บท 74: Where's my daughter?

I was quick to regain consciousness though and my brain quickly processed the current turbulence and I shot up from the small hospital bed, then scanned the room for signals. When I did and there was no one in sight, I urgently tapped around for my phone but the shrill noise assisted me in identifying just where it was.

"My heartfelt condolence on your grandfather's demise, very painful you had to be the death of him, it's already customary though, the same had to happen to poor naive Leah too... Just because of you, anyways there's no time to dwell on the past now, I warned you before not to try anything stupid, I guess the corpse of your Papa drove that home. Don't let me warn you again or my poor granddaughter's body might be delivered to you in a body bag.... LeeVee's at 8pm on dot, come along with the family heirloom your grandfather gifted you not long ago, it's going to be of great use." Was the lengthy and grim text that greeted my eyes and I shuddered in fear and regret, I should have just listened to her without having to drag the police into this, then again Susan wasn't one to live and let live, she would have eventually killed the old man to get to me anyways. I shed silent tears to mourn my Papa, it was all because of me he had to die such a gruesome death.

I tried calling Ry again but as usual, he wasn't picking up, that only made me more furious, I was facing the worse nightmare of my life and the supposed husband that vowed 'for better, for worse' was no where close, I felt more like Chloe at that moment and also resolved to do what she had done, clearly understanding the reason behind it, but fortunately for her, she didn't have to lose any dear person to realise how much of an asshole Ry was.

I marched out of the room and towards the entrance of the tiny clinic but was stopped by the man I'd threatened earlier.

"Madam you can't go home now, we need you at our office for questioning," He said gruffly while munching on boiled corn, he didn't even look concerned about the whole situation and I felt like tearing him apart.

"I'm sorry Sir, a dear one just died and I would like to go plan his funeral, plus my daughter is still missing and I'd like to search for her instead, so whatever question you have in mind can wait a little while." I grinded out and he simply laughed.

"Madam, it's better you just leave searching for your daughter to us, it's our job and you can't just bury your grandfather like that, we still have to carry out an autopsy and keep him as evidence for a while." I suddenly felt like everything was spinning again, first I couldn't mourn my Papa and now I can't secure the safety of my child, It just all seemed like a very deep blow to me, and the fact that Ry wasn't even there to support me was wearing me out speedily. I never understood the concept of a companion, a soul mate fully until that moment.

"It won't take long ma, I'm really sorry about the whole situation." He seemed to have noticed my distress and his expression registered sympathy. Eventually, I followed to the station and answered every exhausting question to the best of my ability. By the time I was driven back to the mansion where I lived, it was already 7:09pm and I was ready to drop dead with exhaustion and apprehension.

I didn't expect the whole situation to get worse but life didn't like me in the least, two men were drinking and laughing wholeheartedly as I entered the house. Those men were none other than Ry and you could already guess the name of the other one, I loathed him so much so that I didn't even want to think, talk less of saying his name.

"What is he doing here?" I asked Ry in a very calm voice as I walked towards the bastards sitting across the room slowly. Ry didn't seem to notice my disheveled state, my bird nest hair and murderous gaze, so he replied with a casual tone.

"Is there any rule against bringing home my business partner to have a drink or two after a long, yet successful presentation earlier today?" The way he replied, the way Kelvin's eyes glinted in amusement just fuelled the fire of hatred coursing through my body for both men, and surprisingly, I was very calm about it. I hid it perfectly with a smile and asked another question.

"Where's my daughter Ry?" I guessed he sensed the unnerving calm I used in asking the question as that brought him to look pointedly at me.

"What's wrong Vee?, you don't look well." How much I wanted to slit his throat at that moment, the drive was so hard that I had to tighten my knuckles to refrain from grabbing the expensive bottle of wine they were drinking in celebration and smacking it hard on his head.

"Just answer my question Henry Brown, where is my daughter?" Instead of my voice to mirror the sky high anger I was feeling as the seconds passed by, it was doing the exact opposite.

"I don't know, I just came in a moment ago. She should be in her room or something." He said with a shrug and the tear that was threatening to fall dropped, my palms tore open as my nails dug deeper into them.

"Just what I thought." I replied in a shaky voice and strode towards the stairs. I didn't turn back to answer when Kelvin asked if everything was OK and Ry brushed it off as women's palaver because I knew if I did, probably all three of us would be on our way to hell.

I arranged more than what was required of me to in a huge backpack, all the documents to the property I owned on earth, all my jewelry, all my credit cards, everything valuable that was mine was in that backpack. I knew the logic was stupid at that time as my brain could barely function, but I reasoned that with all the wealth I had in that bag, Susan might reconsider her decision to make me perish or at least spare my daughter. It was 7:34pm when I made my way downstairs.

"Where are you going with that huge bag Vee?" Ry slurred and I could tell he was already tipsy. The lightweight can't barely handle two glasses of alcohol.

"I'm going to get my daughter back and if I survive, you're never going to see me again." I replied simply and continued towards the door, ignoring the fact that Kelvin was there and was probably gloating inwardly or the look on Ry as he stood up and chased after me.