CHAPTER 446: CHAPTER 446: IS YOUR HOUSE A FUN PLACE?

Daniel was speechless by her answer. He fell silent when he remembered the bruises on his own face.

The two of them went to the beach, played in the woods, caught crabs, and picked seaweed. Before long, Daniel had forgotten all the unhappy things earlier. It became one of the few happy memories in his short six years of life.

In the end, Charles and the bodyguards found them behind the reefs. The sight of the men scared the little girl, and she instinctively moved away from Daniel.

Daniel walked over to her and said, "You can come home with me."

She tilted her head and asked, "Is your house a fun place?"

"No," the boy replied honestly.

The little girl pouted. "Then I don’t want to go to your house. Are you leaving?"

When Daniel nodded, she quickly lifted the Polaroid camera from her chest and ran a short distance away. She snapped a photo, waited for it to develop, gently shook it, then handed it to him.

"I took a picture of the stone behind us. If you miss me, come here and find me," she said, blinking her bright, gem-like eyes.

Daniel nodded and said, "I’ll visit you every year."

But when his grandfather found out about his near-accident, he scolded his uncle harshly and never allowed Daniel to go to unfamiliar places alone again.

Later, as he grew older, Daniel mistakenly thought Kate was the one who saved him back then and completely forgot about the little girl who had stayed with him all day on the beach. He did not even know if she ever found Little Flower.

His expression suddenly changed. He had already investigated and learned that Kate was not his savior. The real person who saved him was Chantelle.

Knowing that Chantelle had been staring at the old photo in a daze, Daniel finally realized. Did that mean the one who saved him both times he almost died... was Chantelle?

Daniel felt a sudden rush of excitement. He immediately dialed Chantelle’s number, but no one answered. Chantelle had been shocked by the photo, and many memories from her childhood slowly returned. However, what she remembered was slightly different from Daniel’s memories.

During the Lantern Festival, Chantelle remembered Ruby taking Kate to see the lanterns. Chantelle also wanted to go, but Ruby threw a pile of dirty clothes at her and made her wash them by hand. She even said that if Chantelle did not wash them properly before they returned, she would not be allowed to sleep in her room that night.

Back then, Chantelle was afraid of them and could only sit quietly in the laundry room washing the clothes. Later, one of the old servants in the house gave her two hundred dollars and told her to go out and enjoy the festival.

Afraid that Ruby and the others would see her, the old servant put a rabbit mask on Chantelle. The girl did not know that Ruby had sent the old servant to lure her out, and then have the human traffickers kidnap her. She was very grateful to the old servant at that time and even said she would bring her something tasty when she came back. Chantelle happily skipped out the door, but she was soon caught by the traffickers and locked up.

Daniel was also locked up with her in an old, broken room. The kidnappers only gave them one bun each day, and they often took their anger out on the children.

Daniel did not like the food because it was dirty. He also took care of Chantelle, who was younger than him, so he often saved half of his bun and gave it to her. The girl was deeply moved. She noticed they always beat Daniel harder than her. Sometimes she ran over and bit their legs, and sometimes she stood in front of him to take the beating herself. But Daniel did not like to talk. He would scold her with a serious expression and tell her not to interfere.

When Chantelle got scared, she would cry loudly. This annoyed the kidnappers, and they would beat them again. After that, Daniel did not dare say anything to her anymore. The two children slowly formed a deep bond because they went through hunger and beatings together.

Later, the kidnappers transferred Daniel and Chantelle onto a truck that looked like one used for transporting live animals. There was steel wire mesh on both sides.

Chantelle and Daniel were placed in a box and hidden among the boxes of instant noodles. When the kidnappers stopped to eat halfway, the girl crawled out of the box first. Then she helped Daniel out as well.

"Should we jump down from here? Do you dare?" Chantelle asked as she wiped the dirt off his small face.

Daniel frowned and said, "You jump first. I can’t make it."

He looked at the width of the steel wire mesh and figured that Chantelle, being small, might be able to crawl through it. But he knew he definitely could not do it.

Chantelle looked at him for a moment, then dragged him to the edge of the truck and said, "You crawl out first. I’ll kick your butt from behind. I can kick you out."

Daniel thought it might work since he had lost a lot of weight during this time. So he followed Chantelle’s words. He struggled and managed to push his head out of the truck, then his upper body. Only his lower body was still stuck. As long as that part got through, he would be able to escape.

"Here we go!" Chantelle whispered. Before Daniel could respond, she gave him a strong kick.

Daniel managed to jump out of the truck with Chantelle’s help. But before she could escape, the vehicle began to move. Daniel looked on anxiously as the girl tried to hold onto the iron bars.

Without thinking, he chased after the truck. But he soon ran out of breath and could only watch helplessly as it disappeared from sight.

Chantelle’s hope faded when she realized she had no chance of escaping. She had overheard the kidnappers saying the Wilson family was searching for them. They were afraid they wouldn’t get the ransom, so they planned to punish the boy first. At that moment, Chantelle felt relieved that Daniel had escaped. Otherwise, his life would have been in danger.