Win My Husband Over to Find My Child
Chapter 77: Her Disappointment Wouldn’t Douse Her Hope

Chapter 77: Her Disappointment Wouldn’t Douse Her Hope

’Mimo... can you come here? I got information about the orphans named Calliope.’

Even though Calix had left the lounge, the distraught Leslie still communicated with Mimo through telepathy. Her fingertips on the file trembled, spreading shiver to her entire body.

|I’ll go there!|

As soon as Mimo said that, it materialized in front of Leslie. The crochet red fox toy hovered in the air before landing on the couch next to her.

Leslie breathed out in relief. Mimo’s appearance helped to ease a small part of her anxious heart. Taking the fox toy, she put it on her lap facing the open file.

"Mimo, this is it," Leslie’s index finger traced the first page of the bundle. A photo of a girl named Calliope was printed together with her information, "Didn’t you say I can feel which one is Poppy... even through photos?"

Leslie still remembered what Mimo told her before. Like her, Calliope would have a different physical appearance despite having the same name.

|Yes, you’ll feel it. It’ll be like ’Ah! This is her!’. Leslie, let’s take our time looking at this. Don’t worry ah, we’ll find Poppy.|

Mimo sounded as cheery and optimistic as always as it coaxed Leslie. Hearing its earnest reassurance, her lips curled into a smile.

"Okay. Let’s look at this."

Leslie glanced at the clock. The needles were pointing to a quarter to eleven. She couldn’t help but wonder when would she finish going through this file.

With Mimo accompanying her, Leslie slowly opened from one page to the other. Her eyes were drawn to the photos first before reading the details that came with them.

All of these little girls named Calliope ended up under the orphanages’ care due to various reasons. The same thing went for every child living there.

Abandonment by their families, poverty, victims of physical and mental abuse, and the imprisonment of their parents – all were heartbreaking reasons.

Leslie’s heart went out to these little girls. Some orphanages treated the children harshly thus, she hoped the ones she saw right now didn’t go through such a thing.

Eventually, Leslie reached the final piece of paper. Her glossy eyes shed a drop of tear, slowly running down her right cheek.

"...nothing, Poppy isn’t on this list, right?"

Leslie felt nothing unlike what Mimo described to her. Her heart rang the echo, telling her that she hadn’t found her Calliope.

Mimo patted its right paw on Leslie’s arm, looking at her with its round eyes. Despite showing no change on its crocheted fox face, she sensed melancholy coming from the fox toy.

|Leslie, don’t give up. This is just the beginning. We’ll find Poppy! We will! I want to play with her again.|

Leslie blinked, coming to her senses. Slowly, the images of a happy Calliope playing with Mimo resurfaced in her mind.

"Mama! Look! Poppy plays house with Mimo!"

"Hahaha! Mimo is Poppy’s baby! And Poppy is Mama’s baby!"

"Mama, Mama, can we bathe Mimo? Mimo needs a bath too."

Calliope was the light in Leslie’s dark life.

Her lover’s untimely demise crushed her hope but, their child’s existence pushed her to go past her sadness and rise again.

Taking a deep breath, Leslie tried to stabilize her turbulent mood. She also pushed the chaotic thoughts away from reigning terror in her mind.

She shouldn’t let her disappointment dampen her spirit and douse her hope. She needed to keep being positive.

Edward presented this information to Calix within only a few days. This meant more would come soon.

The capable and efficient chief personal assistant of CEO Xu always delivered what he was ordered to do.

"Yes... this is just the beginning. Edward will come with more information. Calliope will be in there someday."

|Yes, yes! We’ll meet her again!|

Putting down the file, Leslie hugged Mimo. Somehow, Calliope’s familiar smell stuck to the crochet fox toy. The scent helped to alleviate her worries.

Knock! Knock!

"Leslie, can I come in?"

Calix’s voice followed the echo of knocking on the door, pulling Leslie away from her thoughts. It seemed like he was alone in the office, if not he wouldn’t do the gesture.

"Come in!"

Mimo jumped from Leslie’s embrace, floating in the air.

|I’ll return to the house now. See you tonight, Leslie.|

Leslie nodded. Her smile softened.

"Thank you, Mimo."

Mimo vanished in the air as if it had never been there. At the same time, Calix stepped inside. His tall figure emerged from the door.

Calix took a moment to perceive Leslie’s feelings. He noticed that her glossy eyes reddened. Even without asking, he understood she didn’t find the girl she was looking for.

Putting on a smile instead of pointing it out, Calix said, "It’s lunchtime. Come with me. I wanna bring you to a place."

"Oh? It’s lunch break already?"

Leslie’s eyes wandered from Calix to the wall clock. She was stunned. It was already a quarter past twelve.

More than an hour had passed?

From the time she first looked through the file?!

"Oh... haha, I didn’t notice it," Leslie laughed awkwardly. She stood up from the couch, the file was left on the seater, "Where do you wanna go?"

Leslie didn’t feel hungry yet but, following Calix might be a good idea. She had been stuck inside this lounge from the morning.

A huge grin was plastered on Calix’s face, accentuating his devilishly handsome look – the one that charmed his fangirls.

"You’ll know soon. Come, come."

"Ah, wait!"

Calix walked out of the CEO’s office, heading to the private elevator. Leslie tagged along, wondering where CEO Xu wanted to have his lunch.

But...

Why did this route feel so familiar?

Leslie wanted to ask out of excitement and curiosity but, Calix’s smirk was telling her that her guess might be true.

"It’s the cafeteria?" exclaimed Leslie once she saw the place from afar.

Calix broke into laughter, not bothered by his employees’ eyes that fell on him. He nodded and waved one hand at them when they slightly bowed at him.

"CEO Xu, are you having lunch here? Enjoy your meal."

"Boss Xu, today’s Kung Pao chicken tastes even better! You have to try it!"

"No ah. CEO Xu, have some red pepper beef instead!"

Leslie watched Calix laughing at the staff’s remarks. Pursing her lips, she refrained from saying anything.

Soon, they entered an enclosed dining room. The place had a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the city while still giving privacy. None of the people dining in the cafeteria could see the inside.

"Calix! Are we really having lunch here?" asked Leslie once the door was closed. Glimmer sparked in her almond eyes.

"Hahaha! Are you that happy?" Calix covered his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter. The sunbeam dazzled the two moles under his left eye, "You kept telling me how much you like this place."

"Hehe, yes~" Leslie’s cheeks blushed. Her gloomy mood from earlier was replaced with joy, "Thank you, CEO Xu. You’re the best ah."

Calix guffawed once again. Shaking his head in helplessness, he told Leslie, "We’ll dine here. Before that, let’s get what you wanna eat. Just tell me, I’ll take them."

"Oh! Can I try many things? You only need to take them in small quantities."

"Sigh... what an effort I made to avoid someone being a starving ghost."

"Let’s go, let’s go."

Without waiting for Calix, Leslie passed through the closed door, excited to try all the good food she saw in the cafeteria.