Chapter 109 Obsessive Search
AXEL
SIX MONTHS LATER
My entire life had been turned upside down ever since Lisa disappeared from the hospital. It hurt like hell that the moment I'd gotten her back, I'd lost her without a single trace. I'd been wild the day she disappeared, I was fucking angry at everyone and I raided the hospital angrily.
I spat threats out and shook the very foundations of the entire hospital because I needed at least a single clue as to how Lisa had disappeared. But no single person had any reasonable information to offer me and my heart had sunk with fear, what if I'd lost her forever?
I regretted having gone for the meeting that day and leaving her unattended, the two days when I didn't step out of the hospital she'd been perfectly safe and then the second I left, she was suddenly
lost to the fucking wind? I blamed myself and feared what would become of me if I never found her.
Every day for the last six months had been a recurring nightmare, I was living in a world where Lisa wasn't by my side and was fucking infuriating. I unearthed the other entire city and surrounding
ones over and over in search of Lisa, but I never found any reasonable leads to date.
I'd asked Prince to use all his security detail and every single government connection he had to turn the city upside down, but he couldn't find her or anyone that recognized her at all. I was weary with
pain and life seemed tougher and tougher every day.
Despite that
I kept my hopes up
and
I refused to give up on searching for Lisa every single day, it was my number one priority and I never forgot to get feedback from all the men I'd posted at
hundreds of locations to keep an eye out for her.
There were days when I felt an overwhelming longing for her and I'd decide to dedicate that entire day to searching for her because I couldn't bear the pain of missing her without knowing if she was safe. I had become a ghost of myself and life felt worthless without her, I had no drive and no willingness to even complete tasks that didn't concern finding Lisa.
I'd engaged several private investigators that were the best of their type in missions to search for Lisa while being undercover, and none of them had ever brought me back good news no matter the
amount of money or resources that I'd pumped in their pockets for the mission.
I felt like a shell of vulnerability and grief had covered my entire being, and I was constantly living in the memories of her in my mind- I much preferred to sit in silence and happily reminisce about our times together than to participate in the real world where I had to deal with the pain of her disappearance.
We were supposed to go on a honeymoon to Japan, Lisa had whined about her wish to explore Asian cuisines, take a few advanced Japanese coding courses, built her portfolio with some coding
geeks, and show me a world where knowledge and romance were a perfect mix. I didn't give a shit where we went for our honeymoon, I just wanted to be with her so even I watched her gush about Japan I immediately got an amazing travel package for us.
I figured that if she'd go anywhere in the world, it would most likely be the one place where she thought would feel like home, and since her entire childhood had been a lie, I was certain that her former family house was out of the question -but, I didn't plan to rule Japan out myself until I confirmed my suspicion.
her, what if she left because she didn't want to be with me anymore after the chaos? But I truly doubted that our love was that feeble.
I'd prepared for the journey sluggishly because I was the one clue I had on where to possibly find Lisa, so if I rushed and left and things didn't work out- I would truly be out of options and it would finally crush me. In fear of impending disappointment, I lazily prepared for my trip to Japan, a trip that would most likely seal my fate with Lisa.
I'd hardly given shit about my appearance in the past six months, but the idea of possibly finding Lisa motivated me to clean up real nice. She always had my jaw dropping to the floor no matter how
she looked and I definitely intended to return the favor by intentionally looking irresistible.
The day of my flight to Japan finally arrived and I set out nervously, with prayers that I'd come back home with Lisa in my arms, where she belongs. The ride to the airport was unusually quick, there was hardly any traffic and I took that as a sign that the universe was putting things on the place already.
After I alighted from the vehicle, my driver rode off and I walked through the airport doors with a renewed hope, I didn't expect my search in Japan to be easy but I hope that it would at least be fruitful
at the end of it all.
I was checked in and told to sit in the VIP lounge since I bought a first class ticket, it was a long flight and I'd rather be as comfortable as possible. I stared blankly at the magazine I opened before me while I waited for the flight number to be announced.
