Sunny Reed was very surprised, but the excitement in her voice was undeniable. "Mom, are you... are you worried about me?"

Autumn Linton hummed in agreement. "Of course. You’re the daughter I raised. How could I not be worried about you? Your father misses you too. He was just too angry at the time. You mustn’t blame him."

"I..."

Sunny Reed’s mouth opened as if to say something, but her voice choked up. "I thought you didn’t want me anymore!"

Autumn Linton closed her eyes, her expression a mask of pain and self-reproach, and forced herself to say, "Never. I would never abandon you, Sunny. Where are you right now? Can you come and see me? I’ve been so sick lately, I can’t even get out of bed. I’m afraid I’ll never see you again."

"Mom, I’m living with my grandmother. I heard about what happened to the Reed family. Are you and Dad okay? Where are you now?" Sunny Reed asked with great concern.

Autumn Linton said, "We moved. The old house was sold. The Reed Group went bankrupt. I never thought Chloe Reed would be so ruthless. It’s a good thing she isn’t my biological daughter. It’s a good thing you were the one I doted on all these years. Sunny, come and see us."

"Okay, I’ll come by when I have time," Sunny Reed said perfunctorily, adding a few more simple words before hanging up.

Autumn Linton was very nervous. "Are you sure this will work?"

Charles Reed sighed and said, "Do you have any other ideas?"

Autumn Linton fell silent, then broke into a fit of violent coughs, her face growing even paler.

...

After hanging up, Sunny Reed looked dazed for a moment. After a while, she finally turned to Susan Bowman and said, "Grandma, are they trying to use me?"

Susan Bowman snorted. "Charles Reed is a selfish, despicable man. The Reed family is bankrupt. He wants to use you to get on Chloe Reed’s good side so she’ll let them off the hook. Why else would he wait all these days to contact you? Sunny, you can’t fall for it. You absolutely cannot go soft on them."

Sunny Reed was very upset. "Grandma, I hesitated. They were really good to me."

"But you paid a high price to make them treat you well." Susan Bowman lovingly caressed her face. "Don’t let anything distract you right now. You need to see your son. No matter what it takes, you have to stay by his side. That’s the only way you’ll have a future!"

The hesitation in Sunny Reed’s eyes quickly vanished. She nodded firmly. "Yes, I know. I already got the contact information for Noah’s kindergarten teacher. It won’t be long before I can earn her trust. Then I’ll be able to see Noah."

Just thinking about her son made her angry and sad!

She hated Walker Grant for snatching her son away and not letting her see him!

But she was determined to see him!

And she would make them acknowledge her status and let her stay by Noah’s side!

...

Over the next few days, Charles Reed and Autumn Linton kept waiting for Sunny Reed to call again, but to their surprise, she simply vanished without a trace.

Autumn Linton couldn’t help but feel uneasy. "What’s going on? Why isn’t she contacting me anymore?"

Charles Reed’s face was grim. "That ungrateful wretch! We were kind enough to adopt her, and this is how she repays us!"

He pointed at Autumn Linton. "Call her again!"

Autumn Linton’s expression was grave as she dialed Sunny Reed’s number. But this time, she heard an automated message.

"We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service..."