Chapter 261

At the hospital, Sebastian and Marvin both turned their heads simultaneously.

Jack, speaking into his phone, then walked over to them. "Mr. Landon, Isabella is missing."

Sebastian's face tightened. "What's going on?"

Jack said, "I'm not sure of the details. About ten minutes ago, Laura called me. Isabella came to the office to find you but couldn't get through. I tried Marvin's number too, but no luck."

"Can't get through? My phone is working fine," Marvin said, pulling out his own phone. His voice trailed off as he noticed, "Actually, there's no reception at all."

Sebastian checked his phone as well and found the same issue.

Just then, the call between Jack and Laura was cut off, replaced by a series of beeps indicating a dead line.

Jack glanced at his phone. "Mine's lost reception too."

A heavy silence fell over the three men.

Sebastian gave a nod, and Jack and Marvin immediately began searching the room.

"Mr. Landon, we found something," Jack called out.

Following Jack's voice, Sebastian and Marvin saw a reception jammer in the cabinet. It was blocking all communication reception within the room-effectively cutting them off from the outside world.

Sebastian took a quick glance at Siena, who was lying in bed. "Who's been here?"

Siena looked at the jammer, bewildered. When Sebastian asked, she finally snapped back to reality. "Charles."

"When did he come?" Sebastian asked, his tone showing no surprise, almost as if he expected it. His voice was cool and detached.

"Last night," Siena replied. "I was just about to tell you, but he arrived before I had the chance."

Siena meant Jack.

Sebastian was silent for a moment before instructing, "Jack, put the jammer back where you found it."

"Yes, sir," Jack replied, doing as instructed and returning the jammer to the cabinet.

After the task was done, Sebastian turned to leave.

Siena called out urgently, "Sebastian, when can I be discharged?"

Sebastian paused and answered, "Tonight."

"Tonight?" Siena was taken aback.

Sebastian continued, "Tonight he'll come to get you. Let him take you home."

Siena's eyes flickered with understanding. "Alright."

At the Landon Group, surveillance footage revealed that Isabella had arrived directly from the basement parking lot.

However, when she left, she didn't return to the basement but went straight to the ground floor and exited through the main entrance.

The footage at the entrance clearly showed Isabella walking out of the Landon Group, pausing briefly, then approaching a car. She opened the door, got in, and the car drove away.

As the car hit the city roads, it started to speed up noticeably.

Isabella tightened her seatbelt and turned to Leo. "Leo, where are you taking me?"

Leo glanced at her briefly without responding and instead accelerated, merging onto the highway.

They drove on the highway for about two hours, aimlessly circling around with no apparent destination.

"Leo, where exactly is Sebastian?" Isabella asked for the sixteenth time.

Earlier, Leo had always brushed off her questions with a smile. But this time, he merely lifted his chin towards the right.

Isabella looked in that direction. The car passed by a lake. The afternoon sun, now softer at around 4:30 PM, cast a warm golden glow on the lake's surface.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Leo's voice came from beside her.

Isabella took a quick glance before averting her eyes. "It's blinding."

Leo chuckled. "You never disappoint with your responses."

Isabella shot him a look. "You're no better."

Leo raised an eyebrow.

Isabella added, "Always avoiding anything serious!"

Leo shook his head with a resigned smile. "You're right. I do have a knack for doing things my own way."

With that, he suddenly jerked the steering wheel to the right.

The car veered off the city highway, exiting onto a small, winding road. After about ten minutes of driving, they rounded a bend and were greeted by an expansive open space.

Leo parked the car in the middle of the field, where the sunlight was so intense it was almost blinding.

Isabella shielded her eyes with her hand while Leo had already hopped out and leaned against the hood of the car.

After a moment's hesitation, Isabella followed suit and stepped out.

She surveyed the area and noticed the desolation of the place; the wind carried a sense of emptiness.

"Leo, what's this all about?" Isabella asked, keeping her distance.

"Watching the sunset."

Isabella could only stare at him in disbelief.

Leo ignored her, moving to the back of the car and popping the trunk to start unloading supplies.

Isabella's patience wore thin. She pulled out her phone to call Sebastian, only to find there was no reception-her calls wouldn't go through.

As she held her phone up, searching for a signal, Leo walked by with an armful of gear. "Don't bother looking. There aren't any cell towers around here."

Isabella's eyes widened in realization. "You did this on purpose?"

"Finally catching on?" Leo's laughter echoed in the open field.

Isabella was speechless.

She watched as Leo continued to unload a camping setup, complete with chairs, a table, and an assortment of food and drinks.

Fuming, Isabella approached him. "So all this about Sebastian's secrets, including that photo you took, was just a ruse? Your whole plan was to get me here to watch the sunset?"

"Not entirely," Leo said seriously, "The photo is real, and Sebastian does have secrets. You got one part right-I did deliberately bring you here."

"Why?" Isabella asked, deeply offended by what she saw as Leo's underhanded tactics.

"Wait a minute," Leo said, his focus completely absorbed in his own train of thought, disregarding Isabella's anger.

After telling her to wait, he darted back to the trunk for more supplies.

Isabella, exasperated, kicked over a nearby chair in frustration.

Footsteps approached from behind, and Leo's voice called out, "Isabella. Could you help me with..."

"Leo, are you done yet?" Isabella snapped, turning around and swatting the items from his hands.

One of the items landed at her feet.

Looking down, Isabella discovered it was a birthday cake.