Thirty minutes went by and an air hostess came into the lounge to lead us into the first-class wing. I noticed that she had made some flirty advances at me but I ignored her since nothing sparked any
interest in me aside from Lisa.
We walked into the first-class wing and I noticed that the woman in the cabin right next to mine reminded me of Lisa. But I couldn't confirm my suspicion since she was reading a magazine that managed to cover her entire face. I stared at her slender red manicured nails that held onto the magazine and I couldn't shake off the feeling that she must be Lisa.
Fuck, she smelled as good as Lisa, and that piqued my interest the most. I stealthily took a whiff of my surrounding to confirm that she truly smelled like Lisa and the familiar lavender scent she
always gave off hitting my nose again. I had to withhold myself from calling out to her because I'd probably made a mistake and I'd end up making an absolute fool of myself. In the last six months, there were countless occasions where I'd mistaken someone for Lisa, I'd seen her face in almost every woman I came across and I ended up being wrong.
At some point, I was convinced that I'd been suffering from some form of hallucinations and it scared the hell out of me. Was I actually going to lose my mind before I found Lisa? Thoughts like this
ran through my mind each time I'd mistaken a stranger for her. So this time around, I decided to hold back instead of bothering a stranger who would turn out to be someone else, as usual. The pilot began his announcements as we got ready for take off and everyone double-checked to ensure that they'd been buckled in correctly. The air hostesses walked around to check that
Everyone was seated comfortably and no extra luggage was blocking the aisle.
Finally, the flight took off and I relaxed with the hope that I'd catch some well-needed sleep before we arrived at our destination, but I'd need a beverage to induce my slumber so I waited for a flight
attendant to take my order.
In a few minutes, a flight attendant approached my cubicle with a writing board for taking orders lodged in her hands.
"What would you like me to bring you first, Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov?" She'd asked in a polite tone and I frowned at her words as I stared at her with unblinking eyes.
"Excuse me?"
"I just asked what you and your wife would like to be served first," she repeated herself without blinking and with that polite smile on her face and I immediately darted my eyes to the woman in the
seat beside me.
The magazine was still covering her face and she lowered it down slowly the minute I turned to look at her.
And Lo and behold, it was Lisa Ivanov, my wife, in flesh and blood.
I stared at her in disbelief, not believing my eyes and for a second, I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me just like they'd been doing for the past six months that she disappeared from my life.
But this was too vivid to be a dream, it felt too real to be a dream.
Lisa was really sitting beside me.
"Red?" I choked out in disbelief as my eyes roamed over her body. She was really the one, with her black hair that I loved to touch cascading down her shoulders and back, her body cladded in a red
gown that accentuated the red lipstick she had on her lips, and her fingers that were painted in a deep shade of red.
Red. Just like I love it, just like my nickname for her.
I felt like my head was going to explode.
"Uhhh, I'm just going to come back later," I heard the hostess's voice distinctly but I couldn't even focus on her words as she walked away, my whole attention was on Red, my wife.
My fucking wife.
"Hi, husband," she muttered shyly with a little smile tugging at the corners of her lips and I just... I couldn't even think of what to say.
My brain was blank, null, devoid of anything as I stared at Redi flesh and blood.
She was really here.
My hand developed a mind of its own as it raised up to touch her face and as soon as I felt that smooth skin, a loud exhale escaped from my mouth.
"I'm not too late for our honeymoon, right?" She asked, uncertainty creeping into her eyes as if she still entertained the thought that I could possibly be over her.
There was so much I wanted to say, to ask, to know but at the moment, I could not do any of that because I'd been rendered speechless and my mouth simply won't open to form words.
Instead, I pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, feeling all the love that had nowhere to go in the past six months pour into that simple gesture.
And for now, we were going on our honeymoon and I was going to make it the best thing that has ever happened to Red.