A few minutes later, Marcus and the rest of Dylan's security team gathered in the dining room, Dylan was seated at the head of the table while they all stood and Lucas was by his side. Dylan didn't say anything, he let them sit in silence and he looked at all of them one after the other, he wanted to see which one of them that was nervous and would shake, but he couldn't catch any, yes they were nervous but it could also be because they knew they fucked up big time because Emma was taken. After a few minutes, Dylan stood up and walked to the front of them. “Marcus and Josh, step forward.” Dylan said and the two men immediately shuffled forward, their heads bowed. “Raise your heads, I want you to look me in the eyes when you tell me how exactly it was that you fucked up so bad that my daughter was taken.” Dylan snarled at them. “Marcus you go first.” Dylan told him. “We arrived at the park and Josh went off with Emma while I stayed with Mrs. Knight.
Anna walked up the stairs to her room. She got into her shower, and she just sat down on the ground and cried as the shower washed away her tears. She cried until her throat was sore, and there were no tears left in her eyes. She got up from the ground, quickly rubbed her body, and rinsed off; she wrapped her towel around her body and left the bathroom. She walked into her closet, pulled out a pair of jeans and a black blouse, and put them on. She was so tired that she didn't even bother combing her hair. After she took it down from the towel, she just left it like that and laid down on the bed, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep. Downstairs, Dylan welcomed the detectives and told them that they could set up in the dining room, and then he left them there with Lucas and climbed up the stairs to get Anna. He knocked softly on her door but she didn't answer. So he opened the door and entered the room and then he saw her on the bed, curled up and asleep, she looked so
“Dylan isn't here.” Anna lied to James. “You see, this isn't going to work if you lie to me Anna. There's no way he'll let you make this call alone, he's a control freak like that. Now put the phone on speaker so the fucker can hear what I have to say.” James said. Dylan was fuming but he knew he had to keep his cool for Emma's sake. He looked to the detectives first, and they shook their heads, meaning they still didn't have a location. “James,” Dylan said. “There he is, Mr. Billionaire boss man.” James said mockingly. “Is this who you are James? This is what you've stooped to, kidnapping a little girl?” Dylan asked him, and then Anna kicked his leg under the table, and then he looked up at her. “What are you doing?” Anna whispered. “Trust me.” He whispered back to her. “Well, not all of us have our daddy's money to fall back on; some of us had to work to get to where we are.” James said. “What the hell are you talking about James?
Dylan took the phone from Lucas, but he didn't put it on speakerphone in case he was going to get bad news from him, Anna stared at him with so much pain and fear in her eyes and it did something to him seeing her like that, I never wanted her to look at me that way ever, I wanted her smiles and her corny jokes. “Good day, Mr. Kane; thank you for calling on such short notice,” I tell him. “Of course, when I heard that the Dylan Knight wanted to speak to me urgently, I was intrigued.” He said. “Well, I wish I was calling under better circumstances, but I need your help,” I tell him. “Ok, with what exactly?” He asked, sounding cautious. “My daughter was taken and I need your help to find her,” I tell him. “Of course, I'll help in any way I can, but I don't know how you expect me to find her. We're a pharmaceutical company and not the FBI.” Mr. Kane said. “That's exactly why you can help me. You see, my daughter was recently diagnosed with cardi
The drive down to the cabin where Emma was would've taken them longer if they didn't have the police sirens to help. But when they got closer to the dirt road, they switched off the sirens and drove in quietly to not alert anyone. They parked their cars in a cabin ten doors down from the one where Emma was. “OK, I'm going to go with them now, stay here with Marcus Anastasia. I don't care if you hear gunshots or screams you stay in the damn car. I promised you that I would bring Emma back to you so please trust that I will do that.” Dylan said to Anna. “I know Dylan, and I do trust you; I promise I won't leave the car.” Anna said to Dylan. Dylan nodded his head and was about to leave the car, but then he turned around and kissed Anna on her forehead; then he left the car and walked down to meet the detective. “What's happening detective?” Dylan asked. “SWAT is currently walking down to the house to surround it, and the roads have been blocked; eve
Dylan took Emma from Anna's arms, and they both ran to their car; Marcus got into the driver's seat and drove out like the hounds of hell were on his tail. A police car escorted them and blasted their siren so they could clear the road for them. “Come on baby, wake up, please wake up Emma.” Anna said as tears ran down her face. She checked her daughter's neck for a pulse but she didn't feel anything. “Dylan, I don't think she's breathing; I can't find a pulse, I can't find a pulse, Dylan.” Anna sounded frantic and scared and so was Dylan. “Marcus, how close are we to the nearest hospital?” Dylan asked. “We're about ten minutes out Mr. Knight,” Marcus said. “We do not have that time, Marcus; put your foot on it.” Dylan said to him. He looked down at Emma. She was as white as a ghost, but no, he wouldn't let his mind go there; his little girl was a fighter just like him, and she would be fine. Five minutes later, Marcus was parked in fr
