Chapter 183: Chapter 183



“I’m sure Mom was the person who called me,” Samuel said affirmatively.

Boyce looked at Matthew and exchanged a glance with him. Matthew asked, “Can you find out her location?”.

“The call was connected for only a few seconds. I can’t find the exact location, but I can find the region of the number,” Boyce said.

“If I call this number again, can’t we find the exact location?” Samuel couldn’t suppress his excitement at all. All he wanted was to find Mom as soon as possible.

Matthew grabbed his hand, slightly increasing his strength, and pulled the boy into his arms. Samuel wanted to struggle, but Matthew squeezed his shoulders. “If your mommy is free, I’m sure she will contact you. But after you connected the call, she didn’t speak, you heard someone else’s voice. That means she is not free now. If you call her suddenly, what will happen if the bad guy takes her somewhere else?”

Samuel had to admit that his words made sense. If Mom was free, she should contact him. Since she hadn’t called him back, she was probably being watched by the kidnapper.

“What should we do now?” asked Samuel anxiously.

“Trust me. I’m sure we’ll find her. Don’t worry.” Matthew successfully distracted Samuel’s attention. The boy had completely forgotten that he was now sitting on his lap.

Instead, he was still thinking about how to find Mom.

Boyce shot them a silent glance. “I’ll tell the driver the routes.”

According to the landline number, he had found the region. Although it was still a large area, as long as they could get there, they would be closer to where Dolores was hiding, which would be quite helpful in locating her.

“Okay,” Matthew replied casually.

“Will we be able to find Mom?” asked Samuel.

“Of course,” Matthew replied affirmatively.

He firmly believed it.

Surely he would find her!

Boyce went inside. “We’ll stop the cars at the service area. Let’s take the kids out for some fresh air.”

They would be bored if they stayed in the compartment. There was everything they needed in the camper as a home, but they had limited space.

Samuel stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

“Sure.” Boyce held out his hand. “Take my hand.” Samuel was obedient, putting his hand in Boyce’s palm.

“Take care of him,” Matthew said.

There would be too many people in the service area, which would be quite crowded with all kinds of people.

“I know.” Boyce looked at him, wondering why Matthew had become quite feminine after becoming a father.

Boyce believed that, as an adult, he was capable of taking good care of the child.

However, he knew Matthew loved his son very much, so he said no more.

“Let’s go see if we can find a place to rest.”

Boyce took Samuel out of the trailer and Matthew went to the rear compartment to take his daughter.

The little girl was still sleeping, chubby-cheeked. He reached down and picked her up. As soon as he moved her, she woke up. She opened her sleepy eyes and saw Matthew holding her. He called out to her in a soft, sweet tone, “Daddy.”

Her voice almost melted Matthew’s heart. He kissed her on the forehead. “Let’s go downstairs and take a break.”

Hearing that she could get out of the trailer, the little girl perked up. She immediately sobered up. “Can we buy something?” Matthew stroked her little nose and said warmly, “Sure.” The little girl grinned from ear to ear.

Simona’s hair was a little messy. Matthew wanted to brush her hair, but as soon as she moved, the little girl made a pained face. “It hurts!”

Matthew had never done anything like that before.

Hurriedly, he stopped and put down the comb. “I’ve never brushed other people’s hair.”

Simona looked in the mirror and found that her hair was indeed messy, but she didn’t want her father to comb it. She pouted. “Dad, you don’t like me because I’m ugly and that’s why you want to comb my hair?”

Matthew was speechless.

“Of course I don’t. You’re the most beautiful girl in the world. No one can compare to you.” Matthew lifted her up. “Forget it.”

The girl leaned against his shoulder. “I want something to eat.”

Matthew looked at her. Samuel had said she was a heartless eater, which seemed to make sense.

Yet he liked her in that way.

He had seen so many calculating, two-faced, hypocritical people. With such a naive, vivacious girl in his world, he would never think his life was meaningless again.

