Chapter 96 Abduction
The supermarket parking lot was quiet, with only a few cars scattered across the open space. Sienna still stood beside Luca’s car, hugging her arms lightly, trying to distract herself with the warm sun on her face.
She didn’t notice the danger until it was already too close.
Two men walked toward the entrance of the supermarket. One moved ahead, slipping inside with his head down. The other slowed, pretending to grab a shopping cart near the entrance. He kept his face lowered as if he was checking something on his phone.
Nothing about them should have made her uneasy.
But something did.
Sienna glanced toward the supermarket entrance, expecting to see Luca jogging out.
He wasn’t there.
She exhaled slowly, trying to shake off the strange tightness in her chest.
“Don’t be paranoid,” she whispered to herself.
But her eyes stayed on the men.
The one with the cart glanced at her again. Just a quick flick of the eyes.
Her stomach knotted.
She looked away, trying not to draw attention. She picked at the grocery bag handles and tried to ground herself in something familiar. A child laughed in the distance. A car horn beeped. Someone pushed a trolley past her.
Everything looked normal.
But her instincts refused to relax.
Then she felt it.
A presence behind her.
Before she could turn, she felt a sharp sting, like a needle right at her neck.
Her breath hitched. Her hand flew up to the spot instinctively.
“What?”
But the world tilted. Her vision blurred. The parking lot spun.
Her knees buckled.
The man with the cart was suddenly at her side, catching her before she hit the ground. Another man, the one who had gone inside had reappeared behind her like a shadow.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Her body felt heavy. Her eyelids sank.
Darkness rushed in like cold water.
She felt hands under her arms, lifting her, dragging her.
“S… stop…” she whispered, but it was barely air.
Her head lolled forward.
The bus she’d noticed earlier rolled toward them. The doors hissed open like a giant mouth, ready to swallow her whole.
The men moved fast. They lifted her inside.
Her head hit something soft, a seat? A lap? she couldn’t tell.
Just before the darkness took over completely, she managed one last thought, Luca.
Then the bus doors slammed shut
And it sped away.
Immediately, Luca walked out of the supermarket with a proud grin, holding up his key like he’d won a medal.
“Sienna is never letting me live this down,” he muttered to himself.
He jogged toward the car, scanning for her.
But the spot beside the car was empty.
He frowned.
“Maybe she’s hiding,” he joked to himself, looking around.
But there was no answer. No Sienna leaning against the car. No Sienna pacing.No Sienna at all.
He walked closer, confused until he saw the grocery bags.
One of them lay on the ground, tipped to the side. Not ripped. Not opened. Just dropped.
His heartbeat stumbled.
“Sienna?”
He called out, looking around.
“Sienna! Where did you go?”
No answer.
He pulled out his phone and called her.
A ringtone sounded right beside the grocery bag.
Luca froze.
The phone was on the ground.
“Sienna?” His voice shook now. “Are you playing with me?”
He kneeled, picked up the phone with trembling fingers, and looked around wildly.
People were going about their day like nothing had happened. No commotion. No screams. No confusion. Just cruel, normal silence.
He stood there for several seconds, chest tightening, mind racing.
Maybe she’d gone inside?
Maybe she’d seen someone she knew?
Maybe.
But her phone was here. Her bag was here. Her wallet peeking out.
Everything was here except her.
Luca’s pulse hammered in his ears.
He forced himself to breathe. “Okay… okay, don’t panic,” he muttered to himself. “Maybe she just walked somewhere. Maybe she needed fresh air.”
But his instincts screamed, something was wrong. Something is very, very wrong.
He grabbed the grocery bags, threw them into the car, and slammed the trunk shut.
Then he drove off fast toward the villa.
At the Villa, Luca stormed through the front doors.
The staff immediately straightened at the sight of him. He was tense, worried, and frantic.
“Did Sienna come back?” Luca demanded, voice shaking.
A maid blinked in confusion. “Sir? No. She hasn’t returned since you both left in the morning.”
Another housekeeper stepped forward. “We haven’t seen her, sir.”
Luca pressed a hand against his forehead, pacing. “Are you sure? Nobody saw her? Not even crossing the gate?”
They all shook their heads.
“Did anyone call? Did she text? Anything?”
“No, sir.”
The silence burned through him like ice.
Because that silence meant one thing:
She didn’t come back by choice.
His hands shook.
He turned sharply toward the staff. “If she comes back, call me immediately. Don’t let her leave. Don’t let anyone near the gate. And someone check the security cameras.”
The staff ran in different directions.
Luca’s pulse pounded in his throat.
He checked the guest room. It was empty.
He checked the living room. It was empty.
The balcony. It was empty.
The kitchen. It was empty.
He stood in the middle of the hallway, breathing like he’d run a marathon.
“Where are you, Sienna…”
A few minutes passed.
Then forty.
Then an hour.
Then darkness fell.
Still no sign of her.
Luca’s skin itched with panic.
He grabbed his keys and drove to the stadium next, thinking maybe she had walked there out of instinct or desperation.
He asked the guards.The staff. The cleaners.
No one had seen her.
Not today. Not recently. Not at all.
His mind raced with horrible possibilities.
Had she been followed? Has someone from the board taken revenge? Has Isabelle done something? Had the message she received earlier been part of this?
He clenched the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.
Finally, with trembling fingers, Luca called the only other person who might matter in this mess.
Dante.
Dante picked up almost immediately.
“Luca,” he said, sounding tired. “What is it?”
“Where is she?” Luca demanded, voice cracking.
There was a pause.
“What?” Dante’s tone sharpened instantly.
“Where is she?” Luca said, breath shaky.