Chapter 165
Alex’s POV
I hadn’t even realized how fast I’d been driving until I reached the school. Christiana’s panicked phone call was still ringing in my head, her voice trembling with fear. The image of her face.wide–eyed and frantic…haunted me. The kids. My kids. Gone. And I had no idea who would dare take them.
The car screeched to a halt in the parking lot, and without thinking, I jumped out, slamming the door behind me. Christiana was standing at the entrance, her eyes red and swollen from tears. I could see the despair written across her face, but I knew better than anyone how strong she was. Still, this…this was different. Her kids were missing. No one was strong enough for
that.
“Christiana,” I said, my voice hoarse from the adrenaline pumping through me. “We’ll find them. I promise.”
She didn’t answer right away. She was too busy pacing back and forth, muttering under her breath like a prayer. Her hands were trembling, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her and tell her it would all be okay. But deep down, I didn’t know if it would be.
“Alex… they said they were here. They said they were with someone, but they don’t remember who.” Her voice cracked. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, pushing her hair away from her face in frustration. “I can’t… I can’t believe this is happening.””
I placed a hand on her shoulder. Her body was stiff with tension, and I felt her tremble beneath my touch. “We’ll get answers. We just need to stay calm.”
But the look in her eyes told me she wasn’t calm. She was falling apart, and I was helpless to stop it.
The school office was a sterile room…so much brighter than the chaos swirling inside my head. We were met by the secretary, a woman who looked like she’d been through a dozen similar situations. Her eyes moved to Christiana, then to me, and she straightened in her chair, like she wasn’t used to dealing with situations this severe.
“Can I help you?” she asked, her tone polite but distant.
“Help?” Christiana’s voice broke, and I saw her shoulders drop as if she were carrying the weight of the world. “Help? My kids are missing! Someone took them…who was the man that picked them up?”
The secretary’s expression faltered for a moment, like she didn’t know how to respond to that. “The man who picked them up… well, he said he was taking them to their parents.” She leaned forward, trying to offer reassurance. “I’m sure everything’s fine. Sometimes they get confused about who’s picking them up
Christiana’s eyes were sharp, not letting go of the details. “Who was he? I need his name.”
The secretary’s brow furrowed, a deep crease appearing between her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, obviously uneasy. “I… I’m afraid I don’t remember his name. He looked familiar, but I’m sorry, it’s been a busy day, and I don’t remember
Christiana’s breath hitched in her chest. I knew she was struggling to hold herself together. I could see her trying to process what she was hearing. The school staff couldn’t remember the man’s name? That didn’t make sense. She wouldn’t let this go. “No,” she insisted, her voice shaking. “That’s not good enough. This man had my children, and you don’t remember him?” The secretary shifted nervously in her chair. “Well, the children they seemed to recognize him. They were excited to see him. They were smiling and laughing as he walked them out.”
My heart pounded in my chest, and I saw Christiana’s hand tremble as she grabbed onto the edge of the desk. “What do you mean they were excited? Who was he? Where is he now?”
“I’m sorry,” the secretary said, looking flustered now. “I really don’t know. He didn’t leave any paperwork, nothing that
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13:48 Mon, Dec 16 G. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
stands out. But, well, you know… they seemed to know him.”
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Christiana’s face went pale, and I saw her struggling to breathe. I had to grip her arm, steadying her. “Christiana, stay with me. We’ll figure this out.”
She blinked at me, her eyes wide with panic. “What if they’re with someone dangerous? What if…”
“We don’t know that yet,” I said, my voice steady, trying to get through the chaos in her head. “But we will find out.”
Christiana’s eyes flicked to the secretary. “Can you check the security footage? See if you can find anything?”
The secretary hesitated, and I could feel Christiana’s frustration mounting. “Please,” I urged, my voice hard. “This is urgent. We need to know who took them.”
The secretary seemed to falter under the pressure. “I… I can check. But the footage might not show much. He might not have shown up on camera clearly.”
Christiana’s shoulders sagged in defeat. She seemed to shrink under the weight of the uncertainty. “Please,” she whispered again, barely audible.
I reached out to hold her hand, my own grip tightening. We both knew time was slipping away, but we had no choice but to wait. The secretary left, the door closing softly behind her.
We were alone now, and I could hear Christiana’s breathing, shallow and quick. I wanted to say something comforting, but nothing felt right. What could I say when I had no idea where the hell our kids were?
Minutes passed, though it felt like hours. Christiana paced around the small office, wringing her hands. She was speaking to herself now, the words tumbling out in frantic murmurs. “Why would someone take them? Why?”
I stepped toward her, wanting to do something…anything…to calm her. “We’ll find them. I swear to you.”
But even as I said the words, I could see the doubt in her eyes. She didn’t believe it. And I didn’t blame her. Neither of us knew where to go from here.
The door opened again, and the secretary returned, looking pale. She had a sheet of paper in her hand, but there was no look of relief on her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, “but there’s no clear footage of the man. It’s hard to make him out clearly on the camera, and there’s nothing written down to identify him.”
Christiana’s face fell, and I saw her shoulders sag with despair. “What do you mean, nothing? This is a school. How can you not know?”
“I… I really don’t know,” the secretary said, wringing her hands, le must’ve been a guest or… someone familiar.”
Christiana’s family?”
eyes narrowed, and I could see the flicker of suspicion. “Someone familiar. You mean someone from the
The secretary’s gaze dropped, and I knew that look. It wasn’t a mistake. She was holding something back.
“Who was it?!” Christiana demanded, stepping closer, desperation thick in her voice.
“I don’t know,” the secretary whispered, barely meeting her eyes “But the children… Ethan and Emma…they seemed to know him, and they were happy. That’s all I can tell you.”
watched Christiana’s expression shift from fear to anger in an instant. Her face tightened, her lips pressed into a thin line. “I need to find them,” she muttered, pacing again. “I need to find my children.”
I followed her, staying close, even though I felt like we were both walking blind in a storm. The only thing I knew for sure
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was that whatever this was, it had nothing to do with normal. Nothing to do with what we expected.
As I stood there, watching Christiana’s every move, one name flashed in my mind: Bianca.
Her name had come up before, in every conversation about threats, dangers, and people who had reasons to hate us. What if she had done something? What if she was behind all this?
I couldn’t say it out loud…not yet
…but I could see it in Christiana’s eyes. She was thinking it too. She wasn’t just afraid. She was calculating.
“Christiana,” I said quietly, trying to calm her. “We’ll find them. We need to think this through.”
But even as I said the words, a gut–wrenching fear gripped my chest. We didn’t know who had taken them. And right now, there were more questions than answers.
SEND GIFT.
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