Let’s start all over again,shall we?

Chapter 283 The Search

Maggie had lost consciousness. The man swiftly hoisted her over his shoulder and made his way toward a secluded restroom in the corner.

With a ceiling panel already removed, the man stepped onto the toilet seat and passed Maggie up into waiting hands–every move was swift and practiced, as if rehearsed a hundred times over.

Meanwhile, Nathael stool in the dimly lit corridor, awaiting her return. Time seemed to drag on, and after checking his watch, he noted it had been ten minutes.

Lighting a cigarette, Nathael continued to wait, growing increasingly restless.

As five more minutes passed without any sign of Maggie, a crease formed between Nathael’s brows. He tried calling her.

The phone rang for a moment with no answer.

A sense of unease gnawed at him, growing stronger with each passing moment.

Realizing that Maggie had been gone for too long and that the restroom showed no signs of activity, Nathael’s demeanor shifted.

He extinguished his cigarette and stormed into the restroom, calling out for Maggie.

“Maggie?”

To his dismay, the restroom was empty. Nathael’s expression turned grim as he forcefully pushed open several partially closed doors, finding no trace of her.

His eyes instructed, “Lock down the entire venue! Scrutinize everyone coming in and out!”

turned ice–co, 2nd a dangerous shade filled his eyes. He immediately called Nolan and

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Nolan swiftly mobilized their team.

Since the university’s piano competition being a high–profile event and other programs happening nearby, scaling off the area amidst the dense and chaotic crowd posed a significant challenge.

“Bring the military in and frame it as a routine security check.”

to conduct a

into thin air after

of the conference hall; extend the search area from the venue, with a particular focus

“Understood, Mr. Harris.”

to the vanity below, a conch pearl earring lay there

lips tightened as he picked up the earring. His index finger gently traced the pearl’s surface. His expression turned even more grim, and a storm of fury

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brought for

in his palm that the sharp post pierced his skin,

aside as

the ceiling of the furthest cubicle. Nolan had already sent someone to climb up the ceilling to check where it led.

Nathael, “This passage leads directly to a restroom in a conference room upstairs. There are traces of someone tampering with a window, and there

as night. His face was covered with a layer of frost, a hidden bloodlust flickering dark and deep within his

even if you have to turn this place upside down!”

“Yes, Mr. Harris.”

found herself lying on a soft, expansive bed, unbound

mixed–race man–was someone she’d never seen in

me this

room for clues, a number

Vanessa; there had been no recent discord between them significant enough to warrant a kidnapping, nor did she have the resources to hire foreign mercenaries.

Unlikely. They had just met. If Sierra had planned this, she would have shown some sign of triumphant anticipation. But there was none–only solid confidence in her competition

Beth? Joseph?

the means, but Joseph had no apparent motive, while Beth had just quarreled with her. But to

the window, Maggie absorbed the scenery outside.

lush greenery and serene surroundings, the villa resembled something out of

patrolling the area, they were few in number, yet each moved with the

a

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The

unlikely to be Beth’s doing; she was more inclined to inflict misery than provide such lavish

treatment.

would much rather drag her through the mud to vent