The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 527

The search underwater was a long and soul-crushing ordeal. Susan watched as Brandon and the others bobbed up and down in the water, and with no word on Sophia, fear and despair nearly drowned her.

It was the deep blue here, not some woods or dry land where one could buy some extra time. A person couldn't last all that long in the water.

The search party had already spread out, heading downstream. The cops, too, rushed over after the alarm was raised and joined in the search.

From where Sophia fell in, the search stretched all the way down the river to the main channel, and even to the nearby mouth of the sea, but turned up zilch.

Desperation hung heavy in everyone's hearts. Whether she got trapped in a concrete column or swept out to sea, surviving was a long shot.

But no one dared to voice that; no one dared to even think it.

The wind and rain gradually let up. The sky over Zenithan began to show the first light of dawn, eventually brightening up.

The support crew had already brought dry clothes for those who'd been in the water, all except for Brandon.

Brandon, like a man possessed, kept diving back in numbly and doggedly. But the deep winter night was cold to the bone, with a fresh blast of cold air heading south.

As dawn broke, whether it was sheer exhaustion or despair from not finding Sophia that sapped his last bit of strength, Brandon's towering figure swayed and then he totally blacked out after another fruitless search, and in a frenzy, he was rushed to the hospital.

Daniel had also stood vigil by the river all night, but he couldn't sway Brandon.

Brandon's sudden collapse sent him into a total panic, and he scrambled to follow the ambulance to the hospital.

Susan was kneeling at the riverbank, having cried herself into a state where she couldn't even speak.

Kent felt equally sick to his stomach. He took off his jacket and draped it over Susan's shoulders, choking up as he told her, "No news is good news; Sophia's gonna be okay."

But even he couldn't convince himself with the weakness in his voice.

This was water they were talking about, not land. On land, there was still a chance if someone was missing, but in the water...

He couldn't bear to think about it.

sobbing too hard to catch her breath,

Grace, too, had red-rimmed eyes, fighting back tears over

had the night before, but her eyes brimmed with tears, her gaze panicked

young to understand what all this meant, but her fearful and

Kent, where's my mommy?" As seeing someone finally notice her, Theresa asked him timidly, her voice tinged with

Theresa's hidden unease, thinking of Sophia who might be gone, and Brandon

to her, barely forcing a smile, and said hoarsely,

hesitated, looking cautiously at Kent, "when can mommy finish work? She said she'd take

speak. Beside him, Susan's crying grew more intense, beyond

what she said wrong, looked timidly at Susan and then at Kent, her hands nervously twined

The surroundings were a messy and unfamiliar construction site. She might not recognize it as a construction site, but she knew it wasn't a hotel. She remembered her mom's promise over the phone last night to wait

no, high-fived. Theresa remembered she couldn't reach her

pulled back her anxious gaze, looking expectantly at Kent, and asked in a small voice, "Uncle Kent, can

"I will take you back to the hotel

ground, and whispered, "Let's go back

starting to fall, but she earnestly said to Susan, "Godmom, mommy said, when I wake up, I'll see her. Will you come back with

her up and whispered in her ear, "Take Theresa back to

nodded weakly. Kent took them to the nearest hotel in town from

Sophia, Theresa, once back in the hotel room, didn't need coaxing; she obediently took off her jacket, climbed into bed, pulled

didn't let go of her little doll, hugging it

Auntie Grace, goodnight. Uncle Kent,

She treated sleep with utmost care and reverence,

promised with

back, but seeing Theresa like this, her

were also brimming with tears as he gently patted Susan on the back, silently comforting

accident. The search and rescue operation was still ongoing, and the work

always been a challenge to penetrate were only halfway

the missing Sophia, filled the workers at the scene with a

the search efforts, Kent hurried off to the

stepped into the ward, he saw Daniel by the bed looking haggard, with a cold breakfast untouched in front of

was lying on the bed, pale as a ghost, even his lips white, still unconscious but with a furrowed brow, like he was trapped in a