Chapter 556: A Lifetime of Guilt
“The tickets are bought. Nana, Yueyue, let’s go in.”
Catherine had finally managed to buy the theater tickets, thinking of taking her two children into the theater to watch a play, but at this time, she found that her other hand, the hand that had originally been holding a small child, had suddenly disappeared.
“Nana?”
Catherine looked at that empty place. The most familiar hand was not in her hand, and the surrounding noisy sounds, some happy, some surprised, some expectant, and also some complaining. To Catherine, it was so harsh.
She looked up, looked around, but saw nothing.
“Nana… Nana! Where are you!”
Catherine shouted anxiously.
She was very anxious. For having lost her child, she felt extremely guilty. She had gone to the children’s center to ask if any children were lost, but the staff had told her no. She was even more anxious.
Little Xiayue, seeing such a mother, this was the first time she had seen her, and she did not dare to be mischievous. She could only follow her mother everywhere. Although she was still young, she still knew that her younger sister seemed to have gotten separated. This day, Catherine had searched for a long time, and the staff had also helped to look, but they had not found her. In the end, it had gotten to the point where the police had come. The police, through the surveillance cameras, had discovered that when Little Linna was wandering around nearby, a man wearing a mask and sunglasses had suddenly forcefully picked her up and had taken her away. At that time, the flow of people was great, and everyone was also busy with their own things. There were a few little children who had seen it. They had reported it to the adults, but the adults had not believed them.
According to the surveillance, someone had snatched the child away.
That is to say, abducted.
After Catherine had finished watching the surveillance, her face was pale, her eyes were lifeless, her shoulders were trembling, and she had knelt on the ground and had almost fainted. Fortunately, Little Xiayue was still there. Otherwise, she would surely have had a mental breakdown at this time.
In broad daylight, a little child had been abducted. This matter had made the people of the California police department have to pay attention to it. No matter in which era, the matter of human trafficking was an extremely serious matter. They had quickly filed a case and had started an investigation. But the man in the surveillance camera could not be seen, his appearance was unknown, and his identity was even more unknown. It was very difficult to investigate. But they also had to investigate, not only because they were the police, but also because the missing child in this case was the biological daughter of the current Hollywood queen, Catherine. It was impossible not to pay attention to it.
Catherine herself was on the verge of collapse. Originally, it had been a normal daily routine, but suddenly it had collapsed. She was crying all day, blaming herself every day. She really couldn’t forgive herself.
“I’m sorry, Nana. It’s all my fault. If only I had watched her, it would have been fine. It’s all my fault…”
If the police had no clues for a day, she would cry all day. Yu Jiayang himself was also very anxious. He had used his own connections, had desperately gone to look for his own daughter, but with little effect.
“It’s all me. If only I had held her, it would have been fine. She’s still so young. Where can she go? If I had held her, she wouldn’t have walked around… yes, it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault…”
Catherine had cried her heart out, blaming herself for her actions back then, feeling that as a mother, she was a complete failure. A moment of carelessness had made her regret it for the rest of her life.
Little Xiayue, seeing her own mother crying every day, was also very scared. She also didn’t know what was wrong. Suddenly, her younger sister was gone. She had clearly been fine before. Suddenly, she was gone. She was very scared. She was afraid that this family would become fragmented. She was even more afraid that her mother would be in a slump.
The people of the California police department had launched an investigation, had deployed a lot of police force, and had even worked overtime. But there was no breakthrough. They had been very troubled.
“Could it be that an acquaintance committed the crime?”
After investigating for a period of time, the police had started to consider this possibility. After all, on the day the child was abducted, the criminal was clearly targeted. The theater had a large flow of people, and there were also many children. If they wanted to abduct and sell a child, they had many targets they could have gone for. But they had chosen Little Linna of all people.
And from the man’s movement trajectory in the surveillance, it was clear that he had come prepared. It could even be said that he had figured out the living patterns of Catherine’s family. When the child had left her mother’s sight, they had made a move at the first opportunity, without a single bit of hesitation. It was very obvious that this was targeted.
The police had told Yu Jiayang about this, asking if he had had a conflict with anyone. It was possible that this matter was committed by an acquaintance.
“No, I haven’t had a conflict with anyone. I’ve always had a good relationship with my friends. Even my rivals have always been on good terms with me. It’s impossible for someone to hate me for no reason. If it’s someone in the company who is dissatisfied with my actions, I think there are a few, but they are not close to me, and we have no grudge.”
The police had strengthened their investigation in this area, wanting to find a breakthrough, but this case was very complicated. Human trafficking was even more vicious than hostage kidnapping. The latter could still be negotiated, while the former was completely lost in the sea of people, like looking for a needle in a haystack. And the criminals who had abducted the child were very smart. They had not left any traces when they had fled, and had a certain degree of counter-reconnaissance ability.
This case had thus become complicated, confusing. The California police department had invested a lot of energy in this.
And the real Little Linna, where had she gone?
Actually, on the same night she had been taken away, she had left San Francisco and had been taken to another place. By the time she had woken up, Eric had already traded her away and had gotten his first sum of black money in his life. And Little Linna’s clothes had also been changed, and she was wearing old clothes. In his hand, Eric had taken the hairpin from her hair.
“Mine, mine…”
Little Linna had resisted desperately, reaching out her hand to take it back. Eric had slapped her. The little child was still young and could not bear such a great force. She had fallen directly to the ground. She only knew that it hurt so much. Her cheeks were all red. She had immediately burst into tears.
