~~~~~~
UNKNOWN LOCATION
The room smelled of dust, damp wood, and something stale that had been sitting too long.  
A weak lamp flickered overhead, throwing uneasy shadows that crawled across the walls like they were alive.  
Sarah crouched beside Noel, trembling fingers shoving tiny clothes into a backpack. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.  
They had to leave.  
Now.  
Before he came back.  
“Okay, sweetheart,” she whispered, forcing her voice steady. “We’re going to play a little game, alright?”  
Noel sat cross-legged on the couch, clutching her flower basket like it was the only thing keeping her grounded.  
“A game?”  
Sarah’s smile cracked down the middle.  
“Yeah.”  
Her throat burned.  
“A quiet game.”  
Noel frowned. “Can I go to Mommy now?”  
The question hit like a blade between the ribs.  
Sarah’s eyes burned.  
God.  
What had she done?  
“Yes,” she whispered shakily. “I’m trying to take you to Mommy.”  
She knelt, slipping Noel’s tiny sneakers on as fast as her trembling hands allowed.  
“Hurry, sweetheart.”  
Noel blinked up at her. “Why are you crying?”  
Sarah froze.  
Because I betrayed everyone.  
Because I listened to the wrong person.  
Because I thought I was helping.  
Her chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.  
A week ago, if someone had told her she’d be the reason Noel disappeared, she would’ve laughed in their face.  
But Ethan had found her.  
Broken.  
Desperate.  
He knew exactly what to say.  
Exactly where to hurt.  
“I’m her father, Sarah.”  
The memory slammed into her.  
---------------------------------------------
FLASHBACK — ONE WEEK AGO 
Sarah stood stiffly outside a small café, arms folded like they could hold her together.  
The man across from her looked exhausted. Older. Worn. But strangely familiar.  
He slid a pregnant photograph of Rose across the table. She was young and fragile.
Sarah frowned. “What is this?”  
His jaw clenched. “My daughter.”  
Sarah laughed nervously. “Noel?”  
He nodded slowly. “She’s mine.”  
Her stomach dropped. “That’s impossible.”  
His eyes darkened. “Rose never told you?”  
Silence.  
“She ran,” he said bitterly. “Took my child before I could fix things.”  
Something in his voice sounded real. Painfully real.  
“She moved on,” he muttered. “Found herself some billionaire prince. But she never even gave me the chance to know my daughter.”  
Sarah shifted uncomfortably. Rose never talked about Noel’s father. Only fragments. Pain. Fear. Nothing complete.  
“She’s getting married,” Ethan said quietly.  
The bitterness in his tone cut deeper.  
“And my daughter is going to call another man ‘Dad’.”  
Sarah hesitated. “What exactly do you want from me?”  
His eyes softened. Dangerously convincing.  
“Just one meeting. One day. That’s all.”  
His voice cracked. “I just want to meet my little girl.”  
Sarah’s chest twisted. “You swear?”  
“I swear.”  
Then his expression changed.  
Darkened.  
Cold.  
“But if you tell Rose…” He leaned forward. “I’ll make sure you regret it.”  
Sarah froze.  
The smile never reached his eyes.  
“You know where you live, right?”  
Her blood turned to ice.  
“You know accidents happen.” he threatened.
--------------------------------------------------
BACK TO PRESENT 
A slow clap echoed through the room.  
Sarah froze.  
Noel blinked.  
The doorway stood dark. A tall silhouette leaned against it.  
Watching. Dangerously calm.  
“Well,” the man said softly. “That’s disappointing.”  
Sarah’s blood ran cold.  
“No…”  
“You were going to betray me?”  
His voice was too calm. The terrifying kind of calm.  
Sarah stepped in front of Noel, arms out like that alone could protect her.  
“She’s just a child!”  
“And?”  
Noel clutched Sarah’s shirt, voice small. “Sarah…”  
Fear clawed up Sarah’s throat.  
“She deserves to go home! This isn’t what you promised!”  
Silence.  
Then footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.  
He stepped into the light just enough for the hard line of his jaw to show.  
Cold. Unreadable.  
“You really believed this was about introductions?” he asked quietly.  
Sarah’s breath hitched. “You said you only wanted to meet her!”  
He tilted his head. “I lied.”  
Her stomach dropped.  
“She moved on too quickly,” he muttered, voice darkening. “Didn’t she?”  
His jaw clenched.  
“Got married.  
Like I never existed.”  
The room felt colder.  
Sarah shook her head desperately. “Please… don’t do this.”  
Noel looked up, confused. “Why is he angry?”  
He crouched in front of her, voice shifting—softer, almost warm.  
“You know who I am?”  
Noel blinked.  
He smiled faintly. “I’m your daddy.”  
Noel frowned instantly.  
“No.”  
Firm. Final.  
“My mommy said my daddy isn’t here.”  
Something dangerous flickered in his eyes. Gone just as fast.  
“Well,” he murmured. “Mommy lies sometimes.”  
Sarah’s stomach twisted. “You’re scaring her.”  
He stood slowly, expression hardening.  
“No.”  
His eyes settled on Sarah.  
“You are.”  
Something hard slammed against Sarah’s head.  
Pain exploded.  
Metal on bone.  
The gun butt.  
Sarah crumpled to the floor, darkness swallowing her whole.  
“Nanny Sarah!”  
Noel’s scream tore through the room.  
The man crouched beside her, voice turning fake-soft, manipulative.  
“Hey…”  
He brushed hair from her face.  
“No crying.”  
