Chapter 204: Held by Fear.

Riley’s Pov

My whole body went stiff as I kept staring at the spot where the red car had disappeared.

It was as if my eyes refused to move, like if I kept staring hard enough, the car would somehow reappear with my baby safe inside.

The weak sound I heard earlier kept replaying in my head.

That small sniffle echoed over and over until my chest started to hurt.

Someone wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me gently, but it did nothing.

I felt numb, hollow, like I was standing outside my own body watching everything happen to someone else.

At some point, we drove back to the hospital.

I barely registered the movement or the time passing.

I just sat there, staring into nothing, waiting for the next call.

When my phone finally rang, it had been over an hour.

My heart jumped violently as I grabbed it, my fingers trembling so badly that I almost dropped it.

I answered immediately.

“Riley, my daughter, did you miss me?”

“Just say what you want,” I said quickly, my voice cracking