75Ballard knew that Martha was Tim's soft spot, but also Tim's entire world.
He said hurriedly, "Someone has seen your mother at the harbor area, but she doesn't seem to be
alone. There are a man and a woman beside her. The woman is not very tall, dark-skinned."
Ballard tried his best to tell Tim the clues.
Maia's face immediately flashed upon Tim's mind.
It couldn't be her!
Absolutely not!
"Are there any surveillance cameras there?"
"Yes, but the footage is blurry. And because it's so blurry, we can't identify the person. I've called the
police and the police have begun to investigate it. Don't worry. I will definitely find your mother back."
Tim didn't respond, as if he didn't hear Ballard's words at all. He just said coldly, "Show me the
surveillance video."
Seeing Tim's icy response, Ballard felt sad in his heart, but he still had people handed over the
surveillance video to Tim quickly.
Tim opened the video to have a look. He froze when he saw Maia's figure in the video. His face
immediately clouded over.
"You know this woman?"
Ballard could tell that from Tim's expression and asked hurriedly.
Tim didn't say anything, but he copied the video and then turned around to leave.
"Hey, what does he mean? He has pulled me by my collar and threatened me after he came back. Now
he just leaves here without saying a word. What does he take me for?"
While Mrs. Louis was shouting, Ballard shot her an angry glance.
"Shut up! Don't you know the situation is serious now?"
"Serious? It wasn't me who took Martha away. Why are you all so angry at me?"
Mrs. Louis still wanted to continue, but suddenly something was thrown towards her. It scared her so
much that she screamed and squatted down.
At the same time, Tim slammed the door.
Mrs. Louis shivered as she looked at the hanger beside her which was still spinning.
"Ballard, your son is trying to kill me."
"If you don't want to die, you'd better shut your mouth."
Ballard was very upset.
After leaving there, Tim went straight to Samuel's place.
When Samuel saw Tim, he whispered, "Keep your voice down. Nicole just lay down."
"Did Trevin contact you?"
Tim cut to the chase and asked about Trevin's whereabouts. Samuel was shocked as he heard that.
"No. Why are you looking for him?"
"My mother was taken away by Maia."
As soon as Tim said that, Samuel knitted his eyebrows.
"Are you sure?"
"See for yourself."
Tim sent the surveillance video to Samuel.
Samuel was surprised when he saw Maia in the video.
Although the surveillance-camera footage wasn't very clear, anyone who was well acquainted with
Maia could recognize her.
"I'll try asking around for you."
Samuel immediately used his network to have others checked Maia's whereabouts.
The look on Tim's was sullen.
Originally, it was just a relationship problem between two people, but now the situation had been
aggravated so greatly.
Samuel did not know what Tim was thinking. He had someone made a cup of tea for Tim.
"I think there is more to it. If Maia only approaches you because of your mother, have you ever told her
about the sanatorium where your mother is in?"
"No."
Tim frowned again.
"I just couldn't expect that after she went missing, she has come to the Seapolis City to see my mother.
What exactly do they want from my mother? My mother is sick and weak. She'd better take good care
of my mother, or I'm never going to forgive her."
Tim's clasped his hands tightly together.
"Let's talk about that after we find Maia."
While they were waiting for news, Nicole got up.
When she came out and saw Tim's gloomy expression, she couldn't help but feel surprised.
Samuel drew her aside to tell her everything he had heard.
"How could that be Maia?"
"I don't know, but this is obviously a big shock to Tim. Go to buy some food. Let's invite him for supper
tonight."
Nicole was stunned when she heard Samuel's words.
"Why are you so generous today?"
"He is already disappointed in love, so I will be generous to him just this once."
Samuel made a joke.
Nicole glared at him and then went to change her clothes. When she went past Tim, she said, "Stay
here for supper tonight. I'll go to buy some food now. Samuel will cook later."
"Did I say I am going to cook?"
"You didn't?"
Samuel immediately shut his mouth as Nicole asked him rhetorically.
Looking at the two lovebirds, Tim said dejectedly, "I've already lost my love. Can you two stop being
lovey-dovey in front of me?"
"Sorry, I'm too used to it."
Samuel's words were a heavy blow to Tim.
Tim glared at him and said, "I want to have something cooked by Nicole."
"Get out of here."
"Nicole, I want your cooking to comfort my poor little soul."
Totally ignoring Samuel, Tim turned to look at Nicole and said pitifully.
"Alright, alright. I'll cook. Wait here with Samuel for a while."
All Nicole could do was to shake her head and comfort Samuel with the expression in her eyes.
"Don't be so stingy, okay? It's just one meal. You have a lifetime to enjoy your wife's cooking."
Tim said gloomily.
Sitting opposite to Tim, Samuel said, "I always hate to make her cook, but you begin to ask her to cook
just after coming here for a while. It's so warm today. What if she gets sunstroke from the oil fume?"