He lifted Noel carefully, jaw tightening.  
“We’re leaving.”  
His eyes flicked to Sarah’s unconscious form. Cold.  
“Looks like Mommy involved people. Can’t stay here anymore.”  
Noel sniffled. “I want Mommy…”  
Something broken flickered across his face. Obsession. Bitterness. 
“You’ll see her soon.”  
A pause.  
Then—  
“So will I.”  
~~~~~~~~
ROSE POV
I can’t sit still.  
Can’t breathe.  
I’m not screaming. Screaming would’ve been easier. This is quieter. Worse. A slow, gnawing devastation that’s hollowing me out from the inside.  
I clutch Noel’s rabbit to my chest like if I hold it tight enough, she’ll materialize in my arms. The fur is damp and matted from my hands.  
Adrian hasn’t left my side. He hasn’t slept either, but I see how his eyes track every breath I take, like he’s afraid if he blinks I’ll disappear too.  
Daniel’s updates keep coming in. Coordinates. Dead ends. “No major breakthroughs yet.”  
Nothing sticks. Just noise.  
Then—  
The phone rings.  
Unknown Number.  
Everyone freezes.  
I answer on the second ring, my voice shaking before I even speak.  
“Hello?”  
Silence.  
Then—  
A voice. Low. Mocking. Painfully familiar.  
“You moved on fast, Rosie.”  
The room spins.  
No.  
No.  
My lips part. That nickname. Only one person—  
Flash of memory: nineteen, blood on the bathroom floor, fear choking me, screaming into the rain, begging him to stop.  
Adrian’s hand hovers near my shoulder. “Rose?”  
But I can’t hear him.  
The voice chuckles darkly.  
“Married already?”  
A pause.  
“Damn. Guess I wasn’t that unforgettable after all.”  
My hand trembles violently.  
“Ethan…?”  
Silence.  
Then a laugh. Cold. Broken and obsessive.
“Missed me?”  
I snap.  
“Where is my daughter?!”  
And beneath his voice—  
A tiny sound.  
Crying softly.  
“Mommy?”  
I break.  
“Baby?! Noel?! Are you okay?!”  
Noel sniffles, her voice small and hoarse, breaking my heart in two.  
“Mommy… I wanna come home…”  
Hearing her say that guts me. It tears a hole straight through me and I don’t care if it never heals.  
Then Ethan takes the phone back.  
“Cute reunion.”  
His tone drops, low and deliberate.  
“You want her back? Then listen. No police. No games. Just you and me. Meet me alone, and you might as well be saving two people.”  
Sarah is in trouble. My chest heaves.  
“You bastard—”  
“No,” he cuts in smoothly.  
“Careful.”  
A pause.  
“Because if I get upset…  
…things happen.”  
Adrian snatches the phone from me.  
“Listen to me, you sick—”  
“Ah,” Ethan interrupts, lazy amusement bleeding through.  
“The billionaire husband.”  
His laugh is low and mocking.  
“Cute.”  
I grab Adrian’s wrist, nails digging in.  
“No—”  
“You really replaced me that fast, Rosie?” Ethan’s bitterness seeps through every word.  
“Got another man playing daddy to my daughter?”  
Adrian’s jaw locks.  
“She is not your—”  
“She is mine,” Ethan snaps possessively.
The sharpness in his voice makes the room go silent.  
Then his calm returns, like a mask sliding back into place.  
“I’ll make this simple.”  
A pause.  
Then his voice drops low. Deliberate.  
“You want Noel back?”  
I stop breathing.  
“Then listen carefully.”  
The room goes still.  
“No police.”  
“No stupid heroics.”  
“No billionaire husband pretending he can save you.”  
I grip the phone until my knuckles go white.  
“What do you want?”  
A soft chuckle.  
“Money.”  
Transactional.  
“Twenty million dollars in cash.”  
The room freezes.  
Adrian’s expression darkens instantly.  
Ethan continues casually.  
“In cash.”  
“You’ll bring it yourself.”  
I swallow hard, my throat dry.  
“Where?”  
“I’ll text the location.”  
A pause.  
Then—  
“You come alone.”  
My heart slams against my ribs.  
“If I see police…”  
His voice lowers, dangerous and quiet.  
“If I even smell Adrian near that location…”  
A beat.  
“You’ll never see our daughter again.”  
I stop breathing.  
“Please,” I whisper, broken. “Please don’t hurt her.”  
For the first time, Ethan sounds almost amused.  
“Hurt her?”  
A bitter laugh.  
“She’s my daughter too.”  
The words make me sick.  
Then his tone changes again.  
Dark.  
Unstable.  
“You should’ve never moved on so fast, Rosie.”  
The old nickname sounds wrong now.  
Wrong and threatening and obsessive.  
“You forgot me.”  
A pause.  
“But don’t worry.”  
His voice softens.  
Terrifyingly soft.  
“We’re going to fix that.”  
Then—  
The line goes dead.  
Silence.  
I stand frozen, phone trembling violently in my hand, the dial tone screaming in my ear.  
Adrian turns to me immediately, voice hard.  
“You are not going.”  
I look up slowly.  
My eyes are shattered. Wild.  
“Yes,” I whisper.  
“I am.”  
And for the first time, Adrian sees it.  
The fear.  
Not fear of Ethan.  
Fear of what Ethan is capable of.  
Because I know him.  
Really know him.  
I know the way his temper works, the way he smiles when he’s about to break something.  
And that terrifies me more than anyone in the room.
•••••••••