Wrong Marriage and Sweet Love

In the morning hours, Cecelia rushed over with her military special forces.

Upon reaching the island, Luther was already waiting for her at the shore.

As Cecelia disembarked, she quickly inquired, “You mentioned over the phone that Joyce disappeared out of thin air. What exactly happened?”

Luther briefly recounted the events of last night and the search process from then until now.

A look of disbelief crept onto Cecelia’s face. “Disappearing without a trace on an island with no means of transportation. This is absolutely impossible. There must be some undisclosed issue that we have overlooked. I have requested a professional detection team and equipment. I will have them conduct a thorough search immediately.”

“I will have someone escort Anderson back. He stayed up all night with me and needs rest. After all, he is just a child, and we cannot let him worry too much,” Luther said wearily, rubbing his temples.

Standing beside them, Kane added, “Anderson blames himself because he mentioned the lack of spices, prompting Joyce to go retrieve some. Little did he know that Joyce would disappear on her way to get them. He is devastated. He cried, something I rarely ever saw him do. I can’t console him, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Furthermore, I’ve reviewed the surveillance footage countless times. Apart from blind spots, there was genuinely no anomaly. It’s also my fault; I dismantled some defenses too early in certain areas, leaving gaps in coverage. Now, we can’t pinpoint where the problem occurred,” Kane also blamed himself.

“Don’t blame yourselves,” Cecelia interjected. “We all thought the target would be the child. Our focus was primarily on protecting the children. Additionally, we believed the aim of the other party was to disrupt the wedding. The wedding has ended successfully, who would have thought that something would still happen? No one could have predicted this.”

Inserting his slender fingers into his hair, Luther lamented, “We have been wrong from the beginning. The target was always Joyce alone. The wedding was never their concern. They waited until the wedding was over, attacking us when our guard was at its weakest. It was my carelessness! Blame me, even if I had been more cautious, I still made a mistake.”

“Enough with the self-blame. Even if the wedding hadn’t taken place, in a vast place like Khebury, could we avoid leaving the house forever? They would always find an opportunity to strike. Let’s stop blaming ourselves; what we urgently need to do is to uncover how the other party managed to abduct Joyce,” Cecelia maintained her composure, offering advice to both sides. “I will have someone escort Anderson back first. He’s the older brother and needs to process his emotions alone to not affect his sister and younger siblings. He will understand.”

“Alright,” Luther nodded.

“I now suspect that Elsa was merely a decoy. They deployed Elsa as a pawn to distract us, concealing their actual target. Steering our focus towards finding the mole and tracking Elsa deceived us, diverting attention from other areas. After Elsa was captured, we all let our guard down! Damn it! We were vigilant but still fell for it in the end!” Luther stomped his foot in frustration. “Unfortunately, it’s too late to do anything now.”NôvelDrama.Org content.

“Before coming here, I requested backup from the Capital’s military headquarters. Experts are on their way, and a helicopter should arrive in about two hours,” Cecelia glanced at her watch. “Before that, let’s recap the entire incident, considering what we might have overlooked from start to finish.”

“Alright,” Luther nodded.

After safely seeing off Anderson, Luther, Kane, Cecelia, and others remained on South Island.

In less than two hours, Luther received a call confirming Anderson’s safe return home.

He spoke with Anderson over the phone; his son’s emotions had stabilized. “Anderson, as the older brother, please refrain from telling your sister and others about Mom’s situation for now, understand?”

“I know. Dad, don’t worry about me. Go find Mom quickly,” Anderson replied, his voice steadier, sniffing.

“Oh, Dad, remember Mom’s phone has a location tracker. Even though it’s off now, keep an eye out, and once it’s turned on, you can trace her location. Remind Uncle Kane to set up an automatic tracking system,” Anderson advised. “Dad, please bring Mom back soon. I believe you can do it.”

“Rest assured. Get some sleep now. You haven’t slept all night. Call me if anything happens at home,” Luther instructed. “Follow Uncle Aaron’s arrangements, Grandma will return soon to take care of you.”

“Okay. Goodbye.”

After Anderson hung up, Luther felt even more stifled.

For the sake of the children, he needed to remain calm, even calmer.

The other party had invested so much effort; they definitely didn’t intend to harm Joyce. For now, Joyce was safe.

He kept reassuring himself.

A moment later, the reinforcements requested by Cecelia arrived on South Island: a large helicopter, carrying over a dozen specialized detection personnel with a variety of equipment.

After the experts had gathered, Luther, Cecelia, and the team held a brief meeting.

One of the experts, Professor Stevens, brought an exploration map of South Island’s topography.

“I suppose many of you are unaware, but centuries ago, South Island was known for its iron ore deposits. Once the mining depleted, it fell into obscurity. In recent years, it has been developed as a tourist resort,” Professor Stevens explained to the group.

“How does this relate to finding the young miss?” Luther inquired.

“It may have some relevance. A person cannot vanish into thin air. Unable to find anything on the surface, we must consider the possibility of underground structures we are unaware of,” Professor Stevens suggested.

“Are you suggesting there might be secret tunnels underground, previously used for mining?” Cecelia asked.

“Not only that, but South Island also holds a history unknown to many for several centuries.” At this point, an archaeologist from the team stood up.

“What history? Why have I never heard of it?” Luther, a native of Khebury’s South Island, always thought of it as an ordinary isle.

“This history is one of shame, hence why historians deliberately erased it. In truth, South Island was under the rule of Rohomes for an extended period several hundred years ago.” The archaeologist continued, “There has been a theory circulating in the archaeological community, suggesting that this place was a warlord stronghold for Rohomes.”

“Rohomes ruled South Island? A warlord stronghold?” Luther was taken aback.

In the end, all signs pointed to Rohomes!