The Ending She Read (And the One He Rewrote) novel Chapter 19

Just as she thought the nanny was about to frame her and dump all the blame on her head.

The nanny finally spoke, "Mr. Whitaker, this has nothing to do with her!"

"After she left with Archer this morning, Old Mrs. Whitaker called wanting to see Seraphina, so I took her back to Whitaker Manor."

"Before she left, she promised Seraphina they would get KFC for dinner. When we left the manor, it was already past three. I figured instead of waiting for them to come back, we might as well head straight to the KFC near the amusement park. I made the decision on my own. It's all my fault!"

She had even texted Harriet from KFC, saying they were there.

Harriet had replied with an "okay."

But when she came out of the restroom, Seraphina was gone.

They had searched a hundred-meter radius around the restaurant.

Even checking the trash cans in the alleys.

But she was nowhere to be found.

The nanny was on the verge of tears.

Harriet calmed down. "Did you check inside the KFC?"

The nanny froze.

Harriet took off running.

The rest of the group rushed after her.

Pushing open the doors of the restaurant a hundred meters away, she instantly spotted Seraphina sitting obediently in a chair, playing a game of Jenga with her French fries.

She let out a massive breath of relief.

As if sensing them, Seraphina looked up, immediately beaming. "Mom! ...Archer! Oh, Dad, you're here too!"

"Wow, today is such a great day!"

She clapped her hands in absolute joy.

With trembling legs, the nanny led Archer to wash his hands.

Jason had the staff pull up the security footage.

The nanny had gone to the restroom. Seraphina knocked over her fries.

The little girl was crouched under the table, diligently picking them up.

The nanny walked out, lost her mind in sheer panic, and bolted out the door to start searching.

The classic blind spot.

Jason: ...

Thankfully, it was just a false alarm.

"Lana, didn't you go to the restroom? Why did you come in from outside?"

"I..."

The question caught the nanny completely off guard.

Harriet seamlessly jumped in. "I didn't know which KFC you were in, so Lana went to the door to wait for us. ...Were you scared when you didn't see her?"

Feeling a sudden rush below, Harriet stood up. "I'm going to the restroom."

When she came back out, the large table was empty.

Like a magic trick, the whole group had just vanished without waiting for her?

Annoyed, she turned to leave, but then paused, crouched down, and peered under the table.

When she stood back up, she saw them through the brightly lit glass window. The adults and the two kids lined up in a row, all looking at her and laughing.

Even Jason's icy expression had softened.

The others, even the little ice block Archer, had teasing grins plastered across their faces.

It was as if they were saying: *She's so dumb, it's reassuring!*

The 'dumb' woman pushed the doors open, pointing her finger in the air furiously. "You heartless jerks!!!"

The grins on the 'jerks' only widened.

"Mom, I called you, didn't you hear me?"

"It was Archer who walked away first."

She knew it was Archer playing tricks on her.

Harriet whipped around, throwing her hands up at him like claws. "Roar!"

Her menacing shadow loomed over him.