Chapter 434

She turned around and headed deeper into the villa, leaving Cedrick to handle the guests.

When Cedrick saw the censure in her eyes, his heart clenched slightly. He temporarily left the party to Nico to follow her into the villa.

Two exquisite and adorable cribs were set up in the nursery on the third floor. One was pink, while the other was blue.

Gwendolyn closed the distance and saw the pink crib was empty. Zendaya was nowhere in sight, and Zoey was gone too.

Only Benedict was lying quietly in the blue crib.

Gwendolyn gasped in shock as a sense of uneasiness rose within her.

She whirled around to go in search but ran into Cedrick, who was behind her. Fisting his collar, she interrogated, “Cedrick, where’s Zendy?”

Cedrick was stunned by her question. “She had just fallen asleep when I left the room earlier. Calm down, Gwenny.”

The rim of her eyes turned red as her grip on his collar tightened. With a fierce glare, she threatened, “Cedrick Jenson, you’re as good as dead if my baby went missing because of you!”

All the blood drained from his face as the gravity of the situation dawned upon him.

It had been so long since she looked at me with such a fierce expression.

While he was rooted in place from the shock, Gwendolyn released his collar and raced out of the room.

He hurriedly followed after her.

She searched every bedroom on the same floor, the bathroom, and the kitchen but still couldn’t find Zoey.

The anxiety within her grew as she rushed out of the villa and ran into Elven and Ezra. She then ordered them to keep an eye on the front and back doors and to momentarily stop anyone from leaving the house.

Her heart and body shook like a leaf from the horrible thoughts flashing across her mind. At that moment, she had the urge to run upstage and snatch the microphone to threaten those with bad intentions.

Cedrick immediately grabbed her wrist, stopping her from acting on her whims.

“Calm down, Gwenny! Don’t announce it to the audience yet, and let me handle this.”

She tore her wrist away from his grip, disbelief written across her face. “Cedrick, someone might have tried to kidnap her amid the chaos! Kidnapping cases like this are common among the rich. Zendy’s also your baby, so how can you be so calm when she’s missing?”

The corners of his eyes were red from worry, but he still stepped in front of her to stop her. “Gwenny, you’re too sensitive about this that you’re running around the whole place like a headless chicken.

Acting mindlessly with a panicked mindset isn’t going to get you any closer to finding her. Trust me on this and leave it to me!”

Gwendolyn stayed silent, and Cedrick took it as her acquiescence.

First, he had Nico continue entertaining the guests in the garden as though nothing had happened.

Then, he asked Elven if any guests had been acting suspiciously when leaving the party.

When the answer was negative, he had Neville and Swain discreetly search the grounds of Harrick Villa for the missing baby.

Ten minutes later, Neville found Zoey holding Zendaya in a quiet corner of the villa’s backyard.

Gwendolyn and Cedrick instantly rushed over there.

Seeing the anxious expressions on their faces, Zoey was confused. “Mr. and Mrs. Jenson, did something happen? Why do you look so worried?”

Gwendolyn stepped up to interrogate Zoey, but Cedrick stopped her.

With a calm tone, he asked, “Why did you bring the baby to the backyard, Mdm. Yarde?”

Zoey explained, “Zendy woke up the minute you left the room, Mr. Jenson. She was babbling and making a lot of noise. I was worried she would wake Benny up, so I brought her here to the quiet backyard to look at the colorful lights, hoping to coax her to sleep. She’d just fallen asleep, and I was about to carry her back to the nursery when you all arrived.”

Relief washed over Gwendolyn at Zoey’s explanation. She inched closer to study the baby in the nanny’s arms and confirmed it was indeed a soundly asleep Zendaya by the silver bracelet on the baby’s wrist. The accessory was a gift from her with Zendaya’s name carved on it.

At that moment, Gwendolyn’s unease finally ebbed.

Cedrick smiled slightly and consoled her, “I told you. You were just too nervous.”

Knowing a multitude of guests would attend the baby shower that night, Cedrick and Gwendolyn had assigned security guards to stand guard at the front and back doors. They had done everything they could’ve done to enhance security.

However, Gwendolyn was still paranoid about the babies’ safety and insisted on having two guards watching the exits. She could only feel at ease when the security detail doubled.

Cedrick figured she was acting way too protective of the babies.

She shot a cold glare at him for his light tone and went up to Zoey, reaching for Zendaya without saying anything to him. After that, she personally brought the baby back to the nursery.

Dread washed over Cedrick as he watched her leave.

Judging from the cold shoulder, I think Gwenny is mad. I hope she won’t chase me out of the room and make me sleep elsewhere tonight.

It was the middle of the night, and the bustling baby shower had finally come to an end.

The entire Harrick Villa was silent, giving others an image as if everything was peaceful.

However, the yellowish glow of the bedside lamp on the third-floor bedroom was still illuminating the room.

Cedrick knelt on Lego pieces by the bed with sweat dotting his forehead. His body was swaying slightly from enduring the pain.

He had indeed been half right. Gwendolyn was mad, though thankfully, she didn’t chase him out of the bedroom. Instead, her punishment for him was to kneel on Lego pieces.

The thing was she didn’t tell him when he could get up.

After being together for so long, the usual punishments were nothing more than jokes and pranks. They were never that serious.

It was the first time Cedrick suffered kneeling on Lego pieces for over two hours.

The pain in his knees had spread to his bones. Gwendolyn’s expression was icy as she leaned against the headboard.

Clenching his teeth, he reached to hold the bed with one of his hands, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. “Darling,” he called out softly.

However, she ignored him.

His restless hand secretly snuck underneath the covers and poked her warm sole. “Look at me, Darling,” he pleaded in a pitiful tone.

Only then did she set down her phone and gave him her attention. With a stern look, she asked, “Didn’t I tell you to watch the babies? Why did you leave?”

The grievance in Cedrick grew. “That’s because I felt bad for you. You’ve only just ended your confinement, and immediately you dived into making the arrangements for this party. We’re a married couple. I just wanted to share your burden and help you. Mdm. Yarde was watching the babies anyway, and we’d already set up every preventive measure we could think of, so I was confident nothing would happen to them.”

“Nothing would happen?” Gwendolyn sneered, “Nothing happened this time, but what about the next?

How many times can we risk their safety, Cedrick? The person I trusted the most in the entire Harrick Villa was you. I trusted you to look after them, yet you ran from your responsibilities and nearly caused a disaster. Do you still think your actions were right?”

Disappointment filled her. She even thought he didn’t care about the babies.

He wasn’t even nervous when Zendy was missing and could still give plausible theories.

The more she thought about it, the more her anger grew. Reaching for the ruler in the drawer, she sat cross-legged on the bed and demanded, “Stretch out your palm.”

Cedrick fell silent.

Gwenny stopped punishing me ever since Mdm. Yarde came into our employment. From the look on her face, it seems like I won’t be getting off lightly tonight.

He didn’t move, still holding onto a sliver of hope that she would let him off. “It’s already late, Gwenny.

The sound of the ruler hitting flesh will echo loudly across the villa. Others might hear it.”

Naturally, he was referring to Zoey, who had fallen asleep in the nursery.

Gwendolyn wasn’t fazed. “So what if she hears it? You did something wrong today, so you’re being punished. Who else dares to criticize me?”

Cedrick was rendered speechless by her comment.

Gwendolyn didn’t want to waste her breath arguing with him any longer and needed to teach him a lesson. “Hurry up and give me your hand!”

It had been too long since he was last punished, so for once, he resisted her for the second time.

Keeping his hands by his side, he looked into her eyes and said, “Can you give me another chance to explain, Darling? Please?”