ch16: The Night Everyone Was Waiting For

Weeks before that day, nothing in the city was talked about more than the wedding.

It was more than the marriage of two young people from wealthy families. It was an event the city’s entire elite had been waiting for. Local newspapers dedicated entire sections to it, while social media was flooded with pictures of the mansion where the ceremony would take place. People competed to uncover every little detail.

Some claimed the flowers alone had cost enough to buy dozens of homes.

Others said the chef hired for the occasion had cooked for kings and heads of state.

Every evening, children gathered outside the mansion’s towering walls, imagining what lay beyond its enormous iron gates.

And on the morning of the wedding...

the mansion became a hive of activity.

Servants lined the corridors in elegant black uniforms and white gloves.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, scattering thousands of lights until the entire place looked like a palace from an old fairy tale.

White and red roses filled every corner, while a crimson carpet stretched from the outer gates all the way to the main reception hall.

In the garden, dancing fountains rose into the air, surrounded by trees wrapped in golden lights. Even the night seemed to have come to join the celebration.

Guests began arriving one after another.

Luxury black cars.

Private security.

Men in perfectly tailored suits.

Women whose necks and hands glittered with rare gemstones.

Every guest wore a polite smile while their eyes searched for details.

Because at events like this, people didn't come simply to offer congratulations...

They came to compare.

Whose jewelry was more expensive?

Who had come?

Who was absent?

Who was seated in the front row?

Upstairs, far from the noise of the reception hall...

Lian stood before the mirror.

Makeup artists and hairstylists surrounded her, but their voices seemed to reach her from somewhere far away.

The wedding dress was a masterpiece.

It had been hand-sewn over the course of months, decorated with delicate silver threads and tiny pearls until it looked like a piece of moonlight.

Its long train flowed behind her, while a sheer veil rested over her hair with the quiet softness of mist.

Everyone who saw her said she looked like a princess.

But all Lian could see in the mirror...

was a girl wearing the most beautiful dress of her life...

to hide the deepest sadness she had ever known.

She lifted a hand and gently touched the fabric.

It was so soft that it almost hurt.

Then she whispered to herself, “Everything looks so beautiful... from the outside.”

Behind her, her mother was getting ready as well.

She wore a dark emerald gown embroidered with delicate patterns, along with a necklace she had inherited from her own mother.

She looked every bit the elegant society woman.

But her eyes carried the exhaustion of too many sleepless nights and tears.

Every time she looked at her daughter, her heart seemed to split between the pride of a mother seeing her child at her most beautiful and the sorrow of a mother who knew that the smile the photographers wanted was nothing more than a fragile mask.

Downstairs...

Lian's father welcomed the guests one after another.

He shook hands.

Smiled.

Thanked everyone for coming.

But his other hand never left his phone.

Every few minutes, he checked the screen.

No message.

No call.

No news.

And still, he kept smiling...

as though nothing was wrong.

In a corner of the reception hall, Lian's uncle watched everything with a knowing smile.

He took a sip of his coffee before saying confidently to one of his acquaintances, “Don't worry. Everything is going according to plan.”

The man looked at him curiously.

The uncle lowered his voice. “My brother-in-law knows how to deal with his son. He may rebel for a day or two, but he'll come back. He'll be here tonight, even if his father has to drag him here himself.”

He chuckled, clearly pleased with himself.

To him, this wedding meant the end of a deal he had been waiting on for a long time.

It never crossed his mind...

that the groom everyone was waiting for was farther away than any of them could imagine.

Outside, the cars kept arriving.

The guests kept coming.

And the entire city waited for the moment the doors of the reception hall would open...

and the groom would walk in.

Across the hall, Adam's father's phone lay on the table in front of him.

He hadn't spent much time mingling with the guests.

His presence was an obligation, not something he wanted.

He paid no attention to the decorations, the music, or the people who had come to offer their congratulations.

He was waiting for one thing.

Suddenly...

the phone vibrated.

The name of the man leading the search appeared on the screen.

His assistant's eyes widened as he read the notification. He quickly handed the phone over, barely able to hide his excitement.

“Sir... we found him.”

Silence fell.

For the first time since Adam disappeared, something changed in his father's expression.

It wasn't a smile.

But it was the closest thing to relief he had allowed himself to show in weeks.

He answered immediately.

“Where is he?”

The voice on the other end was broken by background noise.

“We reached the place one of the locals told us about.”

His father rose to his feet.

“Go on.”

“We found the room where he'd been staying.”

His grip tightened around the phone.

“Then take him and bring him back.”

A brief silence followed.

Something about it made his chest tighten for reasons he couldn't explain.

Then the man spoke.

“Sir...”

He hesitated.

“When we got there... he was already gone.”

His father's expression froze.

“What do you mean?”

“The building owner told us he'd packed a small bag and left less than an hour ago.”

His father moved toward the window as though he could somehow see his son through it.

“Where did he go?”

“No one knows.”

“Ask them.”

“We did.”

“The cameras?”

“The neighborhood is old... There aren't any cameras.”

The man's voice grew quieter.

“We followed the route he took.”

“And then...”

He stopped.

His father's voice sharpened.

“And then what?”

The man took a slow breath.

“We lost him.”

Adam's father closed his eyes.

“Impossible.”

“We searched the surrounding streets.”

“The bus station.”

“The market.”

“But...”

His voice dropped even lower.

“It was as if he vanished.”

The call ended.

His father stood there with the phone still in his hand.

Motionless.

Silent.

He wasn't angry because Adam had run away.

For the first time, he realized something far more unsettling...

His son was no longer the young man whose every move he could predict.

Across the city...

the small room Adam had been living in stood empty.

An iron bed without sheets.

A book left on the table.

And a cup of tea that hadn't yet gone cold.

It looked as though its owner had stepped out only minutes ago...

never knowing that dozens of men had arrived looking for him.

Too late.

Far too late.

Back in the reception hall...

the music rose, announcing that the groom's entrance was near.

But the only man who knew the truth...

realized that the path to his son had disappeared once again.