Chapter 1043

Carol looked at Albert with complete despair in her eyes.

Albert took a drag from his cigarette as he heard the butler’s report. “Still no word from that ungrateful brat?”

The butler shook his head. “Sir, Mr. Julian…”

Before the butler could finish, Albert cut him off viciously. “He’s a disgrace. A beast like him doesn’t belong in the Hayes family!”

Albert’s chest rose and fell violently with rage. He never expected Julian to play dumb with him.

He had originally thought the boy had truly been scared witless at the police station, but it turned out he’d been faking it the whole time. Now the three-day mark had come and gone, and he was nowhere to be found. And worst of all–he’d taken his bank card. That card had been opened separately, meant to save money for Julian back when Albert thought he might still amount to something. He never imagined that at this exact moment, Julian would remember that account. But now, even if Albert regretted it, it was too late. Who knew how long he had already been on the run?

The butler lowered his head and tried again. “Sir, it’s about Mr. Julian. There’s still no new lead on his whereabouts. All we have is footage of him leaving his room at the beginning. After that, he deliberately avoided the cameras.”

Albert began pacing the room in frustration. “What about the police in Ravenshore? Weren’t they supposed to be monitoring him? Weren’t there officers assigned to stay near him during the observation period? How did no one see anything?”

The butler shook his head. “There was nothing. After all, he wasn’t actually mentally impaired. He likely timed the police shift change and used the gap to slip away.”

Albert nearly exploded with rage when he heard that.

Albert glanced at Carol, who was sobbing on the floor, and kicked her with annoyance. She let out a muffled groan from the ground. He continued cursing under his breath. “Useless woman. You can’t even keep an eye on one person. What good are you? Can’t do anything right–just sit around eating and breathing? Absolute waste!”

A stream of cruel, degrading words poured from Albert’s mouth. Carol had no choice but to shut her eyes and pretend she didn’t hear a thing. She kept trying to comfort herself in her mind–just endure it. It would be over soon. She didn’t need to worry about anything else. As long as her son was happy…

Yes, Julian had left with Carol’s silent approval. After Grace left the Hayes residence with Tessa that day, Carol had come out of Julian’s room and immediately felt something was off. Her son might’ve been “acting simple,” but those eyes of his, when they stared at her, sometimes felt like they could speak. That was when Carol realized something wasn’t right. Was it possible… he was pretending to be mentally impaired? The moment that thought entered her mind, it gave her a jolt. After all, he was her son. She knew him better than anyone. And when she cleaned his room, she couldn’t forget how he glanced around cautiously. When Julian was little, he always averted his gaze when he felt guilty. It just meant he didn’t have the confidence to face her. And now, he wasn’t saying a word. That moment planted the seed of doubt in Carol’s heart. But she never said a word about it.

Chapter 1044: