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.

her breath, just

the search to the sea outlet downstream. Grace, too, had

walnuts, not wailing as she had the

this meant, but her fearful and bewildered look made Kent's heart ache

someone finally notice her, Theresa asked him timidly, her voice

not one to cry easily, but seeing Theresa's hidden unease, thinking of Sophia who might be gone, and Brandon who had passed out,

a

mommy finish work? She said she'd take me and daddy out to play

unable to speak. Beside him, Susan's crying

timidly at Susan and then at Kent, her hands nervously twined together

wasn't a hotel. She remembered her mom's promise over the phone last night to wait for her at the hotel, that she'd see her as

pinky promised, no, high-fived. Theresa remembered she couldn't reach her mom's fingers, so her dad taught her to

pulled back her anxious gaze, looking

another smile, "I will take you back to the hotel

and whispered, "Let's go back to the hotel and rest

also starting to fall, but she earnestly said to

Kent helped her up and whispered in her ear, "Take Theresa back to rest; she hasn't slept all

nodded weakly. Kent took them to the

back in the hotel room, didn't need coaxing; she obediently took off her

of her little doll,

Grace, goodnight.

closed her eyes. She treated sleep with utmost care and reverence, as a ritual to

did as she promised with mommy, slept well, she'd wake up

somewhat on the way back, but seeing Theresa like this, her tears

also brimming with tears as he gently

The search and rescue operation was still ongoing, and the work to dismantle the foundation pillars was carried out with

to penetrate were only halfway done this time, yet they were poured surprisingly

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

update from the police about the search efforts, Kent hurried off

bed looking haggard, with a cold breakfast untouched in front of him, not a

white, still unconscious but