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That’s when I know something is wrong. We are both very careful. She wouldn’t go anywhere without telling me. It becomes very clear—they have her.
They found us.
How? We’ve been careful. There hasn’t been a peep from anyone in weeks. Why now?
I walk out of the restaurant and look up and down the busy street. There are tourists and locals alike crowding the sidewalks and outdoor cafes. I scan every face, hoping to see Paige. She’s not there.
Every nerve in my body is on edge, my mind consumed by a relentless whirlwind of worry and fear. She's been gone for hours, and I had no idea. How could I have let this happen?
I start walking the path she would take back to our place. I look for any clue. Maybe she met up with a friend and was enjoying a cool drink. I want to scream out her name, but what good would that do? I can’t call the police because she doesn’t exist. I can only assume Adrian, or her family must be behind this. They've been lying in wait, biding their time until the perfect moment to strike. We've managed to fly under the radar for almost two months, but now they've found us.
We talked about taking jobs that kept us out of the public eye, trying to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. But there wasn't much out there, and we needed the money. The cash we had stashed away helped cover the bills that our meager wages didn't quite reach. The waitress job was a risk because she would encounter the public, but we assumed with her change in appearance and the chances of them just happening into her restaurant, it was a very minimal risk.
As I walk the streets around her workplace, desperation clawing at my chest, I ask anyone who will listen if they've seen anything—heard anything. I show them the picture I took of her a couple of days ago. But the answer is always the same: nothing. It's as if she vanished into thin air.
Would they take her back to LA? The thought sends a shiver down my spine. I consider reaching out to my buddy back home, but what good would that do? It solves nothing, brings us no closer to finding her. If they kidnapped her, they aren’t going to make it known. They’ll have her locked down somewhere.
Panic bubbles up again. How will I ever find her and my child? What happens when they figure out she’s pregnant with my baby? I stop walking, feeling physical pain at the idea I might never get to meet my baby.
Returning to our apartment, I search frantically for any clue she might have left behind, any hint that she knew something was about to happen. But the apartment is eerily silent, devoid of any sign of her presence. I feel lost. I don’t know where to look.
I collapse onto the couch, running a hand through my hair in frustration. The walls feel like they're closing in on me, suffocating me with the uncertainty of Paige's disappearance. I reach for the framed photograph of us on the side table, our smiles frozen in a moment of happiness that now feels like a distant memory. We took the picture the day we got the apartment. We were laughing hysterically because it was so small, and the place was a step above a slum. My pampered princess had fallen out of her gilded cage and into my arms, and we couldn't have been happier. But now, that happiness feels like a cruel joke, a fleeting moment snatched away by unseen forces. I clutch the photograph to my chest, as if holding onto it tight enough might somehow bring her back to me.
I can't lose her—not now, not ever. I call her phone again. It goes straight to voicemail. Before, it rang a few times. Either someone turned it off or she was ignoring my calls. I doubt it’s the last. Which tells me they do have her.
Continuing to live under an assumed identity seems pretty pointless now. That means I can reappear and suffer no consequences but I can sure as hell make sure her family does. I’m going public. I will expose them for who they are. I’ll start with a trickle of leaked information to get their attention. They can let her go or I’ll destroy them.
Chapter seventeen
Paige
“Mom, you have to let me tell him goodbye,” I beg.
She shakes her head. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Mom, please!”
“Paige, your father is never going to allow that. And what about Adrian? Adrian is your husband.”
“He is NOT my husband.”
“You know what I mean,” she sighs. “He’s going to marry you. I think you should be grateful he’s still willing to marry you after all this drama. You really could have destroyed his good name and ours.”
“I don’t care about anyone’s name,” I hiss. “As far as saying it’s good, I beg to differ. Do you know what he did to me?”
“I know he’s searched the country trying to find you.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “Mom, he tried to kidnap me. The men he kept sending after me were not exactly kind when they asked me to return. They could have killed me! That is called kidnapping. That isn’t love.”
I watch as my mother's face contorts in a mix of disapproval and frustration. She takes a deep breath, clearly trying to choose the right words. "Paige, you're not seeing the bigger picture here. Your disappearance has caused quite a stir, and your father is doing everything he can to protect our family's reputation. Adrian may have made mistakes, but he loves you. He's offering you stability and security."
Stability and security. The words feel like a heavy weight pressing down on me, suffocating me with their expectations. I know what my mother wants for me - the picture-perfect life of a socialite wife, gracing society pages and attending charity galas. But I can't ignore the nagging feeling deep in my gut. Something is fundamentally wrong with this whole situation. I refuse to be silenced, to simply fit into the mold they've crafted for me.
Taking a deep breath, I steel myself and meet my mother's gaze. "I can't do this, Mom. I won't marry Adrian. And I won't let you or Dad dictate my life anymore."
Her eyes widen in shock, clearly unaccustomed to defiance from someone she's always viewed as obedient and compliant. "Paige, don't be foolish. This is your chance to secure your future.”
“My future is just fine,” I spit out the words. “At least it was. I don’t need your money. I certainly don’t need the good reputation you are so concerned about. I want love. I want Hunter.”
