As Reyna retraced her steps, she kept a careful eye for the criminals.
She couldn’t let herself be caught off guard and captured, but it was strangely quiet to the point where she wondered if what happened earlier had been her imagination.
Were the criminals a figment of her active imagination?
No, there was no way she would come up with such an elaborate plot.
If she had, it would have involved her son being held hostage by these criminals looking to ransom him.
As soon as those thoughts crossed her mind, she paused.
A haunting realization struck her as she hadn’t considered this idea.
She had been so focused on the connection between her and her ex-husband that she hadn’t considered that the criminals might be situated outside of Harlow.
Maybe these criminals were the ones who had taken her son.
Reyna glanced back in the direction the criminals had disappeared to and considered following after them to confirm if her son was being held captive.
However, she quickly disregarded the idea.
There was no guarantee that her son was in these criminals’ hands.
If she recklessly investigated and got caught only to find out her son wasn’t there, then she would have wasted all those efforts for nothing.
Besides, these criminals didn’t seem to be the type to kidnap children to ransom based on the vulgar words she heard them speaking.
She was pretty certain that their targets were a different demographic entirely, meaning her son was being held by a different group of criminals.
However, the thought kept bothering her with every step she took, and she considered coming back once she got ample help.
By ample help, she meant asking Brixton for help since he was the only person she could rely on while in the kingdom.
She felt slightly guilty for asking so much from him, but he did volunteer his services, and he did seem to care deeply about her son.
She soon spotted the exit and hurried towards it, ignoring how the trees and bushes scratched her again.
Once she was on the other side, she took a moment to catch her breath and thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t been caught by the criminals.
If she weren’t in such a questionable position herself, she would have definitely gone to the authorities to report what she heard.
Criminals like that shouldn’t be allowed to roam free and harm innocent people.
However, she was and couldn’t risk attracting unwanted attention onto herself.
She had to put her son first.
Reyna headed back towards the town, bumping into the same kid as before.
Upon seeing the familiar child, she frowned.
The child seemed shocked to see her and blurted out, “You’re back?” Her expression hardened as his words solidified her opinion of him.
The kid had to definitely be in cahoots with the criminals.
If she wasn’t careful, he would report back what he saw, and she might have criminals coming after her.
“What is it to you?” she snapped, feeling slightly guilty for shouting at a child.
He flinched before saying, “N-nothing.
I just can’t believe you came out of the forest.
Did you get lost or something?” She immediately latched onto his suggestion and said, “In fact, I did.
I didn’t expect to come back out the way I came.
The forest is far too confusing to stroll through.” The kid gave her a strange look as he muttered, “Stroll?” “Now out of my way, I need to get going,” she said, marching past him.
He looked like he wanted to say something more, but in the end, he chose to remain silent and watch her figure disappear.
She kept glancing back as discretely as she could to confirm his actions until she could no longer see him.
Once he was out of sight, she let out a long sigh.
Even if he was a criminal, he was just a child who probably joined a life of crime out of necessity.
Reyna was fortunate enough to have a family even if they didn’t seem to like her very much.
They had put a roof over her head and made sure she had the bare minimum, which couldn’t be said for some people.
When she approached one of the gates, she was stopped by one of the guards who asked, “Papers?” She pulled out the fake documents and showed them to the guards.
Once the guards looked the documents over, they let her pass through without a second look.
Now that she was back inside the town, she had to consider her next course of action.
Contacting Brixton was the first thought to come to mind, but would he be able to help her?
They had agreed to go their separate ways after they shook off surveillance, though he did say she could contact him if she needed any help.
The problem was whether or not he was available to help her right away.
They had only been separated for a couple of hours, but it was possible that he was in the middle of his errand and couldn’t come back.
If that was the case, she would either have to wait until he was available or go ahead on her own.
He did leave her some money to use in case she needed it so she could pay for the fare to travel the proper route without needing to contact him.
As she was considering her options, something crashed into her back.
She stumbled forward and nearly fell face-first before catching herself.
Reyna glanced back to see it was another child sitting on its butt.
The child stared at her with watery eyes before bursting into tears, their high-pitched wails drawing nearby people’s attention.
Her first instinct was to rush over to check the child’s injuries, but she held back.
She didn’t want to cause the child more distress.
Their parents should be nearby considering how they were dressed.
As expected, someone rushed over saying, “I’m so sorry.
They didn’t mean to bump into you.
You’re not hurt, are you?” Reyna waved their concern away as she said, “I’m fine, but I think you should check on your child first.” The man bent down to pick up the crying child as he spoke soothing words to them.
Eventually, the child quieted down, clinging to their father.
The sight made her heart clench as she thought of her own son, who never knew his father.
Phoenix deserved a complete family, but Grey had ruined it.
Now her son was in danger, and it had to be because of him.
Her hands curled into fists as she bitterly wished Phoenix’s father had been someone else.
Someone kinder and more thoughtful.
Then maybe he wouldn’t be in danger and could have someone to look up to.
She shook her head of those thoughts before leaving to go on her way.
Reyna traveled the streets, debating whether to contact Brixton or just going ahead and grabbing a taxi to take the proper route to Harlow.
After thinking it over, she decided to give him a heads-up just in case and dialed his number.
The phone barely rang before it was instantly picked up, and a familiar voice said, “Hello?”