The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Herman couldn't shake the feeling that Gianna was somehow tangled up in Pattie's disappearance.

The house was deserted, but where on earth could Pattie be hidden?

Herman's eyes fell on a car parked outside the coffee shop. Gianna hadn't been back since she drove off.

Ending the call, Herman stood up and headed straight for Gianna's car.

Gianna's face drained of color as she hurried after him, blocking his way. "Herman, this is too much. Are you really going to blame this all on me? Haven't I been through enough?" With a firm tone, Herman said, "Open the car. And the trunk."

"You have no right to search my personal stuff," Gianna shot back.

"I said, open it," Herman's voice grew colder.

His icy tone and intense stare were intimidating.

Gianna swallowed hard, her hands shaking as she pressed the unlock button on her key fob.

Once the car unlocked, Herman quickly opened the doors to inspect and then checked the trunk. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Herman's face darkened as he slammed the trunk shut, making the car shake from the force.

Leaning against the car door, Gianna asked, "Find anything? Herman, I'll say it again, stop throwing all the blame on me. Just because you can't find her doesn't mean it's my fault." Herman stared at Gianna with a frosty glare. "Whether you did it or not, you know the truth. Just hope I don't find any evidence. If anything happens to Pattie, I'll make sure you pay." Gianna let out a bitter laugh. "Herman, Pattie is just Anastasia's child with someone else. Do you really care that much?"

With no trace of Pattie, Herman lost interest in arguing further. He turned away, got into his car, and drove off.

After Herman left, Gianna's legs felt weak as she sank into her car seat.

She recalled how, an hour earlier, realizing she was being followed, she returned to the house, pretended to watch TV, closed the curtains, and then went to the basement to move Pattie, erasing any evidence of her presence. She had thought about taking Pattie in her car but decided instead to hide her in the house.

The reason Dailey found nothing was because the house had a hidden compartment; a wardrobe with a secret door leading to the neighboring house.

Gianna had planned for this, renting the adjacent house under the name Cynthia after taking Pattie.

Now that Herman had searched and found nothing, suspicion on her would lessen, but she knew she had to lay low for a while.

Herman was indeed frustrated. He was almost certain Pattie was in that house. If even Dailey, who personally took charge, couldn't find her, they must have the wrong lead.

Meeting up with Dailey, Herman asked, "Are you sure you checked everywhere? Could anything be overlooked?"

"Boss, I checked every possible hiding spot, found nothing," Dailey reported. "Do you think we got the wrong lead? Gianna isn't skilled enough to outsmart the police and take the kid."

Herman's brows knitted together. "This has something to do with Gianna, even if we haven't found Pattie. Keep watching her. And make sure you weren't followed?"

"Absolutely not," Dailey was confident. Gianna was just an ordinary housewife, nothing too cunning.

"Let's keep today's events from Anastasia. Gianna's lead is her only hope. If this goes cold, Anastasia might not handle it well," Herman recalled his encounter with Gianna, realizing he'd underestimated her.

With Pattie's whereabouts still unknown, Herman couldn't take any drastic action against Gianna. If Gianna was the only one who knew where Pattie was, any rash move could endanger Pattie.

Then Herman remembered something. "You saw Gianna buying a ton of snacks, right?"

"Right," Dailey confirmed. "Two big bags."

"Did you see any snacks in the house?"

Dailey thought for a moment. "No."

If the snacks weren't in Gianna's car or the house, then where did they go?

Those two big bags of snacks couldn't have just vanished.

Was Gianna preparing them for someone?

Pattie?

A realization hit Herman. "Let's go back to that house. Pattie must still be there."