Chapter 206

Meanwhile, Royce's team had tracked down the people sent by Brandon and Renee.

Brandon had already arrived and was staying at a hotel. He might come over tomorrow.

Renee's people had reached Silverpeak City and were preparing to find Shirley. As soon as she appeared, they planned to snatch the child away immediately.

Simon had installed surveillance software on Paula's phone, which had inadvertently recorded a conversation between her and Shirley.

We were all sitting on a bed, listening to the recording. Paula taunted Shirley, "Shirley, you're back, but you didn't come to see Mom and Dad? That's pretty ungrateful of you."

"You should come home."

Shirley scoffed, "Paula, if you have something to say, just say it. No need to beat around the bush."

Paula chuckled lightly, her tone calm, "I just wanted to persuade you to come home. Why are you so hostile?"

"Mom and Dad made your favorite dishes, waiting for you to come back."

"Or are you afraid to come back because of me?"

Shirley finally snapped, "Paula, will you ever stop? Even if I wronged you back then, the money I've given you over the years should have made up for it. Why are you still holding onto this?"

"How dare you say that? When I was in college, how much did you give me? Just some tuition and basic living expenses. You give James twenty thousand dollars a month, but only a little over a thousand to me."

"If it weren't for my own efforts to find you, you'd still be living a comfortable life."

"Paula, what do you want? Don't think that just because you're with Renee, it means anything. Renee's money is dirty, and she'll be brought to justice sooner or later."

"You think helping her will get you anything? You'll end up in jail with her."

"She can kill you before she goes down, like squashing an ant. That's why I'm with Renee."

"You should come back and see Mom and Dad. They've aged a lot over the years."

Shirley scoffed, "What does it matter to me if they die? I've cut ties with them long ago."

"Really? You're so heartless, Shirley."

"Oh, and I told Brandon about you."

"He's probably almost in Silverpeak City by now."

"After all, you killed his child Jason, and now you want to take Aria. Do you think he'll let you? He's probably coming to kill you."

Paula's light laughter as she said these terrifying words sent chills down our spines.

Savannah smirked, "These two really have a love-hate relationship."

The recording continued. Shirley roared, "Paula, are you crazy? How could you tell Brandon?!"

"I'm crazy because of you. Now you'll see how crazy I can be."

"By the way, Renee is also looking for you. If you don't show up, you better hide well. If we find you, you're done for."

The conversation ended, and we exchanged glances. "Do you think Shirley will go back?"

Savannah shook her head, "We don't know why Paula wants Shirley to go back."

"Is it just to see their parents?"

I shook my head, knowing the history between Shirley and Paula. "No way. Paula hates Shirley to the core. She wants her to show up so she can kill her. There's no other reason. Their endgame is a fight to the death."

"Shirley is also afraid of Renee's people. Even though she knows Paula's scheme, she has to go back because she's afraid Renee will take the child."

"But Paula doesn't care about that. She just wants Shirley to show up."

"So we have to intercept Shirley before Renee's people find her and take the child. Otherwise, something bad will happen."

"Brandon is useless. He can't get anything done."

Simon said, "Let's station people outside Shirley's parents' place. As soon as Shirley shows up, we'll intercept her."

That night, we got word that Shirley had been spotted outside her parents' place, but she didn't have the child with her.

And there was no sign of the child with James either, so she must have hidden the child somewhere only she or James knew about.

I gritted my teeth, not expecting Shirley to be so cunning. "Don't grab Shirley yet. It'll be harder to find the child if we do."

"If we can't find the child, neither can Renee's people. Let Shirley go."

Simon said, "Send a drone to monitor Shirley's parents' place. We need real-time updates."

Soon, we received video footage from the drone, showing Shirley and Paula's family window.

Luckily, the window was open, and we could hear the conversation inside.

Shirley seemed to be arguing with her parents, her voice hysterical and on the verge of breaking down.

Paula sat nearby, legs crossed, watching the scene unfold like a spectator.

"Shirley, you haven't been back in years, and now you're arguing with Mom? That's too much."

Shirley glared at Paula, "You bitch, why didn't I have James kill you back then? Letting you live was my biggest mistake."

"If it weren't for you, things wouldn't have turned out this way. Maybe Caroline wouldn't have found out about me and Brandon. She might be dead by now. It's all your fault."

"Paula, you're a waste of space. Why don't you just die?"

Paula crossed her arms and laughed coldly, "Shirley, I'll die after you. How could I die before you?"

Their mother sobbed on the floor, "Is this still a family? You come back and start fighting. What do you want?"

"Paula, you've made so much money over the years. Why didn't you ever send any to me and Paula?"