Chapter 180: Safe Escape
The rumble of an engine slowly pulled Aurelia Vale from her sleep.
Her eyes fluttered open.
For a few seconds, she was disoriented.
Then everything came rushing back.
The truck.
The safe house.
Her plan.
She had actually done it.
She had sneaked into the food supply truck during the night and hidden herself inside.
Aurelia held her breath as the vehicle began to move.
The engine grew louder.
The truck rolled slowly forward.
She pressed herself deeper into the space where she had hidden, praying nobody would discover her.
Outside, the morning routine of the safe house continued as though nothing had happened.
Her mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
The guards were stationed around the property.
Nobody suspected anything.
Nobody knew that Aurelia was already hidden inside the truck.
The vehicle passed through the gates.
Aurelia's heart raced.
I'm out.
She almost couldn't believe it.
After everything, she was finally leaving the safe house.
She was going to find Roman.
She needed to see him.
She needed to know he was alive.
And most importantly, she needed to tell him about their baby.
Back at the safe house, Aurelia's mother finished preparing breakfast.
She carefully arranged the food on a tray before walking toward her daughter's bedroom.
She knocked lightly.
"Aurelia?"
No answer.
Her mother pushed the door open.
"Aurelia, sweetheart. I made you breakfast."
She stepped inside.
"Your favourite..."
Then suddenly she stopped.
The bed was empty.
It didn't look like it had been slept in.
Her smile disappeared.
She placed the tray on the bedside table.
"Aurelia?"
She looked around the room.
Perhaps she was in the bathroom.
Her mother walked over and opened the bathroom door.
Empty.
Her heart began beating faster.
"Aurelia?"
She checked the closet.
Nothing.
She looked beneath the bed.
Nothing.
She rushed out of the room.
"Aurelia?"
She checked the guest room.
Empty.
The sitting room.
Empty.
The kitchen.
Empty.
She hurried outside.
The guards immediately noticed her panic.
"What happened, ma'am?"
"Have you seen Aurelia this morning?"
The guards exchanged confused looks.
"No, ma'am."
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"Last night."
Her mother stared at them.
"She isn't in her room."
The men froze.
"What?"
"Aurelia is missing."
Silence.
One of the guards looked at another.
Their faces immediately drained of color.
Missing?
That was impossible.
They had been specifically instructed to protect her.
Don Roman had made it clear that nothing could happen to Aurelia.
If he discovered that she had disappeared under their watch, they didn't want to imagine his reaction.
"Search the property!"
One of the guards shouted.
"Check everywhere!"
The men immediately scattered.
They searched every bedroom.
Every bathroom.
The kitchen.
The storage rooms.
The gardens.
The surrounding grounds.
Nothing.
No Aurelia.
Her mother stood in the middle of the house, trembling.
"She couldn't have just disappeared."
One of the guards returned.
"We found nothing."
Another came back.
"She's not anywhere on the property."
Aurelia's mother covered her mouth.
Her daughter was indeed missing.
Then something suddenly occurred to her.
The conversation they had shared.
Aurelia had been desperate to see Don Roman.
She had repeatedly asked about him.
She had been frightened because he hadn't called.
And then those nightmares she kept having worsened her fear.
Her mother slowly shook her head.
"No..."
One of the guards turned toward her.
"Ma'am?"
She looked toward the gate.
"She wanted to leave."
Her voice trembled.
"She wanted to find Don Roman."
The guard's eyes widened.
"But how?"
He looked around the heavily guarded property.
"The gates were guarded all night."
"There are cameras."
"Nobody could have walked out without the guards knowing."
Her mother suddenly looked toward the road.
Then toward the area where the supply truck had been parked the previous day.
Her eyes widened.
"The food truck..."
The guard frowned.
"What about it?"
"It came yesterday."
She swallowed.
"And left early this morning."
Everyone fell silent.
The realization hit them simultaneously.
The guards immediately rushed toward the gate.
But the truck was long gone.
Her mother stared down the empty road.
Her heart sank.
"Aurelia..."
She whispered.
"Why would you do this?"
She closed her eyes.
She already knew.
Her daughter had found a way out.
And she had gone looking for the one man her mother had desperately hoped she would stay away from.
Don Roman Moretti.
One of the guards hurried back.
"We need to contact the Don."
Another turned sharply to look at him.
"No!"
The first guard hesitated.
"We have to tell him."
Her other guard looked terrified.
"If he learns she's gone..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Then another chipped in.
"He could be in the middle of a war right now as we speak."
And that particularly frightened Aurelia's mother even more.
Don Roman was already in the middle of a war.
His enemies were hunting him.
And Aurelia was carrying his child.
She had just escaped from the one place where Don Roman believed she was safe.
This was the worst time for Aurelia to do something like this.
Her mother looked toward the road again.
"Please..."
Her voice broke.
"Let nothing happen to my daughter."
But miles away, Aurelia remained hidden inside the moving truck.
She knew her mother would be freaking out back at the safe house.
She knew they would all be searching for her.
Her plan was never to get them terrified.
But she needed to see Roman.
She needed to be sure that he was doing okay.
But she certainly didn't know that Roman's enemies had just attacked the estate.
The same one she was planning to go to see him.
All Aurelia knew was that she was finally on her way to him.
She placed one trembling hand over her stomach.
"Don't worry, baby."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"We're going to see your father very soon."
The truck continued down the road.
Toward Roman.
Toward the war.
And toward a reunion neither of them could have imagined.