"Stop! Stop it! I'll cook. Let me cook, okay?"
"If I let you cook, I'm afraid we'll have to get insurance first. I'll ask the housekeeper to cook later."
Nicole was saved by just a few words from Samuel.
Tim almost didn't want to stay there for another second, but where could he go if he left the Green's?
Nicole drove to the supermarket to buy some ingredients. When she was leaving the supermarket, she
ran into Jason at the entrance.
"Jason? Why are you here?"
After Nicole returned to the Seapolis City, she had not gone back to the Don’s yet. She didn't know how
to face the Dons to be exact.
Jason looked at Nicole, noticing that she might have lost some weight.
"Your mother has sent you a letter, but I can't find you. I saw you shopping in the supermarket by
yourself just now, so I was waiting for you here."
Jason gave Audrey's letter to Nicole.
Nicole was stupefied for a moment.
Too many things had happened recently, so much so that she didn't know how to face Audrey. And as
Nicole recalled the situation when Audrey left, she was somewhat at a loss for what to do.
"What? Don't you miss your mother?"
"It's not like that. I just don't know how I should face her."
There was really a lack of communication between Nicole and Audrey.
Although they were mother and daughter, it was always difficult for Nicole to handle the unfamiliarity
and distant relationship with her mother.
"What about just a letter telling her you are okay? Do you have time for that? Come home for a meal.
Mark is very busy, leaving me alone at the Don’s all the time. I'm so lonely there. You can take Samuel
and the children along. The Don family is still your parents' home whatever happens."
Nicole nodded as she was listening to Jason's words.
"I'll go back home next time. Today Tim is going to have supper with us at our place."
"Tim? What happened? I heard that people in the Louis family are all looking for someone recently,
aren't they?"
Hearing Jason's question, Nicole smiled and said, "I'm not quite sure. That is the Louis family's privacy
and it has nothing to do with me. I only know he comes to talk to Samuel, and he is going to have
supper with us tonight."
Seeing that Nicole didn't want to talk more about it, Jason didn't ask any further questions.
He could sense that Nicole was keeping a distance from him and wasn't feeling so at ease with him.
"Alright. Come back home next time."
"Sure!"
Nicole didn't know what else to say to Jason, so she simply nodded.
To avoid making Nicole embarrassed, Jason left quickly, but the expression on his face was somewhat
lonely.
Still perplexed by how to handle her relationship with the Don family, Nicole could only pack up her
things and went back to the Green's.
When Samuel saw the worried look on Nicole's face after she went back, he asked hurriedly, "What's
wrong? Did you run into any trouble on your way home?"
"No. It's just that I met Jason just now and he asked me to take the children back when I have time."
Nicole did not hide anything from Samuel.
Samuel knew the conflict between Nicole and the Don family. He whispered, "If you find it difficult to
deal with them, just ignore them. After all, this is your own life. The most important thing for you is to be
happy."
"Actually, it's not about whether I'm happy or not. I just feel that I owe them something. After all, Mrs.
Green lost her life because of me. Now they're asking me to go back, but I really don't know how to
face them."
That was what had always troubled Nicole.
Of course, Samuel knew her worry, so he whispered, "Do you need me to apologize to the Dons?"
"No. That has nothing to do with you. It was Monica who did it, not you."
Nicole directly rejected Samuel's suggestion.
Tim had gone to the balcony to smoke. When he came back, he saw Nicole standing there with her
head bowed. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? You didn't find anything delicious?"
"All you care about is to eat."
Samuel rolled his eyes at him and said to Nicole, "Go take a shower. We'll have supper later."
"Alright. You stay with Tim."
Now Nicole did not have the mood to comfort Tim at all.
Tim was still curious.
"What happened? Who upset her?"
"It's none of your business. Tim, you should also send your people to look for your mother. After all, this
is your own problem, right?"
Samuel looked at Tim with disdain.
Tim flung himself on the sofa.
"My father has sent out all the people that the Louis family can use. This is the first time I've ever seen
him worry so much about my mother. Isn't that ironic? He has never gone to see my mother after she
became crazy many years ago. Now he had a sudden impulse to visit her, and then he immediately
exposed where she is. Sometimes I feel that some people are spying on my mother and me in the
dark. I don't know when they will jump out and hurt us. After my mother went missing, at first, I thought
my father is behind it, but I could never expect that it is Maia who is involved. How ironic is it!"
"Alright. We haven't figured out the whole thing. Let's talk about that after we get more information."
Samuel tried to comfort Tim.
Suddenly, Nicole's sharp cry came from upstairs.
"Nicole?"
Samuel pushed Tim away and ran towards the bedroom.
Feeling unhappy to be left behind, Tim paused for a second and then immediately followed Samuel.
Nicole was not a girl who always made a fuss. Why did she scream all of a sudden? What exactly had
happened?
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