Chapter 76
Day 1:
I dialled Sophia for what I think would be the hundredth time since I retrieved my phone from Lily. She wasn’t home but she’d left my phone with one of her housekeepers, in case I turn up for It. I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t tell me about my phone, but I didn’t have the time to. I needed to find my wife.
The divorce papers, they weren’t supposed to be made today. They were made six months ago when we signed our first contract. All I wanted was to get rid of her, so I’d asked my lawyer to serve her the papers when our six months end.
Which happened to be the day she was returning, the day I didn’t have my phone, the day she came home to my absence and saw the papers waiting for her.
But how could she leave?
How could she not have enough faith that after all these months, we were real?
I was going to find her and chain her to me, that was for sure.
I ended up at her hometown with hope in my heart that shattered the moment I saw her grandfather’s house with a huge
lock on it.
If she hadn’t come here, where was she?
There had been no transactions on my card.
Where was she?
My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Any word on Luna?” I ask Peter as soon as I answer.
“The CCTV footage saw her leaving with Mrs. Whitlock from the back door, which is why even her personal security didn’t see her leave.” Peter confirmed what I already knew. “I contacted Luna’s friends, but no one has heard anything from her.”
“What about her family?”
“Her mother passed away last year, Sir. She doesn’t really have any family except that.”
“A boyfriend?”
Peter clears his throat uncomfortably. “I don’t think so.”
“I need you to keep contacting her, and get a trace on her as soon as her phone rings, hm?”
“On it, Sir.”
I
I disconnect the call, sighing heavily before I call Sam, whose number I got from Alice.
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Chapter 76
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“You haven’t heard anything from her?” I ask for the sixth time, the muscles in my jaw clenched.
“No.” He rolls up his black sleeved T–shirt, staring uncomfortably at my suit and then the casual surroundings around us. Would this B–grade cafe be my choice? Absolutely not. It was his. And I don’t fit in. “Don’t worry, she’ll come back here. She always does.”
“I need you to call me as soon as you see her, hear her, anything. If you
you even see her in your dream, I want to know where
she was, yes?”
“Need?”
“Need.”
He scoffs slightly. “You fumbled her, and you think you’re in any position to give me orders?”
“I didn’t fumble her.” I resist shooting him in the face for my wife’s sake. I didn’t want her to be mad at me for killing her friend. I wondered why he was even her friend. He looked like an ostrich with his long as fuck neck. “We had a misunderstanding.”
“Sure.”
“Sam, let me be perfectly clear to you about something, I am insane, and on most good days, I tolerate you for my wife’s sake.” I tell him, the coldness in my voice evident. “Without her, I have no reason to tolerate you. You hope as fuck I find her quick, or else your name is on the top of my hit list.”
He gulps, and I leave without bothering to say goodbye.
Day 3:
“We managed to get into Alice’s phone, Sir.” Peter places an iPad in front of me, and I gently squeeze my forehead before squinting my eyes to look into it. Not sleeping does that to you. “She received a total of 26 calls in the past three days, none from Mrs. Whitlock. Six of them were from unknown numbers. Three were spam callers, and the other three were from different clients of hers, but there is no trace of ma’am.”
I nod, and he leaves. Grabbing my glass of whiskey in front of me, I gulp it in one shot. I was going sick with worry. What if… What if something was wrong? What if she was taken like earlier?
My phone buzzed, and I immediately turn to grab it. That’s what I had been doing since the past forty eight hours any way, not leaving my phone for a little second. What if she calls? What if I miss it?
Unfortunately, it was Zach leaving a text message. ‘Anna hasn’t heard anything from her. She’s worried. Keep us posted, and let me know if I can do anything to help.”
I suck in a deep breath. Just another dead end.
Day 7:
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Chapter 76
“I am the very best in the field. If there is a trace, I will follow it find her, and you know it, Mr. Whitlock.” I wish I could say that Lou’s reassurance brings me any comfort, but it doesn’t.
As a last resort to finding my wife, I called Damien, whose phone was unreachable. I couldn’t get through him, but twelve hours later, I found a number in a text message from him. I dialled that number hesitantly, and Lou stood at my doorstep the very next day.
“You remind me too much of my wife,” I tell her, gulping. Maybe it was the same skin tone, or the dark hair, or the slight freckles Lou had. Who am I kidding? It was definitely the freckles. They were fewer and fainter than Sophia’s, but evident enough to catch my eye. “She’s just taller to you.”
“I can see the resemblance,” Lou smiles at the picture of Sophia I handed to her from our wedding photos.
“Find her,” I whisper, my brokenness evident. “Please.”
One of the housekeepers interrupts our meeting by coughing. I look at him, and his eyes don’t meet me. “Sir, there’s a certain Sam Riley here to meet you.”
“Let him in. Now.” This was the happiest I had ever been hearing his name, because it was the first spark of hope I had felt. Maybe she contacted him. Despite the rage, I felt the hope. I asked my men to keep a close eye on both him and Alice and when he came to the city to visit Alice over the previous weekend, I thought maybe, just maybe, Freckles had contacted either of them and that why they were having this untimely reunion,
When Sam entered, his appearance was disheveled. His hair were a mess and he looked like he hadn’t been showering. “She’s not coming back,” he looked at me but didn’t quite look at me. “I don’t think she’s coming back. What if something’s wrong?”
I just stared at him. Did he really think coming to my house was the brightest idea? Did he possibly think I would console him while he cries over MY wife?
It wasn’t until I stepped closer that the stench of alcohol reached me. “Did you accidentally stumble into the bar and shower in alcohol?” I raise my eyebrows, no concern in my voice whatsoever.
It’s all your fault, dick,” He yells. “Look at you having fun with a replica of Sophia, but what about me? What about me,
had just one Sophia, and I can’t find her! The police can’t find her!
I didn’t hesitate to step towards him and punch his jaw, knocking his tumbling self down. “She was never yours,” I spat, looking at the housekeeper. “Get him the fuck out.”
As I watch him being dragged out, I felt the worry I had been concealing clench at my heart. Where was my girl?
