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Chapter 332 c
🕑 Added 2025-07-26 17:37:16 +0000 UTCChapter 332 c
2-in-1-chapter
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Lucy opened Randy’s email inbox, and Leo and River leaned in close to look.
As Lucy began checking the email exchanges between Randy and Harris one by one, the deeper they read, the more disturbed the three of them became.
Especially River.
When he had first seen the news on TV, all he’d felt was worry about Randy’s disappearance and anger toward Anthony Harris for kidnapping his nephew. Beyond that, there hadn’t been much emotion.
But after reading through Randy’s actual correspondence with Harris, River finally realized what kind of person Harris really was.
In the emails, Harris didn’t come across like some twisted child abductor. He sounded gentle, empathetic, even like a kind and understanding adult.
He used sweet talk to spin a poisonous web of lies, slowly wrapping Randy up in it—until Randy began to believe every word that came out of his mouth.
What made it worse was that Harris clearly understood what someone like Randy—someone from a poor, affection-starved, single-parent household—craved the most.
In one of the emails, Randy had asked him: “Why are you helping me?”
Harris replied:
> “I used to be like you. Like all of you. I’ve been through more than my share of hardship. The worst was when I lost a friend…”
He then explained what illness his friend had died from, how helpless and guilty he felt, and how that guilt made him want to help others.
To Leo, Lucy, and River—adults who’d been through enough of society’s bullshit—this kind of sob story was easy to see through.
In fact, if Randy wanted, Leo could’ve told him something even more convincing than Harris’s spiel.
Unfortunately, for a kid like Randy, this kind of talk was dangerously persuasive.
He really believed that somewhere on the other side of the Net sat a man bathed in holy light—a benevolent savior.
“So that’s what he was doing, locking himself up at home—chatting with Harris.”
River was overcome with regret. Deep, overwhelming regret.
They say a crack of ice takes time to form.
River had originally assumed that Randy had been kidnapped.
But looking at this, it was clear: this wasn’t abduction.
This was grooming.
Randy had been deceived—lured into Harris’s trap.
Most likely, the other missing kids had gone through something similar.
“Goddammit…”
River couldn’t hold back the guilt and self-blame.
If, during the time Joss’s husband was gone, he’d just made more time for Randy, maybe the kid wouldn’t have gone looking for comfort and support in the virtual world.
Leo glanced at River but didn’t try to console him. Instead, he said, “Keep reading.”
At a time like this, comforting River would only make him blame himself more.
What mattered now was finding clues on that laptop—and saving Randy. That was the only real comfort River could get.
They kept reading more emails.
As Randy and Harris talked more and more, their relationship seemed to grow increasingly close...
Or rather, it was Harris who had successfully made Randy believe their relationship was growing closer.
Then came the turning point—the so-called “test of friendship.”
In one email, Harris mentioned that he had used his admin access to the website to trace Randy’s IP address and had someone deliver a game to him.
It was the same AR game Leo and River had found on the nightstand Battle for Heywood.
Why was this moment so important?
Because, typically, people in the States had a strong sense of boundaries.
That meant everyone had control over what they shared—their toys, clothes, books, food—these were physical boundaries.
And then there were personal ones: privacy, personal space.
Take an IP address for example—it’s hidden by default.
Why? Because it’s private. Your real-world information isn’t something others should know.
If you ask someone a question and they don’t want to answer, that’s where it ends. No pushing further.
But what did Harris do?
He didn’t ask Randy where he lived.
He just used his admin access to grab Randy’s IP.
And instead of telling him, he had the game delivered to Randy’s address—then mentioned afterward in an email that he was the one who sent it.
At first glance, it might seem like no big deal. Just a gift, right?
But think about it: if Harris had malicious intent, Randy and his whole family could’ve been in serious danger.
And judging by what ended up happening—that’s exactly what it was.
This already struggling family suffered a major blow when Randy went missing.