They stayed in the hospital for four days; the first day, Emma didn't even wake up, and that got them scared, but the doctor assured them that her body was just healing and that she needed rest. She was right because on the second day, Emma woke up, and by the afternoon, she was ready to get out of that hospital, but the doctor said they still had to stay for observation. Dylan didn't even go into the office; the only time he left their side was when he went back to the house to get them some clothes, but apart from that,t, he was always there. He even got them moved to a bigger room so that both he and Anna would be able to stay with Emma. On the third day, Dylan finally asked Emma what happened and how she was able to leave the house. Emma said that they mostly left her to herself and that when she heard the bang on the door, she got scared, so she went out through the window and started running; she told them that she was so scared. Dylan and Anna hugged her and told
Anastasia was shocked with how Dylan was raising his voice at her; he was always cool and collected, even when Emma was taken, he was her rock, so she was confused as to why he was in this state; she saw the glass of bourbon in his hand and assumed that maybe he was drunk. “Dylan, you're drunk; let's have this conversation later.” Anna said as she walked closer to him. Dylan snapped his head up and looked at her and Anna saw that his eyes were not glazed over or anything like that, which meant that he wasn't drunk. “I'm not drunk, Anastasia. You made a promise to me, and you broke it.” Dylan said to her; Anna wondered where all this was coming from; yes she made him a promise, but he knew why she had to leave that car; she couldn't just leave Emma out there alone. She walked closer to Dylan, and just a few feet were separating them. For the first time, he didn't have the guarded look that he always had on; his emotions were clear on his face. He was angry, that
EPILOGUE. SEVEN MONTHS LATER. A lot had happened in the past seven months since Dylan ran to the airport to stop Anna from leaving. Now, it wasn't smooth sailing between them; they both put in the work by going to therapy and working on their relationship, and they were good now, only choosing to go to therapy twice a month. Dylan stuck to his word, and he was the best husband; the night they came back home, he told her everything about her life, from the moment he was taken away to London, he told her everything, not leaving out any detail. He had also waited on her, hand and foot, since he found out she was pregnant, not letting her do any strenuous activities; he was the perfect husband and father. In those seven months, something else also took place, the cases were tried in court and her father and Mr. Smith were both sentenced for murder and Mr. Smith was first murder and attempted murder. Her father was sentenced to thirty years and Mr. Smith was
Anna and Emma arrived at the airport about forty minutes later, they didn't have much, just two suitcases, one for Anna and one for Emma. Anna paid the driver, and she and Emma got out of the car. She held Emma's hand and used her other hand to wheel in the suitcases. They were about an hour early for their flight. They walked into the airport, and she checked in her bags, and their tickets were scanned. The attendant told her that they would announce when the flight started to board. Anna thanked her, and then she and Emma walked over to some chairs to sit down. Emma had been quiet throughout the journey, and Anna knew it was because she missed her dad; she hated that she was feeling that way; it was all her fault. She was the one that brought Dylan into their lives. “Hey, sweetie, do you want to watch some cartoons on my phone while we wait?” Anna asked Emma. “Sure, I guess.” Emma said as she shrugged. Anna put on Bluey for her and gave Emma t
After Anna was discharged, she spent two days on bed rest by order of Caroline; she didn't complain, though; it gave her enough time to think of her next plan. Just like she thought, Dylan had not come to look for her, and she didn't blame him; in the end, they weren't meant to be together; there were too many secrets and lies between them, but it still didn't change the fact that she loved him. Emma has been asking for him constantly, and Anna has had to lie that he was away on a business trip, but she knew that lie wouldn't last forever. So she had to plan, she knew one thing for sure, and that was she couldn't stay in New York, and if she was settling down in another place, it couldn't be London. So after two days of planning she decided that she and Emma would move to Australia, there was a hotel there that had been trying to poach her for months, so she called them and asked if the job was still available, they said yes and she accepted it. The job came with a
