “That’s not possible. She was here just two hours ago.”


    Adrian was rmed. After all, Aurora was his daughter. “I’ll find out what’s going on and call you back!” He tried calling Reba multiple times as he left the building, but she didn’t answer.


    Panicking, he then called Salome, who answered almost immediately. “Where is Reba?” he demanded.


    “I don’t know. She drugged me with sleeping pills at the train station. I don’t know where she went after that.” Sleeping pills? Adrian had no time to ponder. He rushed over to Joelle’s ce.


    As soon as he arrived, Joelle, driven by desperation, rushed up to him and grabbed him by the cor. “Where is Aurora? Adrian, did you conspire with Reba to take her?”


    Adrian steadied her by the shoulders. “Joelle, I swear, I didn’t know about any of this.”


    Joelle, barely holding herself together, retorted sharply, “If Aurora returns with even a scratch, your beloved will pay dearly for it. I don’t care how important she is to you!”


    Adrian frowned, attempting to pacify her. “Calm down. Reba would never hurt Aurora.”


    Joelle, who had just taken a seat, stood up again, her voiceced with scorn. “She wouldn’t harm Aurora? Her patience was fraying. “She’s a liar! A murderer! What wouldn’t she do? Adrian, you need to see the truth!”


    “What do you mean?”


    Rafael interjected, “We’re not trying to create conflict between you and Reba, but there are things you need to hear. Kendal has been monitoring Reba’s illness, correct? Three years ago, he imed there was an institute abroad that could cure her severe brain condition. You flew her out, and she was gone for over a year. When she returned, she told you she was cured, right?”


    Adrian, growing impatient, pressed, “What are you getting at?”


    “Do you recall the name of the institute Kendal mentioned?” “Kovach Institute.”


    “The Kovach Institute only has three branches globally. I’ve worked at one for the past three years. When I heard Reba was treated there, I spoke to Kovach. He confirmed that none of the branches ever treated someone matching her description. Reba was never sick.”


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