---- Chapter 17 She lightly shook her head, seemingly very disdainful of Mike's actions, and then said, "Melanie transferred schools a long time ago. According to her mother, she plans to settle abroad. I think she left about a week ago, and there's been no trace of her since." Mike was struck like a bolt from the blue, his entire body frozen in place, as though his feet were nailed to the ground, unable to move. He widened his eyes, disbelief written all over his face, and his voice trembled as he blurted out, "What? Settling abroad?" His body shook slightly, as if being pulled by an invisible force. "This... this can't be possible." In the depths of his memory, for all these years, Shannon had been like a resilient reed, always rooted in their domestic villa, quietly waiting for him. Even though he had been abroad for three years, just because he told her not to come find him, Shannon had obediently stayed in place, never stepping outside ---- the country. She had struggled alone, raising their daughter in difficult circumstances. As he thought back on all the details, Mike couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness in his heart. How many times had he been too afraid to think about how Shannon, a fragile woman, had managed to raise Melanie with such determination? But at that time, he had been blinded by his own obsession. Whenever he thought of that night of madness, he stubbornly believed that Shannon was the cause of everything. He always felt that such a "punishment" was still not enough and thought he had to find other ways to continue tormenting her, proving that she loved him wholeheartedly. However, at that moment, his heart was filled with a kind of regret he had never experienced before, like a surging tide, completely drowning him. ---- Mike seemed to have gone mad. He reached out to people everywhere, using all his connections, shouting hoarsely, "I need to find my wife and daughter!" For these past few days, he had locked himself in the home that had once been full of laughter, not leaving at all. Since returning to the country, the warm memories of the past had continuously flashed through his mind, like a revolving lantern. At that time, Shannon would always carefully iron each of his suits, making sure they were perfectly neat. Every corner of the house was spotless, cleaned without a speck of dust. The laughter of Shannon and Melanie, like the clear sound of birds singing, would always echo through every corner of the villa, filling the space with life and vitality. But now, everything had changed. The villa was eerily empty, suffocatingly silent. Every