Chapter 105 105
RYAN
The house felt wrong the moment I stepped inside.
I didn’t notice it at first, not immediately, but the second the door closed behind me, it hit. The silence wasn’t normal—it wasn’t peaceful. It was empty in a way that made my chest tighten.
Aaron came in after me, shutting the door quietly like he didn’t want to disturb something that wasn’t even there.
I didn’t look at him, didn’t say anything, just kept walking further into the living room.
Everything looked the same.
Exactly the same.
And that was the problem.
My gaze moved slowly across the space, taking in the couch, the table, and the hallway leading to the rooms. Nothing had changed, but everything felt different.
Zara used to run through here.
Now there was nothing.
I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through my hair as I tried to steady whatever was sitting heavy in my chest. It didn’t go away.
It just settled.
“You wanna sit?” Aaron asked from behind me, his voice careful.
“No,” I said immediately.
The answer came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t take it back. Sitting felt like stopping, and I couldn’t afford to stop.
Not now.
Not after everything.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and stared at it for a second, my thumb hovering over the screen. There was only one thing I could do now.
Find her.
“I need to make a call,” I said.
Aaron didn’t question it. “Alright,” he replied quietly.
I unlocked my phone and dialed the number without thinking twice, lifting it to my ear as it rang. Each second stretched longer than it should have, my jaw tightening slightly with the delay.
“Ryan?” Garrett’s voice came through finally. “I’ve not heard from you in a while. You good?”
I ignored the question completely.
“I need you to find someone for me,” I said.
There was a short pause on the line, then a shift in his tone. “That serious?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Alright,” he said. “Who am I looking for?”
“My Emily,” I replied. “She’s in Hong Kong.”
That got his attention.
“Hm,” he muttered. “That’s not exactly a small place.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I’m calling you.”
Garrett exhaled slowly. “Okay… give me something. Full name, details, anything.”
I started pacing without realizing it, my free hand brushing against the back of a chair as I moved. “I’ll send everything I have. Pictures, records, anything that helps.”
Aaron stayed quiet, but I could feel his eyes on me.
Garrett hummed on the other end. “Alright… I can work with that.”
“How long?” I asked.
There was a pause.
“Ryan,” he said carefully, “this isn’t something I can just pull out overnight. You’re asking me to track someone in another country.”
“How long?” I repeated.
He sighed. “Two days. Minimum.”
I stopped moving.
Two days.
It felt like too much.
“I need it in one,” I said.
Garrett let out a low breath. “Yeah, that’s not how this works.”
“I don’t have two days,” I said, my voice tightening just slightly. “I need it in one.”
Silence followed.
“Why?” he asked.
I didn’t answer immediately.
My eyes drifted toward the hallway again, toward the rooms that felt too quiet now. Toward the absence that kept pressing in on me from every direction.
“She left,” I said finally.
Garrett didn’t respond.
“With my daughter,” I added.
That did it.
“…Alright,” he said after a moment, his tone softer now. “I get it.”
I closed my eyes briefly, exhaling through my nose.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he continued. “No promises, but I’ll push it.”
“That’s all I need,” I said.
“I’ll call you as soon as I have something,” he added.
“Yeah,” I replied.
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone slowly, my grip tightening around it for a second before I let my hand fall to my side. The silence in the house crept back in immediately, heavier this time.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t think.
I just stood there.
“I hope what you’re doing,” Aaron said after a while, his voice breaking through carefully, “is not what I think you’re planning.”
A quiet breath left me, something almost like a laugh, but not quite.
“It is,” I said.
There was no point pretending.
Aaron stepped closer. “Ryan…”
I turned to look at him.
For the first time since we got there, I felt steady. Not okay, not healed—but clear.
“I’m not sitting here waiting,” I said. “I’m not doing that.”
Aaron studied my face, his expression tightening slightly. “You just got out of the hospital,” he said. “You’re not exactly in shape to go chasing someone across the world.”
“I’m fine,” I replied.
“You’re not,” he shot back immediately.
I didn’t argue.
Because maybe he was right.
But it didn’t matter.
“I already lost too much time,” I said quietly. “I’m not losing more.”
Aaron exhaled, dragging a hand over his face. “You don’t even know where she is yet.”
“I will,” I said.
“And then what?” he asked. “You just show up? You think that fixes everything?”
I didn’t answer right away.
Because the truth was, I didn’t know.
I didn’t know what I would say.
Didn’t know how she would react.
Didn’t even know if she would want to see me.
But I knew one thing.
“I’m not staying here,” I said.
That part was certain.
Aaron shook his head slowly, a faint, disbelieving smile touching his lips. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“You’re really doing this,” he said.
I nodded once.
He let out a breath. “You’re crazy.”
“Maybe,” I said.
There was no humor in it.
Just truth.
He watched me for a long second, like he was hoping I’d change my mind. When I didn’t, something in his expression shifted.
Acceptance.
“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
Another pause.
Then he nodded slowly. “Alright,” he said. “Then we wait for Garrett.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He frowned. “What do you mean no?”
I held his gaze, steady and certain.
“I’m not waiting here,” I said.
Understanding hit him then, clear as day.
“Ryan…”
I didn’t let him stop me.
“I’m going to Hong Kong.”