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Chapter 223 

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Chapter 223 

Why was Grace gone for 26 years? 

Margaret said that in the past, there had been many photos of Grace at home. 

Grace loved beauty. She was someone who loved taking pictures. Later, when she left, Phillip got angry and burned all those photos. 

There was only one family portrait that was left, hidden away by Margaret in secret. 

Valeria took out that card and, under the dim yellow light of the old house, looked at the faint sheen of black and gold on its surface. 

Just how many people could open a VIP account at Pinnacle Private Bank in Slate City? 

After returning to Slate City, Valeria called Margaret twice every day. 

Shane mentioned wanting to go to the county with her this weekend to visit Margaret. After some thought, Valeria declined his kind offer. 

In the afternoon, after lunch, Selena placed an envelope in her palm. 

She said, “This is for Mr. Grant’s birthday.” 

Ever since Leo had mentioned some time ago that his uncle’s birthday was coming, Selena had remembered it until now. The little girl’s birthday gift was a handwritten card. 

Valeria looked at her daughter, stroked her hair, and said, “Alright. I’ll help you give it to Mr. Grant.” 

Valeria was packing her suitcase, and Selena was packing her own things beside her. 

She realized that between the two of them, there really wasn’t much. They just had two large suitcases. 

That was everything they owned. 

Valeria suddenly felt a bit wistful. 

“When are we going to see Great-Grandma again?” 

Valeria had called Kayla yesterday. Lately, she had also been working overtime, rushing to finish her set of design drafts. 

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Valeria told her daughter, “We’ll stay here and spend Thanksgiving with Granny Lucy before we go.” 

At 10:00 pm that night, Valeria closed her laptop and rubbed her stiff, sore neck. 

Almost as if by some kind of intuition, her eyes went to her phone. 

The next second, it rang. 

“Hello?” she answered. 

The breathing on the other end was heavy, as if the caller had been drinking. She heard deep, unsteady breaths. 

There was background noise too, like he was in some kind of private room. 

Sebastian stood up, his steps unsteady, almost stumbling. Mark helped him up. 

Mark had something he had been meaning to say tonight. He couldn’t hold it in. 

It was Sebastian’s birthday today, and he thought of years ago, when he had blurted out a joking remark about Jane at one of Sebastian’s birthday parties. 

“Sebastian… sometime ago, I went to Greenspan…” Mark hadn’t finished his sentence when Sebastian, reeking of alcohol, grabbed his coat, stood up with his phone in hand, and walked 

out. 

The words were stuck in Mark’s throat. He couldn’t say them, but he couldn’t swallow them either. 

Simon, standing beside him, pulled him back. 

“Wait until Sebastian sobers up to tell him. Why now?” 

Simon thought Sebastian was getting up to leave because the forced cheerfulness of the birthday gathering had reached his breaking point, and he needed to get out for some air, to calm down. 

Simon was the only one among their friends who knew about the Grant family kidnapping 

back then. 

The Grant brothers had very different personalities. They had never really gotten along with Florian when they were kids. Florian had a calm maturity far beyond his age, which made the rest of them look like fools in comparison. 

He never acted like a friend to them. 

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Sebastian was different. He was the mischievous leader among them, the wild one, and he was closest to this group of friends. 

Then, one night, everything changed. All they knew was that Florian had died. 

They had been young-seven, eight, maybe nine-and their understanding of death was shallow. They only knew that someone named Florian had disappeared forever. No one knew if it was from illness, a car accident, or a natural disaster. 

Sebastian had also fallen seriously ill afterward, and his personality had changed completely. 

The Hill family’s elderly matriarch, Sonia Hill, and Martha had been close friends. Only Simon knew how deeply that kidnapping had scarred Sebastian. 

Even so, every year on his birthday, their group of friends would gather to celebrate him. Seeing Sebastian smile, Simon always felt an ache in his heart. 

That morning, Sebastian had just endured a birthday banquet thrown by the Grant family. That night, he was with his friends, forcing himself to smile again. 

Simon knew that right now, Sebastian must be thinking about Florian. He gripped Mark’s arm, telling him not to bother Sebastian at this moment.