Ryan

My father came in and opened the door, and I could tell from his expression that something was wrong. He quietly closed the door behind him and walked toward me, fury flashing in his eyes.

He could barely contain the anger lurking somewhere deep inside.

"Ryan, we need to talk. Holy is sleeping, so I don’t want to tell her anything yet," he said with such seriousness that my heart sank.

"Dad? What happened?"

He quietly handed me the phone and said with a heartbreaking sigh, "Some bastard just sent me this. I’m afraid Zara has been kidnapped."

I grabbed the phone, his words making me dizzy. The ground literally fell out from under me as I pressed the play button. The video Dad had tried to show me began playing.

It was, without a doubt, Zara, tied to a chair, her hands and feet bound with rope, and gagged. Her eyes were covered with a black cloth.

She struggled with the blinds and ropes, and a distorted voice rang out.

"Ah! You’re trying to talk. Well, why don’t we say hello to Bro and Dad? I’m sure they’ll be happy to hear from their little princess."

Reaching out, whoever it was removed Zara’s blindfold. I noticed and watched in horror that her hand was also covered in a black glove.

She glared at the person filming her. Her spirit was still intact when the inhuman voice rang out again.

"Come on, Dad, smile. Why are you so gloomy? Say hello to Dad."

The heartbreaking video continued for a few more seconds before ending, and I noticed the message sent along with it.

"Your beloved daughter is in my arms. Soon I will send you souvenirs of her. She and you will feel all the pain my father felt. And when the time comes, you will confess to the monstrous crime you committed and then covered up."

The phone almost fell from my hands. Someone had kidnapped Zara, and now they were blackmailing my father with something unknown.

I had no idea what this deluded man was talking about, but it infuriated me.

I clutched my hair in pain, looking at my father. "What? Didn’t she live with Alpha?"

My father stood silent, but his silence always spoke volumes, and I knew he must be already hatching a plan.

"That’s what I’m trying to find out. How did he allow my daughter to be kidnapped?"

With deep seriousness, my father picked up the phone and scrolled through the numbers until he found the one he needed. After dialing, he let it ring and turned on speakerphone so I could hear.

On the third ring, someone answered.

"Hello!" came a very heavy, male voice. I realized it was Alpha.

"Alpha, this is Zayir Kincaid. I’d like to speak to my daughter; she’s not answering her phone," the father said with utmost calm, but his jaw was tense, every tendon tensed.

She hesitated for a long time, but his voice was tense and almost muffled by guilt.

"She went to the apartment a few hours ago. I called her, but her number was switched off, so I came looking for her, but she’s not there. Maybe she went out to dinner."

The father closed his eyes upon hearing the answer and pinched the bridge of his nose. Every vein on his arm stood on end. I knew he was barely hanging on.

"There you go," I put it down.

I put my hand on his shoulder, letting him know I was there and that he wasn’t alone in this ordeal.

"She’s not at dinner, Alpha. My daughter has been kidnapped. Someone sent me a video of her tied to a chair. I told you to protect her, and you failed. I’m on my way to the right now to find my daughter. And if anything happens to her, may the Goddess help everyone involved, including you." My father ended the conversation in a rage and nearly fell to the ground.

"Dad?" I had to support him; the shock of the truth overwhelmed him, and he clung to me and began to cry.

I hugged him, trying to hold on to us both, even though my heart was terrified for Zara.

"Zara is strong, and we will find her. Everything will be fine."

"That’s better. Because I won’t be able to forgive myself or survive if something happens to my daughter," Dad whispered in a trembling voice, and I worried about how we would even tell Holy about this.

***

Alpha

Approaching her purse, I thought maybe I’d find something to hide in it. She might have left her phone there, too, turning it off so I couldn’t track her.

At least if she’d gone out to eat, she would have taken her purse with her. She took it everywhere, so leaving it there raised even more questions.

It was a violation of her trust, but I desperately wanted to find her. I shouldn’t have left her alone in the first place. I should have stayed outside to guard her.

With trembling hands, I unzipped her red purse and peered inside. Her portable makeup bag, gum, headphones, and car keys were there.

Everything was in vibrant colors, like her personality, like her hair.

Strawberry scent.

And then I found her wallet...

She never went anywhere without her wallet; she needed money to hail a taxi because she didn’t drive.

Every second was getting stranger, and my fears that something had happened to her only grew stronger.

Continuing to explore her bag, I discovered a device inside. I pulled it out, examined it closely, and realized it was... a camera detection device.

Small, portable, and, most importantly, new. She had bought it only recently. This showed that her trust in me had completely crumbled. She must have been regularly checking to see if I was spying on her through the cameras.

And I had only myself to blame. My trust issues had spilled over to her, and it had damaged our relationship so much that I didn’t even know how to repair it.

With a heavy heart, I began putting away her things when my hand came across something wrapped in tissue paper.

Curiously, I reached inside and pulled it out. It looked like some kind of stick, so I unwrapped it, peeling away the layers of tissue paper.

My eyes focused.

The shock of what I saw inside made my mouth drop open, and my eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets.

I nearly slipped out of my hands. I blinked to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

It was a pregnancy test, and two bright red lines stared at me. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what those two red lines meant.

She’s pregnant...

My child...

Our child...

I’m going to be a father...

The thought simultaneously terrified and fascinated me.

A new warmth, unlike anything I’d ever felt, flared up inside me, spreading through my limbs and settling permanently in my heart.

So that’s why she went to the drugstore. Now I understood why she’d been sobbing in the bathroom.

That’s why she’d burst into tears in my arms and hadn’t even figured out how to break the news to me, because I’d been so terrible to her.

I can only imagine the thoughts that ran through her head when she found out she was pregnant alone, without anyone to share the good news with.

For her, it must have felt less like joyful news and more like a curse. Even though we’d taken every precaution, she still got pregnant. She must have felt like I’d blame her for the pregnancy, just like I did when she confessed her feelings to me.

Regret, and nothing but regret, crashed down on me, tormenting me until I couldn’t breathe.

Does this sound like a panic attack?

That’s exactly how she felt every time she had one, because my chest would tighten and my lungs wouldn’t accept the oxygen I was breathing.

What if she had had an abortion, believing I wouldn’t want a child with her? The thought terrified me to the core, making my knees tremble.

I wouldn’t want this; if only I’d known earlier, this mess could have been avoided. Slowly wrapping the wand back in the napkin, I carefully tucked it into my pocket, hoping she wouldn’t choose the worst path.

"Zara, wherever you are, please come back. I promise I’ll be better for our future child." I sent a promise to the wind, hoping she would return to me.

I raised my head to the sky, my eyes burning with unshed tears. If necessary, I will travel the world to find her.

A heavy heart washed over me, and I collapsed onto the sofa to collect my thoughts. I nervously rubbed my face with my hands and realized I needed to call the police.

Her things were here, but she was gone. That only meant she was missing.

First, I called Miranda and Chan to check if she had gone to meet them. They were her only friends in the office, and despite Ronald’s shameless attempts, she hadn’t warmed up to him. I knew she’d recently started calling him by his first name just to irritate me.

To my utter disappointment, Zara was nowhere to be found, neither with Miranda nor Chan. This meant I needed to file a police report and report her missing.

Getting up, I started pacing her apartment and called the police, informing the dispatcher of the situation.