Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
Mirabella caught sight of Clark in the distance, pulling out his phone to send a message. In a moment, her phone buzzed.
[Sis, where are you? Hurry up.] Clark sounded desperate.
“Let’s go, we shouldn’t intrude on them.” Louisa pulled Mirabella away, “Let’s give them some time together.”Mirabella gave a sympathetic look at the distant figures and replied, [Mom and I are going inside.]
Clark was speechless.
“Mind if we exchange digits?”
“Sure.
Mirabella offered her number. Crystal entered it into her contact list then said, “Well, we’d better get going. You guys should get some rest. I’ll stop by again soon.”
“Um, okay.’ Louisa and Kenneth stood up to see them out.
“Bella, Bella!” Clark called quietly from the staircase, waving at Mirabella. “Come up.”
Once she was upstairs, Clark hooked an arm over her shoulder and whispered, “Did Mom ask you to give us some alone time?”
“She didn’t exactly put it that way.’ Mirabella raised her eyes to his, a soft smile on her lips. “You’re not into Crystal?”
“I see her more as a buddy.”
“Does she know that?”
“Are you into that girl who gave you the lucky charm?”
Clark looked surprised. “How did you know?”
“You seemed really attached to that charm. The night you lost it, you looked so anxious, like you lost something really important.”
Yeah, to him, that thing was the last vestige.The final link between him and her.
Perhaps seeing the melancholy in Clark’s eyes, Mirabella couldn’t help but ask, “Where is she now?”
“Gone. A year ago.” Clark walked to the large balcony on the second floor, staring at the distant scenery with a faintly self-mocking tone, “After breaking up with me, she vanished without a trace…
Took everything with her. If not for the charm I had on me, she probably wouldn’t have left anything behind.”
Clark gazed into the distance, his eyes filled with a subtle sorrow.
“Bella, this world is vast. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack to find someone. All you get is disappointment. Over and over.”
Mirabella sensed the sadness in his words. “Did you two have a fight?”
“No.” Clark’s voice was nostalgic. “We never fought. But near the end, she started to drift away.
Eventually, she told me she didn’t have feelings for me anymore, that she was in love with someone else, and asked me to stop looking for her.”
“Did she really find someone else?”
“Probably.” Clark wasn’t sure, but how could she be so heartless if not?
“Does Crystal know about you two?” Mirabella asked again.
“Yeah. She confessed her feelings to me when I was at my lowest, right after she left.”
“And you turned her down?”
“Yeah.” Clark looked off into the distance again. “Crystal’s a good girl, but I’m just not into her. I didn’t want to lead her on.”Mirabella understood now. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Aren’t you one of Astronisia’s top hackers? Couldn’t you find out anything?”
“No, I tried everything. It’s like she never existed. Sometimes, I wonder if everything that happened between us was just a dream.”
Mirabella gazed at Clark’s profile, a sudden wave of sympathy washing over her. “What’s her name?
Maybe I can help.”
Clark looked at Mirabella in surprise, then realized with a jolt that his sister’s hacking skills trumped his own. Maybe she could indeed find her.
“Send me her personal details later,’ Mirabella said, her gaze falling on the road ahead. “If she’s doing well, there’s no need to disturb her. But if she’s in any sort of trouble, you could use this opportunity to clear things up.”
Clark looked at his sister’s profile, finally agreeing, “Alright.”
Serena, lurking in the shadows, was taken aback. She hadn’t realized that Clark had such a deep and haunting past. His family always assumed he was single.
But why had he only told Mirabella.
Never her, his other sister.
Mirabella knew that someone was eavesdropping from the shadows. Serena was the only one who would stoop to such levels, but Mirabella couldn’t be bothered.
After taking a shower, Mirabella received a message from Clark.
[Carol Earwood, 22, a Libra raised in an orphanage, was adopted at the age of 6 by a family and moved to 111 Stardust Lane in the Golden Fields of Summerfield South District. Her adoptive parents were county teachers.]Clark also sent a photo. The woman in the picture had an aloof and indifferent air about her, stunningly beautiful.
“Got it.”
After responding to the message, Mirabella sent one to her subordinate, [Find this person for me as quickly as you can.]
[The fastest speed? Boss, what did this woman do to you? Dig up your ancestor’s graves or owe you a fortune?] her subordinate couldn’t help but respond. [There are many beautiful girls in the world, but I’ve only ever seen two with this kind of aura. One is you, and the other is her. Boss, are you two long-
lost sisters? You both have a similar vibe!]
The woman gave off a sophisticated, distant air, her cool and indifferent gaze impossible to read.
She was like a puzzle.
[Just do it, and stop talking.] Mirabella sent the message and began to blow-dry her hair.
The next morning.
Mirabella planned to visit 111 Stardust Lane.
As she was leaving, she overheard the servants discussing how Clark had sat on the balcony all night, not sleeping. They suspected he was upset.
Mirabella glanced at Clark’s bedroom. The balcony was now empty.
She chose a car from the garage and followed the GPS to Golden Fields. After finding a parking spot, she walked to Stardust Lane.Stardust Lane was a small neighborhood. On the left were fish ponds, in the middle was a small road for pedestrians, and on the right were rows of houses.
Mirabella followed the rusted, faded house numbers, searching from one house to the next.
Many villagers ran businesses from their homes. Some sold fruit, others ran convenience stores, and a few sold vegetables.
Number 110 was a breakfast stall. The owner had set up a small tent at the front, selling piping hot breakfast.
tent at the front, selling piping hot breakfast.
Quite a few people frequented his stall, the tables and chairs even spilling over to the front of number 111.
“Boss, one hot milk, please.” Mirabella approached the stall and noticed that the tables and chairs in front of number 111 were all occupied. She couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, doesn’t this obstruct the neighbors’ entrance?”
“Ah, I can tell you’re new here. You’re not from this village, are you?”
The owner filled a cup with hot milk, giving Mirabella a once-over.
There wasn’t a girl this pretty in the village.
“I’m here to find a classmate, and it’s my first time visiting.”
Seeing Mirabella’s candidness, the shop owner didn’t hold back.
“Next door is Professor Earwood’s place. He and his wife quit their jobs to look for their daughter.
They’ve been gone for a couple of months now.”
“Their daughter is missing?”
“She claimed to have found her birth parents a year ago, planning to settle abroad. After that, she lost contact with them. No matter how many calls or messages Mr. and Mrs. Earwood made, they received no reply.”
Mirabella’s eyes deepened.”Professor Earwood said that their daughter was always obedient and sensible. She wouldn’t just leave like that. Supposedly, she found her birth parents, but those birth parents never showed themselves.
Mr. and Mrs. Earwood felt that something must have happened to her, so they decided to quit their jobs and go to Iridia to find out.” The shop owner handed Mirabella a cup of hot milk.
“That’ll be a dime.”
“Iridia is a massive place. Without a detailed address, finding someone is like searching for a needle in a haystack.” Mirabella paid, striking up a casual conversation.
“I heard she was in some place called ‘Lida’. The name was too long, and I didn’t remember it.” The shop owner continued making sandwiches.
“Lidaria.”
“Yes. You educated folks are so clever. That’s the name!”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.