But at the end of the day, this wasn’t her place.
Agnes noticed that the window of the east room was ajar, and she could faintly see that a light was on inside.
She stood there for a moment, glimpsing the shadowy figures moving around inside.
Her heart skipped a beat.
The owner was home.
Agnes felt a strong urge to visit, to step inside and say hello.
But it felt too abrupt, too sudden.
The sight of the garden brought back memories, filling her with a deep, aching sadness.
She feared losing control of her emotions if she went in.
So, in the end, Agnes turned away and left.
Meanwhile, over on the Pritchard Mansion’s main terrace, Jared was getting off a phone call.
It was from Australia.
Still no news.
Jared had just returned home a few days ago.
For the past month, he’d been adrift on rescue ships at sea.
The physical toll had been immense, and he had collapsed from exhaustion.
In his unconscious state, Alyssa had forced him onto a plane back home.
Today, he had snuck out of the hospital.
Alyssa had confiscated all his documents, leaving him with no means to leave.
Once out, he didn’t know where to go.
He meant to head to Maplewood Manor, but somehow, his car ended up at Pritchard Mansion.
Inside, everything reminded him of Agnes.
For a month now, Jared had been uncharacteristically calm.
Everyone expected him to lose his mind.
But he hadn’t.
No tears, no heartache, just a determination to do one thing: find her.
It had been a month.
In that part of the ocean, over a hundred rescue ships still searched day and night.
Everyone else had lost hope.
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