Once the call ended, I turned to my mother-in-law.

"Emeline, Norris is your own grandson! How could you just let someone take him away?"

She glanced at me with annoyance.

"Hey, what do you mean 'someone'? Vivien is Norris's aunt. How can she be considered an outsider? With her around, how could anything possibly go wrong?"

I snorted in disbelief. On my way here, I had already called Frederic, and he was on his way back too.

From what Vivien had said, it was clear that Emeline had accepted money from someone.

"What exactly did Vivien take Norris for? Tell me right now!"

Emeline remained silent, which only made me more anxious.

"Sandi! Mom! What's going on? Where's Norris?"

Frederic hurried over, his voice full of worry.

Seeing my husband, I fought back the tears and shot a glance at Emeline.

"Ask your mother!"

As soon as Emeline saw Frederic, her expression instantly became aggrieved.

"Your sister was just trying to help me out, feeling sorry for how hard it is for me to look after Norris every day. She took him with her, and now Sandi is accusing me as if I've done something terrible!"

Frederic patted Emeline's shoulder, trying to soothe her.

"Sandi's just very worried. Norris is our son, your grandson, after all!"

Emeline continued to defend herself stubbornly.

"Well, Vivien is his aunt! How could she possibly harm him?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Frederic and his mother were acting as if I had wronged them all.

My patience was exhausted. I didn't want to argue with them anymore. I only wanted to find my son.

I pulled out my phone and replayed the video I had seen earlier.

Frederic tried to calm me down as he held onto my arm.

"Since we know Vivien has Norris, there's no need to be so anxious. They'll be back by tonight."

I shook him off, my voice trembling with frustration.

"I can't wait until tonight. You saw the video I sent you, and yet you're so calm! How can I have such a careless husband?"

I had already sent a private message to the video account holder under the pretense of being from Vivien's company, asking for the exact location.

Frederic's face went pale, and he stood there, unable to respond.

Emeline looked confused. "Video? What video?"

My phone pinged with a notification. I glanced at it, ignoring the two of them.

I had received the address. The most urgent thing now was to retrieve Norris.

Frederic drove while I navigated from the passenger seat.

The map indicated it would take us fifty minutes to get there.

I glanced at Frederic, my anger bubbling beneath the surface.

The drive was filled with silence.

As we arrived at our destination, I saw a large red balloon arch at the entrance.

It read: [Heartfelt congratulations on the first birthday of our beloved grandson!]

I stepped inside. The place was bustling, an old-style house lively with activity.

Dozens of banquet tables were set up on the lawn.

Nearby, sound equipment from Vivien's wedding planning company was in place.

She had organized our wedding too.

By the sound system sat a young man, engrossed in his phone.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Vivien."

He glanced up, then looked around.

"Vivien isn't here. You might want to check around back."

I thanked him and made my way to the rear of the house.

In the corner, there were three pull-up banners displaying photos of Norris.

Not far off, Vivien was conversing with another woman.

I hurried over and grabbed her by the arm.

"Vivien, where is Norris?"

Vivien looked at Frederic and me in surprise.

"Frederic? Sandi? What are you doing here?"

I tightened my grip on her arm and raised my voice.

"I asked you, where is Norris?!"

She winced, pulling away from me. "Why are you so worked up? You're hurting me!"

She gestured towards the house.

"Norris is inside. He's fine. I just checked on him; he's sound asleep."

Frederic asked quietly, "Vivien, why did you bring Norris here?"

Vivien glanced at me, hesitating before she spoke.

"This couple has been working out of town for many years. When they got married, they entrusted us with their wedding planning, but they never had any children.

"Now, as they're getting older, they wanted to have a celebration and collect some gifts, so they asked me if they could borrow a child for the event. Norris seemed like a perfect fit. It was just for the day, and I planned to bring him back after the dinner."

I was stunned. Vivien did such a thing just for money?

It was clear that Emeline knew about this and had even accepted the payment.

Norris, though usually well-behaved, was at an age where he was wary of strangers.

The thought of my son spending an entire day in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people made me furious.

My anger towards Vivien was beyond words.

All I wanted now was to get Norris out of there.

"Take me to Norris right now. I'm taking him home!"

Vivien quickly grabbed my arm, looking troubled.

"Sandi, I just checked on Norris. He's sleeping soundly, and dinner will be served soon. How about you and Frederic stay for dinner, and we'll leave right after?"

I shook her hand off, and said in a stern voice, "I’ll say it one more time! I want to see Norris now!"

Vivien stayed silent.

I turned and headed towards the house behind me.

Inside the house, there was a crowd of people, sitting in groups, munching on snacks and chatting with each other.

I scanned the room but saw no sign of Norris. I began searching room by room.

An old lady stood up and yelled at me, "Hey, who are you? You can't just barge into someone else's house!"

I ignored her, my anxiety growing as I realized Norris wasn't there.

Vivien and Frederic rushed after me.

"Sandi, Sandi! This is someone else's home! You can't do this!"

Vivien gestured to Frederic, signaling him to stop me.

"Vivien, is this how your company doing things? This is outrageous."

The old lady walked over, looking at us with a disapproving.

I grabbed her hand, and said coldly, "Where is my son? Where is he?"

The old lady glanced at Vivien, then at me, as if piecing things together.

Her eyes darted around as she replied defensively, "What are you talking about? How would I know where your son is? It's ridiculous that you come searching for your kid in my house."

Just then, a woman carrying a crying child came down the stairs.

Seeing the familiar outfit, I was almost in tears, and I broke free from Frederic's hold, rushing forward.

"Norris! Norris!"

The woman recoiled, clutching the child tightly, while the old lady stepped in front of her.

"What’s wrong with you? Where did this crazy woman come from?"

Vivien hurried to apologize, "I'm so sorry, so sorry. I'll take her out right away."

Frederic tried to pull me back.

"Sandi, Sandi, there are too many people here. Let's talk outside."

The crowd in the house started to gather around us, whispering.

I watched Norris, still asleep in the woman's arms, despite the noisy environment.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Frederic! Are you just going to stand there and watch your sister give our son away to strangers?"

As soon as I said that, the murmurs grew louder around us.

"I knew it! I never saw that woman pregnant, and now they have a kid who's already a year old?"

"I heard the couple had fertility issues. I thought they must have finally resolved it."

"I've heard of borrowing money or cars, but a child? That's a new one."

"Exactly. And now that you mention it, the kid doesn't even look like them!"

The whispers turned into a buzz of conversations. The old lady, getting angrier, glanced around and then at us.

Her eyes narrowed. She pointed at me and Vivien, and started to yell.

Your child? He's my grandson and I know it! You must be in on this together! What kind of mother lets her child stay with strangers all day? Everyone, help me get this shameless woman! She's here to steal a child!"

Her words made too much sense. The people around us started to eye us with suspicion.

Vivien quickly waved her hands.

"No, no! She's not a kidnapper. This is all a misunderstanding!"

"Then explain yourselves! Why did you try to snatch the child? The old lady is right. What mother would lend her child to strangers?"

"Yeah, exactly! You look decent enough, but you're involved in something so shady."

Seeing how the situation was escalating, I made a decision.