At Alice's home, as time passed, Linda and Alice grew increasingly anxious. Just ten minutes ago, they had tried calling Liam, but his phone was unreachable. This threw Alice, who had been forcing herself to stay calm, into a complete panic.
As the mother and daughter sat there, bewildered and helpless, the front door suddenly opened from the outside. Tom stumbled in, looking disheveled and covered in dust. Seeing her husband return safely, Linda screamed and jumped up from the sofa, rushing into Tom's arms.
Linda's eyes were red, her face full of the relief of someone who had narrowly escaped disaster. "Tom! It's so good you're safe! So good..."
Tom patted his wife's shoulder, his face filled with guilt as he lowered his head, unable to look at his daughter.
Just as Alice was feeling
