I Fell for the Man Who Ruined Me, Then He Forgot He Ever Loved Me Back novel Chapter 21

The Vaughn family estate.

Outside, the glaring sunlight filtered through the century-old carved windows, casting mottled shadows across the pristine white floor.

The sprawling living room was dead silent, despite the rare occasion of the entire Vaughn family gathering under one roof.

Yesterday had been Madeline Vaughn's birthday. Jorrod Vaughn, who was usually disciplined and strictly adhered to the rules, was surprisingly absent. His phone was unreachable, and he didn't reply to any texts. The family was frantic. The Patriarch, who spearheaded the search, hadn't slept a wink all night, adding a few more silver threads to his already frosted hair.

"Still haven't found him?" Theodore Vaughn tapped his purple sandalwood cane against the leather sofa, then lightly struck the floor twice. "A grown man has been missing for an entire night, and none of you even care to look for him?"

Madeline glanced at her brother and father, pressing her lips together as her fingers nervously traced her translucent jade bracelet. "Dad, your discipline is suffocating. I'm the birthday girl, and I haven't even complained. Besides, Jorrod is a grown man in his twenties. Can't he have his own life? It's only been a day of no contact, and you're already panicking..."

The Patriarch glared fiercely.

One day might not seem like much.

But to miss an event like this and be completely unreachable meant something had happened.

He knew his grandson best. Although Jorrod had grown more independent and less controllable with age—causing Theodore quite a bit of grief over the years—he also knew that Jorrod never slacked off on important matters. He would never vanish without a word.

"Dad, please don't get angry. We've already sent people to look for him. We only found out that Jorrod's car took a back road before losing its trail."

The speaker was the Patriarch's second son, Theron Vaughn.

He patted his father's slightly trembling shoulder, offering a few words of comfort. "Jorrod's sudden disappearance makes us just as anxious as you. It's only been a day. Maybe he just forgot about Madeline's birthday and his phone died."

The Patriarch slowly turned his gaze to his solemnly dressed son.

Madeline quickly chimed in, "Exactly, Dad. Jorrod is our nephew. How could we not care?"

Theron added, "Also, I found out that Jorrod recently had some friction with the Woods family. I discreetly looked into it, but since we can't let news of his disappearance leak out, I only asked some probing questions. I didn't find anything unusual."

"Friction?" the Patriarch asked.

"Yes," Theron hesitated. "It seems he had some business conflicts with the Woods family's son. So, Jorrod... he targeted the father and had someone tear down the Woods family's century-old factory. Thousands of workers lost their jobs because of it."

"I had to pull strings to suppress the news."

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