Chapter 764

Chapter 764:

“Guess who I ran into today?” Hadley narrowed her eyes, a teasing lilt in her voice.

“Who?” Eric furrowed his brows, genuinely puzzled.

Hadley scoffed, her arms folding across her chest. “Oh, drop the act.”

“What?” Eric ran a hand through his hair. “You’re here as a mentor for the show, right? So… let me guess. Linda?”

Hadley arched a brow, her silence speaking louder than words.

“I swear, I had no idea!” Eric protested. “East Entertainment Media—it was Ernest’s creation, built for Linda. Now that he’s awake, of course, he’s looking after her career again. You have to believe me…”

Hadley neither confirmed nor denied whether she believed him. Her phone buzzed in her hand.

That unknown caller ID again.

She drew in a breath before answering. “Who is this?”

“Hadley!” A flustered female voice sounded—it was Elissa.

“Elissa?”

Hadley’s eyes widened in surprise, a rush of warmth filling her chest. It had been so long since she’d last seen or heard from Elissa—ever since she was discharged from the hospital. “How are you now?” Hadley asked eagerly. “Is your eyesight—”

Before she could finish, another voice cut through the line, sharp and impatient.

“What do you think you’re doing, Miss Holland?”

A small, startled gasp escaped Elissa—then the call abruptly ended. “Elissa? Elissa?” Hadley called out, but the only response was the empty dial tone.

Th3n r34d th3 l3g1t v3rs10n: g4ln0v3ls.c0m.

She stared at her phone, bewildered. What just happened? Elissa had reached out—yet barely spoken. The entire call had ended in mere seconds.

Hadley’s grip on her phone tightened, a deep frown etching across her face. Something was definitely wrong.

“Is everything okay?” Eric didn’t have much interest in Elissa’s affairs, but he couldn’t ignore the worry etched on Hadley’s face. “Is your friend in trouble?”

Hadley looked up, her brows still knitted in concern. For a fleeting moment, she hesitated. Maybe it was because Eric was the only one here. Maybe it was because, despite everything, he had been showing her unexpected kindness lately. Or maybe—without realizing it—she had started seeing him as someone she could turn to.

Without second-guessing herself, she blurted out, “Can you trace a number?” She unlocked her phone, quickly scrolling to the call log before showing him. “Elissa just called me, but her number was blocked.”

Eric glanced at the screen, then at Hadley, his expression questioning. “Didn’t you recognize her voice? So, it should be her number, right?”

“Indeed,” Hadley replied, gripping her phone a little tighter. “But something doesn’t feel right. I mean, I have her number saved, so why would it be an unknown number? I have a bad feeling… I think something’s happened to her.”

Eric’s brows furrowed slightly. “Why do you say that?” He knew a bit about Elissa’s situation. “Didn’t her grandfather take her in? Shouldn’t she be safe with him?”

Hadley’s expression darkened.

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