The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Anastasia's heart skipped a beat when she heard the sound and turned toward it. Around the corner, a little girl joyfully jumped into a woman's arms, shouting, "Mommy, I want some cake!" The woman smiled and said, "Alright, let's go get some."

Hand in hand, they walked away, their happiness piercing Anastasia's heart. Tears welled up in her eyes as she whispered to herself, "Pattie, where are you? Give mommy a sign." She felt like she was on the verge of breaking down.

Just then, a janitor came by pushing a cart. Anastasia pulled herself together and approached her, "Excuse me, ma'am, did you happen to see a little girl in a white princess dress, short hair, about five years old, three days ago during the wedding here?" Anastasia had asked almost every staff member in the hotel. She couldn't remember if she'd asked this janitor before.

The janitor, who looked to be in her fifties, thought for a moment and said, "I think I did. Was she the one with a butterfly clip in her hair, wearing a princess dress?"

"Yes, yes, that's her!" Anastasia asked eagerly, "Where did you see her? Where was the last place you spotted her?"

"Over there," the janitor pointed to the other end of the corridor. "I saw the little girl talking to a toy. Haven't seen her since."

The janitor had been cleaning and didn't pay much attention. After finishing her work that evening, she went home and took two days off, only returning to work today.

The reason the janitor remembered Pattie was because of a Peppa Pig toy the girl had been interested in-it caught her eye because her own granddaughter loved Peppa Pig too.

"A toy?" Anastasia was puzzled. "Which toy? What did she say? Where did the little girl go after that?"

"It was a Peppa Pig toy," the janitor explained. "I saw the child talking to it, but after that, I really didn't see her anymore."

A Peppa Pig toy...

Anastasia recalled the hotel's security footage she had seen earlier. She remembered spotting someone dressed as Peppa Pig.

"Thank you so much," Anastasia said, her excitement growing. She finally had a lead.

If she could find the person in the Peppa Pig costume, she might find Pattie.

Anastasia rushed to find the hotel manager, requesting to review the surveillance footage again.noveldrama

The owner of Elysian Technologies was not someone the hotel manager could afford to slight. He respectfully handed over the surveillance footage to Anastasia.

She watched the footage closely, spotting the person in the Peppa Pig costume in the banquet hall. However, the person was fully dressed in the costume, making it impossible to see who was underneath.

"Usually people wear these costumes for promotions," Anastasia inquired of the hotel manager. "Was there any other event at the hotel that day? Do you know who was wearing the costume?"

The manager glanced at the footage and shook his head. "I don't recognize them. There was no other event that day. Who wears a costume for no reason? Maybe it's a hobby?"

"Is there any way to find this person?" Anastasia asked. "Guests had to register to enter the wedding. There should be a record."

"Mrs. Salstrom, this is a difficult request. We don't even know what the person looks like; how can we find them? If someone wore it just for fun, it's even harder."

As Anastasia was reviewing the footage, Herman arrived.

He knew that Anastasia had been searching around the hotel for days. Seeing Herman, Anastasia spoke excitedly, "Herman, I've found a clue. It must have been this person who took Pattie. Look at this costume. You could easily hide a child inside and sneak them out. The police couldn't find any evidence of Pattie leaving the building, but this is it. The janitor said she saw Pattie talking to this person in the costume."

Herman's gaze was intense as he stared at the figure in the costume on the screen, then rewound the footage to watch it again carefully. "We can't rule out this possibility. I'll notify Jason to check the nearby surveillance cameras to see if they captured where this person went."