The group of people proceeded to leave hastily just as they had arrived. Once they were in the car, Anthony said, "I will make some calls to ask around the locals here. We will probably hear some news soon." Nathan was also anxious and filled with regret. He was mad at himself for having stalled for a few days. Earlier, Hilda had asked for the child's photographs. According to the owner of the house, the child was delivered to them when she was just two months old. Plague and Yvonne gave the couple a large sum of money to look after the child. They even asked the couple to send the child to the best school in the area and to treat her as their own while they continued to pay them generously. Every so often, Plague and Yvonne would transfer money to that couple's bank account, but they never showed up in person. They usually had the couple mail photographs of the child at given times. From the photographs the couple had given Hilda, she could tell that the child was being raised
The black market was a place where people were trafficked. It was an illegal industry that the government had no control over. They had been in existence for centuries, ever since the maritime period. Behind closed doors, conglomerates and government officials continued to tacitly approve of them. Hence, they had never gotten banned. Every day, people were delivered like goods in mass quantities to be sold off. There were men, women, and children, anyone that had a value. Hilda and Nathan drove for an hour before they arrived at their destination. Getting out of the car, it looked like a regular shopping street. All they saw was famous international luxury brand retail stores, exclusive stores, and even the Jordan Group's high end mobile phones. It was a woman's paradise. Nathan turned to Hilda and said, "You can take a look around here. Jayden and I will go down first. I'll come and get you once I'm done." But, it was not an ordinary day and Hilda was unwilling to take a step aw
The following day, after their visit to the black market, the two men went to the Bowen Residence to find the child. Hilda did not go with them this time. She felt like she would ruin things if she went with them again. She did not go anywhere and only stayed in the hotel to care for the children. She was looking after eight children by herself. If that had been eight Luna's, she would have been exhausted, but these eight children were unusually obedient. They ate as they were told, slept as they were told, and did not speak a word. That, in turn, left her emotionally drained. Even though she did not know the experiences they had prior to this, she knew that it had left them scarred for life. She planned to bring the children back to the country. Trying to find their biological parents did not seem possible now, so she might as well find a reliable family to adopt them. She also wanted to adopt one of them too. Last month, she went for another medical checkup at the hospital, took
The next day, Hilda set off to the Smith Group. Nathan and Anthony also followed along inside the car. As they drove in the city center, Hilda admired the busy streets outside. "The Smith Group has made this place into the capital. Look over here and over there, these are all ancient imperial city plans." The Smith Group headquarters was on the northern side of Smith City. Once they got there, Hilda did not see modern skyscrapers, but a stretch of bright yellow palatial buildings. This is basically a palace! It was even bigger than the Imperial Palace Museum that used to be next to their house. This structure was huge! If it were not for the cars coming in and out of the palace entrance and those busy workers of Smith Group, Hilda would have thought that she had traveled through time. Outside the palace walls, there were several subway stations and several tourists taking photos. Dressed up as a bodyguard, Nathan had a pair of sunglasses on and a dog in his arms. They drove ove
Jerome was drinking tea with a young man. The young man looked so much like Arlo that they were almost indiscernible. That must have been the other vice president of the Bowen Group, Milo Bowen. "You're here. Please have a seat." Jerome looked up at Hilda and motioned for her to sit in the seat across. Hilda greeted them and proceeded to sit down. The four people sat at the square tea table. Hilda was feeling very nervous. After taking a sip of tea to clear her mind, she looked briefly at Nathan who was being kept outside of the garden before bringing her attention back. Jerome spoke in such a gentle tone that it was not apparent that he was the head of the Bowen Family. But, Hilda knew that this man was not as harmless as he seemed on the surface. "The Nobel House in Taadi sells western food, but the one in Smith City sells authentic Taadi cuisine. It fits my taste. I go there at least once a week." Hilda added, "The best Taadi dish at the Nobel House is probably the steamed
The Bowen Family did not want to let the child go so easily. It was no use to try to be nice, they should have been brutal from the start. Once Hilda was far off into the distance, Jerome stood up and casually watched them leave from the gazebo. Looking at Hilda dressed in exquisite business attire from behind, he suddenly let out a smile that reached all the way to his eyes. It was a smile that came from a genuine sense of admiration. "Dad.." Arlo suddenly called. He could see that Jerome was very fond of Hilda. Hilda and the others were long gone, but Jerome remained standing there without moving as he looked at the scenery. As he admired the beauty of the garden before him, he turned back to Arlo and Milo and said, "When you two were younger, you were once kidnapped by the extended members of the Bowen Family. I went to ask them to return you, but they humiliated me. They forced me to choose between the both of you and said the other would be dropped right in front of me." At
The moment they had to part ways, Marie kept wailing and was not willing to leave. Her adoptive father sent their Golden Retriever along with her, so she would not be alone and afraid in a new environment. It would make her feel better to have a familiar pet with her. However, Marie still did not want to go and remained crying at the front door. Biting the bullet, her adoptive parents shut the door and did not come back out again. She continued to stand there and cry. No matter who tried to coax her, she wouldn't move. Nathan, who was carrying Marie's suitcase, was also in a tough spot. If it were possible, he also wanted Marie to stay here. Growing up in a family like that was a blessing. Unfortunately, she could not stay there because only the military could protect her. Eventually, Hilda managed to coax Marie into the car, and they quickly drove off. Once the car started to move, Hilda saw, from the rearview mirror, that Marie's adoptive parents had come out at some point and
From the moment she saw Yaa, she had come up with the idea. It did not seem to make a lot of sense to let Lily and Johnathan raise her. They could raise her instead. Nathan stretched his hand out to caress her head. "I had the same thought." He felt like keeping Yaa by his side was the better option. If he and Hilda could no longer have a second child of their own, then it would not be bad to have Yaa. Yaa grew up overseas and did not know how to speak the local language. She did not know what Hilda and Nathan were saying, but she did not like the place very much either. There were too many people. She only wanted to go home and be with her Golden Retriever. Suddenly, they made a turn and a wide patch of green appeared in front of her along with a rhythmic and sonorous sound "One. Two. Three. Four. One, two, three, four!" The military troops were training! The energy in those shouts seemed to make even the ground shake. Yaa's eyes glimmered as she looked at the group of vigoro