If Randy had been a little more cautious, or smarter, he might’ve called the cops.
Or blocked Harris outright and never spoken to him again.
But he didn’t.
Leo didn’t know whether Randy had stayed in contact out of loneliness, desperation, or some foolish hope that Harris was actually a friend.
Maybe he’d been so starved for attention that he mistook the first hand stretched out to him as something real.
Maybe he lacked even the basic boundary awareness to recognize the red flags.
Or maybe when he received that game, he wasn’t even suspicious—he might’ve been thrilled.
They continued flipping through emails.
Their relationship clearly deepened further.
Harris kept sending Randy more stuff—sometimes swimsuit model pics, sometimes other things.
Always things teens would be curious about.
And Randy accepted them all, treating Harris like his best—maybe only—friend.
Later, Randy mentioned reconnecting with “Sparkle” again.
He emailed Harris about it.
And, unsurprisingly, Harris used another lame lie to comfort him.
Again, it wasn’t that Harris’s lies were clever.
Anyone who’d been through real life wouldn’t fall for that crap.
But Randy hadn’t lived in the real world.
To him, what he was going through already felt like the worst thing imaginable.
So he kept falling for Harris’s manipulation—over and over.
River was reading all of this, heart torn between worry and rage.
He wasn’t just concerned about Randy anymore—he felt like dragging the little brat out and giving him a good beating.
If he had something to say, why couldn’t he come talk to him? Sure, River couldn’t be a father to Randy—but he was still his uncle.
Still family.
And better than some stranger from the Net that he’d never even met in person.
That’s the thing about the Net—it’s virtual. People like Harris could pretend to be kind-hearted, to lure in lonely, unloved kids desperate for praise or affection.
Sure, the Net brought people closer. It turned the world into a global village. But it also gave scum like Harris the perfect cover to operate behind.
“Randy… What the hell am I supposed to say to you, kid…?”
River sighed heavily in frustration.
The emails after that were more of the same.
It was obvious Randy had completely fallen into the trap.
In his eyes, Harris was more than a best friend—he was possibly the only person he could call one.
If River had known earlier and tried to confront Randy about it, the kid probably would’ve gone ballistic and screamed at him.
Lucy began scrolling faster—no longer reading every word, just scanning for keywords and stopping only when she saw something important.
Most of the messages were just sentimental back-and-forth, full of fluff, low on info.
That wouldn’t do.
At this rate, they wouldn’t finish by morning.
Leo thought for a moment and said, “We don’t have time to go through all of them. Skip to the last few emails—right before he disappeared.”
If Randy had trusted Harris that much, the last few messages were bound to be important.
And Randy probably hadn’t been taken by force. Not from the trailer park—too many people lived there, even if it was a poor community.
If Harris had come himself, someone would’ve noticed.
And Harris clearly wasn’t stupid—he knew how to manipulate someone’s pain points.
He wouldn’t risk getting caught. He’d have Randy come to him.
That was something they could use to find him.
Lucy nodded and jumped to the final few emails before Randy vanished.
As expected, they held much more useful information.
After all the chatting, Randy finally got tired of text and wanted to meet in person.
And Harris agreed—but with one condition: he asked Randy to delete the very first email he had sent.
Just in case. He didn’t want anyone sticking their nose where it didn’t belong.
Now, a normal person would see that for the red flag it was.
If this was just a normal friendship, why the paranoia? Why the fear of outsiders getting involved?
But Randy had likely already been lulled into a daze. Even if something felt off, he probably convinced himself it was nothing.
“River… did you… did you read this part?”
“No… Randy, this dumb kid not only agreed to meet—he was happy about it. Like he was going to an amusement park.”
At that moment, Leo suddenly remembered something he’d once heard:
Someone met a guy from the Net, got along great—and ended up waking up in a tub missing a kidney.
Randy’s situation was a lot like that.
The only difference was that the other man had lost a kidney, while Randy could have possibly lost his life.
