A Journey from Bitterness to Truth (Matilda and Yvan) novel Chapter 289

The stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve promised a sleepless night.

Matilda retreated to her bed and wept for a long while, shedding tears for twenty-five years of grievances, pent-up frustrations, and resentments. It was time to let go.

Next time we meet, I’ll be all smiles and wit, untroubled.

She tossed and turned deep into the night, and Adrian, in the room next door, did the same. They both rose the next day with dark circles under their eyes.

Passing by Orson's room on her way to work, Matilda knocked on the door, "Don't forget to get up for work." Silence answered her.

The gaming studio didn't take New Year's Day off. With students gaming more over the holiday, they needed to be on hand to maintain the servers.

Arriving at the office, Baxter handed out bags of snacks to everyone with a grin. Matilda jumped, "What's this for?"

"It's a taste of childhood."

Baxter cracked open a box of snacks, "Happy New Year, Matilda."

"Happy New Year," Matilda replied with a smile, greeting each coworker with a nod. Following the unspoken office tradition, they exchanged various flavors of instant coffee before settling into their workstations for a new round of coding and designing.

They waited a long time that day, but Orson never showed up for work.

"It's strange," muttered Luna. "Orson might run late, but skipping work isn't like him."

"Could something have happened?"

Yoshi started dialing Orson's number, but after several attempts, there was no response.

"He can't be in trouble; he was sleeping soundly at my place," Matilda pondered. "Maybe he forgot to request time off for something."

"Possibly."

With that, Hala paused her work, "Does anyone have another way to contact Orson? Let's all check."

Matilda searched and realized that aside from Orson's name on WhatsApp, she had no other way to reach him.

She felt too insignificant to stand against the powerful elite of the society. Frozen in place, she was snapped out of her daze when Adrian, her neighbor, came by after work and saw her front door ajar. He found Matilda looking despondent on the sofa.

"What's wrong?" Adrian said, startled.

Matilda looked up abruptly, murmuring to Adrian in a trance, "Logan and Orson are gone."

Adrian's heart skipped a beat. Orson missing wasn't a crisis, but Logan—a kid—missing was serious business!

He scooped up Matilda, "Don't panic. Let's check the building's surveillance cameras. I'll help you look for them."

Stumbling out the door with Adrian, they encountered the security guard downstairs, who remembered them well. They were the same pair who had set off fireworks in the middle of the night last New Year's Eve!

The youth sure knew how to live it up!

"What's the trouble now?" asked the security guard with a mix of curiosity and concern.