Single Mom's Sweet Husband (Charlotte)
Chapter 438

"She wants you to be happy." Freddie looked at Shane with a solemn expression and continued, "Perhaps I don't understand your world. But I'm sure that you, as a twelve-year-old, have the same wishes as my eight-year-old self. I don't wish for you to live a meaningless life. Do you really want to live a life where everyone is constantly afraid of you?"

"That's none of your business." Shane frowned.

He did not care what anyone had to say about his life choices. He was a stubborn man, and decided that no one had the right to judge him, let alone an eight-year-old child who knew nothing about life. "Then what about Sheryl? Does it not involve her as well? I know that when she was growing up, all she ever wanted was a father."

"Did you learn to spout such nonsense from Nathan?"

"No, I'm aware that his thoughts on the matter are similar to yours." Freddie lowered his head and continued, "But I don't want to become whatever he's planning for me. I want to sing and play the guitar. Eventually, I want to perform on stage. I have endured this long for this greater dream of mine. But you on the other hand, I know you don't have a dream anymore."

"Reality will hit you when you least expect it."

"You've been brought down by reality, haven't you?"

"Money is more important. It can buy you anything."

"But it can't buy my happiness."

The conversation ended badly. Freddie did not know what point he was trying to get across before, but he felt angry and regretful after the encounter. He sulked the entire way back to the villa.

He didn't really want to concern himself over Shane's well-being, but when he saw how worried Sheryl looked, he couldn't help himself. If he had a daughter in the future who felt the same way about him, he would definitely feel upset.

Freddie returned to his room looking rather glum. He stared at his computer on the table in a daze.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked as he gently ruffled his hair. "What're you looking at?"

"Dad, why is Shane so odd?"

"He wouldn't be Shane if he wasn't."

"His life before sounds really unhappy. But when he was playing the piano just now, I saw a spark of life in his eyes. It's all gone now."

This made Nathan realise that Shane must have already regained his memories but was keeping it a secret from everyone. He had no idea why Shane told Freddie though.

"Why do I get the feeling that you' re more concerned about him than he is?" Nathan mumbled.

"Well, that's because he's my future father-in-law," Freddie replied with a note of discontent.

"The keyword being 'future', right?" Nathan reminded his son.

His father had a good point.

Since they were technically not related at the moment, he had no right to concern himself with Shane's dilemma. Freddie rubbed his forehead in frustration and said, "Well, never mind then. I guess I can't do much anyway. I'll leave him be."

This eight-year-old child looked quite cute when he did that.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

Just as Nathan was about to speak, someone knocked on their door.

He got up to open it.

At the door, Charlotte handed a fruit tray to him. "This is for the children. Also, is Olive in here?"

"She should be with Sheryl at the moment. She doesn't particularly like spending time with my son," said Nathan as he took the fruit tray from her. "Thank you for this."

"It's all right. I'll go look for her somewhere else. If you need anything to eat, just call me."

"Alright. Thank you for everything."

Charlotte nodded her head and left.

She had no idea where Olive was.

Meanwhile, Nathan took out his mobile phone and called Sheryl. Soon enough, Sheryl picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Sheryl. Are you with Olive right now? Your mother is looking for her."

"No, I'm not. She told me that she wanted to go play on the swings in the garden this afternoon," she answered in a low tone.

"What happened after that?"

"After that... I don't know..."

Where else would Olive go?

Nathan felt that something was off about this situation.

Meanwhile, Charlotte and Avery were busy searching the premises for the child, but their attempts were futile. As Olive did not bring her phone with her, they could not track her whereabouts on the GPS. They had already checked all the places Olive usually frequented, but to no avail. As such, burning with anxiety, Avery rushed to the local police station and requested to look at the surveillance footage around the area. However, there was no evidence suggesting that Olive had left the neighbourhood.

The surveillance footage at the police station was very clear. Every car that passed by in the residential area was captured on video. As such, it was impossible for Olive to be taken away without them noticing. "Don't worry, she might still be in the neighborhood. Maybe we can look for her again." Charlotte gently patted Avery's shoulder and continued, "We must've missed some areas."

"Where else could she be? Shane and Rick already have people check everywhere else. Moreover, she isn't even ten years old yet! How is she able to hide from so many people? If this really is her doing, I've got to give it to her, she's talented. Hopefully, this will give the bodyguards a wake-up call."

Charlotte sighed. "Children can burrow into all sorts of places. They're creative like that. It's hard to guess where she could be hiding at the moment." "Let's look around for her again." "Alright."

Charlotte accompanied Avery on the search, but unsurprisingly, Olive was nowhere in sight. Avery was about to go crazy with worry. Even though he had not interacted with Olive for long, he was very emotionally invested in her wellbeing.

Charlotte could tell that Avery was getting more and more anxious. Worried that he was going to break down, she hurriedly gave Irena a call. Fortunately, Irena replied and told her that she would come to them as soon as possible.

Soon enough, Irena arrived at the villa and walked up to Avery's side. She gently held Avery's hand and said, "Avery, don't worry. Olive is a very independent child, remember? Even if she's in danger, she will definitely figure out a way to reach out to you."

"I'm just worried that she accidentally slipped and fell into a hole somewhere. She might be crying out for help right now, and we're nowhere close to replaceing her." Avery became more anxious after he heard what Irena had said.

"I heard from Olive that she likes to frequent places with water. There's a bunch of hills behind the villa, right? I remember there's a large lake. But since an accident had occurred, no one ever goes there anymore. Have you searched for her there?"

"No, I haven't." Avery shook his head and continued, "There are surveillance cameras there though, so..."

"Well then, I know a secret passage that will get us there. I will lead the way."

"Irena, that must've been really difficult to replace. How did you know about this?" Charlotte asked, curiosity colouring her tone.

"When I was younger, I had classes here. I was playing around with a few friends when I came across this passage. I followed along it out of curiosity and realised that it led to the hills outback. If we climb over the hills, we'll be able to see a lake."

A look of realisation dawned on everyone's face.

Charlotte nodded and looked as if she was deep in thought.

The three of them hurried to the lake and as expected, came across a sleeping Olive.

Olive had covered herself with a small blanket, which she had taken out with her from the villa. She laid a picnic cloth under her, and some food and water in a basket could be seen nearby.

At the moment, she was lying on the pillow with an eye mask on.

"See, I told you not to worry. Look at how good she is at taking care of herself." Irena breathed a sigh

of relief.

She knew Avery very well. She knew that if anything happened to Olive, Avery would definitely go crazy. Fortunately, Olive was safe and sound.

Avery looked at Olive, who was lying on her pillow peacefully, and took a deep breath. "Thank goodness she's alright. Okay, I'm going to stay here and wait for her to wake up, you guys can..." "We'll accompany you," interjected Charlotte.

Irena nodded in agreement.

The three of them waited for about half an hour before Olive finally woke up.

When she got up, she groggily registered the people around her and murmured in surprise, "You guys..."

"Olive, did you know how worried Avery was?" Charlotte reached out her arms and hugged the little girl as she asked, "Why didn't you leave a note to inform us that you were coming here? Why didn't you bring your phone?"

"I just wanted to get some fresh air. I was going to just take a short nap before heading back. I didn't think I would sleep for so long... I'm sorry." Olive lowered her head in embarrassment.

"I'm glad that you're alright." Avery went forward and began to pick out the leaves in her hair as he asked, "Why did you come to the lake alone?"

Olive shook her head and remained silent.

All of a sudden, Charlotte asked with concern, "Were Sheryl and Seven bullying you?"