Chapter 87 I don’t know
Three months later.
Maverick had searched everywhere. Every place Heaven could possibly exist.
The adult home where her grandmother lived, nothing.
He had searched cargo ships. Shipping manifests. Private docks.International flights, domestic flights, chartered jets. Hospitals. Shelters. Hotels. Border records. He had hired the best private investigators money could buy.
They came back with the same answer every time.
Nothing.
He tracked down Adrian the boy she’d once spoken to in that café.
The boy swore he hadn’t seen Heaven since that day.
Heaven had vanished like someone who never wanted to be found.
He looked like hell.
Stubble coated his jaw, months unshaven. Dark shadows carved themselves beneath his eyes. His cloth hung loose on his frame, as if his body had shrunk around the deep hole inside his chest.
Sleep rarely came.When it did, it punished him with all he did to her.
Regret wrapped around his heart like claws, squeezing until it hurt to breathe.
He deserved it.If this was her punishment, she had chosen well.
But she should please just come out.
He would never hurt her again.
Never.
He lifted his glass of whiskey, the amber liquid catching the glow of blue neon lights. Music thumped around him, but to Maverick it faded into nothing.
The room felt silent.Because Heaven wasn’t there.
“Hey…”
The voice sliced through the fog.
“Hi I'm Samantha. Do you remember me?” she asked lightly. “The drunk girl from the resort bar… ish.”
Maverick lifted his head slowly.
Cold eyes swept over the woman standing beside him. Pale skin. Brown hair.
Hazel eyes.
For a split second, his mind floated then reality snapped back into place.
She wasn’t Heaven.
She didn’t flinch under his stare. Didn’t retreat. Just smiled faintly, studying him like she’d already accepted his silence.
She waited. He turned away and took another drink.
“I’m going to sit anyway,” she said, pulling out the stool beside him. She signaled the bartender with practiced ease, like she belonged there.
Maverick didn’t react. She leaned her elbow on the counter.
“So,” she continued, unfazed, “which one did you fight with?”
He didn’t look at her.
“The blonde,” she added, amused, “or the brunette?”
Still nothing.
She chuckled softly.
“When I broke up with my boyfriend, I came here too.” She paused, swirling the drink the bartender set down.
“Well… not broke up exactly,” she corrected quietly. “He just disappeared on me.”
Maverick’s grip tightened slightly around the glass.
“The guy who took me on that cruise,” she added, her eyes distant now.
That made him turn. Slowly.
His gaze sharpened, dangerous, focused.
The woman met his eyes, surprised by the sudden attention, but he still didn’t speak.
“Yeah,” she continued, voice softer now.
“Vanished. Puff. like smoke.”
The whiskey burned down Maverick’s throat. He didn’t feel it.
“I do hope the brunette wasn’t punished,” she said casually.
“The blonde girl?” She scoffed. “Total bitch.”
Maverick froze.
The glass paused halfway to his lips.
He turned fully toward her.
“What do you mean?” His voice came out rough, crooked like he hadn’t spoken in days.He grabbed her wrist.
Her brows creased. “Hey..”
“Tell me,” he growled.
She swallowed, shaken.
“They were arguing,” she said quickly. “Over you, I think.i heard the blonde girl say how long would she be smiling at her face and fucking her husband.”
Maverick’s jaw clenched.
“The blonde girl threw herself overboard,” she went on, breathless.
“I saw everything from where I was sitting. I wanted to tell you that night at the bar, but I was too drunk. And the next morning… you were gone.”
Maverick released her like she burned him.
“FUCK!” he snarled, raking a hand through his hair.
All this time. He had been searching for Heaven Never once considering who had framed her.Who had destroyed her.
Who had torn them apart.
One name roared through his mind.
Eva.
She had done this.
Maverick stepped back from the bar, fury rolling off him in lethal waves. He didn’t look back as he turned and walked away.
“Fabian, you said she was stable,” Rayan said, as he stood by the doorway. “Why hasn’t she woken up? It’s been three months.”
Fabian exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the girl lying unconscious on the bed. Her face was softer now, healed but her body still looked fragile. A slight baby bump curved beneath the thin sheet.
“I don’t know,” Fabian admitted. “Physically, she’s fine. Her injuries healed better than expected.” His jaw tightened. “But whatever’s keeping her asleep,it’s not medical.”
“Then what is it?”
Fabian’s voice lowered. “Psychological. It’s like she doesn’t want to wake up. Like something is holding her back.” He paused. “Or someone.”
Rayan crossed his arms. “Her people might be looking for her. Especially the father of that child. And you know we can’t contact anyone from Ivory City.”
Fabian’s eyes darkened. “Looking for her?” he scoffed.
“Where was he when she was being chased in the rain? When she ran in front of a moving car, malnourished, dehydrated, bleeding and pregnant?”
Rayan said nothing.
Suddenly, Heaven’s fingers twitched.
Rayan froze. “Fabian… she moved.”
Fabian was already on his feet. He rushed to the bed, checking her pulse, leaning closer. He reached for her eyelids. Her eyes flew open.
Both men stiffened.
Heaven sucked in a sharp breath and scrambled backward, her body moving before her mind caught up. Panic flooded her face. She pressed herself against the headboard, eyes wild, breathing uneven like she was still running.
Her gaze darted between the two strange men standing over her.
She looked ready to bolt.
“No..no, don’t move,” Fabian said quickly, hands raised. “You’ll hurt yourself…and your baby.”
Her hand flew to her stomach instinctively.
“We won’t hurt you,” Fabian continued softly. “We… we actually saved you. Even though…” he hesitated, “…we hit you.”
Rayan cleared his throat. “Correction. She ran into the road. Say it like that.”
Fabian shot him a look. “Rayan, not now.”
Heaven stared at them, chest rising and falling rapidly.
“W-who…” Her voice came out hoarse, unused. “Who are you?”
She swallowed painfully. “Where… where is this?”
“I’m Fabian Johnson,” he said gently. “This is Rayan.”
“You’re in Sun City. It’s a private island. Off the map.”
He hesitated before asking, carefully, “Who are you?”
Heaven went still.
Her brows pulled together.
Silence stretched.
“I…” She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”
Both men froze.
“What’s your name?” Fabian asked, keeping his tone calm.
She stared down at her hands, like the answer might be written there.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
Maverick stumbled back into the Richard estate like a storm.
Eva was in the bedroom, smiling softly at something in her hands.
The door slammed open.
She barely had time to look up before Maverick was on her.
His hand closed around her throat.
“You lied,” he snarled. “You lied about Heaven. You lied about the cruise. She didn’t push you, you knew everything. About us.”
His grip tightened.
“Did you threaten her? Did you frame her?”
His eyes burned. “Where the fuck is she, Eva?”
For the first time Eva’s gentle, obedient mask cracked.
But she didn’t look afraid.
She smiled.
“She touched what she shouldn’t have,” Eva said coldly.
“You.”
Maverick’s jaw clenched.
“Are you still obsessed with your little side piece?” she continued mockingly. “Get over her, Maverick. She already left you.”
He wasn’t shocked.
He had always known she wasn’t as sweet as she pretended. He just underestimated her.
“It’s all because of you,” he growled.
“No,” Eva replied calmly. “Not because of me.”
Her eyes glinted. “Because of how you treated her.”
Maverick’s hand tightened again.
“I will kill you if you don’t tell me where she is, Evangel!!!”
She laughed.
“You can’t kill me.”
She lifted what she’d been holding and shoved it in his face.
A pregnancy test.
Positive.
“I’m pregnant,” Eva said smugly.
“With your child.”
Maverick froze.
His grip loosened slowly from her neck.
The room spun