CHAPTER THREE

Adrian’s POV

“Mr. Laurent?”

I looked up sharply as one of the house staff rushed into my bedroom.

“It’s almost midnight, sir.”

I glanced at the clock beside the bed and frowned slightly.

Serena still wasn’t home.

It’s been hours I’ve been trying to reach her but can’t. I assumed she went to Ava’s place to cool off before returning home like she usually did after arguments. But something about tonight felt different.

I gestured to the staff to leave. She left hurriedly and close the door behind her. I picked up my phone again and called Serena’s number for what was probably the tenth time already.

Still switched off.

At this moment, my frustration has turned into fear.

I loosened my tie before walking toward the window. Rain poured endlessly outside while thunder echoed across the dark sky. The weather was getting worse.

A knock sounded against the bedroom door before Damien walked in casually with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

“You look terrible,” he said while dropping onto the couch.

“I’m not in the mood tonight.”

“That bad?”

I ignored him and stared at my phone again.

Damien watched me quietly for a second before speaking.

“Is this about Serena?”

“I can’t reach her.”

His brows lifted slightly. “Sounds like you care when you don’t.” He handed me the glass of whiskey.

“She’s still my wife.”

“But you were still in a hotel suite with another woman.”

I looked at him sharply with curiousity written all over my face. How did he know?

Damien leaned back against the couch comfortably. “So where is she now?”

“I don’t know.” The words irritated me the moment they left my mouth. 

Serena never disappeared like this. No matter how angry she got, she always answered eventually but tonight was different.

Damien shrugged lightly. “She’s probably with Ava.”

Before I could think further, my phone suddenly rang. I looked at it, it was an unknown number.

I hesitated for a second, then answered, “Serena?”

A female voice responded instead, “Mr. Laurent?”

“Yes.”

“There’s been an accident.”

Everything inside me went still.

“What?”

“There was a vehicle crash near Westbridge Coastal Road during the storm. The car registration belongs to your wife.”

For a second, I genuinely stopped breathing.

“The car went off the bridge,” the woman continued carefully. “The rescue team is currently searching the water.”

The glass Damien handed me earlier slipped from my fingers and shattered against the floor.

Damien stood immediately. “What happened?”

I could barely hear properly anymore. My entire body felt numb.

“No, you made a mistake.” I said quickly. But deep down, I already knew something has gone wrong.

Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the bridge.

Police lights flashed through the heavy rain while rescue teams moved around the area urgently. The ocean below looked violent and dangerous.

One of the officers approached me carefully. “Mr. Laurent?”

“Where’s my wife?”

His silence terrified me immediately.

“We found parts of the vehicle,” he explained quietly. “But the current is extremely strong right now.”

I stared at the broken railing ahead, then I noticed a small dinosaur shoe near the edge of the bridge.

Ethan’s shoe.

Cold fear rushed through my body instantly.I grabbed the officer harshly. “Why is my son’s shoe here?”

The officer looked startled. “Sir, there was a child in the vehicle.”

My entire world stopped for a moment. Ethan was in the car.

I staggered backward slightly as panic slammed violently into me.

“No…” Rain soaked through my clothes while I stared at the dark ocean below. For the first time that night, real fear finally hit me.

Damien arrived beside me moments later, following my line of sight toward the child’s shoe near the railing, his expression changed immediately.

“Ethan was with her?”

I couldn’t answer.

One of the rescue officers suddenly shouted from nearby.

“We found something!”

Everyone rushed toward the shoreline immediately. My heartbeat pounded violently as two divers climbed out of the water carrying a pale brown handbag.

I recognized it instantly. Serena’s bag.

The same one I bought for her two years ago after missing our anniversary dinner—because I was with Celeste.

The diver handed it over carefully while another officer spoke quietly.

“We also found this inside the vehicle debris.” He placed a wedding ring inside a transparent evidence bag.

Serena’s ring. My heart jumped a beat.

Then I noticed there were faint blood stains along the damaged railing before the crash point. One of the officers followed my gaze before speaking carefully.

“Sir…there’s something else.”

I looked at him sharply.

“The forensic team believes another vehicle may have hit your wife’s car before it went over the bridge.”

The breeze around me suddenly felt colder because for the first time since Serena disappeared, I realized something horrifying…This wasn’t an accident, someone wanted my family dead.

Then one of the divers shouted again from the water below.

“Officer! We found a body!”