"Who knows what she will do?" The patient next to her said. "You don't take care of her as a mother, so why do we have to look after your child?!"
The doctor following behind Sylvia was stunned upon hearing their argument. He walked into the ward and picked up Leila's medical records from the table beside the bed. The doctor read it briefly, muttering in a low voice, "Stop arguing and see if the clothes are still here. Maybe the kid went for a little walk outside. Why are you so loud?"
Sylvia planned to go out and find Leila. She walked to the door before remembering that her bag was still in the ward. Sylvia then rushed back to the bedside and reached out her hand to grab her bag. But she only found empty air. At that instant, her expression turned stiff.
Her bag was gone!
****
That night, after they returned to the Lakeside Villa, Lilia immediately went to the house next door to find Mellisa. She wanted to share the information she had learned from Sylvia with her sister as soon as possible. Now that she had found a clear clue, the next step was to find out the root cause of Lilia and Leila's swapping.
As soon as Jean confirmed that Lilia had safely arrived at Mellisa and Leonard's house, the man walked into his study. The man was seen wearing light gray pajamas as he sat behind the boss' table. He lit a cigarette then his eyes narrowed slightly.
After a while, he picked up the cell phone on the table and called someone.
The content of the conversation was very simple, he only said a few words.
"Destroy the Pangestu Family."
At the same time, he wrote his order to the Widjaya Family information network via text. He wanted them to thoroughly check all birth records at Diana Hospital that year. Even though it had been 24 years since that incident, he would definitely find some clues about it. Jean planned to continue investigating even if he found minimum leads.
After giving his orders, Jean slowly got up from his chair. He stood up facing the window, his ocean-colored eyes were reflected on the glass like the frozen sea.
His wife should enjoy all the happiness that life had to offer. To Jean, nothing was more important than Lilia's smiling face. His wife should not be belittled or treated like a child nobody wanted.
The corner of Jean's mouth lifted, forming a cold smile. The Pangestu family was really brave. They dared to treat Jean Widjaya's wife this badly. Lilia might not have asked for it, but the man would make the couple regret their foolishness!
*****
After Leila disappeared from the hospital, Sylvia had no choice but to borrow the doctor's cell phone. After all, her cellphone was in the bag that Leila had taken away with her. She called Robert, then ran to the hospital guard's room to check the CCTV cameras.
Robert was very surprised when he heard Sylvia's report. He left the company meeting he was attending and hurried off to the hospital. On the way, Robert tried to call Leila's cell phone, but her daughter had turned it off. The same thing happened to Sylvia's cellphone.
At seven in the evening, Robert arrived at the hospital. He and his wife immediately checked the CCTV camera footage in the guard room.
Ironically, Leila left the hospital carrying Sylvia's bag in her arms. In the footage, she stepped out of the hospital gate, then got into one of the taxis waiting by the curb and drove toward the airport.
Sylvia stared at this scene in confusion, then she tugged at the hem of Robert's shirt. Her expression showed extreme anxiety. "Robert, where did Leila go this late? She's not used to her life here yet, what if something happens to her? We have to find her!" Sylvia urged.
Robert furrowed his brows and glared at Sylvia. He hurriedly thanked the head doctor before grabbing Sylvia's hand and led her out of the security's room. The man then brought his wife to the corner of the dim staircase. Without waiting for Sylvia to press him again, Robert then threw his wife's hand away.
He started scolding Sylvia, "Are you blind? Didn't you see that Leila went alone?!"
The man tried to keep his voice low, but he couldn't hold back his anger any longer.
"You are always like this! Ever since you brought her home, don't you know how much trouble she's caused?!"
Sylvia was stunned by Robert's roar for a few seconds. Then she lifted her chin high and tried to put on a stubborn expression. And yet Sylvia couldn't hide the doubt on her face.
She replied in a sharp voice, "Why are you shouting at me? Aren't you used to Leila being your daughter? Even if Leila causes trouble, it's all because of Lilia! Didn't I tell you to send that child to the orphanage from the start? If only you listened to me, our family wouldn't be messed up like this!"
The two people grumbled about each other with anger and tired faces. They were no longer young, but their family was in chaos. Dealing with such torture drained almost all of their energy.
Sylvia looked away angrily and was secretly shedding tears. Her ankle was sore again because she had walked in a hurry earlier. Her body began to sway and Sylvia was forced to lean against the wall to balance herself.
It was late at night and the couple stood in silence on the stairs near the inpatient ward.
Robert held back his anger, but his eyes were very worried. He rubbed his forehead and stared at his wife's stubborn face. "Okay, there's no point crying right now! Ever since that kid returned from Jakarta, she still hasn't accepted us as her parents. Maybe we just need to give her some time."
Even though Robert knew that what he said couldn't be true, he said it on purpose to comfort Sylvia.
"Let's find a way to find her. I'll call Jimmy to see if he can help find Leila," Robert continued.
Jimmy was his business friend. The man had a wide network scattered in various places. He also had acquaintances at the police station. Asking him for help would definitely be more effective than blindly searching for Leila without a clue.
After hearing this, Sylvia wiped the corner of her eye. She glanced at Robert and left the corridor with somewhat chaotic steps.
That night, the Pangestu Family couple stayed up all night.
Leila couldn't be reached. Even though Jimmy agreed to help Robert, the man never gave him any more news.
*****
The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning, Lilia was awakened by the front doorbell.
Today, Lilia was scheduled to take part in the shooting for a perfume commercial at 3 pm. She talked to Mellisa for a long time last night, and only went to bed around 12 at night.
When Lilia woke up this morning, the bed next to her was empty. She vaguely remembered that Jean woke up quite early and left the room without waking her.
Lilia came down in a silk nightgown and stopped at the kitchen door for a moment. Sister Mei wasn't there, so she warmed up her breakfast which was prepared on the table. But the sound of the doorbell didn't stop. Lilia raised her eyebrows and walked towards the entrance without haste.
As soon as she opened the door, the figure standing in front of her startled her.
"Daniel?"
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