Chapter 355

Chapter 355:

Michelle hesitated, ready to follow, but Robert’s voice stopped her cold. “If you go after her, you can leave with her. Don’t come back.” Michelle stood frozen, unable to take another step.

“Let them be. Ector, Fernanda, come eat,” Robert said, placing a generous piece of steak on Fernanda’s plate. “You’re too thin. You need more meat.”

Fernanda could hardly believe what she was hearing. She never imagined Robert could be so kind and caring toward her. His behavior had changed so suddenly, it was almost startling.

Robert’s attitude toward Fernanda had shifted completely in just a few days. Not long ago, he viewed her as nothing more than a threat, a bad omen that only brought trouble to the family. But now, he treated her as if she were their savior, a hidden blessing they had never realized they needed.

Fernanda couldn’t help but find the irony unbearable. It was so sharp, so absurd, that the urge to throw her plate at Robert’s fake, insincere face almost consumed her.

Erika hadn’t come home all night.

Michelle, frantic with worry, had been calling her, only to find her phone sitting untouched at home. She reached out to a few of Erika’s close friends, but none of them had seen her.

The wind howled as the temperature dropped. Dark clouds crept across the sky, swallowing up the moonlight, and the night felt thick, like it was holding its breath.

It was clear the storm was closing in.

And sure enough, in the middle of the night, the heavens opened up. A torrential downpour began, relentless in its fury, as it pounded the last few stubborn leaves from the twisted branches, sending them spiraling to the muddy ground.

Michelle stood by the window, watching the storm unfold, tears streaming down her face. “It’s pouring, and it’s freezing out there. Erika ran off in just a light jacket. What are we supposed to do now?”

Robert, on the edge of sleep, was jolted awake by Michelle’s constant fretting. His frustration simmered, growing with each passing moment.

“She’s not a kid anymore. She’s nearly twenty. What’s the big deal?” Robert snapped. “If she’s cold or hungry, she’ll come back. She went out on her own—no one forced her. Stop making a scene.”

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Michelle bit her lip, throwing a resentful glance at Robert’s back, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

Instead, her mind raced, wondering if there was someone she hadn’t contacted yet—someone who might know where Erika had gone.

As the storm raged outside, she clung to the hope that Erika wouldn’t find herself in harm’s way.

Fernanda was also awake, the storm’s roar filling her ears as she lay in the quiet dark.

A moment later, the light on the balcony flickered on, casting a warm orange glow that sliced through the heavy curtains and spilled onto the floor in a narrow beam.

Slipping on her shoes, Fernanda parted the curtains and stepped out onto the balcony, the chill in the air hitting her immediately.

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