┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓ Missing ┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛ Chapter 8: Missing (Rhys' POV) I parked the car in their driveway and climbed out, my parents' car right behind me while they too climbed out and we all walked to their front door. I rang the bell, sighing in frustration and resting one hand on the doorframe. Ashton opened the door quickly and stepped aside, letting us in. We walked into the living area where Mr. Roman was pacing, Mrs. Pearl was crying, and Ashton looked just as stressed as his father. Ava was nowhere to be seen. And of course, neither was Brooke. Because she fucking ran away last night. This morning, Mr. Roman called my father and Ashton called me saying they had no idea where Brooke was. When I asked for clarification, he told me that they found a note left on her bed with her closet left open and mostly empty. She took all the important things with her and she fucking ran away. I am going to kill her with my bare hands the moment I find her, I promise. "What is happening?" Dad sighed, asking all three of them. "Where's Brooke?" Ashton looked at his parents who seemed in no condition to answer. "We don't know," he said hesitantly. He seemed embarrassed and at the same time, concerned for his sister. "What happened?" Mom questioned. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I went to wake her up this morning and call her for breakfast. She wasn't answering so I let myself in and her room was empty. She left a note on the bed." He grabbed it off the coffee table and handed it to me. "And took everything with her. She… ran away." "This is all because of that boy!" Mrs. Pearl exclaimed. "I warned her. I told her to stay away from him, but she never listens," she cried out. "What boy?" my dad asked. Ashton glanced at me and I shook my head softly. This isn't his fault or anybody else's except for Brooke. I don't want them to be in trouble or ruin their relationship with my parents. This is a disaster. "What boy?" Dad repeated. "It doesn't matter," I cut in. "Whoever it is, that doesn't matter. What matters is that Brooke is gone, okay? Who she went with doesn't matter right now. She's gone, so what now?" I huffed. "We should try to find her, right?" Ashton suggested. "You, come with me." I walked into the kitchen with Ashton so we could talk without our parents hearing. "Do you know where that guy moved to?" "Who? Griffin?" he whispered. I nodded. He shook his head softly. "She didn't tell me." "Where else would she go, Ashton? Good God, how did none of us think of it? She only agreed to marry me so she had a clear way out. Once she agreed, nobody would think she still wants to be with that guy. She took her first chance and ran." I ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, who could know where he is? Anyone?" "I don't know any of his friends, but… Ava might. Brooke might have told Ava where he's moving to. She could know." "And where is she?" He hesitated, "She's sleeping." I stared at him, stunned. "Her sister ran away and nobody bothered to wake her up?" "We were all panicking, we forgot about her, okay?" I sighed and we left the kitchen, meeting our parents. "What happened?" Mr. Roman asked me. I scratched the back of my neck. "I'm going to try to find her. That's all I can do right now." "Well… what if we can't find her?" Mrs. Pearl asked. "Then we'll find a different solution," Dad sighed. "Goodness, we're really, really sorry about this," Mr. Roman looked down guiltily, too humiliated to look at my parents. "Roman," my dad said. "This isn't your fault. I'm sure you must be worried about her too. Let's just focus on finding her first, okay? Then we'll see what the problem is and what else can be done. Have you read the note?" "Only I read it," Ashton said. "I read it when I found it." "What does it say?" Ashton glanced at me. "It says that she's sorry but she can't marry Rhys because she…" I shot him a stern look but he didn't listen to me. "She's in love with someone else." I clenched my jaw, letting out a huff. I didn't want my family to get involved with that. "What?" my parents asked in sync. "I have to tell them," Ashton said to his parents. "Brooke had a boyfriend of two years but a few weeks ago, he had to leave Kilthorne. She wanted to go with him but-" "Ashton," Mrs. Pearl scolded. "But our parents didn't want her to move anywhere with him unless they got married and they didn't want to get married yet. He couldn't stay so they had to break up. But Brooke's still in love with him." "Ashton!" his mom scolded again. "Let him, Pearl. It's the truth," Mr. Roman sighed. "In the note, she's only apologizing and explaining that she loves him too much to let him go. So, she's… she ran away to be with him. And she doesn't know when she'll be back if she even will." "Nobody knows where this boy is?" Dad asked. On cue, Ava walked into the room, still wearing a black full-sleeve fitted v-neck and blue sweatpants that she must have worn to bed. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and her face was glowing like she just washed it. She stopped, staring at everybody in surprise. She read the room and stood there silently. "What's going on?" She had to have known, there's no way Brooke didn't tell her. I walked over, forcing the note into her hand. She opened it and read it, her eyes widened and utter shock taking over her face. She looked at me. "She's not upstairs?" "No," I said calmly. She swallowed, seeming nervous suddenly. "Why is everybody looking at me?" She glanced at the others. I grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the kitchen with me. "Ow," she winced, rubbing her wrist as I let it go. "Where is she?" "How am I supposed to know? I didn't even know she was gone until a second ago!" "You read the note, didn't you? She went to her boyfriend. Where is he?" "I don't know, he was her boyfriend, not mine. She didn't tell me where he was moving to." "Your sister is missing and I should believe that you have no idea where she could be?" "You should interrogate Ashton too then because she's not just my sister," she snapped back. We stared at each other until a look of realization formed on her face. "Oh god," she sighed, covering her face and leaning against the counter. "Shit." "What?" "Last night, she… she was trying to tell me something at the party. She wasn't able to so she said she would tell me at home but we were all so tired and just went to sleep. The night before she started apologizing." "For what?" "I don't know. She just said she was sorry for what she was about to do. So, I'm guessing this is what she meant." I ground my teeth. "And you didn't think to tell me?" "I didn't think she was going to go missing, Rhys!" We stood in silence. She started biting her nails while I thought. Why would Brooke apologize to Ava? "I was so confused when she said all that. I even asked her but she said it was nothing," she mumbled. She looked at me. "What are you going to do now?" "What do you think I'm going to do? It's impossible to find her like this. She disappeared. We have to find a solution, both families together. There's no bringing her back. I'll have to find another bride." "You already had the engagement." "So what do you reckon I do, Ava? Amuse me with your bright ideas," I said sarcastically. "Not everything that goes wrong is my fault, okay? Don't take your frustration and anger out on me. Don't you dare pin this on me. I was and still am just as clueless as you," she refuted. I took a step forward and she sunk further into the counter. "There is no way I will believe you. You had to have known, at least thought about it with all the hints she dropped." "How can you say that I-" "I don't care what you say, Ava," I cut her off, resting my hands on the counter on either side of her, caging her in. "Why would I want her to run?" "I know you think her and Griffin are good together." "Ashton thinks that too, why don't you go question him, huh?" She lifted a brow. "Rhys. Ava." I pulled away and we both looked at the entrance where Ashton stood, looking between us with confusion and curiosity. "They're calling you. What the hell are you doing?" "Arguing, what else do we do?" she mumbled while brushing past me and walking into the living room. "Why were you interrogating her? She really doesn't know, Rhys," he said to me. "You don't know that," I countered. He snorted, "Yes, I do. She's not stupid. If she knew about Brooke running away, she would have told someone right away. You want to know why? It's what our parents were just discussing." "What are you talking about?" He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Without Brooke in the picture, your only choice is to marry Ava." I stopped walking, staring ahead of me. "That's the solution everybody just came up with. For you and Ava to get married." . . . . . Chapter 8