Chapter 241: A Human Trader?
"That’s true."
Janice put the photograph away. "Let’s not talk about this for now. I bought some ingredients. earlier Let’s eat at home tonight."
They had been indulging a bit too much in restaurant food lately.
Christopher stepped forward and said, "I’ll cook."
He picked up the things and walked toward the kitchen before her.
Janice did not refuse. She also wanted to eat what he cooked.
The next day, Janice went to work.
Christopher sent her downstairs to the magazine office and said, "Don’t tire yourself out. We’re a team, remember?"
Janice nodded. "Don’t worry about it. I know what I’m doing."
She opened the door and got out of the car, waved at him, and walked in.
Christopher sat in the car and didn’t drive away until she disappeared.
When he arrived at the company, Rob had already arrived.
"Mr. Bateman, the people arranged at the airport and train station yesterday didn’t find him."
"What about the hotel? Have you checked?"
Rob said, "I did, but no sign of him."
Christopher frowned and thought, "Where else could they go?"
"Expand the scope to find. Go to the suburbs."
"Yes, Sir."
Rob then left.
Christopher leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes coldly. "Joey, no matter where you plan to hide, I will find you."
In a countryside bus, Joey sat with Anna in his arms.
The mountain road was very bumpy, and Anna kept crying in his arms. "Uncle, I want to go home."
When Joey saw the tears on her face, his heart ached.
"Good girl. We’ll be there soon. Hold on."
"No, I don’t want to be here. I want Mom."
Anna cried louder and louder, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the passengers around them.
Someone questioned, "Are you really her family member? That child is crying all the time."
Joey quickly explained, "I’m her uncle."
"Then why is she looking for her mother? Are you a human trader?"
"Are you really her uncle?"
The surrounding passengers began to question him.
The more he wanted to explain, the louder her crying became. For a moment, he was in a hurry and didn’t know what to say.
In the magazine office, after finishing the work at hand, Janice picked up her mobile phone and looked through it. She remembered that she had added Joey’s WhatsApp before, so she briefly clicked his account to see if there were any clues. However, she found nothing.
She hesitantly opened the chat box and sent him a message. "How’s Anna doing lately?"
After she sent the message and saw that there was no reply, she put her phone aside.
At this time, in the police station...
"I’m really not a human trader. Please believe me."
"Your words are useless. Bring out the evidence."
Joey sat there and faced the interrogation of the police. He was anxious to defend himself.
But no matter how he tried to explain, the police refused to believe him. Anna kept crying and saying nothing.
Joey didn’t know what to do.
He came out in a hurry before, so he only took his ID card and a few clothes, and nothing else. He didn’t know how to prove himself.
He glanced at Anna who was crying not far away and said, "Can I make a call?" The policeman nodded in agreement.
Only then did he hurriedly call Sophie, thinking that she could come over and clear things up. But despite his best efforts, she never picked up the phone.
He turned anxious.
Given Anna’s physical condition, she would fall into shock if she continued to cry.
<What should I do? Besides Sophie, there is no one that could testify for me.>
Just as he was anxious, his phone buzzed. He had received a message.
...
Joey opened it. When he saw the message, he suddenly thought of something and quickly sent a message back.
An hour later, Janice took a cab to the police station in the suburbs.
"Sir, this is my ID card, my reporter card, and employee’s card. I can prove that he is not a human trader."
Janice handed the cards over one by one.
After the police verified that what she said was true, they asked her to sign and leave.
After leaving the police station, Joey thanked her, "Thank you for coming over."
Janice casually replied, "It’s not a big deal." Her gaze fell on the luggage bag in his hand. <Christopher has told me that Joey has left with the child. He must be going to hide somewhere.>
She paused for a moment and asked, "Where are you going?"
Joey was a little nervous and did not answer her question.
Janice didn’t press him. She squatted down and asked, "Anna, do you still remember me?"
Anna nodded and extended her hand. "Give me a hug."
Janice hugged her, then glanced at the time. It was time for lunch.
She paused, stood up and said to Joey, "It’s past 1 a.m. Anna is hungry. Why don’t we find a place to eat first?"
Joey was about to refuse, but Anna agreed first.
Joey had no choice but to agree.
Janice brought the two of them to a nearby hamburger store.
"Anna, do you want to eat a burger?" Janice said as she looked at the menu.
