CHAPTER 447: CHAPTER 447: THE OLD PHOTO

The truck traveled the entire night. When the kidnappers discovered Daniel was missing the next morning, they threatened Chantelle and demanded to know where he had gone. The girl bit her lip and refused to speak. One of the men raised a leather belt, and Chantelle closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain.

After what felt like a long time, she opened her eyes. All the kidnappers were on the ground, groaning in pain with their bodies covered in bruises. A beautiful woman stood among them, holding a whip like a warrior. She stepped on one of the kidnappers’ chests and shouted, "How dare you hurt my people? Are you tired of living?"

"Please spare our lives! We’re sorry!" the kidnappers begged. But the woman did not show mercy and kicked them again. Chantelle could almost hear one of the men’s ribs crack.

"Are you afraid of me?" The beautiful woman kicked the kidnappers aside and looked proudly at Chantelle. The girl shook her head. Before she could say anything, the sound of police sirens came from behind. Her savior quickly got into her sports car and drove away. From then on, Chantelle always wondered if she had dreamed it. It felt like a goddess had appeared to save her.

The police rescued Chantelle and brought her back to the Bently family. She saw the boy who had been with her on television. His grandfather was holding him and crying in distress.

In contrast, when Chantelle returned home, Ruby mocked her, and Kate forced her to do extra housework. Roman did not even know Chantelle had been kidnapped. He accused her of being too playful and running away from home for several days.

A few months later, Ruby used the excuse of taking Chantelle and Kate to a resort to leave Chantelle alone in that seaside village. Fortunately, an old lady who lived by the sea found her and took care of her like a granddaughter for nearly half a year.

One day, Chantelle met Daniel again. She saw Nathan, who always bullied her in the village, digging a hole on the beach and burying something. She thought he had buried her dog, Little Flower. After they left, she went to dig up the hole. To her surprise, she found a little boy buried in the sand. He did not recognize her, even though Chantelle immediately knew he was the boy she had saved from the kidnappers. Feeling annoyed, she pretended not to know him as well.

The two of them played at the beach all day. After Daniel’s family came to take him away, she saw two people standing on a reef nearby, a man and a woman. They were ethereal, like fairies.

Chantelle, still confused, walked up to them and asked, "Are you two immortals?"

The woman smiled and said, "We are your parents."

"No, you aren’t." The light in Chantelle’s eyes faded. She lowered her head and kicked the sand with her toes.

"We came to take you home. Will you come with us?" The woman’s voice trembled.

The man beside her gently wrapped his arm around her waist, trying to stop her from continuing. Chantelle just stared at her in confusion. She did not understand what the woman meant. When she heard villagers calling her name and saying her grandmother had fainted, she stopped paying attention to the couple and ran home.

When she arrived, she saw Roman, Ruby, and Kate standing in front of the old, broken house. The old woman lay unconscious on the ground.

"Grandma!" Chantelle rushed forward to help her. Before she could touch the old woman, Roman grabbed her arm and shouted sternly, "She’s a human trafficker, not your grandmother!"

"You’re lying! She’s my grandma, not a human trafficker! You’re all bad people! Why don’t you just die?!" Chantelle, who had always been timid, glared at Roman like a fierce wolf cub and shouted at him.

Roman was furious with her words. He slapped her hard and dragged her away from the village without any explanation.

When Chantelle grew older, she went back to that village. But it had become a tourist spot and looked completely different. After her grandmother passed away, she didn’t even know if someone had buried her properly.

Thinking about the past made Chantelle feel heavy inside. But what was lost was lost, and she did not want to keep thinking about it. The photo she saw in Simon’s office earlier had also captured the couple she once thought were immortals. She had always believed she had imagined them. But seeing that photo confirmed they were real. Unfortunately, Simon’s photo was only a copy, and their faces were not clear.

Just then, Daniel, who had been calling her nonstop, called her again. It was his tenth call. Chantelle took a deep breath to calm herself and answered.

"The little girl by the sea, is that you?" Daniel asked. His voice carried excitement, even though she had ignored all his calls earlier.

Chantelle replied calmly, "Yes. Can you give me the original copy of that photo?"

"Sure. I’ll give you anything you want." Daniel was happy to hear her confirmation.

"So, when can I get it?" Chantelle asked.

"Wait for me to come back." When Daniel heard the urgency and impatience in her voice, his excitement quickly disappeared. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he felt she would not tell him.

"Okay." Chantelle had just remembered the story of the couple and was anxious to confirm who they were. After talking to Daniel, her excitement gradually faded.

Since there was nothing more to say, Chantelle was about to hang up. But Daniel was unwilling to end the call so quickly. "Aren’t you going to ask me when I’ll be back?"

"I assume you wouldn’t casually tell others your schedule."

Chantelle acted as if she didn’t notice the displeasure in Daniel’s tone.

Slightly annoyed, Daniel burst out, "But you’re not just anyone. You’re my wife."

Chantelle let out a cold snort. "Soon to be ex-wife."

"Are you jealous? With your intelligence, you shouldn’t be jealous of her. But if you are, I’m still very happy about it."

"Mr. Wilson, you’re overthinking it. Six years ago, I stopped being childish. I stopped getting jealous."

Chantelle said the words sharply, hoping he would end the call soon.

But Daniel would not let the chance slip away. She had been distant from him for a long time. If she answered one out of ten calls, he was already lucky.

If this continued, Philip’s warning that his wife would leave him might really come true.