Chapter 69
Aurora exited Crawford Manor and saw a taxi slowly approaching
As the taxi got onto the main road, the driver spoke up. “Are you going to Bradley Mountain Today is Saturday, and traffic at Blue Overpass can be backed up until the afternoon. Can we take another route?”
The taxi driver was familiar with the streets of Mereida and knew when traffic would be heavy.
“That’s fine,” Aurora replied, taking out her headphones and starting to listen to music.
After leaving the winding mountain road, the taxi driver turned the steering wheel and entered a less populared alley.
Aurora looked up at the view outside the window as the scenery pushed past. She propped her head up with one hand, and her gaze drifted. In her previous life, she had lived in Merrida for ten years and had accompanied many clients to Bradley Mountain for outings, never imagining that Victoria would go missing there.
Jaxon had never mentioned this either.
Aurora thought. If only I hadn’t focused so much on pleasing Stacy and Maura back then. Maybe..
Just as she was pondering, an unremarkable small door appeared before her. She straightened up and told the driver. “Stop here. I’ll go in from there.”
The driver complied and parked. As Aurora got out, he left her with a parting remark. “Have a good day!” before hurrying off to pick up the next passenger.
Aurora smiled back.
The small door was located near a restaurant, its upper wall blackened by the chimney smoke, while the lower part was adorned with some chalk drawings.
Aurora went into the restaurant to buy milk, which she paired with the bread she had brought, eating as she walked
Passing through the small door, she found herself on a quiet street lined with huge sycamore trees. It was early summer, and the lush branches blocked all sunlight, casting the street into a dim shade.
Various cars were parked along the street, and occasionally, passing vehicles zoomed by. As Aurora walked on the wooden- planked sidewalk, she was the only pedestrian on the road.
Just as she turned a corner, she encountered two anxious–looking men, one of whom was carrying a leather suitcase. “Excuse me, miss, how do we get to Bradley Mountain?”
Aurora took off her headphones, treating the two men as ordinary passersby who were asking for directions. She raised her hand and pointed forward, saying, “Go along the right road, cross that street, and keep going straight. Then, you will see a slope, Climb over it, cross the road, and you’ll be there.”
“That sounds a bit complicated.” John Weber wiped the sweat from his forehead and repeated Aurora’s directions. “Go right, cross a street, keep going straight, climb a slope.
Aurora nodded.
Thank you!” John smiled and said to the man beside him. “Mr. Whitaker, let’s go.”
Dexter sighed with relief, unscrewed his water bottle, and took a sip. Now that he knew the way, he felt lighthearted and smiled at Aurora, saying, “Thanks a lot, young lady. We hadn’t seen anyone on this road, and we were getting more and more lost. We almost gave it up.”
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Sunrise Pharmaceuticals, which had a supply contract with Whisker Group’s hospital, had changed ownership. He came from Jydratica to Mereida ostensibly to terminate the contract, but in reality, it was to meet someone named Holt Brook in Bradley Mountain. He wanted to find out about his aunt Victoria whereabouts.
His subordinates had tracked down the last place Victoria disappeared to, which was in Bradley Mountain. The gambler named Holt was likely one of the participants.
Dexter learned that Holt frequented various underground casinos, often losing everything he had. Yet, this same person had managed to buy a house in downtown Mereida outright over a decade ago.
The account used to transfer money to Holt was suspicious. His subordinates traced it and found that the account was overseas and had already been closed.
Thus, Dexter used the reason for terminating the contract with Sunrise Pharmaceuticals to come to Mereida.
Aurora smiled and nodded, watching as the two men walked away with quick strides. She put her headphones back on to continue listening to music. Although she was also heading to Bradley Mountain, she had no interest in accompanying two strange men.
Even though they were dressed elegantly and looked handsome exuding an air of elite sophistication, that could still be their facade..
The sun was blazing on the opposite side of the road, and early risers who had gone to exercise on Bradley Mountain began to make their way home one after another.
Aurora walked leisurely, arriving at Bradley Mountain just before noon. She left the paved path built for tourists and came to a relatively open, flat area.
“Is this the place?” She raised her phone, took a picture of the scenery, and sent it to Lizzie Law Firm. She confirmed this location after checking the topographic map of Bradley Mountain.
This area was shaded and located only about three hundred feet from a road at the foot of the mountain.
Aurora heard that the road had existed even before Bradley Mountain was developed. It was the necessary route for nearby residents to travel up and down the mountain. Later, a wider, smoother asphalt road was built, and this road became neglected because fewer people used it.
But over a decade ago, that road was the only way down the mountain
Aurora thought for a long while but still felt that Victoria couldn’t have abandoned her. It was very likely that someone had taken her away.
This place was convenient for transportation yet sparsely populated, so if Aurora were a criminal, she would likely choose this spot, too.
On the other end of the line, the staff member from Lizzie Law Firm spoke helplessly. “Ms. Crawford, Bradley Mountain 15 quite large, and given that this happened over ten years ago, we could only find that Ms. Whitaker had been in Bradley Mountain, but we can’t help with anything else.”
Aurora realized that her request was indeed difficult for them. The information they found came through their boss‘ connections by checking police records from over a decade ago
And the police also found this place after receiving Jaxon’s call. Using standard methods, they would never have been able to
uncover this information.
Tunderstand.” Aurora replied, looking down as she hung up the phone, feeling somewhat disheartened. The only lead she had was severed, and she genuinely didn’t know what to do next
She sat down on the ground, stretching her long legs casually, and looked up at the blue sky segmented into small patches.
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by the leaves, momentarily indecisive.
After some time, Aurora felt a sharp itch and pain in her leg.
Looking down, she saw a mosquito perched on her leg, sucking her blood.
When she watched the crimson stain on her palm, Aurora’s gaze focused on the flattened mosquito corpse. It reminded her of the time in her previous life when she jumped off the hotel rooftop, breaking every bone and becoming a bloody mess
She thought. If Mom knew, she would definitely hate to see me this upset.
With an expressionless face, Aurora took out a tissue to wipe the blood off her hand and patted her face to pull herself together.
Having been given a second chance at life, I shouldn’t be defeated by such minor setbacks. Since I managed to take revenge
up and on Stacy and Maura, who tormented me, I should also be able to find my mother. With that thought, she stood prepared to leave.
Just as she turned around, Aurora heard a familiar ringtone behind her. She checked her phone. It wasn’t lit up, so it belonged to someone else. She thought, “But there isn’t a soul here. Where is that ringtone coming from?”
