Love beyond the mask ( Whitney )
Chapter 949

Winston reluctantly put down his gun, his mind a whirlwind of emotions he could hardly process.

Could it be, after all, that the kids weren't to blame? Was it all because Barclay had been pulling strings, deceiving everyone, and claiming innocent women for himself?

He sighed inwardly, his turmoil hidden beneath a calm exterior, and said gravely, "Bring her over. I want to see the child."

"Right away!" Ashton, noticing the old man's change of heart, hurried off to catch up with Parker, informing him, "The little girl's been in the car following mine. I had my guys looking after her.

I was driving too fast earlier to have her in my car. She should've arrived by now."

The two men made their way to the entrance of Sea Bay.

Scanning the area, Parker asked impatiently, "Ashton, where is she?"

Ashton turned to see that his sports car was alone; there was no sign of his men's vehicle behind it. His brow furrowed, and his expression darkened as he quickly dialed Chris.

But Chris didn't pick up, tightening Ashton's chest with worry.

Parker, watching the unanswered call, grabbed Ashton's collar, his voice tense, "What do you mean? Where's Cherry?"

"Just wait..." Ashton kept dialing Chris's number, to no avail.

Parker refused to wait any longer and dashed toward Ashton's car, slamming on the gas pedal, "Ashton!"

"Get in! Let's go back and look for Chris's car. Maybe... maybe he broke down on the road?" Ashton tried to reassure Parker with a hopeful guess.

But Parker, with a sharp intuition, had just learned of Cherry's identity. She couldn't be harmed.

Not on his watch...

His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel as the sports car sped away from Sea Bay.

"What are they up to?" Back at the villa's entrance-

Whitney, hearing the cars, turned to see the two men leaving, murmuring in confusion.

"Didn't Ashton say Cherry was coming in the car he arranged?" Tiana stood up, peering around, but saw no other cars approaching.

Suddenly anxious, she grabbed Whitney's hand, "Whitney, let's go see why Cherry hasn't gotten out of the car yet?"

Winston turned, his brow furrowed, and replied thoughtfully, "No car came in, nor was there any sign of a little girl. So, Parker chased after them."

"What?" Tiana went pale, staring into the distance, "What do you mean Cherry didn't come, Whitney?"

Whitney paused, then moved toward her car, telling Winston, "Sir, I want to take Tiana to see what happened. It's her daughter; she's worried. Please, don't stop her now."

Winston glanced at Tiana, withholding judgment for the moment. If that little granddaughter was indeed Parker's, his affection for her was naturally different from that for Barclay's daughter. He stepped aside, "Find the child first. We'll talk about the rest later."

"Thank you, Mr. Winston." Tiana, sensing his change of attitude, nodded gratefully and quickly got into Whitney's car.

Her voice was tense, "Whitney, drive faster, please."

Whitney, reflecting on the situation, cursed, "It's also my fault. I should have handed Cherry over to your mother at the church. But Winston came back so suddenly, looking for trouble with both of you. I couldn't risk taking Cherry with me, so I left her with Ashton. Normally, Ashton's got enough people to ensure nothing would happen to the child."

"It's my fault, Whitney." Tiana shook her head, covering her face, "I should have kept my daughter by my side, regardless of how Parker took me. You and Ashton have already done so much for us." "It might not be anything serious. Maybe it's just traffic!" Whitney tried to reassure her, though both were clearly anxious.

Soon, they encountered Ashton's abruptly stopped sports car on the coastal road.

The car was halted in the middle of the road, doors wide open.

Whitney's heart sank. She stopped the car, and before it fully settled, Tiana was already running towards the figures of Parker and Ashton standing by the roadside barrier. Fear gripped her. Could her daughter have been in an accident?

As she got closer, Tiana saw a black car halfway down the slope off the road!

The car had crashed, flipped over, its doors flung open, revealing a man's lifeless body hanging out of the driver's seat.

"Damn, Chris?" Ashton vaulted the barrier, rushing down.

"Cherry..." Parker was faster, diving down and rushing to the passenger side. He elbowed the car window, breaking it to look inside, "Little one! You better be alright..." But there was no sign of the girl in the driver's seat or the back.

Following the car's trail down the slope towards the cliffside, Parker found no traces of Cherry having fallen.

She was so small; any fall would surely leave blood.

She wasn't in the car... perhaps she had been taken elsewhere.

A cold realization dawned on Parker, his eyes reddening with anger.

Rushing back up the slope, his features were drenched in sweat and darkened with fury.

Tiana, standing by the car, couldn't find her daughter. Tears streaming, she grabbed Parker's sleeve, "She's not in the car, Parker. Where is she?"

"Someone might have taken her."

Parker gazed at her fragile, pale face, reaching out to wipe away her tears, his voice cold and stern, "Judging from the skid marks on the road, the other party swerved their car first. They had more than one vehicle; it was a full-on ambush. Someone snatched little Cherry from the car, and then someone took out Chris by forcing him off the cliff.

These guys were in a rush, probably a spur-of-the-moment plan, but they came prepared because there are no cameras at this bend!"

The man's anger was palpable as he pointed to the street lamp that lacked surveillance equipment.

"Damn it!" Ashton covered Chris's unseeing eyes with a jacket, standing up enveloped in a cold fury, looking at Parker and Tiana, wiping his face deeply, "Parker, I'm sorry, it's my damn fault for not keeping a closer watch!

I get it now... This was Endora's diversion tactic, that witch. I had snagged the paternity test results, rushing to bring them over, thinking this would settle everything. So, I handed little Cherry to Chris, going ahead on my own. No one could have anticipated this! It has to be Endora, that crazy witch.

Failing once, she concocted another scheme, knowing she couldn't stop me, so she targeted little Cherry!"