Chapter 1004

Claire said, “Please do not end the call yet. Please rate my service after the beep, press one for very satisfied, press two for satisfied, press three for not satisfied.” Charlie wailed, “One! Very satisfied!” Claire smiled gleefully and said, “Dear, thank you for your rating. This is the end of our conversation, see you again next time.” *** That night, Charlie was tossing and turning, unable to sleep well. Although he had only been upgraded a level, this was the first time he had shared a bed with Claire since their wedding. Despite that, they were actually sleeping within the respective boundary. They used their own pillows and tugged in their own blankets. Of course, Charlie didn’t dare to cross the 38th parallel north between them. Otherwise, he would be extremely devastated if he was demoted one level in an instant! On the other hand, Claire couldn’t fall asleep either. She was very nervous and in jitters. Her heart was thumping so violently it almost jumped out of her ribcage although she and Charlie slept in their own blankets without even touching each other. Well, after all, this was the first time she shared a bed with a man after she slept in a different room from her parents when she was a child. That explained her nervous feelings. They spent a long time trying to fall asleep, their minds running wild with anxiety and confusion, and eventually, they fell asleep one after another. The next morning, when Charlie opened his eyes, Claire was nowhere to be found. He then heard the noises coming from the bathroom which indicated that Claire was taking a shower. Claire cared about her personal hygiene very much. She would take a bath every morning and evening, so Charlie was not surprised at all. He got up and stretched his body. When he was about to get off the bed, his phone under his pillow suddenly buzzed. He retrieved the phone and found that it was a call from Lisa. Her frantic voice resonated into his ear as soon as he answered the call, “Charlie, something has happened at the orphanage!”

Charlie sat upright and asked, “What’s the matter? What happened? Calm down, speak slowly.” Lisa started crying, “Ten children are missing! We suspect that they’ve been kidnapped!” “What?” Charlie was both anxious and angry, he quickly asked, “Lisa, what happened? Tell me specifically, quick!” Lisa said “This morning, when the morning-shift matron in charge of infants and toddlers came to take over the shift from the night-shift matron, she found the night-shift matron unconscious and all ten children in the nursery gone! The matron is at the hospital now and the doctor said that she was given strong anesthetic!” Charlie’s face flushed with fury and resentment, he chided, “Who did such a brazen thing! How dare they kidnap the orphans?” Lisa said while sobbing, “Actually, it has happened before, but we discovered their vile attempt in time to stop it. Human traffickers are very rampant nowadays, not only at the orphanage, but they also target the children at the hospital, in people’s houses and even on the streets in broad daylight!” Lisa continued with a choking voice, “The main reason for this is that the trafficking business is too profitable and lucrative for them. They can easily trade each child for one hundred thousand. The rich and wealthy who cannot bear children are willing to pay a higher price for the good-looking ones…” Charlie quickly asked, “So what’s the situation now? Did you call the police?” Lisa replied, “Yes, Mrs. Lewis and the director have called the police this morning and the case has been filed for investigation. But the police speculated that the night-shift matron was drugged at around 3 am, which means the children were kidnapped four hours ago. They may have already left Aurous Hills or even the province in these four hours!”