Alan looked worried, as if the news was bad. He introduced the man accompanying him before sitting down."This is Detective Novaes from Internal Affairs. He's in charge of investigating your parents' accident," Alan introduced."Mr. Miller, I regret to inform you that the helicopter accident that claimed your parents' lives was deliberately caused. We found that the disconnection of the tail rotor pedals in the pilot's cabin caused the accident. The connections were intentionally cut. The helicopter had undergone maintenance at the manufacturer and had been cleared for flight just two days before. It was sabotage. I know this is a difficult time, but whoever is orchestrating this kidnapping might also be connected to the helicopter sabotage.""My parents were murdered? My parents were coldly and cruelly murdered?" I could no longer contain my tears and despair."Detective Novaes, we want everyone involved to rot in jail. Whatever you need, we can help," Patrick took over the conversati
Alexander’s POVWe entered my office and it was chaotic, with people talking and working on computers while Melissa organized all the incoming information. Fred, who I discovered was also a notable hacker, had joined Marcus."Alexander, we managed to access Cat's phone," Marcus informed me. "And we got footage from other buildings on the street and now have the license plate of the car that took her.""Finally, some good news." Some of the tension I was feeling dissipated."Not that good - the plate is fake, but at least we have a car and we've issued an alert for models of the same color," one of the police officers warned me."And what about the phone?" I asked, leaning between Fred and Marcus's chairs.Fred grabbed his phone and opened a message, quickly looking at it before tossing it on the desk with a huff. Rick was standing next to me and glanced at the screen."Fred, why did you receive a photo of Celeste?" Rick asked with a puzzled look."Photo of who?" Fred didn't understand
Caroline’s POVOh my God, what kind of backwater is this! I went to the salon I found in town today, it turned out okay-ish, but they're all such hicks. I needed to get out of this podunk town soon."Celeste, make that snotty brat shut up. You can hear him crying all the way at the entrance," I said while walking into this dump my father had scrounged up for us. "So, what do you think?" I showed off my new look."Yeah, it looks just like Liz's," Celeste agreed. "But you shouldn't have gone!""Ughhhh. That's exactly what I wanted. If my hottie hooked up with that skank in New York, he'll go crazy when he sees me." I was dying to run into Alexander. "Besides, nobody knows me here.""This kid never stops crying. When I first met him, he was much quieter," Celeste said."Oh, just give him some medicine. I've got Xanax in my purse, want some?" I offered."Are you crazy? We can't kill the brat before Alexander does everything we want. Better let him cry, he'll tire himself out eventually.""
Alexander’s POVI was a bundle of nerves waiting for any news. The police officers at the office had discovered the cell tower location and mapped out a search perimeter. Teams were already on their way."Melissa..." Fred's mother called on the phone."Hi, Mrs. Teresa.""The police arrived with two dogs. They're going in.""Thank God they're here!" I whispered."Teresa, get out of there now.""No way, I'm safe where I am, I'll wait," Fred's mother insisted."Mom, how can you see anything at this time of night?" Fred asked."While I was waiting by the salon door, I had Maria bring me your binoculars. I like them, you better buy another pair because I'm keeping these - they have night vision." Fred's mother was quite a character."Mom, for God's sake, you're not James Bond," Fred put his hand over his face."I'm better than him. Melissa said so." Fred's mother managed to get everyone in the room laughing, even with all the tension."Mrs. Teresa, you're simply the best. Thank you so much,
I glanced through the window slit and realize it was already dark outside. "My God, how is my son doing?"I spent the entire day praying to God to protect my child. Alexander must hate me now. I simply left without saying anything. But I was desperate for my son. And I didn’t know what to do.After Dennis came in and left that sandwich, I thought they've gone out because everything became very quiet. But then I heard a noise, a door opening. And there were voices. I thought they've returned. Lord, protect me."Your dinner," Daniel opened the door, handed me a package, and closed it again.I pressed my ear against the door, I needed to know what they were planning."Dani, I'm finding it strange that I can't reach Cel," I heard Dennis comment."You should ditch that phone," Daniel reproached him."Relax, they can't find this number. We destroyed Catherine's phone, they'll never find it," Dennis seemed relaxed. "How long are we keeping her?""Johnson didn't specify. He said to take care o
Alexander’s POVI was pacing back and forth in the room when one of the police officers called me, saying the detective searching for Catherine wanted to speak with me. My heart raced in my chest. I swallowed hard and picked up the phone."Good evening, detective." I greeted, waiting for the news."Just a moment, sir. Here, make yourself comfortable." The detective spoke to someone and then left the video frame. At that moment, Catherine's image appeared."My angel! Are you okay?" I asked, in tears. "Everyone, she's been found!" Everyone in the room shouted and applauded."I'm fine, Alexander, I'm sorry, but... my son, have they found my son?" She was crying and scared."My angel, Peter was found in Bellwood. He's doing well and flying here. Nando's parents are coming with him." I could see her expression soften as she heard what I was saying, noticing relief wash over her beautiful face."What a relief! Alexander, what wonderful news." She began to cry and couldn't stop."My angel, ca
