Chapter 194
Carter went pale. “Say that again?”
The voice on the line sharpened. “Sean fell in the lake-they’ve rushed him to the hospital!”
Back at the amusement park, Sharon’s good mood had been completely ruined by Carter’s call.
Matty looked up at her and spoke gently, “Sharon, since Theo is missing, maybe we should help look for him. Even if we stayed here, we probably wouldn’t enjoy ourselves.”
Sharon’s eyes flickered faintly, like a candle flame in a draft.
Matty added, “Theo and I go to the same kindergarten. We’re good friends. If something really happened to him… I’d be really
sad too.”
Sharon glanced at him, her expression hard to read.
From what she’d heard, Theo had been bullying Matty at school. She’d already been called in by the teachers twice to mediate between them.
But even so, Matty still called Theo a friend-still wanted to help.
That kind of understanding… was quietly heartbreaking.
Then Xavier spoke up too. “We should go help look for him. No matter what, Theo is still your son. Even if another kid from the kindergarten went missing, and we knew about it, we’d help search.”
He looked like someone who didn’t take much seriously, but there was a softness in his tone that said otherwise.
Maybe it took someone like Xavier to raise a child like Matty-well-mannered, kind, perceptive.
Sharon paused for a moment, then nodded.
They had just started heading toward the park’s exit when Matty suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed in a daze on something in the distance.
Sharon noticed and lowered her head slightly. “What is it, Matty?”
Matty blinked and came back to himself. “N-nothing… Dad, Sharon, I just need to use the restroom.”
Sharon asked, “Want me to go with you?”
“No, it’s okay!” Matty quickly said. “I can go by myself.”
He was always independent like that. Things like this didn’t usually require parental supervision.
Sharon nodded. “Alright. If anything happens, call me.”
Not long after Matty walked off, Sharon’s phone rang again.
She glanced at the screen.
Carter.
Her brows furrowed, and she declined the call without hesitation.
There was a time when just seeing his name on her phone would’ve made her heart race.
1/2
Now, all she felt was irritated.
Barely a second later, the phone lit up again. Same caller. Carter was relentless.
Xavier took one look at the screen and seemed to understand.
“You should answer,” he said. “Theo’s missing-he’s probably panicking.”
Sharon gave a small nod.
But it wasn’t that she cared about Carter’s panic. She just knew that if she didn’t answer, he’d keep calling
After telling Xavier she’d be right back, she stepped aside and found a quiet spot before finally picking up
“If Theo’s missing, go find him. Can you please stop bothering me?”
Carter’s voice was low and sharp. “You’re at the amusement park. Theo is also at the amusement park. And you still insist he’s not with you?”
Sharon let out a bitter laugh. “So what? I’m here, he’s here, and that automatically means we’re together? There are hundreds of people here. Why not say he’s with someone else?”
Carter shot back, “Then tell me why are you there? And why is he there too?”
22
