Chapter 75- Who is Axel?

Chapter 75- Who is Axel?
Austin’s POV

I woke up to the loud ringing of my cellphone. My head was pounding—like it was splitting apart. I didn’t even check who was calling; I just answered.

“Hello!”

“Austin! Your dad and I heard that Faith and Jairee are missing. Is this true?”

The voice on the other end was familiar.

“Mom?” I asked, just to be sure. A miracle she remembered me. I gave a bitter smile, because I already knew why she was calling.

“How did you know, Mom?” I asked back, forcing myself to stay calm.

“I have my ways, Austin. Now tell me—why are they missing?”

“You have ways, don’t you?” I answered sharply. “Why don’t you find out the reason yourself without asking me? Because even I don’t know why. Or maybe… you have something to do with this? Mom?” I replied sarcastically.

“Since when did you learn to talk back to me like that, Austin?” she snapped.

“And since when did you start caring about my family?” I shot back. “My family—or are you only concerned about one particular person, Mom?” I let out a low, bitter laugh filled with mockery.

“W-what are you talking about? Find them immediately,” she ordered, her voice tinged with shock.

“You know what I’m talking about, Mom. But don’t worry—I’ll look for my wife and child even without you telling me to,” I replied before ending the call.

I couldn’t help but suspect that even she might have something to do with Faith and Jairee’s disappearance.

I finally got up and only then realized that this wasn’t the bedroom Faith and I shared.

“Where am I?” I whispered to myself as I looked around.

Only a towel was wrapped around my lower body. When I removed it to make sure I was wearing underwear, my eyes widened in shock—I wasn’t wearing anything at all.

I quickly sat on the edge of the bed and ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated. I tried to remember what happened last night, but my mind was completely blank.

I stood up and peeked outside the door. That’s when I remembered—I went to a bar last night. Casniel and Hero were with me, weren’t they? Bastards! They left me like this.

I went back to the bed and grabbed my phone from the table. I immediately called Hero. After just a few rings, he answered.

“Hello, Daks.”

I frowned.

“Who’s Daks? This is Austin.”

“I know it’s you, bro,” he replied, laughing.

“Then why the hell are you calling me Daks? And why did you leave me naked in a bar room?” I almost shouted.

Hero just kept laughing on the other line, clearly enjoying my misery.

“Damn you, Austin!” he said between laughs. “You got completely wasted and turns out you couldn’t handle it! You only managed to vomit all over yourself, bro. I thought you were used to it.”

“Son of a—Hero!” I ran my hand through my hair again. “Are you serious?”

“It’s true, bro. Good thing Casniel helped you. Anyway, get dressed and come to the office. We need to talk. It’s very important, Daks.”

“I’ll call Jake and have him send clothes,” I replied, trying to suppress my irritation. “And stop calling me Daks, Hero!”

“Can’t help it, bro!” he chuckled. “That’s what we saw last night—and take note, it was asleep when we saw it!”

“You’re insane,” I muttered as I rubbed my temples. I could still hear his laughter before I ended the call.

I looked around the room and noticed a paper bag on the table.

I walked over and picked it up. Inside was an office suit, neatly folded. On top was a small note.

To Daks.

I shook my head. “Imagine having friends like these…” I muttered, half annoyed, half amused.

I quickly took a shower and got dressed. Outside, I learned from the guard that the two of them had actually left earlier that morning. They hadn’t abandoned me overnight after all.

When I arrived at Hero’s office, I walked straight in. His secretary already knew me, so she didn’t stop me.

“Hey, Daks! That was fast!” Hero greeted as soon as he saw me. He was on the sofa with Casniel, who looked like he was dying from laughter.

“No wonder Daphnie’s chasing after you, bro,” Casniel added, laughing even harder.

I frowned. Even this—he had to join in on the teasing?

I stood silently in front of them and started unbuckling my belt.

Both of them suddenly went quiet.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Hero asked, eyes widening slightly. “Bro, are you still drunk?”

I didn’t answer. I continued removing my belt, then unhooked my pants as I slowly walked toward him.

Hero fell silent, and Casniel’s laughter stopped. Both of them stared at me, clearly confused about what I was about to do.

“Come here, Hero,” I said coldly. “Let’s try this on you—so you’ll never forget me for the rest of your life.”

