chapter1277

Now they were suddenly worried about their son? Figures. If you weren't their own flesh and blood, you never really mattered, did you? Lucinda walked through the front door, a sarcastic smile tugging at her lips.

Cameron spotted her and called out, "Lucinda, you're back.

Things were tense between them these days, but at the end of the day, Lucinda was still the daughter they'd raised. You couldn't just turn those feelings off, no matter what happened. Once the anger cooled down a bit, they always found themselves caring about her again, even if they tried to hide it.

Lucinda just gave a soft, neutral "Mm," acting like she hadn't heard anything about Garrett being unreachable. "Dad, I'm going upstairs," she said, not bothering to look in Kylie's direction.

Kylie watched her go, frowning. "Is it just me, or does Lucinda seem different today?"

Cameron let out a long sigh. "I don't know what she's thinking anymore. She just seems... weighed down, like there's too much on her mind."

This was never how Cameron wanted things to be. From the start, they never wanted to force Lucinda out. She still got the same allowance, ate the same meals, lived the same way she always had. The only difference was that Lydia had moved in, and Lucinda just couldn't handle it. But what were they supposed to do? Were they supposed to pretend their real daughter didn't exist, just to make Lucinda happy?

Upstairs, Lucinda headed straight to her room and pulled out the phone and the black card from her bag. She tried to power up the phone, but it was password protected. No matter how many combinations she tried, nothing worked. Then she thought about the letter that had slipped into the storm drain earlier. Her frustration doubled. The password must have been in that letter. Just her luck!

She'd have to find another way to see Grace. And as for the card, she definitely needed to check how much money was on it. One thing was clear: ever since her last visit to Grace, someone had been following her. She was pretty sure it was the police. Otherwise, how would they have shown up so quickly today?

Elsewhere, news of Lucinda's latest moves had already reached Lydia.

"A phone and a black card?" Lydia repeated, frowning.

Byron nodded. Right. And according to the robbers, there was also a letter in her bag, but during the struggle it fell into a storm drain.

Lydia's frown deepened. "That letter is important. Get someone to see if they can recover it. Grace must have left all that for her."

And that phone, too. There had to be something on it they needed.

Byron nodded again. Alright, I'll see what I can do."

After the call, ll, Connor placed a warm thermos in Lydia's hands.

Sometimes he just wished Lydia could stop worrying about

everything. But that wasn't who she

from ther

was. She was differechon her

girls. She

carried too mu too

shoulders, and even though she

couldn't see, she still insisted on

working, on pushing forward.

"Have some milk," Connor said gently. "If you're tired, we can just check into the hotel and rest."

They had just arrived in Rock Bay, walking out of the airport terminal.

Lydia shook her head. "I'm not tired. I already slept on the plane. Let's go meet the Reynolds family first."

Funny how things worked out. Back

at the international medical competition in Country D, Lydia had met Peyton, who turned out to be the youngest daughter of the very tech powerhouse they needed to see in Rock Bay.

When Lydia had looked into the Reynolds family, most of what she found online was about the brilliant and capable elder daughter. There wasn't much about Peyton at all.

Connor could only nod, a little helpless. "Alright. We'll meet the Reynolds family first."