Anna seemed to be interested, but before she could agree, Joey said, "Thank you. But Anna can’t eat this. Give her some seafood porridge."
Janice was confused for a moment, but she did not probe.
There’s a small amusement park in the hamburger store. Anna went there to play.
Joey sat there and watched her play.
Janice recalled what happened three years ago told by Christopher.
In fact, she disliked Joey because he did not dare to admit what he had done. Janice thought he did not have a sense of responsibility.
But when she saw how meticulous he was with Anna, she felt that there might be something she didn’t know.
She asked subconsciously, "Well, I have a question. Are you and Anna..."
Joey did not speak.
Janice immediately explained, "I don’t mean anything else. I’m just curious."
He paused for a while and said, "I raised her myself. Although we aren’t relatives in name, I have always treated her as my own daughter."
He said as he raised his cup to hide his emotions.
Knowing that he wasn’t speaking the truth, Janice did not expose him and continued, "What about her parents?"
This time, Joey lowered his head in silence.
Janice did not insist and only said, "Actually, a child may have no sense of security without her parents by her side. Perhaps you might view her as your own child, but to a child, no one can replace the parents. What do you think?"
He listened silently, but didn’t respond.
Janice didn’t mind.
It didn’t take long for Anna to return. Joey held her in his arms, feeding her water and wiping sweat. He was careful and skilled. It could be seen that he was right; this child had been brought up by him all the time.
However, Janice didn’t understand why he didn’t dare to admit that he was the father of Anna.
...
Seeing his meticulous care and concern for Anna, Janice knew that he genuinely loved that child.
Janice thought, "Maybe it’s Sophie influence?"
She couldn’t help recalling what Christopher had said about three years ago.
Actually, she’d looked down on Joey because he didn’t shoulder any responsibility.
Such actions were truly contemptible.
Therefore, Janice came here to help him out for her own curiosity.
But when she saw his meticulous care for the girl under his care, she changed her mind.
"Perhaps there are some reasons that I don’t know." Janice thought.
"Auntie, why are you in a trance?" Anna’s voice suddenly interrupted her thought.
She came back to her senses and replied with a smile, "I was just thinking about how cute you are!"
After they finished eating, the three of them left the fast food restaurant together.
Anna was dozing on Joey’s shoulder.
Janice looked around and said, "Anna is tired. Would you like to take her to the hotel in front to rest for a while? We can leave after she wakes up."
Joey looked at Anna, who was sleeping soundly in his arms. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "No. We’d better press on."
Janice didn’t insist. "Then I’ll send you to the station. You have to carry the child. It’s not convenient."
As she spoke, she took the luggage from his hand and walked to the nearby station.
Joey paused for a moment and followed up.
When they arrived at the station, Janice handed the luggage to Joey and said, "Well, then I’ll get going. Remember to send me message when you arrive."
"Okay, thank you," Joey said gratefully.
Janice waved her hand and left.
Joey stood there and didn’t leave until she got into the taxi.
However, he didn’t know that the taxi returned later.
Janice got off and followed him into the station.
It was time to check in. She hid in the corner and watched him get on a bus.
She quickly took a photo and sent it to Rob. Then she left.
After returning to the downtown, she immediately went to find Christopher.
When she was eating lunch with the two, she secretly managed to get a sample of Anna’s saliva.
With it, Christopher could do a paternity test.
After Christopher knew that she had gone to see Joey, he couldn’t help but say angrily, "Why didn’t you tell me and ran away alone? What if there was danger?"
Janice did not think so much about it. At that time, she just wanted to prolong his stay.
She said, "What kind of danger could there be? He doesn’t even know who I am. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked me for help."
Christopher frowned. "Anyway, you’d better be careful. If such thing happens again, leave it to me."
"Have you thought about why Joey fled? Because he didn’t want to be discovered by you guys. I think you’d better not act rashly and alert him. I’ve already sent his destination to Rob, and I’m pretty sure that he’s already following them. As for you, you should do a paternity test as soon as possible. That way, Sophie’s lies will collapse on themselves."
"You’re so thoughtful." Christopher chuckled and scratched her nose.
Janice’s expression was filled with pride.
She thought in her heart, "I can finally prove myself."
That afternoon, Janice accompanied Christopher to the paternity test.
The result would take three days to come out.
As for Joey, they decided not to alert him before the results came out.
Christopher just ordered Rob to send someone to keep an eye on him.
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