She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 873

Stepping out of Loyce's hospital room, the smile faded from Hank's face.

He walked down the corridor and answered an incoming call.

Ever since Giselle's drastic disappearance into the ocean, it was Loyce's reassurance that kept Hank convinced she was still alive out there somewhere in the world.

Countless days and nights had passed, yet the agonizing ache of missing her never dulled. He had relentlessly deployed teams across the globe, searching for her like a madman.

Seasons changed, but there was never any news.

Having just scoured another entire country, the voice on the other end delivered the usual disappointment. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lonsdale. We still haven't found any trace of Ms. Turner. She doesn't appear to be in Meridian Country. Shall we move the search to the next location?"

Searching this way was worse than finding a needle in a haystack; the odds were practically zero.

Hank fell silent for a long time, watching a stray autumn leaf blow across the pavement outside the window. Finally, he spoke, his voice heavy. "Call it off."

The man on the line seemed to sigh in relief. "Understood."

But barely a minute after hanging up, Hank fired off a text message.

[Never mind. Keep looking.]

He simply couldn't let it go. The regret and the desperate need to see her hadn't faded with time; they had only deepened into a bone-deep agony.

He shouldn't have hidden his feelings.

He loved her.

Now, he was an untouchable titan, a man whose decisions shaped empires, yet he had lost the only woman who mattered.

Still having business to handle in Mexistar, Hank stood outside the hospital for a moment before getting into his car.

It was a holiday weekend, and the massive entertainment complex near the hospital made the traffic a nightmare. Sitting in the backseat, Hank stared blankly at the crawling line of cars through the window, lost in thought.

The car abruptly stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change.

The autumn breeze was gentle, sending leaves dancing through the air.

Hank shifted his gaze to the pedestrians crossing the street. A short distance away, a woman in a soft, elegant outfit walked past the front of his car, pushing a stroller. A man walked closely beside her. Every so often, she would turn her head, offering the man a warm smile as they chatted, while the beautiful little girl in the stroller waved her chubby arms.

It was a painfully idyllic picture of a happy family.

But when the woman turned her head slightly, Hank froze. His eyes locked onto her face, his heart seizing in his chest.

A few seconds later, the light turned green, and the flow of traffic obscured that painfully familiar silhouette.

"Pull over," Hank forced the words through gritted teeth.

His bodyguard had also spotted the woman Hank had been obsessively hunting for. He violently whipped the steering wheel, aggressively swerving the car toward the curb and slamming on the brakes.

The car behind them nearly rear-ended them. The furious driver rolled down his window, ready to scream, but the second Hank stepped out of the vehicle and shot him a lethal, terrifying glare, the man snapped his mouth shut.

Hank strode toward the sidewalk while his bodyguard tossed a thick stack of cash into the nearly-crashed car. "Apology fee."

It was a cool five thousand dollars; the driver's scowl instantly morphed into a beaming grin.

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