Chapter 1552:

Jeffry gave no reply, his silence broken only by the slow drag of smoke. His desire to marry Lydia had never waned, yet she refused to face him. Now, carrying his child, she needed tranquility, and he dared only to guard her from afar, terrified of stirring her temper.

Louis clapped his shoulder.

“Jeffry, I can’t help you with this. You’ll have to manage it yourself.”

When the last ember of his cigarette faded, Jeffry strode toward where Lydia was staying.

Ever since Lydia relocated to Hillside Manor, Jeffry had quietly orchestrated her care. Every servant answered to him. Therefore, his presence hardly came as a surprise.

“Mr. Harper,” one of the servants greeted him with deep respect.

Jeffry inclined his head.

“How is she today?”

The servant responded, “Miss Hunt’s appetite was poor. She only managed a little porridge this morning and then went back to bed. She hasn’t emerged from her room since.”

A grim crease formed across Jeffry’s brow. A day without proper nourishment endangered her, especially while carrying his child. Knowing how much she hated seeing him, he opted against entering her room and instead ordered firmly, “Wake her. She must eat something before going back to sleep.”

“Yes, Mr. Harper,” the servant said at once.

Obediently, the servant climbed the stairs, calling out to Lydia while knocking. Receiving no reply, she pushed the door open.

The room lay vacant.

𝕍𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞: 𝕘Ɐ𝕝𝕟𝕠ν𝕖𝕝𝕤﹒ⅽ𝕠𝕞

Alarm seized the servant as she scoured every corner of the house, only to find no trace of Lydia.

“Mr. Harper, something’s wrong! Miss Hunt is missing!” the servant’s panicked cry rang out from the entryway.

A deadly chill hardened Jeffry’s expression.

“Explain.”

The servant trembled.

“I don’t know how. I watched her eat breakfast and return to her room. Then I left for groceries. How could she have vanished?”

Jeffry stormed into the bedroom, noting the imprint of her body upon the sheets. His sharp eyes caught a slip of paper pinned beneath the lamp. Unfolding it, he read the message etched in bold strokes: “If you want to save her, come alone to the western outskirts.”

Lydia had been kidnapped.

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