SWNOVELS Chapter 21
Chapter 21
She clicked on the email, revealing its contents. [Help me find someone, Cynthia Yates, female, from Nexuria, here’s her picture. Find all the information you can about her, and name your price.]
Cynthia glanced at the sender’s email address, an account she had frequently interacted with a few years ago. They had both been knowledgeable and shared similar goals, which led to a period of mutual assistance. However, they eventually lost touch.
However, why would this person want to investigate her?
She quickly typed a response. [Did she do something to you?]
Joshua received it as soon as the message was sent. He had assumed that after several years without contact, she might not even use the account anymore, so he was prepared for his message to go unanswered. However, to his surprise, she responded almost instantly.
Reading her reply, he sat in the back seat of a car, fingers tapping on the keyboard. “No, I’m helping a friend. I can’t say more. Can you find any information?”
Cynthia looked at his latest response and furrowed her brow in contemplation. In the next moment, as if she had realized something, she opened the photo Joshua had sent. She noticed that the background appeared to be the living room of a luxurious villa. She replied, [Is your friend Joshua?]
She rarely investigated people’s backgrounds, even those she was in contact with, like the person she was messaging now. She primarily used her technical skills to gather evidence. However, now…
Was it Joshua looking into her? Or someone close to him?
“Cynthia?” Jimmy waved a hand in front of her face. “Cynthia!”
Cynthia shifted her gaze from the phone screen and looked at him indifferently. “What’s up?” “What were you thinking about?” Jimmy stopped the car at a traffic light, his curiosity piqued. “You were staring at your screen for a long time.”
“Nothing.” Cynthia locked her phone screen and put it in her pocket, ignoring any further messages in her inbox.
“Before you got off the plane, my sister sent me a message saying that the surgery went well for Shirley, and she’s already resting in her ward.” Jimmy continued driving as the light turned green. “She wanted me to tell you not to worry too much.”
Cynthia responded, “Alright.”
However, she could not help feeling worried. Shirley had always been the apple of her eye, the kind of child who would cry in pain over a minor scrape. Now, she had a broken bone and at head injury, and Cynthia could not imagine how much pain the poor girl was in.
At six thirty in the afternoon, Jimmy dropped her off at the hospital, informed her of Shirley’s ward number, and then went to park the car.
Cynthia entered the third inpatient ward and made her way to the sixth floor. The closer she got to Shirley’s ward, the more anxious she became. Her palms were damp with sweat when
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Chapter 23
she finally reached the door.
She looked inside through the window of the ward. A cute, well–behaved girl lay in bed with her eyes closed as if asleep. Beside her bed sat her worried, deadbeat father, Mr. Yates. He was already in his fifties, but his handsome face looked more like that of a man in his thirties or forties.
Sensing Cynthia’s gaze, Mr. Yates looked up, and their eyes met through the observation. window.
In that instant…
Both of their hearts experienced a slight disturbance as Mr. Yates‘ gaze seemed to be glued to Cynthia, unable to look away.
“Cyn…” Cynthia, unable to express her emotions, composed herself and opened the door to the hospital room. She was still wearing the casual black suit and white T–shirt she had worn to the divorce proceedings, giving her a cold and aloof appearance.
She closed the door behind her.
“Cyn.” Mr. Yates‘ voice choked with emotion as memories surged uncontrollably in his mind.
“How is Shirley?” Cynthia asked, not addressing him as she approached the bed to look at the girl who was sleeping deeply.
Mr. Yates suppressed his emotions and answered her question. “She should be fine. Her wounds have been treated, but we’ll have to wait until she’s recovered to do more tests.”
Cynthia nodded in response, and the room returned to silence.
Mr. Yates‘ gaze rested on her, noticing she had lost weight.
“You…” Mr. Yates hesitated.
“I’ll be here at the hospital. You should go home,” Cynthia interrupted, her tone cold.
Mr. Yates did not speak. He wanted to ask her how she had been these past two years, but he knew that Cyn would not discuss such things with him. After carefully considering his words, he asked, “You and Joshua…‘
“We’re getting a divorce,” Cynthia said as she sat down beside the bed, her gaze fixed on Shirley.
Understanding that Cynthia did not want to talk much with him, Mr. Yates exchanged a few more words of concern before finally leaving the room.
As he was leaving, he ran into Jimmy.
“Mr. Yates?”
“Cyn must have rushed back without eating lunch.” Mr. Yates said, glancing back at the room before adding, “Make sure she eats something later.”
“Alright,” Jimmy agreed, knowing that Cynthia and Mr. Yates did not have a great
relationship. He said nothing more.
After Mr. Yates left, Jimmy entered the room and playfully said, “Cynthia, guess who I saw when I came back from parking the car?”
Chapter 21
Cynthia shot him a look, clearly warning him not to disturb Shirley’s rest.
“The man on your marriage certificate,” Jimmy whispered.
Cynthia raised her eyebrows slightly, a glimmer of doubt in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. He was even brought here in a Neal Group business car from the Nexuria branch. Do you think he knew you were here and came to see Shirley on purpose?” Jimmy provided the details, his tone laced with his joy for gossip.
Cynthia remained silent, mentally retracing her steps from boarding the plane to parting ways with Joshua, certain she had not revealed her location.
“It’s impossible.”
“Why not?” Jimmy continued quietly, careful not to disturb Shirley’s rest.
Cynthia spoke concisely, “He doesn’t know I’m here, and he doesn’t know I’m Shirley’s sister.
”
Jimmy was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I never told him my true identity,” Cynthia informed him calmly.
“That doesn’t mean he couldn’t find out. Whether in Jiverton or Nexuria, he has a wide network of connections. As soon as the name Joshua comes up, many people would be willing to help him,” Jimmy argued, knowing Joshua well.
Cynthia looked at him.
Jimmy, as if realizing something, stared at her wide–eyed. “Did you hide your own information from him?”