تسجيل الدخولThe drive back to the penthouse was unbearable.Not because Cecilia was crying or panicking. Honestly, Jude wished she was.Instead, she sat completely silent and stared blankly ahead. Jude sat beside her and watched carefully. Ever since they entered the car, she became eerily calm. Somehow that frightened him more than when she was shaking and screaming. Mae sat at the back seat without speaking too. She occasionally glanced at Cecilia, then out the window, then back again.The silence stretched.Jude found himself checking Cecilia every few seconds. “Cecilia?”He called to her, but there was no answer. She stared ahead, as if she was looking at something. Like she was connecting with some distant reality. His phone suddenly vibrated. The sound seemed unusually loud inside the vehicle.Jude immediately pulled it out.Roman had been sending updates constantly, so he expected another report from one of his men.But it wasn’t. A different name appeared on the screen. It was a messa
Jude stepped forward first. "What happened?"Neither of them answered immediately. They were breathing too hard. Mae finally reached us, and her eyes found mine instantly."Cecilia." The way she said my name made fear spread through me like cold water.Roman arrived beside her. For the first time since I'd known him, he looked shaken. The sight alone was enough to make my pulse race before a single word had been said.Jude's voice turned dangerous, as he asked again. "What happened?"Roman swallowed hard. "We lost them."Silence fell between all four of us. For a second I didn't understand what he meant. Lost who? Then my brain caught up, and the world seemed to stop moving entirely.Mae looked ready to cry, and her voice shook when she finally spoke. "The twins were on one of the rides. We were waiting at the exit." I stared at her, unable to process the words properly. Roman continued. "They never came out.""What?" My voice came out barely above a whisper."The twins." Roman sa
The drive ended nearly forty minutes later.The moment the vehicle pulled into the festival grounds, the twins practically bounced in their seats. Bright lights stretched across the area in every direction. Colourful banners fluttered overhead while music drifted through the air from somewhere deeper inside the event.The place was packed.Families walked between attractions carrying food and drinks. Children ran past wearing glowing bracelets and oversized hats. Laughter came from every direction, blending together with the distant sounds of rides operating.Before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop, Allison was already pressing her face against the window.“Look!”Alex immediately leaned over. “Oh!.” His eyes widened. “Look at that ride!”Jude parked calmly despite the chaos around them.The moment he switched off the engine, the twins started trying to climb out.“Wait.” Jude commanded. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was stern enough to make them freeze. Jude looked over
CECILIA’S POVGetting the twins ready took significantly longer than it should have.Part of that was because Allison kept changing her mind about what she wanted to wear. The other part was because Alex somehow managed to lose one of his shoes three separate times within fifteen minutes. By the time we finally stepped out of the penthouse elevator and entered the underground parking garage, I already felt exhausted.Mae walked beside me carrying Allison's small backpack while the twins hurried ahead, talking excitedly about rides neither of them had even seen yet. Their voices bounced around the concrete space as they argued over which attraction they planned to visit first."You should talk to him." Mae said suddenly. I glanced sideways at her. "Talk to who?""Jude."I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why? About what?"Mae adjusted the backpack strap on her shoulder. "Tell him to take you to the auction tomorrow. There’s no other way for you to slip out, unnoticed.”I looked at her l
Brittany sat comfortably inside her private sitting room while her private investigator stood several feet away, reading from a tablet.The room was quiet except for his voice and the occasional tapping of Brittany's fingernails against the armrest of her chair."The report is complete."Brittany lifted her eyes from the magazine resting on her lap. "Go on.""We confirmed the children's birthday."She remained silent."They recently turned four years old."That immediately got her attention. The magazine slowly lowered.The man continued speaking. "We also spent weeks looking into Cecilia's history after she disappeared. We couldn't find evidence of another relationship. No boyfriend. No husband. No records showing she lived with another man. No social media activity suggesting she was involved with anyone."Brittany listened carefully.For the first time since the report began, she seemed genuinely interested. He finally found something useful. The man scrolled further down the fil
As Jude looked at the children, an idea formed in his mind. Now that he had ordered Roman to carry out a DNA test, he would need to get their samples. But he couldn’t let Cecilia know until...until he was sure.“Hey guys, have you seen the city's festival?”The twins looked at each other with wide eyes. “No!” They said simultaneously. Jude had an idea. “I’ll take you guys there.”It would be an opportunity for Roman to take their DNA samples. The twins were immediately on board wih the idea. But they only had one drawback. “But, we have to ask mum first..” Alex said.Allison nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. We can’t go unless we ask her.”Jude nodded and realised they were quite smart. And he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, before he told himself to get it together.Nothing had been confirmed yet.***Jude headed toward Cecilia’s room.The closer he got, the more his thoughts drifted back toward Roman’s words, and he did his darn best not to let his thoughts show.By the time
I gasp instinctively against the palm.An arm wraps around my waist immediately afterward, dragging me backward violently into darkness.I kick, but the person is too strong to let go, and my screams die against the hand covering my mouth.Panic explodes through me completely.I’m hauled off roughl
“The Madam told me to switch out the poison.”For a moment I genuinely cannot breathe properly and can only stare at her. “What?” I exclaim.Mae swallows.“She gave me new instructions this morning.” Her voice lowers further. “The dosage you have been giving him was too slow for her liking.”Cold
She hurriedly says. “I apologise for the interruption.” She walks backwards, and pulls the door closed behind her.She hurriedly says. “I apologise for the interruption.”Then she walks backwards and pulls the door closed behind her.For one full second, neither Jude nor I move.Then reality crash
The vendor coughed rather loudly, making Jude and I pull apart. Jude looked at me, and neither of us said anything for a moment. The charged energy between us wasn’t disrupted by the man’s intrusion. Rather, I felt even more drawn to Jude, and a heady need, fighting my rationality. Without a wor







