Reborn as Mr.CEO's Fat Wife-Chapter 564: Heart-Wrenching at First Sight

Three months had passed, and the horrifying gambling incident in the controlled gaming arena of Swallow City finally came to an end.

The scope of this incident was unprecedented in terms of the people involved and the level of influence.

After it ended, the entire Swallow City underwent a major reshuffle.

Several old family clans led by the Foster family were almost completely wiped out. Especially the Foster family: some were imprisoned, some died, and some fled. Even Hearst Foster was sentenced to life imprisonment.

All assets of the Foster family were confiscated and reverted to the state.

Before the trial, Brandon Piers hurried back.

During these three months, Brandon had traveled through most of Australia and visited several Asian countries but still found no news of Abigail.

The two of them seemed to have perished in that explosion, and no matter what methods he used, there was no information at all.

Although there were many reports in Europe in response to the reward order he had issued, most of them were scams that did not help in finding her at all and wasted a lot of manpower and resources verifying the information.

The same situation occurred in North America.

Searching for Abigail had come to a dead end.

Brandon was utterly exhausted.

To avoid attracting attention, he returned to Swallow City in the dead of night.

As the lunar new year approached, Swallow City was decorated with lanterns and filled with festive cheer. But the more festive it appeared, the more Brandon felt the night was silent and lonely.

Three months ago, he had left Swallow City with full confidence, certain that he could quickly find Abigail in a foreign country.

Yet in these three months, he had experienced disappointment time and again, falling into boundless despair and self-doubt. Had he been wrong?

Where did he go wrong?

Brandon continuously reflected on his actions, then devised more detailed plans, almost conducting a blanket search.

But the results still fell short of expectations.

"Second Young Master, we’ve arrived." Kelvin Max gently reminded as Brandon was lost in thought.

Brandon only came back to his senses and replied with a hum.

Getting out of the car, Kelvin quickly draped a coat over him.

It was already very cold in January in Swallow City. Brandon put on the coat and waved at the person behind him. "You should rest too."

Kelvin was somewhat worried. "Second Young Master, let me escort you..."

"No need." Brandon interrupted Kelvin and walked towards the main house on his own.

Not having returned for three months, perhaps because of winter, or maybe because of the oppressive emotions of the manor’s owner, Moon Lake Manor, which used to be vibrant, now exuded a heavy sense of decay.

Brandon passed by the few old grapevines that Abigail loved the most. These vines were dry and bare. The grapes, blown and battered by three months of wind and rain, had turned into wrinkled, dark purple beads. He plucked one and put it in his mouth. The excessive sweetness was followed by a disturbing bitterness.

"Heh." Brandon let out a self-mocking laugh. In his mind, a scene of Abigail standing under the vines full of ripe grapes teasing Teddy surfaced. Teddy had stuffed a grape full of his saliva into her mouth. Though she found it disgusting, she had to swallow it because she had to take care of Teddy.

When one is by your side, many things seem trivial and insignificant. Yet after losing them, you realize these small details can be magnified endlessly, finding bits of sweetness to savor over and over.

But what follows is endless emptiness.

The manor was large. As he walked along, those fragmented memories flashed before his eyes like holograms.

During these three months abroad, he had traveled non-stop from one place to another, always searching for possible clues. Fearful of missing any opportunity, he never took time to rest or let himself think of her.

He functioned like a robot. When he finally stopped, he thought he might forget about her.

But walking in the quiet courtyard filled with Abigail’s traces, the memories flooded back like a tidal wave, overwhelming him.

Brandon even recalled the first time they met. It wasn’t at the hospital but at Grandpa Smith’s Courtyard House.

The memories he thought he had forgotten resurfaced after being refined by time.

"Grandpa, will I marry a wife when I grow up?" A five-year-old boy asked his grandpa with an overly childish voice.

At that time, Grandpa wasn’t as old or as open-minded as he was now. Hearing this, he alertedly asked, "You’re thinking of getting married at such a young age? Tell Grandpa who you want to marry?"

The five-year-old boy pointed to a girl dressed in a pink sticky rice skirt, her face serious and cool. "Her."

His words stunned the elders of both families. But the five-year-old was determined, pointing at the seven-year-old Abigail. "I want to marry you."

The seven-year-old girl disdainfully glanced at him, then continued grinding medicinal herbs.

On the way back, Grandpa teased him about his good eyesight at such a young age, asking why he wanted to marry her. He couldn’t remember how he had responded back then.

Perhaps it was because she looked so pretty in that pink sticky rice skirt, or maybe it was how cool she appeared while focused on grinding herbs. The young him felt only she was fit to be his wife.

At that time, his parents’ relationship hadn’t completely broken down yet. His understanding of a wife was someone who is gentle, happy, and beautiful.

Unfortunately...

The adult world was different from that of a child.

As Brandon approached the main house, it suddenly started to snow lightly.

Looking up at the sky, this was the first snow of the year in Swallow City, but she was not by his side.

They had once promised to spend his twenty-sixth birthday together. She had even agreed to give him a gift. But his twenty-sixth birthday had already passed a month ago. She probably didn’t even remember who he was, let alone his birthday.

Brandon felt he couldn’t bear to think about it any longer. The more he thought about it, the harder it was to move forward.

Entering the house full of coldness, he found that not only the first floor but also the second floor’s lights were on. He frowned. At this hour, Teddy and Aunt Claudia should have been asleep. Why were the lights still on?

Just as Brandon took off his coat and shook off the coldness, he heard a familiar voice, "Da-da-da... Da-da ahh..."

Brandon’s steps paused. He looked at the time. It was already 2 a.m. and Teddy was still awake?

Striding upstairs, he saw his son in crawling clothes, lying on the floor. On the other side, Adam Piers, dressed in similar pajamas, was lying down. The "da-da" that Teddy had just called was directed at Adam.

After three months of traveling, the thin, chiseled-faced man cast a cold, amber gaze at Adam. "What are you doing?"

Adam, tormented almost to the point of insanity by this ten-month-old baby, thought to himself that just because Teddy cried inconsolably one night and he had taken him out to play once, Teddy now woke up every night wanting to play for a while. Adam felt he was going to die young because of this. Hearing Brandon’s voice suddenly, he looked up in surprise, then excitedly picked up Teddy, pointing at Brandon. "Come on, say Daddy. Your real daddy is back!"

But after Adam spoke, Teddy looked up at the man across from him with a face full of unfamiliarity, then quickly turned and burrowed into Adam’s arms.

Just this one action made Brandon feel as if a knife had been twisted in his heart.