After receiving many hugs and hearing multiple times that everyone was happy and relieved that Peter and I were found safe, Alexander led me to Patrick's office.I placed Peter, who was sleeping soundly, on one of the beds still there and covered him, but first noticed a mark on his right ankle, which I didn't understand."Alexander, what's this mark on Peter?" I wondered if Alexander would have more information, since he had been following everything closely.Alexander looked at our sleeping son and gently ran his fingers over the mark, as if he could make it disappear with his touch, and sighed. He grabbed a blanket, covered our son, kissed his forehead, and pulled me to the sofa, making me sit on his lap."My angel, the conditions in which Peter was found were terrible. According to what Detective Moreno told me on the phone, there are no other marks on his little body and no injuries, which suggests he wasn't physically abused. But he was chained to the leg of a table." A tear roll
Alexander’s POVI entered the meeting room and there were too many people there. At the back of the room, several employees were sitting in chairs that had been lined up in rows. I recognized each one of them, including the directors of accounting, sales, operations, and administration. I already knew they were all participating in Johnson's fraud scheme.On the opposite side, in a chair by the table, was the employee we had thought of using to catch the others red-handed. But with the kidnapping of Peter and Catherine, we skipped steps in the audit. He had made a mistake and started flaunting a luxurious lifestyle that clashed with the position he held in the company. He was ambitious, careless, and talked too much. We caught him because of that and knew he was the weak link in the group.In addition to the employees, Alan and Larson were also in the room, along with three employees from Alan's team. The chief inspector was investigating my parents' death, with the head of the anti-fr
Samantha’s POVI was relieved to see my mother was okay. It was incredibly lucky that Enzo ran into her - one of those things that nobody can explain, where some call it luck and others divine providence. But I can definitely say this kid saved me again. After they told everything that happened at the mall and Henry confirmed that the Nicole who was with my mother was the same Nicole who was his ex-girlfriend, everything made sense.And we were heading to the police station - my mother, Enzo, Henry, and me. Honestly, I just wanted to go home, but Flavian asked us to come there, so there was no way around it."Henry, why did Flavian ask us to go to the police station?" I asked, still not accepting that I couldn't go home."Sam, you were the victim of Romulus's setup. It was a fake kidnapping, true, but clearly intended to force you to go to him. Plus, your mother's phone was stolen and used for this." Henry repeated the same thing, but I felt he was hiding something from me."I want to
Flavian’s POVI had to say, this raid on Pipote Hill was only supposed to serve three arrest warrants for homicide, but it turned into a complete mess. Three drug dealers dead and two cops wounded, all because they wouldn't let us in. It was all because of that punk Sandro who decided to set up a drug spot here. I only decided to serve these warrants personally snice one of them was Sandro's drug spot manager, and I wanted information about this Romulus guy.At least no civilians were hit. People keep talking about stray bullets, but there was no such thing - there are only bullets that find their targets, and innocent people became those targets, which really upsets me. But fortunately, this time no innocent civilians were shot. Though one of the subjects named in the warrants died - he was one of Sandro's soldiers. We arrested the other two. That was six fewer criminals on the streets."Let's move out, team!" called the military police sergeant who came to support us. "Detective, I t
Samantha’s POVI was getting increasingly nervous. As the car moved toward my destination, I felt more helpless, scared, and distressed. The taxi driver, a very kind gentleman, watched me through the rearview mirror while keeping his eyes on traffic. He drove slowly and carefully, perhaps due to his age, making sure not to cause any accident.My phone rang and I grabbed it from my purse - it was Enzo. I couldn't answer him, I just couldn't. But he persisted. He always did, and I always answered. I thought it through - if I didn't answer, it would raise suspicions. Sure, Michael must have returned to the company, but he probably thought I was in another department and wouldn't be alarmed yet. Maybe he was still looking for me inside the building. So, it was better to answer Enzo.When he told me he was with my mother, I couldn't believe it. Then he put her on the line, and I heard her voice. I couldn't hold back anymore, started crying, and explained that Romulus had called me from her
