All Chapters of The Lost Heiress's Glorious Return: Chapter 171 - Chapter 178

178 Chapters

170

LIAM“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to something on the floor. She knelt down, picked it up, and examined it.“Arlene’s hair clip,” she answered, tossing it to Matilda, who nodded in agreement. “And…” She turned back to where she had picked it up. “A syringe.”“A syringe?” I walked closer to the items.“Here’s another,” Matilda said, pointing to the area where the babies had been lying.I followed her hand and saw a needle rolled slightly under the bedside table. “They were drugged,” I muttered, kneeling to pick up the syringe, but stopped myself. “Don’t touch anything else. We need the cops to find things exactly as they are. That way, they can reconstruct what happened here.”“I’ll give you an explanation,” Olivia said. “It’s pretty straightforward.” She continued, “They drugged them so it’d be easy to move them without drawing attention. Leaving the syringes behind was sloppy, but it also suggests they were in a hurry—probably because Arlene resisted. That explains the hair clip.

171

MIRELAI stepped out of the diner and looked around. The parking lot was sparsely populated, and as I scanned the area, an SUV pulled into one of the vacant spots.My heart skipped a beat when I thought it looked like Louis’s, but I relaxed when a teenager stepped out and hurried into the diner.“Get a hold of yourself, Mirela,” I muttered, looking away. Louis was a loose end already tied up; I needed to focus on the task ahead.I had to walk from here along the road heading south until the van picked me up for the remainder of the trip. After handling Arlene and her babies, they would drive me back to this spot.Then all I had to do was slip back into my bedroom without being seen to maintain the illusion of having been in bed all evening.I sniffed and started walking toward the road. A few minutes later, a black van sped past and screeched to a halt.“Idiots,” I muttered as the vehicle reversed and the doors swung open. “What took you so long?” I asked, climbing in.“We had a littl

172

COLE“What do you mean Arlene and the babies were taken?” I asked for the umpteenth time. The news had come while I was preparing to see the police chief about Lorretta’s case, and I felt rattled enough to take a seat.My thoughts were in disarray. It seemed like I had been the one to bring her to the hospital from which she had been abducted, and I wondered how long it would take for the news to get out, and how the press would twist it, making the situation even messier.I turned to the guards who had delivered the news and reached for my phone to return Matilda’s call.“I have to go there,” I said, and they nodded. “Get the plane ready. I have to leave immediately.”They exited to make arrangements, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I tried to figure out who could have done this. Mirela, Sarah, and Matilda were the first suspects, but I felt I could rule out Lorretta.Under careful watch and with Marcus dead, she didn’t have the time to pull off something like this. That left Mire

173

LIAM“Huh? Daisy? Is that you?” I said into the receiver, her voice switching between static and incomprehensible mutterings. “I can barely hear you,” I added, waiting for her to speak, but all I heard was the blaring static, then she hung up.“Was that Daisy?” Olivia asked, her tone tinged with suspicion.“Why would she be calling you or reaching out at a time like this?” Matilda added. I shrugged.I resisted the urge to tell them about my last encounter with Daisy. If this was another attempt to throw herself at me, she was in for a rude awakening, I was feeling a mix of emotions and wouldn’t hesitate to direct my frustration her way. If there was any good left in her after all the evil she inherited from her mother, she’d stay away.“I don’t know, and I can’t think about that right now,” I said, squinting as I tried to focus. “First, we get the word out that Arlene’s missing, and we put a bounty on her head. Anyone who finds her within twenty-four hours gets $2,000,000. I’ll triple

174

ARLENEI watched Daisy step forward, confusion etched across her face, as she wiped grass, mud, and dirt from her clothes.“Daisy, what are you doing here?” Mirela asked, her tone a mix of irritation and shock.“I followed you, Mom,” Daisy replied.“How? When? I didn’t see you tailing me,” Mirela said. Daisy shrugged.“Let’s just say I learned a thing or two from you about keeping my tracks hidden,” she said, glancing at me as I wiggled my fingers again. Her gaze shifted to the babies, still asleep despite the noise, then back to Mirela. “What are you doing, Mom?”“What does it look like, genius?” Mirela snapped, turning back to me. “This one here’s going to die. Her babies go first, then she’ll follow. I wanted it to be slow, painful… but,” she lifted the syringe for Daisy to see, “you’re here now. That wouldn’t be as much fun anymore.”“Mom, you don’t need to do this,” Daisy said, her voice shaky as she took two steps forward.“You’re still a very foolish child, aren’t you, Daisy?”

175

FOR LOVE & FAMILYThe room buzzed with activity as Matilda set up a small team of Liam’s men and some of his friends who had heard the news and wanted to help. Olivia insisted on staying back at the garage, stating that she felt queasy and needed to be outside a little longer.The police superintendent stormed into the room, interrupting the flow of things for a moment before everyone turned back to the tasks that had been assigned to them.“Mr. Walker,” he said as he walked toward Liam. “You’ve put us in a tight spot.”“I have?” Liam answered, feigning ignorance. “Interesting,” he added, raising his arms as a guard brought a bulletproof vest.“You put a bounty out. Now we have some very dangerous people trying to find your Ms. Gomez, and the odds that they would try to take her and force you to increase the bid are very high.”“For the record, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Captain, and off the record, maybe you should’ve helped me when I asked. If anyone wants to get Arlene

176

MIRELAI could feel the substance shoot up my veins, and my hands trembled as I reached for my gun. I was finally going to have it all; all I had to do was take out Arlene, but I’m so unfortunate to be burdened with a daughter like Daisy. I’ve been subjected to suffering for her folly.I glanced at her and shook my head as she nervously searched the place for something to tie my leg. Like that was going to stop anything.There was an antidote for this in the van, at least I hoped those idiots I hired were smart enough to make one. I aimed the gun at Arlene and smiled. “You need to die just like your mother did,” I said and put my finger on the trigger.“Mom! Stop!” I heard Daisy yell as I squeezed the trigger, then everything happened in a flash. While I had aimed the gun at Arlene, Daisy had jumped in between us, and the bullet put a clean hole through her head.I hadn’t realized any of this when it happened and was trying to deal with how disorienting the pain from where she had sta

Epilogue

EPILOGUEThe sun’s rays filtered through the painted windows, illuminating the church and all who sat in the pews, eagerly waiting for the bride. The groom, who stood at the altar, could feel his heart beating against his chest. He had wanted this for so long, but he was scared she would get cold feet and decide not to show up.While everyone was watching the wedding closely, Liam was living the moment, and at this point, he was filled with an overwhelming number of emotions ranging from immense happiness to a crippling fear of the unknown.He couldn’t think of a reason why Arlene wouldn’t show up. The last few weeks had been tough on them, but at its core, it had also shown how much stronger their relationship had become. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong.“Liam,” Lucas whispered from behind him. “Liam!” he added, restraining himself from being loud enough to attract attention.“Huh? Yeah?” Liam answered and turned to him.“Are you alright? You

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