Anna blinked her eyes open and she was hit with a blinding light that she had to close her eyes and groan in pain. “Anna, are you awake?” She heard Caroline ask. She opened her eyes slowly so she could get used to the light, and when they were fully opened, she saw Caroline standing by her side. “Oh, thank God you're awake; you gave me quite a scare, Anna. I'll be right back, let me go and get the nurse.” Caroline said and then she left the hospital room. Anna was confused. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was watching the press conference with Caroline and Emma was sleeping. Emma? Where is Emma? Anna frantically sat up on her bed as he looked around the room but there was no sign of Emma. Caroline walked back into the room with a nurse. “Welcome back Mrs. Knight.” The nurse said. “Caroline, where's Emma?” Anna asked, her voice was scratchy because her throat was dry. “They have a daycare here; I didn't think that you'd wan
After Dylan saw Anna's car drive off, every atom in his body wanted to go after her but he couldn't. He had to attend the press conference and he wasn't worried because Marcus was with her. Fucking Kate, it was like she planned it or something. He had to come in through the back and go up to his office because everyone thought that he was dead and then a few minutes after he walked into his office, Kate walked in. Her eyes were red and it was clear that she had been crying. When she saw him she hugged him so tight saying that she knew he wasn't dead, Dylan asked her why she was in his office and she said she was there to beg for her life and that Dylan should spare her, she confessed that she was working with James but only to get him away from Anna and they she had nothing to do with the plane crash. Dylan wasn't shocked to hear that she was working with James; I mean, it would explain the pictures they were sent to Anna; someone had to take them. While s
“Let's go to the living room so I'll be able to keep an eye on Emma.” Anna told Caroline. “Why do you need to keep an eye on Emma? Anna, what's going on?” Caroline asked again. “I'll tell you everything, let's just go sit down.” Anna told her and then they both went into the living room and sat on the couch facing the TV and opposite where Emma was sleeping so Anna was able to keep an eye on her. “You better start explaining yourself, Anastasia George, or is it Knight now?” Caroline asked her. Anna released a huge breath and then she proceeded to tell Caroline everything. How she met Dylan at the hotel, how she got into a contract marriage with him and in exchange, he agreed to protect her from James and bring him down. How they went to London, Emma's kidnapping, and her heart condition. She told her how they slowly but surely fell in love and admitted their feelings to each other. How everything was so good and then it all went so bad, from the th
Anna ran as fast as she could, she could hear Dylan call out her name behind her but she didn't stop to look back. It was all too much, he had lied to her about everything. She got into the elevator and frantically tapped on the button for the down floor. She could see Dylan getting closer, but the doors closed just in time. She wasn't free just yet, and she knew it; she wouldn't be until she got as far away from Dylan Knight as possible. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out; she knew Dylan wasn't far behind, probably opting to use the stairs. She ran out of the lobby. She knew she was drawing attention to herself, but she didn't care. She stepped outside, and thankfully, Marcus listened to her and the car was still parked outside the office. She ran to the car and opened the door. “Drive Marcus now.” Anna told him with urgency. “What's going on Mrs. Knight?” Marcus asked her. “Just drive Marcus.” Anna told him as she looked back at t
Anna slowly brought out the folder that had her name on it. She opened it up and on the first page was her basic information, her name, date of birth, house address, place of work, things like that and then she flipped to the second page and she saw her pictures, pictures from when she was picking Emma up from school, going to work and coming back from work. Did Dylan have her followed? She continued flipping through the pages, and she could see that this folder was like a dossier on her life; everything about her was in that file: her marriage to James and her parents. Anna didn't understand why Dylan had this. It was when she flipped to the next page that her heart dropped to her stomach. They were pictures, and she recognised the place, it was the club, and she was more sure of it because, at the top of that page, it was written in block letters: ANNA SIX YEARS AGO. She looked at the pictures, and the more she flipped through them, the memories from that night
By the time Dylan was done with his call and he went up to their bedroom, Anna was asleep. His talking to her would have to wait till tomorrow, but he had to do it before the arrests were made because once they were made public, she would surely put two and two together. Especially since Lucas informed him that she wanted to find him, something happened when she went to see her parents, that had to be the only reason why she wanted to find him urgently. But what could've happened? Could she have found out the truth? No, that couldn't be it, whatever it was, he would ask her about it tomorrow morning after he told her the truth, that's if she was still talking to him after. He took off his shirt and trousers, left only his briefs on and then he got into bed with Anna and wrapped his arms around her, even in her sleep, Anna turned around, seeking his warmth. ************ The next day, Dylan woke up expecting to have Anna by his side, but when he opened his eyes