Chapter 1132

“So soon?” Lina gasped.

Natalie massaged the bridge of her nose. “I don’t have a choice. I want to find Shane as quickly as I
can.”

“What about the kids?” Lina asked.

Natalie handed her the document and responded, “I’ll be taking Connor back. After all, I’ll need his help
when I look for Shane. However, I’ll be leaving Sharon here and asking the housekeeper to take care of
her. As for Anders… Anders can’t leave the incubator for now, so I can’t bring him home. I’ll be asking
the medical team Shane had brought together previously to watch over Anders.”

“Okay.” Lina nodded. “I’ll send this document back to the organizers first. Then, I’ll send you off
tonight.”

Natalie hummed in agreement.

After Lina left, Sharon began crying. “Mommy, are you going to leave me here alone?”

“I’m sorry, Sharon. I have no choice but to do this. I have to find your daddy, and I won’t have the time
to take good care of you. You have the housekeeper to take care of you here, so I’ll feel at ease. I’ll call
you every day, all right? Once I find your daddy, I’ll bring you home right away, okay?” Natalie ruffled
her daughter’s head, trying not to show her distress on her face.

If she had a choice, she would never let her child stay here by herself.

However, she did not. She had to find Shane. If she were to dive into a frantic search for Shane, she
might neglect her child. In that case, it would be better for her to leave Sharon here.



Holding his sister’s hand, Connor chipped in, “Don’t be sad, Sharon. What’s most important right now is
to find Daddy. Don’t you want to find Daddy too?”

“I do! I miss Daddy.” Sharon nodded vigorously.

“Then be good, okay? It’s not that we don’t want you anymore, it’s just that we want to look for Daddy
first. Do you get it?” Connor enunciated, sounding like a tiny adult.

Sharon sniffled before nodding again. “I get it. Mommy, Connor, you have to find Daddy. Then, come
and pick me up, okay?”

“Of course. Don’t worry. I won’t ever forget about you.” Natalie hugged her daughter.

Connor joined in. “I won’t forget about my little sister either. Pinky promise.” Sharon nodded. “Pinky
promise.”

Natalie let go of her daughter. “I’ll do a pinky promise with you too. I swear that once I find your daddy,
I’ll come for you right away.”

After her mother and her brother pinky promised and swore to her, a smile returned to Sharon’s face.

Right then, Natalie’s phone rang.

She retracted her hand to grab the phone by the bedside table. The moment her mind registered the
name on the caller ID, she picked up the call.

Before she could say anything, a loud voice blasted out of the speakers. “Nat, I saw the notice on the
competition’s official website! What’s going on? Why are you quitting the competition? Did you quit out
of your own free will, or did someone set you up?”

“Joyce, calm down first.” Natalie shook her head weakly as she placed a hand on her forehead.



She knew that Joyce was going to call sooner or later.

“No one set me up; I’m quitting the competition by my own accord,” Natalie told her.

Joyce was calm for a second, but in the next, her pitch went high again. “Nat, it can’t be that the notice
is real, right? Did you really give birth to your baby early?”

“Yes, I did,” Natalie muttered.

Instantly, Joyce gasped. Her next words were full of anxious concern. “What’s going on? You were only
pregnant for six months. Why did you suddenly go into labor? Did you fall?”

“No, I didn’t. I was just taken aback by something.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know about the news of Shane’s disappearance yesterday?”

“I know about it.” Joyce nodded to herself. “How could I not know about that shocking piece of news?
But… Wait. Are you going to tell me that the news is true?

A bitter smile crawled onto Natalie’s lips. “Yes. Shane’s missing. The video on the website is something
Connor edited. I asked him to change the audio track so that we can temporarily conceal the fact that
Shane is missing from the public. Otherwise, there will be chaos in Thompson Group.”

“Oh my God, how can this be?” Anxiety thrumming in her veins, Joyce began pacing in her office.
“What happened to Mr. Shane? Why did he go missing?”

“Sean and Jacqueline are back home now. Shane found out where they were, and he went to confront
them. As it turns out, he was heading straight for a trap. Sean planted explosives there. To escape,



Shane jumped into a river. After that, we lost contact with him. We’ve been searching non-stop all these
days, but we found no traces of his whereabouts at all.”


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