Chapter 1364:
“So fast…” Kylee murmured, her lips curling into a pout.
Before he could reply, she leaned in with another question. “Since we’re both out here for work, why not stay a little longer? Keep me company. You’ve never even watched me on set.”
“We’ll see.” Collin checked his watch and said, “Head back to the set right now and keep filming, and do not make the crew wait.”
There was nothing left for her to say, so she stepped into the car with reluctant grace.
As the business car pulled away, Collin’s attention shifted immediately to Lowell.
“Did you find out where she is?” Collin asked.
Lowell, the one who had been addressed, stilled as though weighing his words. A quiet beat stretched between them before he lowered his gaze and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Riley. We’ve sent out as many people as we could, but… there’s still no trace of her.”
Collin’s brows pulled tight at the report.
He had assumed Lowell had rushed in because he had found the woman, only to learn it was the opposite.
Then again, in a place this sprawling and crowded, with not even her name to go by, it was little wonder Lowell’s search had come up empty.
“Keep looking,” Collin said at last, his tone cool and remote.
“Yes, sir.” A flicker of relief passed over Lowell’s face. He was grateful that Collin’s words carried no blame.
But the reprieve was brief.
“Mr. Riley,” he ventured, “do you intend to stay here?”
Before Collin could answer, his phone trilled sharply.
The screen flashed Roland’s name—his grandmother’s butler.
He answered, only to be met with Roland’s urgent voice. “Mr. Riley, something terrible has happened!”
“What is it?” Collin straightened, a shadow falling over his expression. “Is it about my grandmother?”
“She—” Roland was cut off by Ivy’s harsh coughing.
Ivy took the phone from his grasp and said, her voice weak but insistent, “Let me speak.”
Between coughs, she managed to ask, “Collin, where are you?”
When he told her he was working abroad, she released a weary sigh. “Always work… and so many beautiful girls out there. Haven’t you—”
“Not now,” Collin cut in, urgency edging his voice. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
More coughing. Her voice, thin and breathless, trembled through the speaker.
“If you’ve finished your business, come home quickly… my health is failing.”
That landed like a blow. “I’ll return immediately.”
After a few more hurried words, he ended the call and turned to Lowell. “Book me the fastest flight home.”
“Yes, sir.”
The next morning, in a small fishing village, a salt-tinged breeze drifted through the half-open window.
Gorman stepped inside, carrying a cup of milk.
He was about to call her name when the sight stopped him—Linsey, bent over her bed, methodically packing her things.
The cup slipped from his hands, shattering on the wooden floor with a sharp, echoing crack.