Enzo’s POVBeing a student was getting harder and harder. The English teacher decided to make us read a book that was almost impossible to find. I had to trek all the way across town because out of all the bookstores in the malls, only this one had it. Everyone was complaining that they couldn't buy the book because they couldn't find it. I spent two days on the phone and finally tracked it down. So I rushed to secure my copy to avoid getting a zero on the test that the teacher had already warned us about.But since I was at the mall, I might as well take a little walk around. I bought the book first - I had reserved it, but you never know if someone might accidentally sell my copy, so I went to the bookstore first. When I left, I was walking through the food court when I spotted Aunt Pearl at a café nearby. I had to say hello."What a coincidence! Aunt Pearl, how are you?" I approached and noticed she was with a younger woman who was pretty but strange-looking."Enzo, darling, what a
Samantha’s POVMy bachelorette party was the most fun event I'd ever been to, despite the snake incident. Erica and Emilia had really outdone themselves. However, it wasn't as enjoyable for Henry, who was tense and worried when he came to pick me up.At home, he told me about his suspicion that Isabella had sent the snake, and I was surprised - I hadn't thought that insufferable woman would be so brazen.We spent Sunday at home, resting and just enjoying each other's company. It was nice to have that peaceful moment with him, knowing the upcoming week would be hectic with wedding preparations, even though everything was already set.This week, I needed to get ahead with all my work since I'd be on my honeymoon with Henry the following week. Starting Thursday, I wouldn't be working as I'd be at the beach house overseeing all the wedding setup. I was so busy that during lunch, I just had a quick snack while working and turned Manu away when she came for afternoon coffee.Then my phone st
Romulus’s POVLittle Samantha must have been crazy if she thought she could ghost me like that. I've called several times and she won't answer, where could she be hiding? I needed to teach her a lesson, but this week I couldn't put my plan into action since Sandro needed me to check the accounts at his drug spot.Sandro wanted me to move to the hill, but to be honest, I preferred little Nicole's apartment, it was better located. But there's no way around it, I made a deal with him and he was the boss. He only gave me one more week to sort things out with little Samantha.I would use this week to resolve my situation with little Samantha and deal with little Nicole too. I was running out of patience with her, but it had to look like an accident, after all, she's Sandro's sister. I was going to do the job and blame the old man, but the idiot got arrested and was even trying to go back on our deal. He wanted little Samantha all to himself - that was pure greed.But little Nicole was still
Henry’s POVI arrived at the Social Club with Edward and Enzo. The guys had reserved a room there and they'd gone all out - they'd set up a room with a pool table, poker table, and arcade games, leather sofas scattered around, and a 1950s-style bar stocked with every kind of drink. This was going to be fun and relaxing."So, ready for your last bachelor party bender?" Patrick asked as soon as I arrived."I thought this day would never come." Alexander approached and handed me a glass.Only then did I notice they were all wearing the same t-shirt - a black one with a cartoon of me being dragged by a rope tied to my foot by a cartoon of Sam, with "game over" written below. These guys were acting like kindergarteners.As if the t-shirts weren't enough, they had prepared several activities, and they all involved lots of alcohol. I probably wouldn't remember my own name the next day.I was already slightly drunk when I saw Flavian answer a call and slip out of the room. When he came back, h
Samantha’s POVThe plans for the night were explained, and the girls decided to start the games. Soon we were all seated, and a bowl with folded papers was placed in front of me."Let's start with the lingerie, everyone grabs your box," Erica said, kicking things off."Okay, Sam, you'll draw a paper and read what's written. To win the gift, you have to guess who experienced the situation described in the paper. If you guess wrong, you'll have to share a situation that happened to you. When you open the present, you'll keep your eyes closed and feel around to figure out what it is. Got it?" Emilia explained the rules of the game."Oh my god! Alright, let's begin," I said and drew the first paper. "On my first time, my boyfriend and I watched some movies to learn because it was his first time too. When we tried to do a position we saw in a movie, I accidentally kicked him in the face, and he fell off the bed and broke his nose. I ended the night still a virgin and in a hospital making up
Samantha’s POVThe week had finally ended, and it had been exhausting. Romulus kept calling and threatening me, but Flavian said the wiretap was active and they were gathering lots of evidence, including proof of other crimes Romulus was committing, so he'd be arrested again soon. But it was horrible to keep getting his calls and hearing threats, not knowing what to expect.As if that wasn't enough, ever since he found out that Edward's sisters were organizing my bachelorette party, Henry had been pestering me to know what they had planned, why I'd let them organize the party, and if there would be any kind of wild rituals, as he put it. I assured him I knew nothing about it, but that he shouldn't worry. However, he kept suggesting every five minutes that we should ditch our friends and family and spend time just the two of us. He was driving me crazy with this whole thing, but I wouldn't budge - I was having my bachelorette party, and it would be fun, he'd just have to deal with it.I