1

LILIANA

I pace through the empty halls of our grand estate, my sandals slapping against the polished marble floors. The silence is suffocating – a sharp contrast to the chimes of laughter and whispers Kyle and I shared two days ago.

I can't help the feeling of despair as it rips through me, taunting me with the possibility of him still being around if I hadn't gone up the stairs that day.

As I approach the steps to make my way back into the house, I catch the hushed whispers of the domestic staff and their topic of gossip is about the possible abduction of their boss. They cease their gossip the moment they spot me, making a show of religiously tending to their chores. But I'm no fool.

I lift my chin, square my shoulders so as not to betray my emotions, and make my way into the living room. Once in, I slump against the wall as a shuddering breath leaves my lips.

“Ma'am, you have a call from Mr. Mikhail.” I raise my eyes. It's the bodyguard assigned to me by Theodore, my husband's assistant.

I raise the phone to my ear with a strangled, “Hello?”

“I've just gotten in contact with some of his business associates and none of them have seen him since you left for your honeymoon last month. I'm driving to the house now and then we can figure out the next step to take .”

I want to hurl my phone at the wall for such unfruitful news. I want to yell at him to search further but I manage to keep it together. I toss a glance at the bodyguard to find him turned away from me.

My fingers comb through my hair in a desperate action. After two uneventful days of worry, it is sure to be knotted tight in different places. I sigh for the umpteenth time.

“Okay.” I simply say, hopelessness nipping at the edges of my composure. The call ends with a click that sets reality sinking in.

I would never see Kyle again.

I drop my phone in the console on the table and sink into one of the plush cushion chairs that do not offer any form of succor.

“Your mother has been trying to reach you as well. She's outside the gate as we speak but we haven't let her in as you ordered.” The buff man standing like a fortress, informs me.

I eye him wearily. “I don't need her to cut off the last remaining threads of sanity that I'm holding onto with her incessant demands. Keep her there. When she's fed up, she can leave.”

I know I might have sounded harsh, and inhumane even to my birth mother but some things are not as they seem. Right now, there are far more pressing things to worry about than a woman spewing empty threats outside.

I remain in my seat, too wrapped up in my head to hear the door open and Theo walk in. However, hot on his heels is the one I've been avoiding.

He shrugs helplessly, giving me a look spelling that his hands are tied.

Before she opens her mouth, I beat her to it. “I'm going through so much right now and I beg that you do not be the icing on the cake. My husband is missing and I'm without a clue, so please…”

My voice cracks towards the end and I work to swallow the tears slowly rising to the surface.

One would think the fire in her eyes would simmer down a bit. “Missing? He can never go missing. Have you seen your house? It's teeming with guards who would kill before any harm comes to him. Spare me that bullshit and suck it up. I'm not here for that. You have men at your dispersal, so do the needful!”

My nostrils flare in anger. I shoot up to my feet and in seconds, I'm in front of her. “What do you think I've been doing? Waiting for him to magically drop out of the skies? He cannot just vanish into thin air, for goodness sake, so give me a reasonable explanation for his disappearance because I cannot think and have gone way past my tolerance limits.”

She rolls her eyes and I know that action means a disregard for my words. Typical. “He's probably whoring with one of his kuaj right now while you worry yourself sick. Come to think of it, why would someone of his caliber settle for a Mary Sue like you when he can have better?”

Call me a bastard but I am this close to smacking that belittling expression off her face. Heaven help me!

Suddenly, I feel depleted of all the zeal to fight back. I lower myself back in my seat to gain another grip on my tumultuous emotions. Answering her is a complete waste of my time. It would be better to not fall into her trap this time.

Telling by the glare on her face, she looks like she isn't done with me. She never will be.

“Then you wonder why I always pick Lajla over you. You'll never be the person she was. Never!” She spits so vehemently that it causes my heart to squeeze in sorrow at being reminded of my double tragedy.

With all of my might, I fight the tears burning just behind my eyes waiting for the right moment to flood my face. She doesn't deserve to gloat more than she has else she risks a swollen head.

“You really should leave now,” I say quietly.

There's a pause allowing my words to sink in before she reacts, blowing off the top.

“You're kicking me out of your house? I fucking pushed you out of my vagina, ti vajzë e pashpër! I gave you life even when you weren't deserving of it. Just because you have the opportunity to get into the tiniest bit of wealth, you're ordering me out of your house?” She bellows so loud that the windows rattle.

All I have ever done is to please and accommodate your excesses, yet I'm the ungrateful one?

Fortunately, my bodyguard comes to my rescue with an arm stretched towards the door. “You're causing distress for her, ma'am. You need to leave.”

She rakes him from head to toe, her face contorting in disgust as she sizes him up. For a moment, she looks ready to defend herself should he make any sudden movements.

She turns to me with those eyes brimming with hatred. Her rouge lips open to vomit words sharper than the slice of a butcher's knife. “Mark my words; I never want to see you again. For your information, you ceased to be my daughter the day your sister died.”

‘How I wish it was you instead’, are the words I read from her eyes as she gives me one last sweeping glare before she storms out. The door shuts with a bang.

And just like that, gone is all the negativity she came in with.

“Give us a moment.” I hear Theodore say followed by the heavy thud of the bodyguard’s retreating footsteps.

My muscles which were rigid with tension and coiled tightly for defense now relax. I drag in a much-needed breath as Theodore crosses to where I'm seated. Worry is palpable in his eyes.

I raise my hand before his words of pity fall through. “I don't want to hear it. What's the update?”

He purses his lips with silent regard on his face. Sensing my resolution, he exhales sharply. “Same response. I'm afraid if we don't hear from anyone before the end of today…”

I shut my eyes as though they would stop the weight of his unspoken words from crashing into me.

“There has to be something. He cannot just disappear…it doesn't make sense.” I mutter to myself. More confusion settles in my bones, throwing off my balance.

I feel like I'm losing my mind with every second that ticks by.

“I suspect the Talaveras. That diabolical family has always envied his business empire. Perhaps this is their doing.” Theodore suggests as if that is supposed to ease my anxiety.

Why would anyone even want to hurt Kyle after witnessing his compassion for the people he loves? He cannot hurt anyone on purpose.

Although his reserved nature usually leaves me insatiated and craving for more affection, his gentle smiles and thoughtful gestures won my heart.

Now his absence feels like an amputation.

I put my head into my trembling palms as I draw in a lungful of oxygen. I would give anything to have my husband back, anything at all.

A shrill sound slices through the thick silence and Theodore rises to his feet, inclining his head towards his phone. Then he steps some meters away from me.

In a little while, he returns with a grave expression pregnant with underlying messages.

“What was that about?” I dare to ask with a trembling voice.

The looks he gives me are filled with compassion yet he cuts straight to it. “I have news and it's not good.”

My heart leaps painfully in my chest, waiting for the damning news. “Is…is he okay?”

He hesitates, “The police just called.” His face twists in anguish. “They've found him. Just that…it's not what we expected.”