Chapter 39  My mom had this look of annoyance on her face as she whispered, “Look at all these quests here. We can’t just ignore them because of one person. The snowstorm tonight might’ve delayed her flight. Let’s just save her a slice of cake”  “Grandma, maybe Amanda wasn’t planning on coming back at all,” my older brother added.  Everyone was urging Grandma to go ahead and cut the cake, completely missing the sadness creeping into her eyes.  “Amanda promised me she’d be here on time. She never breaks her promises. Something must’ve happened. We can’t get through to her phone. Did anyone check Cloudville?”  My parents exchanged awkward glances, clearly feeling uncomfortable. They hadn’t even thought about looking for me. I always came back after cooling off in the past.  “If she decided to vanish on her own, searching for her would only encourage her behavior, wouldn’t it? if she decides to turn off her  hone and fly off every time she’s upset, how are we supposed to find her?”  “Exactly, she’s grown and can take care of herself. She’ll come back when she’s had her fill of fun.”  Grandma heard her family’s indifferent words and felt a chill in her heart. Over the years, I rarely complained to her. She only heard bits and pieces from the staff and other people. It wasn’t until she saw how my family treated me that she realized how tough things had been for me  “You are so heartless. She’s your daughter, and she’s been missing for days. Not one of you cares…” Grandma was so upset she could hardly breathe.  “Grandma, I found out where Amanda is!” Nicole shouted, waving her phone and capturing everyone’s attention.  “Where?” Grandma paused her scolding to take Nicole’s phone.  The screen showed a nightclub video in which a woman who looked a lot like me was dancing energetically with a guy  The woman was scantily dressed, dancing provocatively.  The dim lighting and side view made it hard to tell for sure, but when Nicole claimed it was me, everyone quickly jumped to conclusions.  “I stumbled across this on a friend’s social media from Cloudville. She’s partying at a bar. She probably forgot about your birthday. No wonder she got her gift ready early. She never planned to come back!”  Grandma’s eyesight was not quite what it used to be, but she refused to believe it was me. She asked a servant to bring her reading glasses for a better look.  Chase’s face was like a block of ice as he watched the video repeatedly, his eyes fixed on a black mole above the woman’s chest, a more telling feature than her face.  Grandma, with her reading glasses, scrutinized the video. “I don’t think this is Amanda. The lighting is so bad, you can’t tell if it’s her or  ΠΟΥ  “Grandma, stop making excuses for her. She’s always been like this and always mixed up with men. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want to upset Chase. This time, she left using Chase’s elopement as an excuse. Whether she did it to get back at him or because she had someone else, who knows?”  “You li  little brat. How dare you badmouth Amanda over one video, you  Before Grandma could keep defending me, Chase coldly said, “It’s Amanda. I’m sure of it.”  His words caused a buzz among everyone present. He was my husband, so if even he confirmed it, it seemed like the final word.  “So, there’s more to Mr. Reyes runaway story,”  “I always said that if Amanda was innocent, why would Mr. Reyes elope? Maybe she’d been cheating all along.”  “Poor Mr. Reyes.”  “Amanda has no shame. She goes on about being Chase’s childhood sweetheart. Maybe she’s been fooling around this whole time.”