Destroyed Us for Your Bastard? Say Hi to Your Cellmate, Ex! - Chapter 48: Chapter 48

In the empty hospital room, the smell of disinfectant still lingered.
Mr. Morrison stared at the neatly made bed, his expression gradually darkening, the gift box in his hand slightly deformed from his tight grip.
"Where is she?" His voice was low but couldn't hide his anger. "She was supposed to wait for us to pick her up. How dare she leave on her own?"
Mrs. Morrison stood nearby, frowning: "Perhaps... Quinn was afraid of troubling us and went home by herself?"
Richard didn't respond. He turned to the nurse beside him, his voice hard: "Where did Quinn go?"
The nurse, intimidated by his piercing gaze, stammered: "M-Miss Quinn processed her own discharge papers... she didn't say anything..."
He took out his phone and dialed Quinn's number, but only heard an automated message.
"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."
Once, twice, three times.
Still no answer.
Forcibly suppressing the uneasiness rising within him, he stared darkly at his phone, unconsciously muttering: "She must have gone home by herself to avoid troubling us. She passed our test and cares so much about us—how could she possibly disobey us?"
"Let's go home. She must be waiting for us there!"
Mr. and Mrs. Morrison exchanged glances before hurrying after Richard as he strode away.
The three rushed back to the Morrison estate. Upon entering, Mrs. Morrison called out: "Quinn? Are you home?"
Only hollow echoes answered her.
A servant hurried over, cautiously explaining: "Ma'am, Miss Quinn did come back, but she only took some things and left... We didn't stop her since she didn't take anything valuable."
"What things?" Richard's eyes flashed, his voice suddenly rising.
The servant flinched: "J-just some old clothes and books, and a backpack..."
Richard violently pushed open the door to Quinn's storage room, the door slamming against the wall with a loud bang.
Inside, only a worn sheet remained on the simple wooden bed. The drawers and cabinets had been emptied, even the accounting notebook she used for her part-time jobs was gone.
A sense of foreboding spread among them.
"What does this mean? We went to great lengths to cultivate her, and now she wants to leave us?" Mr. Morrison's chest heaved with anger. "Perhaps our testing wasn't thorough enough!"
"Cultivate?" Richard suddenly gave a cold laugh, his rising tone revealing his suppressed anger. "The abuse, the neglect, the so-called tests—you call that cultivation?"
Mrs. Morrison's face stiffened, but she still coldly retorted: "We did it all for her own good! She needed to learn to be strong to survive in high society..."
Mr. Morrison, stung by the accusation, pointed angrily at Richard: "Stop pretending to be the good guy! You proposed the experiment plan, and you personally arranged those 'tests'! Now that she's gone, you're shifting blame? When we first told you about this experiment, you never said a word in her defense!"
Richard's jaw tightened, but he offered no rebuttal.
He strode to the study, turned on the computer, and pulled up the mansion's security footage.
On screen, Quinn dragged her weakened body out the main gate, carrying a bulging backpack. Her steps were slow but remarkably determined—she never once looked back.
Mrs. Morrison suddenly covered her face, her shoulders trembling slightly: "Did we... make a mistake?"
No one answered.
Richard walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. The dusk outside was as heavy as his churning thoughts.
He suddenly remembered Quinn's pale face when tied to the target, the image of her trembling as she curled up in the stables, her silent profile as she knelt picking up money...
Those scenes once seemed boring to him, but now they felt like fine needles, making his breath catch.
"What do we do now?" Mr. Morrison paced anxiously. "The experiment had just ended. We had finally accepted her. How could she be so inconsiderate, leaving without a word!"
"Find her," Richard turned to look at the frail figure on the monitor. "Our immediate priority is to bring her back. Once we explain everything and tell her the experiment is over, she'll surely return obediently!"