Cassian (POV)
I was on my way to get food when someone accidentally spilled a drink all over my suit.
"Oh, sorry!" the man said.
"It's okay," I replied automatically.
My attention wasn't on him.
I glanced back toward where Jay-Jay had been standing.
She was talking to someone.
"Really, it's fine," I said, grabbing a few napkins. "It's just a drink."
I needed to get back before she started complaining that I was taking forever.
But when I looked up again...
Jay-Jay was gone.
I frowned.
Maybe she went looking for Kiefer.
After grabbing the food, I headed back toward the woman Jay-Jay had been talking to.
"Hey," I said. "Where's Jay-Jay?"
The woman blinked.
"Who's Jay-Jay?"
"The woman you were talking to. Mrs. Watson."
"Oh."
She pointed toward the mansion.
"Someone called her. She left a while ago."
My stomach tightened.
Someone called her?
Before I could ask anything else, the music changed.
Couples moved toward the dance floor.
I scanned the crowd.
No Jay-Jay.
I looked for Mia.
She was dancing with Jare.
I looked for Kiefer.
He was still surrounded by people.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
I abandoned the food and headed toward the mansion.
The deeper I walked, the quieter it became.
"Jay?" I called.
No answer.
I checked one room.
Then another.
Nothing.
A few minutes later, I spotted a familiar little figure walking out of the left wing.
Adrian.
"Hey, Adrian."
The boy stopped.
"Did you see anyone come this way?"
He nodded.
"I saw Jay-Jay Tita."
My heartbeat sped up.
"Where?"
"Left wing."
He pointed behind him.
"She was with her son."
Orion.
Relief flooded me for half a second.
"When did you see her?"
"5 Minutes ago"
I didn't wait for the rest.
I ran.
"Jay!"
My voice echoed through the empty halls.
Room after room.
Hallway after hallway.
Nothing.
"Jay-Jay!"
Silence.
The panic in my chest was growing with every second.
Then something caught my eye.
A phone.
Lying on the floor.
I froze.
Slowly, I picked it up.
Jay-Jay's phone.
The screen was still lit.
My blood ran cold.
The last message was open.
Clyden Kuya: Come to the left wing of the mansion.
I stared at it.
Then at the empty hallway.
Then back at the phone.
For the first time that night...
I was truly afraid.
"Fuck."
Someone had taken her.
Kiefer (POV)
I was still talking to the directors.
Clyden had disappeared earlier, claiming he needed to find his phone.
Apparently, it contained photos of Jay.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if he genuinely missed the phone or just wanted an excuse to escape the meeting.
My attention drifted across the ballroom.
I couldn't find Jay.
A small frown appeared on my face.
Maybe she was with Mia.
Or Cassian.
Still...
Something felt off.
I excused myself and started looking for her.
Then I saw them.
Cassian.
And Clyden.
Both walking toward me.
Fast.
The moment I saw their faces; a bad feeling settled in my chest.
Cassian looked out of breath.
Clyden looked furious.
"Kiefer," Cassian said.
My stomach dropped.
"What happened?" I asked immediately.
My eyes moved between them.
"Where's Jay?"
Neither of them answered right away.
And that silence told me everything.
"Jay is missing."
The world seemed to stop.
"Someone took her."
Cassian's voice sounded distant.
"I found her phone on the floor."
For a second, I couldn't process the words.
Then anger exploded inside me.
I grabbed Cassian by the collar.
"Why did you leave her alone?"
The directors nearby immediately stepped back.
Cassian didn't fight me.
Didn't even look surprised.
"I went to get her food," he said.
His voice was full of guilt.
"When I came back, she was talking to someone."
I released him.
My chest heaved.
I turned toward Clyden.
"What happened?"
Clyden clenched his jaw.
"They used my phone."
"What?"
"They sent Jay a message pretending to be me."
His voice was ice cold.
"They lured her into the left wing of the mansion."
A trap.
Someone had planned this.
Someone had targeted her.
I looked between the two of them.
Both of them were holding something back.
I knew that look.
The look people had when they didn't want to tell me something.
My voice dropped dangerously low.
"Tell me."
Neither of them spoke.
My patience snapped.
"What the fuck are you still hiding from me?"
Cassian looked away.
Clyden cursed under his breath.
Then Cassian finally spoke.
"She wasn't alone."
A strange sense of relief flooded me.
For half a second.
Then he finished.
"Orion was with her."
Everything inside me went silent.
My wife and my son?"
For a second, I couldn't hear anything.
Then I punched Cassian.
The impact echoed through the hallway.
Cassian stumbled backward but didn't fight back.
Didn't even try to defend himself.
His guilt was written all over his face.
"Didn't you know she was the target?" I roared.
My hands were shaking.
"That's why we've been keeping an eye on her!"
I grabbed his shirt again.
"How could you leave her alone?"
"Kiefer!"
Clyden pulled me back before I could hit him again.
"Beat him later if you want," he snapped. "Right now we need to find Jay."
I shoved Cassian away.
My chest was rising and falling so hard it hurt.
My mind was already imagining the worst.
Jay.
Orion.
Alone.
Scared.
Hurt.
"How long?" I asked.
My voice sounded cold even to me.
"How long has she been missing?"
Cassian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Maybe twenty minutes."
Twenty minutes.
Twenty fucking minutes.
"I already searched the entire left wing," he continued. "There's no sign of her."
The hallway suddenly felt suffocating.
"Someone definitely took her."
"I already called Cole and Angelo," Cassian said quickly. "They're checking the CCTV footage right now."
I clenched my fists.
Twenty minutes was enough time to move her.
Enough time to hide her.
Enough time to—
I stopped myself.
