My Child and I Married a Billionaire

Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Changing Clothes, Please Get Out

"Miss Morgan!"

Ryan, terrified, quickly cut Gwen Morgan off.

He hadn’t expected her to bring up the news of Cecelia Archer’s death at a time like this.

President Vaughn was already weak enough. She shouldn’t be dealing him another blow right now!

But the words were already out.

Gwen Morgan stared intently at Damien Vaughn, looking like a loyal general righteously marching to her death.

"Do you think you should be looking at me like that? Do you think I’m wrong? She’s the murderer who harmed your mother. She’s your enemy! Are you still going to feel sorry for her death? Are you planning to go looking for her? Give her a grand funeral? Are you going to blame me?"

"Damien, what on earth is going on in that head of yours? Have you lost all sense of right and wrong? Don’t you understand basic morality anymore?"

Damien Vaughn didn’t answer her.

He stared at Gwen Morgan for a long time, the shock, pain, and anger in his eyes as clear as a raging inferno, burning his eyes red.

Ryan couldn’t even bear to look at him.

In the past, President Vaughn had always been proud and cold, but he was like a fully armored general—so far above everyone, so invincible. Nothing could hurt him. But now...

"Is it true, Ryan?"

Ryan: "..."

He didn’t say it outright, but his hesitation said it all.

Time seemed to stand still. Damien Vaughn had become a statue.

Ryan didn’t dare look at him, but he was afraid the anger would cause him to collapse.

"Since it’s already happened, President Vaughn, maybe... maybe..."

He didn’t know what to suggest.

He wanted so badly to comfort Damien Vaughn, but when the words reached his lips, he found they were all pale and meaningless.

After an unknown period of silence, Damien Vaughn didn’t lash out at Gwen Morgan, nor did he fly into a rage at Ryan. He quietly threw back the covers, as if he were about to go to the office, and spoke to Ryan in a calm, composed voice.

"Get my clothes."

"President Vaughn..."

Ryan didn’t know what he was planning to do and pleaded with a pitiful expression.

"You’re not well. The doctor said you shouldn’t be up and walking around."

"I’m going to change. Could you please step out?"

As if he hadn’t heard Ryan, Damien Vaughn got out of bed, put on his shoes, and spoke calmly to Gwen Morgan.

Gwen Morgan was speechless. She had said and done everything she could. If he insisted on being so stubborn, then she’d let his grandfather condemn him!

She left the hospital room with a resentful expression.

Seeing Ryan still standing there, stunned, Damien Vaughn repeated himself.

"My clothes?"

Ryan had no choice but to bring him his clothes. Damien Vaughn took off the hospital gown right in front of him.

His body was tall and well-built, but his fingers trembled slightly as he dressed. Heaven only knew if his heart was already riddled with holes.

Once changed, he was once again the distinguished, polished business elite.

"Where did the incident with Cecelia Archer happen? I’m going to see for myself."

’I don’t believe Cecelia Archer is dead. I don’t believe she’d commit suicide out of guilt. I don’t believe any of this is real, not unless I see it with my own eyes.’

Ryan knew he couldn’t stop him, so he could only tell him the truth.

"Central Hospital. But it’s been several hours. The body has probably already been..."

"Drive."

Damien Vaughn walked out of the room ahead of him.

The ride was silent. Ryan drove to Central Hospital, found the person on duty at the morgue, and after a brief conversation, the man came over to Damien Vaughn.

"I’m sorry, President Vaughn. Per hospital procedure, the body was taken to the funeral home for cremation and then handed over to the police officer who brought her in."

It was a done deal.

He couldn’t even see her body.

As if the reality of it all was finally sinking in, Damien Vaughn didn’t say a word. He silently sat down on a metal chair in the hospital corridor.

Ryan didn’t dare to speak, simply keeping him company in silence.

The hospital was quiet and eerie in the early morning hours, but Damien Vaughn paid it no mind. He sat there until the sky began to lighten, only standing up when his body seemed to finally give out.

"Where’s Candy?"

Ryan knew it. The moment Damien calmed down, he was bound to ask about Candy. Every muscle in Ryan’s body tensed up again.

"After the incident, the Old Master had someone send Candy to an orphanage. I went looking for her afterward, but I couldn’t find her."

Couldn’t find her?

A flicker of anger appeared on Damien Vaughn’s pale face.

"What do you mean you couldn’t find her? How can a person just vanish into thin air?"

Ryan’s voice was strained as he spoke.

"The orphanage staff said she was picked up by a man claiming to be her uncle. Candy had just arrived, so the paperwork wasn’t even processed yet. The man who picked her up had identification, so they had no reason not to release her."

So her uncle picked her up.

Damien Vaughn had almost forgotten she had an uncle. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"You don’t know her uncle? Go, tell him to bring her to me right now."

Ryan was on the verge of tears.

"The first thing I did after leaving the orphanage was go to her uncle’s house, but he knew nothing about what’s happened these past two days. Candy..."

Damien Vaughn’s anger flared up again, and he struggled to suppress it.

"So what are you trying to say?"

"I’m sorry, President Vaughn! It’s my failure! Candy is..."

Furious, Damien Vaughn closed his eyes, taking several seconds to compose himself before speaking again.

"You know I don’t like to hear this, Ryan. Find her. Now. I want to see her by noon today at the latest."

Ryan’s knees went weak. He looked at him, trembling.

"I’ve already looked... I went straight back to the orphanage from her uncle’s house, but it’s a tiny place with poor facilities. There are no cameras inside, and the ones on the road outside have been broken for a long time. There’s no way to check."

"The nearest intersection is over a hundred meters away. The place is bustling with people, and thousands of cars pass by every day. I really..."

CRACK! Damien Vaughn slammed his fist into the corridor wall.

He couldn’t believe something so bizarre could happen. He couldn’t believe that just two days after leaving Cecelia Archer, things could have gotten this bad! He couldn’t believe Candy had just vanished!

Candy was the only thing that could give him any comfort now. He had to find her!

"President Vaughn..."

He had used too much force. A trickle of dark red blood instantly ran down the wall. The sheer violence radiating from him was terrifying Ryan to death.

Fortunately, Damien Vaughn reined in his temper after that one punch.

"Where is the orphanage? I’ll go look myself."

With that, he turned and started to walk out.

’It’s after two in the morning, and he wants to go to the orphanage...’

But Ryan followed him anyway.

But unexpectedly, they had gone less than five meters when they came face-to-face with the Old Master, who had come looking for them.

The Old Master was in a wheelchair, with Gwen Morgan, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and two doctors standing behind him.

Their eyes met. Damien Vaughn knew the Old Master was there for him, but he didn’t speak. His face grim, he paused for a moment before trying to continue on, only to be stopped by the Old Master’s roar.

"Stop! Do you think I’m already dead, Damien Vaughn? Are you deliberately trying to anger me to death?"

"If you dare leave here today, I will disown you as my grandson!"

Damien Vaughn’s steps faltered. After the Old Master delivered his threat, everyone thought he would back down. Instead, without giving the Old Master so much as another glance, he resolutely turned to leave again. The Old Master was so enraged that he clutched his chest and started coughing.

"COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH... You wretched boy! What sins did the Vaughn Family commit to deserve this!"

"What are you all standing around for? Seize him!"