The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy!-Chapter 688: Slater’s Fruitful Investigation

Slater had met a lot of eccentric people, but if he had to categorize Yuri, she would take the cake. She had some hobbies that would make one squirm, but her mind was just as brilliant as Atlas’s.

That was Slater’s personal opinion.

Yuri was an essential part of the Order, but unlike those who worked directly for the family, she chose to stay in the main town. Everyone found it inconvenient, but for her, it would be hard to separate work from her daily life if she lived in the mansion.

Good thing Slater had visited her quite a lot with the twins whenever he was around. So finding her place was not a problem.

Once Slater arrived in the main town and reached the area where Yuri was renting, he glanced to his left and right. Nodding at them, the others dispersed, leaving only two people outside to guard it. There weren’t any immediate threats, but it was better safe than sorry.

Having said that, Slater welcomed himself inside.

Yuri’s apartment was a small two-story house. One step from the entryway, he could already see the entire living area and the small bar that was used as a pantry.

"How long has it been since she went home?" he wondered, reaching for the wall to switch the lights on.

Some lights in the corner lit up, but many of them didn’t.

"I don’t think she ever changed the lightbulbs since moving in," he murmured, resuming his steps inside.

The place wasn’t neat, but it wasn’t overly disorganized either. Stacks of paper were piled on the table and near the couch. But the dust that had settled on top of them — and on the furniture — was enough to tell that this place had been abandoned.

Slater checked the kitchen and the refrigerator. It was empty, which was not a surprise.

"I told her to start cooking for herself instead of living off these things," he muttered as he moved on to the cabinet drawers, only to see her stock of noodles in different flavors. "Seriously... how did she end up kidnapped?"

The corner of his mouth curved down. Although he was worried about Yuri, knowing that it was Yuri who had reached out to Hugo was enough to make him assume she wasn’t in a critical position yet. She might be in a place where she couldn’t contact others freely, but she would’ve said something like "help me" or "rescue me."

But no — what Hugo told them was that Yuri said she was abducted before the line was cut off.

"Just what was she doing..." he whispered, stopping at Yuri’s bedroom.

Unlike the living area and the other parts of the house, her bed was neat. The sheets were arranged properly, which was a habit she had never gotten rid of. Slater walked in, checking her closet.

Five pairs of clothes were hung inside, but the lack of clothing didn’t surprise him. Yuri wasn’t the type to change styles often. She was happy as long as she had a comfortable shirt and pants on.

These places Slater was searching had already been checked earlier, but Atlas wanted him to double-check. Not that Atlas didn’t trust Allen with the search. It was just that looking at these places a second time with fresh eyes might uncover something new.

"So far... nothing." He sighed heavily, still standing in front of the closet.

Slowly, he closed it and looked around the small room. There wasn’t anything in here. Just a bed, a closet, a study table and desk, one bedside table, two doors leading outside, and one to the bathroom.

Naturally, Slater went to the bathroom just to double-check. And as expected, there was nothing in there. The water wasn’t running, but everything else was empty. Even her toothpaste had dried a little because she left it open.

"Goodness, Yuri," he grumbled, dragging his feet out of the bathroom.

His frown deepened as he plopped down on the edge of the bed. Slater rested his arms on his legs, his expression grim.

"On top of Ashkar, this is happening," he whispered. "Deep down, I want to focus on Ashkar and find where that woman has been."

An image of a familiar woman — the only familiar person from his previous life who could lead him closer to the truth — surfaced in his mind. Not to mention, Melissa Young seemed like she was one of their recruits. Even if they didn’t say it, he was certain that Lola and Atlas knew the reason they chose Melissa to rope into all of this.

Lola.

"First Brother isn’t saying anything, but I’m sure he already thought they wanted to use that witch against First Sister," he sighed, his jaw tightening.

Slater shook his head. "No, I have to focus on this one first. Otherwise, Aunt Jessa will kill all of us and... Mom will get hurt too."

Shaking his head more vigorously, Slater pushed himself up and walked away.

There was nothing in here. Allen didn’t find anything the first time, so that meant there was nothing here.

But just as Slater stepped outside, reached for the knob to close the door, and looked back inside the room, he paused. For a brief second, he remembered Yuri inside this same room.

"..." His brows knitted as he recalled all his visits here. "Hmm? I never thought of it before, but..."

Slater slowly pushed the door open once more, walking inside until he was near the bed. Again, an image of Yuri appeared before his eyes.

"But every time I call her or check on her..." he trailed off, eyes fixed on the other side of the bed. "She’s always sitting on that spot."

Yuri could be quite a handful, but not in the same way as Penny or Nina. Nina was too mature even though she was younger than Slater. As for Penny, she was too mischievous and annoying at times. Somehow, Yuri’s slightly timid and lazy personality brought out the big brother role in Slater.

So whenever Slater visited the Order and stayed here, he liked to show off and cook her dinner. And every time he called for her or the twins, she was always in this same spot.

"I wonder..." Slater whispered, sitting on the spot where Yuri would always sit. "...why does she always sit in this spot?"

There were other spots, but somehow, she was always on this side. He never thought much of it before, but compared to this side, the other side was actually closer to the door.

Slater sat there for a second, copying the position and angle Yuri would usually sit in.

"There’s nothing here," he muttered, frowning deeply. "There isn’t even a bedside table on this side."

All there was was a wall, the floor, and then... nothing. Even the window was slightly off from this spot, and as far as he remembered, her head wasn’t turned toward the window’s direction.

"Which, now that I think about it, makes it even stranger. Just what was she looking at..." Slater trailed off, angling his head in the same direction Yuri would be facing every time he saw her here.

Deep lines appeared between his brows, his eyes narrowing at the floorboard in the corner.

"Are those nails... new?" he muttered to himself. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Slater moved closer to the corner of the floor, studying the other nails in the floorboards. Most of them looked old, but one of them looked newer. As suspicion rose in his chest, Slater jumped up and ran outside to get a hammer.

When he returned, he didn’t have the patience to pull the nail out properly and instead broke it. The floorboard snapped with one attempt, and what it revealed was something he didn’t expect.

"What in the world... is this...?" he murmured, reaching down to pull out a shoebox.

Slater carefully opened the box, and his breath hitched.

Inside were notes, cut-out articles, and lots — at least a dozen — USB drives.