Thinking like that wouldn't help.
Finding her would.
"If anything happens to her..."
My voice was barely above a whisper.
But both of them heard it.
"If a single hair on her head is harmed..."
I looked directly at Cassian.
"I'll kill every person responsible."
Then I walked away.
The next two hours were hell.
I called every contact I had built over the last five years.
Businessmen.
Politicians.
Police officers.
Informants.
Anyone who owed me a favor.
I didn't care anymore.
I wanted my wife back.
I searched every place I could think of.
Dark alleys.
Abandoned buildings.
Warehouses.
Empty roads.
Every minute that passed made it harder to breathe.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
No words.
Just a location.
My heart stopped.
I immediately forwarded it to Angelo.
"Track everything around this area," I ordered.
Then I got into my car and drove.
Fast.
Too fast.
The location wasn't far from the mansion.
It was an old building hidden in darkness.
I didn't wait for backup.
I didn't wait for anyone.
I ran inside.
No guards.
No voices.
Nothing.
Then I heard it.
A baby crying.
Orion.
My heart nearly exploded.
I followed the sound.
Faster.
Faster.
Until I reached a room.
And froze.
"Jay..."
Orion was sitting beside her, crying.
Jay wasn't moving.
Her body was covered in bruises.
Blood stained her clothes.
For a second, the world disappeared.
I dropped to my knees beside her.
My shaking hand moved to her neck.
Then to her chest.
I felt it.
A heartbeat.
Her chest rose slowly.
She was breathing.
A broken breath escaped me.
I hadn't even realized I was holding my own.
Carefully, I pulled her into my arms.
"Jay..."
I brushed the hair away from her face.
Then I saw the marks around her neck.
Fingerprints.
Someone had choked her.
My vision blurred with rage.
I lowered my head and kissed her forehead.
Then rested my forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry."
My voice cracked.
"Sorry for leaving you alone."
For a moment, I allowed myself to break.
Just a moment.
Then I stood up.
I had to get her to a hospital.
Now.
I removed my jacket and carefully secured Orion against my back.
Then I lifted Jay into my arms.
She felt far too light.
Far too fragile.
I carried her outside and placed her carefully in the back seat.
After making sure she was secure, I buckled Orion into the front passenger seat.
"Dada..."
His tiny voice was trembling.
"It's okay," I whispered.
And kissed him.
Even though nothing was okay.
Then I drove.
The entire way to the hospital, I kept glancing at Jay through the mirror.
Watching her chest rise.
And fall.
Rise.
And fall.
As long as she was breathing...
I could survive this.
When we arrived, the doctors rushed her inside.
Minutes later, everyone else arrived.
Cassian.
Clyden.
Angelo.
Cole.
The moment they saw the blood on my clothes; the hallway fell silent.
I was still holding Orion in my arms.
He was exhausted from crying.
His tiny hands were gripping my shirt, as if he was afraid, I'd disappear too.
"What happened?" Angelo asked.
I laughed.
A broken, humorless laugh.
"I don't know."
Everyone froze.
"I fucking don't know!"
My voice echoed through the hallway.
"I found her in some abandoned building."
I tightened my hold on Orion.
"She was covered in bruises."
My jaw clenched.
"Someone choked her."
The images flashed through my mind again.
The fingerprints around her neck.
The blood.
The bruises.
The way she wasn't moving.
"And I don't know what happened."
My voice dropped lower.
Dangerously lower.
"But when I find the bastard who touched her..."
I looked up.
Every person in the hallway went silent.
"I'm going to rip him apart."
The darkness inside me was no longer hiding.
"I'm going to break every bone in his body."
My hands shook.
"And when he's begging me to stop..."
I smiled.
There was nothing sane in that smile.
"I'll remind him that he chose this."
Nobody spoke.
Nobody tried to stop me.
Because if they had seen Jay the way I had...
They would've wanted the same thing.
Then the emergency room doors opened.
The doctor stepped out.
Everyone immediately stood.
"Doctor?" Cole asked.
The doctor removed his glasses.
"Someone injected her with a drug."
My heart stopped.
"It appears to have temporarily numbed her body."
The hallway became deathly quiet.
"She has multiple bruises."
The doctor's expression darkened.
"And evidence of severe blunt-force trauma."
My stomach twisted.
"She was kicked hard in the abdomen."
Cassian cursed under his breath.
Clyden looked ready to kill someone.
The doctor continued.
"The bruising around her neck indicates strangulation."
I couldn't breathe.
"Her vocal cords have been damaged."
The words hit harder than any punch.
"What?"
My voice came out as a whisper.
The doctor looked at me.
"She cannot speak right now."
No.
No.
No.
"Will she recover?"
The doctor hesitated.
That hesitation terrified me.
"We don't know yet."
The hallway fell silent again.
"She's also suffering from severe emotional shock."
The doctor sighed.
"We've given her sedatives and stabilized her condition."
I looked at the floor.
For the first time all night...
I felt helpless.
Completely helpless.
"Can we see her?" Cole asked quietly.
The doctor nodded.
"One at a time."
My eyes immediately moved toward the hospital room door.
Toward my wife.
And suddenly...
I was afraid to walk inside.
Afraid of seeing how much pain she had endured while I wasn't there.
"What the fuck happened in two hours?" Jare asked.
Silence.
Nobody knew.
The only person who had the answer was behind that door.
Broken.
Bruised.
Unable to speak.
Unable to tell us who did this.
I clenched my fists.
Two hours.
Just two fucking hours.
And someone had turned my fearless wife into a patient lying in a hospital bed.
I was going to find out who did it.
Even if I had to tear the entire city apart.