Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

Carl stood frozen, struggling to find the right words to satisfy his father. Just as he hesitated, one of the men guarding him stepped forward, holding out a phone. "Young Master, it's the Master calling."

Carl's pupils contracted, his breath catching as he swallowed hard. His hand trembled as he picked up the vibrating phone. The moment he pressed the answer button, Trevor's furious roar blasted through the receiver.

"You idiot! What have you done?!"

"I-I just wanted to bring Tina back! Dad, I..." Carl stammered, his voice faltering. At over thirty years old, he could not remember the last time he'd felt such overwhelming fear. His words tumbled out, shaky and unconvincing, his confidence stripped away.

"For a woman? Just for a woman?!" Trevor's heavy breathing rasped loudly over the phone. In the background, a woman's soft voice could be heard trying to calm him. The sharp sound of porcelain shattering suddenly pierced through the line followed by a long pause. Nearly five minutes passed before Trevor's gritted voice spat venomously, "Carl, are you out of your mind?! She's a nobody! Why would you concern yourself with her?! Get back here this instant and see the mess you've caused! How could I have raised someone as useless as you?!"

Carl's heart sank. "Dad, what happened?! What did she do?!"

"What did she do?!" Trevor sneered coldly. "Your mother's grave was desecrated! That's what happened!"

Carl felt as though ice had replaced his blood. His entire body froze.

"Let me tell you something, Carl!" Trevor's voice thundered, each word sharper than the last. "You'd better pray your mother's ashes are recovered. If not, don't even think about stepping foot in this house again!" Carl was numb with shock. Find them? How was he supposed to find them?!

The sound of the white porcelain urn shattering echoed vividly in his mind. He had watched it smash into countless fragments, the ashes inside mingling with the dust and dirt. At the time, he'd felt a fleeting, twisted sense of satisfaction. But now, thinking about his mother's ashes scattered across the ground, his chest ached as though someone had driven a knife into it. He couldn't even tell which part of the debris had been hers-yet in his rage, he had stomped on every white speck he saw.

And now? Where could he possibly begin to search? Was he supposed to scoop up the broken shards of the urn and present them to Trevor?

Carl staggered, his vision blurring as he swayed on his feet. Trevor's furious voice faded in and out, but one line stuck like a dagger in his chest: *"I'll find someone else to take your place as heir."*

That line jolted Carl back to reality. "What's the point of blaming me?!" he shouted, desperation creeping into his voice. "Tina's the one who stole it! Dad, instead of yelling at me, you should take people to the Brookes family and confront her!" Even as he said it, Carl knew they wouldn't be able to recover anything from Tina. He swallowed hard, choosing to hide the full truth. His feet felt rooted to the ground, and his hands trembled uncontrollably at his sides. "Dad, I was just worried Victor might be deceived by Tina, so I followed him. I never thought she'd go this far-so extreme!"

"You little bastard! Do I need you to teach me how to handle things?!" Trevor bellowed.

Another sharp crash sounded through the phone, followed by a woman's gentle voice. "What are you doing? Talk it out calmly. You've almost smashed every vase in this room!"

Carl couldn't stop himself from shuddering. He pictured himself standing in front of Trevor, the next vase aimed directly at his head. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but Trevor cut him off with a cold sneer.

"I'm starting to think your mother must have left your brain behind when she gave birth to you! How else could I have raised such a useless fool?! All you ever do is embarrass me! Do you want me to die from the shame?!"

Trevor continued his tirade, his fury unrelenting. While Ian wasn't necessarily stronger than Trevor, his cunning and persistence made him a dangerous enemy. Now wasn't the time to provoke the Brookes family over something as irretrievable as ashes. But the thought of the empty grave in the Langdon family's cemetery made Trevor's heart clench painfully.

Tina. That ruthless, vindictive girl. She had gone beyond revenge-this was open provocation, a blatant challenge to the Langdon family's dignity. Yet, without any solid evidence against her, there was nothing Trevor could do. And it was all because of Carl. If Carl hadn't meddled, none of this would've happened.

Carl stood in silence, unable to form a retort. He knew better than to argue further-Trevor was in no mood to listen. Anything he said now would only make things worse. Deep down, however, Carl placed all the blame on Tina. The next time he crossed paths with her, he vowed, he wouldn't let her off so easily.

By noon, Ella Bailey returned home, her brows raising slightly as she noticed the flurry of activity among the servants. They moved about hurriedly, their nervous energy filling the air. The scene struck her as oddly familiar. The last time she'd witnessed this level of panic was when Luke Gill had been beaten senseless.

Could it be that idiot had gotten himself into trouble again?novelbin

Woods, standing behind her, noticed the faint flicker of amusement in Ella's otherwise calm expression. He blinked in confusion but followed her as she strode toward the main hall.

Before they even reached the hall, Ella spotted a shattered porcelain urn on the desk. Its design looked suspiciously familiar-she remembered brushing past it in the dark the night before. Her eyelid twitched. In an instant, she understood the chaos around her.

So, Victor had spent all morning discovering that someone had stolen their family's ancestral ashes. He was bound to be furious. If he didn't tear the house apart, it would already be considered leniency.

Suppressing a grin, Ella's eyes sparkled mischievously for a brief moment before she quickly composed herself. By the time Kelly noticed her entering the hall, Ella's expression was one of pure innocence.

She stepped forward, her gaze falling on the broken pieces of porcelain. "Oh dear, Dad, what's upset you this time? Did they fail to deliver the formula as promised?"

Victor's cold, piercing eyes swept over her. He didn't respond immediately, instead turning his attention to the butler standing nearby. "Find out who it was. I want to know which one of our people betrayed us!"

"Betrayal? What betrayal?" Ella asked, feigning confusion. Her wide, innocent eyes blinked at him. "Dad, why are you looking at me like that? I didn't have anything to do with this. You're not going to pin the blame on me again, are you?" "Enough!" Victor growled. "When did I say I was blaming you?!"

Kelly, standing nearby, dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, her voice trembling with feigned emotion. "Ella, how can you talk like that? Tina stole Grandma's ashes! She even switched them with Elsa's parents' remains! Aren't you upset? How can you focus on such trivial matters at a time like this?"

She gasped, covering her mouth as if horrified by her own words. Her eyes darted toward Ella, brimming with suspicion. After a long pause, she whispered, "It couldn't be... You're not the one who helped Tina steal them, are you?"