Chapter 421
Chapter 421 Ava’s Sudden Disappearance
The day was busy from start to end. Just as I thought the work was winding down, Benjamin said the warehouse inventory was done, and we needed a quick meeting.
I hurried to the small conference room. I needed to get back soon and surprise my daughter.
The morning scene hadn’t faded from my mind. I was sure my daughter felt the same. Let them look, I stubbornly decided. I wanted to see how they felt. After all, Ava was a child of the Murphy family.
But to my surprise, the meeting ended abruptly. Before it was over, I received a frantic call from my mother, sobbing and wailing. She said Ava was missing.
This was a nightmare come true. I didn’t even bother to wrap up the meeting and rushed out. How could an obedient child like her just vanish?
I descended the stairs, and Carol followed. She took the car keys from my hand, hopped in, and we sped out of the underground parking lot.
We made it back to Amethyst Apartments. From a distance,
I saw my mother on her knees, gasping between sobs. I hurried over, “Mom, please don’t cry. How did Ava disappear?”
My dad, his face pale, explained the sequence of events. My mom said that after bringing Ava home, she played happily in the yard.
My mom went inside to prepare lunch. Shortly after, my dad called Ava in, but the gate was open. Ava was nowhere to be found in the yard. Her little shovel and other toys were left behind. They searched high and low, but there was no sign of Ava. Something felt off, so she called me. Typically, our yard was entirely secure, and no unfamiliar faces were around. Ryan had also rushed over.
He comforted us and suggested, “Isn’t there surveillance? Check it!”
Suddenly, I remembered that Atlas had installed surveillance in my yard, but I hadn’t used it in a long time.
With my parents at home and no exceptional circumstances, I never bothered to check the footage.
I urgently located and opened the surveillance footage, scrolled to today’s date, and then searched for the relevant time. One by one, I reviewed the footage.
Finally, I saw the scene where my mother brought Ava home.
As my father had said, she happily played in the yard, running around.
When I scrolled further, I saw a black car suddenly pulled up in front of the gate.
It seemed to pause momentarily, and Ava immediately dropped her shovel and ran toward the gate. She looked so cheerful.
However, as she opened the gate, the car had already started moving inward.
In the video, Ava seemed a bit disappointed. She clutched her little skirt with one hand and held onto the gate’s handle with the other, looking in the direction the black car had gone for a few minutes. Then, I saw her glance back into the house before she ran toward the direction the car had driven.
My eyes widened in shock. I watched it again.
Ryan also noticed this. “Continue to the next clip. It seems like she went to the back.”
I quickly opened the following clip. In it, I could only see Ava’s tiny figure running further inside, gradually disappearing from the frame.
I glanced at Ryan fearfully. He grabbed me and said, “Chlo, don’t worry. Keep watching the video to see if the car left.”
I agreed with his advice and continued watching.
However, there was no trace of Ava.
It was not until 12 minutes after that the car gradually appeared on the screen again. It drove past the front of my house and continued driving away.
There was no sign of Ava anywhere! I felt my whole body go limp. I couldn’t bear to think that it was that car that took Ava away.
I sank into a chair, and Ryan caught me. Carol tried to comfort me, and even my father couldn’t hold back his tears.
Carol turned to Eleanor and Benjamin, who had just arrived. “Let’s look for her! We’ll stop by the houses nearby on our way. Let’s check if anyone else has surveillance footage we can review!” Everyone was eager to head to the nearby houses.
Ryan held me close, patting my back gently. “Chlo, try to stay calm.”
“That car…” I murmured, then quickly grabbed my phone. * That car is suspicious!”
I shakily returned to the earlier footage, rewatching the part with the car.
When I saw the license plate, my world crumbled. I pointed at the screen and told Ryan, “It’s Atlas’s car! I recognize this license plate-it’s his!”