Husband With Benefits-Chapter 785: Bad To Worse

"I don’t think that woman is going to show up, whoever she is," Dora muttered, her gaze fixed on the horizon outside the window. They’d been waiting for hours, the tension in the room thickening with each passing minute. "She might have already left Petrovia... so that is why she is not worried about all this."

Kael didn’t respond immediately, his own thoughts racing as he checked his watch again, growing more impatient with every tick of the second hand. He knew of course this was a possibility but what Dora did not know that none of the airplanes fying out of Petrovia since yesterday were going to their destinations. Every passenger on the airplane was being interrogated using lie stimulators and what not to find the kidnapper.

So, there was another possibility... that the woman was indeed fearless and was still in Petrovia.

Just then, his phone buzzed sharply, slicing through the stillness. Quickly, he answered, "Yes?"

"Sir, we’ve gathered some intel on the other kidnapper", the voice of his security personnel on the other end spoke quickly, "It seems she hired this man we’ve been questioning, but according to him, he’s never actually seen her face. She was always masked during their encounters. Even when he helped her push the cart in which she kidnapped Princess Isidora, she was wearing a lot of makeup that hid her real features."

Kael’s expression remained stony. "Anything else?"

"Yes, something odd," the voice hesitated briefly before continuing. "He once asked her why she was so certain she wouldn’t face any consequences for her actions. Her response was... peculiar. He said she muttered something about royalty being untouchable by law. But here’s the thing—there are no royal Petrovanian women currently active in any public or governmental role. The only women connected to Petrovia’s royal line would be your mother and... well, it couldn’t possibly be her, sir."

Kael’s grip tightened around the phone as his mind raced. His mother? Involved in something like this? Impossible. "Keep digging. Find out if there’s any other connection," he muttered before disconnecting the call.

"Royalty?" There was no royalty that was above the law but of course if it was someone directly, some things could be twisted around...But then who was this woman?

His phone buzzed again, this time with a message. Glancing at it, Kael froze. The message was from Rafe, brief but shocking enough to knock the air out of his lungs.

"Will you and Dora be witnesses to my marriage with Emma? We’re on the way now. Get there. We’ll be waiting."

Kael blinked, the words on the screen flashing as he tried to absorb them. Marriage? Now? With Emma...

Hurriedly, he dialed Rafe’s numbed but the man simply declined the call, giving him a busy ringtone. Before he could re dial his number, Rafe messaged again," I haven’t told her that I am inviting you as the witness. So, don’t call. Just get here soon. Proposing a flash marriage was Emma’s surprise to me so this is going to be my surprise to my crown princess... Get here now!"

The words "flash marriage" and "crown princess" struck Kael like a blow, sending a surge of disbelief through him. His grip on the phone tightened as an impossible thought clawed its way to the surface. It was ridiculous. It had to be. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the idea, but the doubt refused to let go. Emma? The kidnapper?

But it was possible. After all, she had ’accidentally’ killed a woman in the past. And if that had not been an accident, then the possibility of Emma being behind the kidnapping of Dora multiplied a hundredfold.

He moved abruptly, pacing the length of the room, trying to make sense of it all. If Emma was the mastermind behind the kidnapping, then she had played Rafe—and everyone else—for fools. And now, with this sudden marriage, she was preparing to solidify her position, making herself nearly immune to any consequences. Because once she was the crown princess, he would not dare to creat trouble, threatening to put the entire stability of Petrovia into jeopardy. With Master as her father, she definitely knew this first hand...

He cursed. He had to stop this marriage.

Kael shoved his phone into his pocket, the weight of realization settling hard on his shoulders. He turned to Dora, urgency sharpening his expression.

"We need to move. Now," he said, striding toward the door with quick, determined steps.

Dora blinked in confusion, snapping out of her thoughts. "What? Why? What’s going on?"

Kael paused at the doorway, glancing back at her. His jaw clenched, but there wasn’t time to explain the storm that was brewing in his mind. "I think I’ve figured it out. I know who the kidnapper is—or at least, I have a very strong suspicion."

Dora’s eyes widened. "Who? How?"

Kael shook his head, cutting her off before she could ask more. "I’ll explain everything in the car, but if we don’t stop this marriage, everything will fall apart."

Dora hurriedly stood up, as she started to follow him. Thankfully, they had practiced moving again while waiting for the news on the kidnapper or she would not have been able to catch up for sure. "Wait—what? Kael, you’re not making sense! What do you mean stop the marriage? Whose marriage are we trying to stop?

"Just trust me," Kael interrupted, his voice firm. "We’ll talk on the way, but we need to go now. This is bigger than we thought. It might be Emma.

Dora stopped in her tracks for a moment, her brow furrowing in disbelief. "Emma? You think Emma is behind the kidnapping?"

When she hesitated for another second, he finally gave her a hard look.

"Dora, please. We need to stop this before everything goes to hell. Let’s make a move."

"But we do not have any evidence..." Dora said as they got into the car hurriedly, but Kael jsut shook his head," We will have to play this blindly then. We do not have the time to look for evidence."