“Wuwuwu…”
She couldn’t understand why that gentle uncle would treat her like this. Didn’t he like her the most?
Eric looked at the hairpin in his hand, his face cold and indifferent.
“This thing is annoying to look at. Don’t worry, Little Nana. In the future, I will find you a new family. Of course, if you are lucky enough.”
Eric had forcefully snatched the amulet from Little Linna’s body. This was a gift from her mother. Little Linna was crying and snatching at it, but Eric was an adult. It was impossible for a little child to snatch it from him. Eric had put these two things away, not leaving Little Linna with any thoughts. It was better to take away this kind of thing with a thought as soon as possible. He wanted this child to not be able to keep anything in her hands. As long as it was related to her family, he had to take it away.
Eric noticed Little Linna’s bag. He opened the bag and took a look. It was just an exercise book. There was nothing written on it, only a name on the cover. Eric thought to himself that this thing was probably just something a little child would play with, but to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, he still decided to take it away.
But later, Eric had to talk to someone about money. He had turned around and had forgotten about this matter. Little Linna was also afraid that he would take the exercise book in this bag, so she had quickly found a corner to hide it. Later, Eric couldn’t find it. After that, he was busy with more “business,” so she had put this matter aside. It was just an exercise book. It might break in a short while. Paper-like things were always very difficult to preserve.
That was also the last time Eric had seen her, the girl named Yu Linna.
After that, Yu Linna had fallen into the hands of human traffickers. After that, she had been sold to other cities. Eric had gotten his first sum of money. And then he had actively participated in human trafficking, doing black business. During this period, he had gone back to San Francisco once. Later, the police had looked for him, saying that they were investigating the case of his old rival, Yu Jiayang’s, child’s disappearance. He was not flustered at all and had said that he was willing to be investigated. The police had spent a lot of time on him, but there was no evidence to prove that he was a suspect. Eric was not flustered at all.
The investigation had yielded no results, and Eric was still at large.
But the most painful person was Yu Jiayang, was Catherine, was the Yu family. That year, because of the child’s disappearance, the whole family had collapsed. It was said that Little Xiayue’s grandparents, upon hearing this news, had collapsed on the spot and had been sent to the hospital. And Catherine had also been constantly saying sorry, her whole person like a mental patient. She could no longer work with peace of mind as before, and was also always not in the mood when filming. For a long time after that, she had been in a muddle-headed state and had not taken on many roles.
Not long after Yu Linna had been abducted and sold, she had been directly sent out of America. The person who had bought this batch of children had personally sent these children onto a smuggling ship, had sent them to Canada, and then in the following days, this batch of children had been sent back and forth intermittently, as if they were commodities. These human traffickers seemed to want to sell this batch of children all over the world to earn a profit.
Yu Linna was one of the children in this batch. These adults had originally wanted to sell her to a family to make money, but many things had happened, and in the end, they had not been able to get their wish. And then Yu Linna had begun a life of drifting. First, she had been sent to Canada. She had been driven to the streets to beg with that group of children, to win sympathy. The human traffickers’ den had its rules. If you didn’t complete your task, you would have no food to eat. The very young Yu Linna had never enjoyed anything and had been forced to start a life of begging. This year, she was two years old. Before she had had time to grow up, she had been forcefully pulled from her parents’ embrace.
Although she was young, she still had an impression in her memory. She knew that she had originally had parents, but slowly, she could no longer remember her parents’ appearance clearly. She only knew that she had been abducted and sold. In the beginning, she had been crying all along, and then she had been beaten all along. Later, she had finally learned to be obedient and knew what she should do.
And so, with this memory, Yu Linna had started to live in the human traffickers’ den. She had also thought that if one day she could be bought by someone, that would also be a good thing. At least she wouldn’t have to be beaten every day and be disliked for eating so much.
And so, two years had passed.
Yu Linna had grown to be four years old, and her buyers had also changed several times, but she had never found a suitable person who was willing to buy her. And the buyers were relatively greedy. They knew that this little girl was beautiful, and the asking price was too high, so many people were not willing. After going back and forth, a deal had not been made, and Yu Linna had continued to live a life of begging on the streets.
And it had also been two years since she had left her birth country, America. Eric had made a lot of money in business in these two years and could finally pay off his high-interest loans. The only thing left was the bank’s money. He had decided to leave America for a period of time. Before that, he had looked for the long-unseen Yu Jiayang.
When they had met again, Yu Jiayang had clearly become a lot more haggard, with a scruffy beard, and heavy bags under his eyes. His whole person no longer had the sunny aura of before. Eric had said that he was here to pay back the money. He had returned the money that Yu Jiayang had lent him two years ago. Yu Jiayang had silently accepted it and had not said anything more.
Seeing him become like this, Eric felt an indescribable satisfaction in his heart. He thought of how proud the other party had once been, and what a miserable look he had now. Just thinking about it was satisfying.
Back then, he had chosen to abduct and sell Yu Jiayang’s youngest child, Yu Linna, just to make Yu Jiayang suffer. Although Yu Xiayue was also within the scope of consideration, at that time, Yu Xiayue was six years old, and her mind had also more or less opened up. She also knew who her parents were. To sell her was clearly an irrational thing to do. But Yu Linna was different. She was young and knew nothing. It was just right to sell her. By the time she had grown up a bit, she would also have forgotten what her parents looked like.
