Chapter 132 Chapter One hundred and thirty-one
ARA
“You have some nerve,” I said, stepping into Gabe's space. “Claiming you’re responsible for the pregnancy. Trying to sue my husband.” I couldn't help but laugh, because now everything seemed so hilarious and ridiculous.
“You’re pathetic, Gabe. Truly. I can’t believe I didn’t leave you sooner.”
Blood still streamed from his nose, but he tilted his head and laughed anyway, an ugly sound that nauseated me.
“You didn’t seem so disgusted back then, sweetheart. In fact, you loved my cock more than any part of my body.”
The words had barely left his mouth when Stuart struck him. A sharp slap to the back of Gabe’s head, full of warning and barely contained fury.
“Watch your mouth,” Stuart growled, as if the insult had been aimed at him personally.
“What the hell is going on here?!” Thayne’s voice rang through the lobby like a gunshot.
For a heartbeat, Stuart froze. Then his gaze slid to mine, narrowing to angry slits. Uh-oh.
“You said he was unavailable,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to hear.
“He was,” I replied, my voice just as low. “When you asked.”
Thayne came up behind me, and I could feel his jaw on my head as he looked down at me in disappointment. “Ara, we talked about you playing hero. You never fail to ignore me.”
I opened my mouth, to tell him I had everything under control, that Gabe was nothing, but the sharp trill of his phone cut through the room, loud and jarring.
The sound seemed to embolden Gabe.
He lifted his bloody face and grinned, crooked and cruel. “Trouble in paradise?” he sneered. “Your marriage is not as perfect as you thought, huh?”
The slap came without warning. Stuart’s hand connected with Gabe’s face so hard his head snapped to the side. His body went limp instantly, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
Silence swallowed the lobby for a long moment. Thayne picked the call, pressing the phone to his ear.
Thayne stared at the unconscious man on the floor, then at the blood on Stuart’s knuckles, then finally at me.
The phone slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud. Before I could turn fully, Thayne’s body sagged behind me.
I spun around and caught his arm, even though he suddenly felt as heavy as an elephant.
“Thayne—”
“Ara… my mother… my mother…” His voice broke halfway, and then his knees gave out beneath him.
I dropped with him, kneeling on the cold floor as I cradled his face between my palms.
“Thayne, look at me,” I whispered urgently.
“What happened? What did they say about your mother?”
His lips trembled. “She… she went into a coma today. Food poisoning. One of the nurses—” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Oh God. No. We'd already gone through enough. Wasn't there a chance for victory for us?
I turned sharply to Stuart. “Do you know where she is?” I demanded.
Stuart hesitated, his eyes flicking to Thayne like he was waiting for permission.
“If you don’t answer me right now, Stuart, I swear to God I’ll bite you all the way to the ER,” I snapped.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes. I do.”
“Arrange a convoy immediately,” I ordered, already helping Thayne back onto his feet. “We’re going to my mother-in-law.”
“Sir—” Stuart started.
“Do as she says,” Thayne growled hoarsely, letting his weight rest on me.
A second later, he seemed to realize it and gently nudged me aside, straightening himself despite the pain etched all over his face.
“I want the security team on standby,” I added, turning back to Stuart. “Thayne believes the security system there has been compromised. I want correspondence sent out immediately.”
Stuart nodded and moved to act. I turned to go get my sisters.
Thayne followed me without a word, his footsteps silent, while mine echoed too loudly in the hallway, matching the fear pounding in my chest.
“Millie, we need—”
The rest of my words died in my throat as the door swung open to an empty room.
I gulped, hating the feeling creeping up my spine. First of all, the door was supposed to be locked, because of our small fight.
“Millie?” I stepped inside. “Mollie?”
There was no response, I was met with stiff silence that made my knees weak.
I spun around so fast I nearly collided with Thayne, his hand going to my belly instinctively.
“Where are they?” he asked, gripping my arms to steady me.
“Thayne… they’re not here. They’re gone. They're not in the room.”
I stumbled in his arms, trying to move, but he held me still. I didn't want to be held still, I wanted to move, to find them.
He was already dialing numbers on his phone, calling the hotel security and asking for them to check their surveillance cameras, his voice rising and falling depending on who was on the other line.
Within minutes, the head of security arrived, his face pale, his hands stiff at his sides.
“Mr. Slade,” he began carefully, “I have… devastating news.”
My body moved before my mind caught up.
“Are they missing?” I grabbed his suit jacket, my fingers digging in. “Tell me they’re not missing. Tell me they're here in the hotel.”
“Ara,” Thayne said sharply, trying to pull me back, but I clung to the man like a wall gecko.
“Your sisters were seen leaving the hotel premises earlier today,” the manager continued. “They had a small black bag with them. Unescorted. I came personally to confirm—”
“My sisters are missing,” I screamed. “Who checked them out? Who let them walk out of this building? Why would two girls leave on their own?!”
My chest burned as I fought for air, dread flooding every vein.
They were angry with me. And now they were gone.
“There’s something else, too, Mr. Slade,” the security manager added, his voice dropping. “An Uber arrived to pick them up. Black Audi.”
The words didn’t register at first. Then they hit.
I grabbed his tie and yanked him closer, fury and fear twisting together in my chest.
“An Uber?” I shouted. “How did they book an Uber when they don’t even have a phone? Was no one watching the cameras? Was everyone blind today?!”
The man stammered, sweat breaking along his hairline, but I didn’t hear him anymore.
My world was collapsing in two directions at once.
My sisters, angry, hurt, and vulnerable, were out there somewhere, alone.
And Thayne’s mother, lying in a hospital bed, poisoned, and unconscious, was slipping away by the second.
Time was no longer our ally. Every second that ticked by felt stolen.
I turned slowly, my eyes meeting Thayne’s. This was the moment no one should ever face.
He couldn’t be in two places at once. So the question hung between like a dirty linen:
Who would Thayne choose? My sisters or his mother?