As the situation unfolded, a growing crowd of curious onlookers, comprised mainly of community residents, began to gather. Ariana's anxiety swelled, and she didn't mince words. She confronted the property manager directly, her voice laced with urgency.

“What's the meaning of pressing issues? Valuables have vanished from my house! If you continue obstructing access to the surveillance footage, I'll be left with no recourse but to summon the authorities and let them take it from here."

Then, she feigned dialing the police.

Quickly, the property manager interceded, “Wait, hold on. It's not that we're barring you from the surveillance footage. The stark truth is that our community's surveillance system has been on the fritz for years, rendering it inaccessible."

This revelation drew a chorus of criticism from the onlookers.

"What? Have you let the surveillance system languish for years? What have you been doing with the hefty property fees we've been forking over?"

"That's a valid point. What about our safety? It's Miss Edwards today, but who knows who'll be next? Can you shoulder that responsibility?"

The property manager hurriedly tried to appease the angry crowd, asserting, "Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, we'll take immediate steps to rectify the camera system. We give you our solemn word."

As the commotion continued, Ariana's hopes dwindled.

However, she noticed the nearby security guard and clung to a sliver of hope. She inquired tentatively, “Pardon me, but before my unfortunate incident, did you happen to spot a tall gentleman entering that building?"

"No." The security showed certainty on his expression and said firmly, "I've been here all along keeping an eye out for anything. During this whole time, you were the only one who came in and out."

Upon hearing the security guard's response, the spark of hope that Ariana had been holding in her heart was completely extinguished. She lowered her head and managed to utter a feeble thank you. A self-deprecating smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She realized that she had let her longing and imagination get the best of her, making her believe that it might have been Theodore who had come back.

She turned around and walked out of the building in disappointment.

Watching her leave, a sense of guilt crept over the security guard.

In reality, he took a short break from his work earlier in the morning, so he hadn't seen anything. But when Ariana asked him about it, the manager had been standing right next to him, so he couldn't tell her the truth and lied.

Later that night, Holden was spending time with Adele in the room.

The girl sat on the bed, engrossed in looking at picture books. As he observed his daughter, Holden couldn't help but think of Melon, and then his thoughts wandered to the images of Ariana.

The thought of her made him restless, and he felt the urge to call her. Hearing her voice could calm his mind.

He picked up his phone, ready to dial Ariana's number, but he stopped midway, thinking that he might disturb her. In the end, he decided to send her a message first. But to his surprise, as soon as the message was sent, the notification of being blocked by the other end popped up on his screen.

Holden was momentarily stunned. He told himself that there might be an issue with the messaging app. He exited the app and sent another message to Ariana, but he received the same result-the notification indicating that he had been blocked.