“Huh? What—hey!” Before he could react, I grabbed him and slammed him face-down onto his office table.

“Bro! It was just a joke, I swear!” he shouted, while Casniel laughed uncontrollably at the side.

“That’s what you get for teasing too much!” Casniel chimed in, instead of stopping us—he even held Hero’s arms while laughing.

“Helppp!” Hero yelled, struggling. “I won’t do it again, Austin! I promise!”

I quickly yanked off Hero’s belt and tossed it aside, then unhooked his pants and pulled them down. They were already halfway down his thighs when the office door suddenly opened.

All of us turned at the same time.

Charie.

She looked shocked, her expression impossible to read as she stared at Hero bent over the table, Casniel holding his arms, and me gripping Hero’s pants.

“Seriously?” Charie asked coldly, her tone sharpening. “Faith and Jairee are missing, and you still have time to fool around?”

The air inside the office suddenly felt heavy. No one was laughing anymore.

I stood there in silence, unable to speak. Hero hurriedly fixed himself after Casniel let him go.

I didn’t answer, because we were all worried about Faith and Jairee.

Once we had all calmed down, we sat quietly in the living area of Hero’s office. No more laughter—only serious faces.

“Faith and Jairee are staying in a condominium,” Hero began. “CCTV footage shows that Jaecob and Stella brought them there last night.”

I looked at him, hope immediately igniting in my chest.

“It belongs to Dad’s cousin, so I was able to access it easily,” he added.

I inhaled sharply, then frowned. “Why are you only telling me now?” I asked, irritation creeping into my voice.

Hero shook his head. “Are you stupid? We’ve been trying to talk to you since last night. You were completely wasted! You couldn’t even understand a thing.”

Hearing that, I took a deep breath. Regret pierced my chest.

“You’re right…” I said softly. “Let’s go to them now. I want to see them and make sure they’re safe.”

“What matters now is that we see them. I’m extremely worried about my friend and godchild,” Charie added.

We silently nodded at each other and quickly left the office.

We used Hero’s car. He drove, Charie sat in the passenger seat quietly staring out the window, while Casniel and I were in the back. No bodyguards—we didn’t need them right now.

The drive was quiet. Only the hum of the engine and Charie’s soft sighs could be heard. I kept checking my watch; every second felt like it was pounding against my chest.

We reached Faith’s location quickly. I practically jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped.

Standing in front of the unit, I pressed the doorbell repeatedly, over and over—but no one answered.

My heart was pounding. Faith… are you there?

I decided to try the passcode. I entered the numbers that were special to us—our wedding anniversary.

Click. The door opened.

I gave a bitter smile.

“Our wedding anniversary…” I whispered to myself. “All that doorbell ringing for nothing.”

We all entered. Silence greeted us.

“Faith! Jairee!” Charie and I shouted almost at the same time. No response.

“Austin! You have to see this!” Casniel yelled from one of the rooms.

We rushed over. I saw him standing beside the bed, holding several photographs.

There were more photos inside a brown envelope placed on the bed, as if deliberately left there for me.

I slowly approached the bed, my body growing colder with every step.

My heart sank the moment I saw the photos. I didn’t need to ask anymore—I already knew why Faith had left.

In the pictures, everything was clear—images no spouse should ever see. Photos that screamed a truth I didn’t want to believe.

“Austin…” Charie called softly, her voice filled with pain.

“Why?”

That wasn’t a question for her—it was the question of a friend hurting for another friend who had been betrayed.

I didn’t answer. I just stood there, staring at the photos as I slowly crumpled them in my trembling hand, shaking with anger.

My wife was suffering and in pain because of these pictures.

“I’m sorry, Faith,” I whispered into the air.

“That bastard…” I muttered again, my temple veins nearly bursting.

A brief silence followed—before my voice finally exploded.

“AXEL!”

I shouted his name, filled with rage, pain, and devastation.

Everyone went silent. That name reignited the fire inside me.

We will settle this.

Those were the last words I uttered.

I turned around, roughly wiped the tears from my cheeks, and walked out of the condo without looking back.

I could still hear Charie calling after me, Hero following a few steps behind—but I didn’t turn around.

I couldn’t postpone this any longer.

Tonight, I would confront Axel.