LOGINARIANA'S POV “Please, you need to get some rest too.”I abruptly rose from the sofa, barely registering what Naomi had just said. How could she possibly ask me to calm down at a moment like this when my daughter was missing?Elena was gone.My daughter was no longer here.I tried contacting the police station where we had filed the report, but no one answered. I suppressed my growing frustration and called again, only to receive the same result.“They’re completely useless. They should have concluded the investigation by now!”We had filed the report yesterday afternoon, so they should have contacted me with an update by now. Yet, I still hadn’t heard anything from them.The fear I had been trying desperately to suppress gradually consumed me. I realized that reporting someone as powerful as Nathan would be incredibly difficult. And deep down, I feared that everything I was doing might ultimately be futile.Suddenly, something Lillian had once told me came rushing back.“Sooner or la
NATHAN'S POV When I arrived at Ariana’s apartment, Naomi and her boyfriend were already there. Naomi was trying to comfort Ariana, who had broken down in tears, while her boyfriend was speaking to someone on the phone. I overheard him mentioning something about a CCTV recording.Seeing Ariana in tears broke my heart. Hearing that Elena had never made it to Naomi’s apartment left me completely unsettled. I approached her, even though deep down, I already knew she would reject me.I was right.The moment Ariana noticed me, she immediately straightened, her eyes blazing with anger.“Get out of here!” she snapped, thrusting a hand against my chest to push me back, even though I hadn’t said a word.“Please. I need to understand what happened too. I’m just as confused as everyone else,” I pleaded, trying to reason with her.During our earlier phone conversation, Ariana had told me that Elena never arrived at Naomi’s apartment. She believed I had taken Elena somewhere else, but that wasn’t
NAOMI'S POV"Are we ready to go?" David, my boyfriend, asked.He had been here for the past two hours, helping me get everything prepared for today's outing. We were supposed to spend the day with Elena on a picnic date, and I couldn't contain my excitement.Just thinking about it made me smile.There was only one thing left to wait for—Elena still hadn't arrived. Mrs. Ariana had told me she would be dropped off around nine."Wait. Elena still isn't here.""Seriously? That's strange. Have you tried calling her mother?" David suggested.I glanced at my watch and frowned when I saw that it was already one in the afternoon."You're right."I pulled up Mrs. Ariana's number from my contacts and called her. However, an automated message immediately informed me that her phone was switched off.I tried again, but the result was the same."No answer?" David asked."Looks like she's busy right now. She has a lot of orders today, so she probably hasn't had a chance to check her phone." I paused,
NATHAN'S POV I got home from work just as night began to fall, but surprisingly, I didn’t feel as exhausted as I usually did. Today, Ariana allowed me to spend some time with my daughter.Even though it was only a drive of less than thirty minutes, it meant more to me than I could put into words.I couldn’t shake the feeling that Elena wasn’t afraid of me, despite my constant worry that she might be. Realizing that gave me a sense of relief.Without thinking, I reached for Evans’s number and dialed it.The excitement coursing through me left me restless. I couldn’t sit still without feeling the need to do something.“Good evening, sir. How is your plan going? Is everything alright?” Evans asked.He was the only person I could share all of this with.“Yes. There’s just one thing. Ariana turned me down when I invited her to lunch and offered to pick her up. But she trusted me enough to let me drive Elena to Naomi’s place. That’s pretty great, right?”Shit. I sound ridiculous, craving t
ARIANA'S POV After I finished helping Elena get ready, we headed downstairs and to my surprise, Nathan was waiting for us.He was leaning casually against his Bentley, his hands tucked into his pockets. I paused for a moment, suddenly overcome by doubt.Was I really going to let my daughter spend the day with this man?“Uncle Nathan!” Elena called out before running straight toward him, catching me completely off guard.I noticed that I wasn’t the only one surprised. Nathan’s eyes widened for a brief moment before he quickly composed himself and replaced his surprise with a neutral expression. It was almost amusing to see him struggle to control his reaction in front of her.“H-hey,” Nathan stammered.I sighed and walked over to them.“Mommy said you’re taking me to Auntie Naomi’s house today,” Elena said brightly.“Yes! Did she tell you that?” Nathan asked, clearly taken aback.He looked at me, his face lighting up with a kind of happiness I had never seen from him before.“Yes, she
NATHAN'S POV “Sophia hurt Ariana when they crossed paths with her?” I asked, my anger began to rise.“Yes, sir. She still sees Mrs. Ariana as her competition,” Evans explained.I felt frustrated. I had already made it clear to Sophia that our relationship was over, and she had accepted it. Even though she was hurting, she said she would learn to accept the situation.But what did I just hear?She was still meddling in the lives of people connected to me.“I’m going to see her and give her a warning,” I muttered.“I wouldn’t recommend that, sir. We both know Mrs. Sophia could become even more upset, and she might look for another way to hurt Mrs. Ariana,” Evans warned.I fell silent.His suggestion made sense. How did I not consider that?How could I make sure Ariana stayed safe? Should I hire bodyguards for her? She would probably get upset and refuse.Fuck. This was frustrating.Why couldn’t we just live under the same roof? At least then, I could make sure she was safe myself.“Th