“Dad, over there. There.” Simona extended her index finger, pointing to the supermarket not far away.

Matthew patiently replied, “Yes, I’ve seen it.”

He felt helpless, but he really liked it that way. As soon as they entered the supermarket, Simona insisted on getting off. She wanted to pick up the food by herself.

It was probably that the supermarket was open in the service area, all things were sold at high prices, so there weren’t as many customers. Matthew set her down and she trotted happily away.

Matthew frowned slightly and followed her. “Slow down.”

“I want this one.” Simona picked up a box of chocolate and held it in her arms. “I also want potato chips, and this one, that one…”. In a few seconds, she couldn’t hold those things anymore. She yelled to Matthew, “Dad, I can’t reach that one.”

The shelf was pretty tall. The snack she wanted was at the top, but it was too short to reach.

Matthew reached behind her. He reached up and easily grabbed the snack his daughter wanted. “I’ll hold it for you.”

“No.” Simona shook her head. She only felt safe if she held them.

“Put this one back. It’s too expensive,” a mother said to her son on the sidewalk across the street.

The boy looked at the bottle of fruit juice, longing for it, but didn’t insist. His mother brought him a bottle of mineral water. “Drink this if you are thirsty.”

The woman gave the mineral water to her son and they went to the checkout counter.

Simona looked at the things in her arms and then at the boy and his mother. She lifted her head and looked at Matthew, “Dad, did I take too much stuff, is it too expensive, do we have to spend a lot of money?”

Matthew squatted down in front of his daughter. He reached out and moved the short hair in front of her forehead to the back of her ear. She replied softly, “Not at all. I will strive to earn a lot more money, so you can buy whatever you want.”

“Daddy, I love you.” Simona leaned over and kissed Matthew on the cheek. “Can I have that bottle of juice, please?”

Matthew was still stunned by his daughter’s kiss. He reached up to caress her cheek, where his saliva lingered.

He didn’t feel it as dirty, but as his daughter’s love for him. He was delighted, got up and brought the bottle of juice to her.

Simona took the juice and trotted to the checkout counter. She handed it to the boy. “This is for you.”

“We don’t want it,” the boy’s mother said awkwardly.

“My father will pay for it for you.” Simona continued to hold out her hand stubbornly. She opened her big, bright eyes, looking at the boy. The boy was a little thin. He was wearing a black striped hoodie, not a famous band. It wasn’t a new sweatshirt, but it was clean enough.

The boy looked at her and didn’t reach out for her hand. Although this girl’s hair was a bit messy, he could tell she must be from a wealthy family.

Looking into her naive and innocent eyes, he knew that they had protected her quite well growing up.

Only those who had never been tortured by life, didn’t know how hard life could be and had no idea how evil the human mind could be, could have a pair of eyes as clear as crystal.

He said kindly, “No, but thank you.”

“But don’t you want it?” Simona blinked.

“I do want it, but I must trust myself.” After finishing her words, she tugged on her mother’s hand. “Mom, come on.”

The woman paid for the mineral water and took the child away.

Simona stood motionless, looking quizzically at the figure of the boy walking away.

She wondered if she had done something wrong.

Had she made a mistake?

Since Simona was rejected, she began to doubt whether she had done something wrong.

She wondered again and again to herself.

Matthew picked her up and rubbed her hair. He comforted her, “Simona, are you feeling sad?”

Simona nodded. “I realize you did want it, that’s why I wanted to give it to you, why did you say no?”

Matthew looked out the window, saw the mother and her son standing in front of a bus, squinting. He could see that the child was very proud and had his dignity. He could foresee that the boy would become a capable man after he grew up.

“Simona, in this world, not every kindness can be treasured or accepted.” She knew that her daughter had done it out of kindness. She felt sympathetic to the child because she could not get what she wanted.

However, in the boy’s eyes, her kindness had turned into pity.

Therefore, the boy was not willing to be pitied.

Matthew gently stroked his daughter’s forehead. “Your mother has protected you very well.”

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