CHAPTER 7: CHILD KIDNAPPER.

CHAPTER 7: CHILD KIDNAPPER.

Isabella blinked, bewildered by little Nicholas's hurried words.

"Sorry, sweetheart... What did you say?"

Before Nicholas could say more, the men, with stern expressions and determined steps, were quickly approaching.

"No time, mommy, you have to save me. Those bad men want to take me!" exclaimed Nicholas.

Isabella, initially confused, looked at the approaching men and then back at the boy. Something inside her, perhaps maternal instinct or the shocking recognition that her son was still alive, drove her to act without hesitation. With steely determination, she took the boy's hand and, with quick movements, hailed a passing taxi.

"Come, I'll take you to a safe place," she assured him.

Sebastian's bodyguards, recognizing the situation, hurried in a desperate attempt to catch up, but it was too late. Isabella and Nicholas were already inside the vehicle, pulling away.

As the taxi disappeared into traffic, one of the bodyguards, visibly agitated, stammered.

"The boss is going to kill us."

His companion, with a grim and resigned expression, nodded in agreement.

"You're right, we're screwed."

In the taxi, Isabella couldn't take her eyes off Nicholas, finding something inexplicably familiar in his features. Moved by a sudden impulse, she extended her hand and caressed the boy's cheeks.

"Maybe my son is the same age. Maybe he's as cute as him," she thought, her heart softening with each passing second.

Nicholas, who normally hated having his cheeks pinched, especially when his father's aunts did it, allowed Isabella to do so without protest. In fact, instead of being annoyed, he felt happy in his heart.

"If I had a mother, I would want her to be like her," he told himself with a certainty that surprised him. "I want her to be my mommy."

"Sweetheart, are you going to tell me the truth now?" Isabella interrupted his thoughts. "I know those men weren't bad, they were probably taking care of you. Tell me, why did you run away?"

Nicholas lowered his head and looked at his hands, struggling with the answer.

"How do you know they weren't bad men?"

Isabella laughed softly and lifted his face.

"Because I know, adults sometimes know things. Now tell me, why did you run away?"

Nicholas took a while to respond.

"Because I wanted to find my mother."

Isabella's smile faded.

"Your... your mother?"

"Yes," said the boy. "I wanted to find a mother for me."

"But... don't you have a mother?"

Nicholas shook his head.

"I've never known a mother and Dad doesn't want me anymore. Being a child without a mother is sad, you know?" Nicholas looked for Isabella's gaze, and his blue eyes were filled with tears. "Miss, can you be my mother? If my father doesn't want me and I don't have a mother, then... I'll have to go to an orphanage, the place where children who..."

The little boy couldn't hold back anymore and cried like a real child, shedding the coldness he had shown since he started understanding things. He threw himself into Isabella's arms and hugged her. She just wrapped her arms around him, feeling the warm body of this strange child against hers. However, that warmth also extended to her heart. She didn't know why, but the pain of this child she had just met hurt her. It hurt as if he were her own son.

At this moment, Isabella's maternal love overflowed completely, and she gently hugged the boy.

"Calm down, don't cry. It's okay, tell me, where is Dad? Do you want Mommy to take you to find Dad?"

She knew that a child like him couldn't be abandoned, and the fact that he was accompanied by so many bodyguards clearly indicated that he wasn't from an ordinary family.

"I don't want to. I don't want to go back. I want to stay with Mommy forever," Nicholas said, looking at her with his tear-filled eyes.

Isabella felt helpless, not knowing what to do.

"Alright, then, come with me to see my father," she said while smoothing his soft black hair. "After you calm down, we'll call Dad, okay?"

Nicholas nodded and hugged her again.

"Yes, Mommy."

Meanwhile, in his car, Sebastian was looking at his son's tracker again.

"Where are you going, little rascal?" he murmured, narrowing his eyes. "This time you've crossed the line, Nicholas."

At that moment, he received a call from the men in charge of watching him.

"Where is he?"

"S-sir..." one of the men spoke nervously. "The young man... managed to escape again."

Sebastian clenched his hands in anger.

"Can't you control a simple six-year-old boy?! What the hell do I pay you for?!"

"I'm sorry, sir. But we were about to catch him, but that woman..."

"Woman?"

"Yes, sir. Young Nicholas ran to her and called her mommy, then without saying anything she took him away. When we tried to catch up to them..." the man paused. "...they had already gotten into a taxi."

Sebastian pressed his lips in frustration. He was aware of Nicholas's need for a mother, but he hadn't imagined it would go this far.

"Damn it! You are incompetent, that woman might be a child kidnapper!" alarms went off inside Sebastian. It wasn't the first time someone had kidnapped a wealthy child to demand ransom later. "Listen very carefully, if anything happens to my son, if he has even a scratch, I'll cut off your balls and make you eat them. Your only duty was to take care of my son and you have completely failed!"

The man on the other end swallowed hard.

"Sir, I promise you that..."

"I'm not interested in hearing your promises, just consider yourself warned."

Sebastian didn't give him time to respond, hung up abruptly, and looked at the tracker again. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Saint John's Hospital? What the hell are they doing at a hospital?"

Immediately, the possibility that Nicholas was injured assaulted him, and fear took hold of him.

"Take me to Saint John's Hospital," he ordered Louis. "I'm going to get my son myself, and that woman... that woman will regret taking him."