Chapter 169 CHAPTER 169:PIECES OF CLUES SHE LEFT
~Wayne's Pov~
Three days.
Seventy-two hours since the airport.
Seventy-two hours since Elara had last seen Wayne’s face.
The first day she had counted every minute.
The second day she had counted every hour.
By the third day, time felt like something distant and meaningless, like a clock that kept ticking in a different world.
The room she was in was small. Not filthy, but not comfortable either. A single narrow bed. One chair. A small window covered with metal bars and thick curtains that rarely opened.
Calvin had chosen the place carefully.
Too remote to be found easily.
Too controlled for her to escape.
Her hands rested over her swollen belly as she sat on the edge of the bed.
The baby shifted.
A slow movement beneath her skin.
She exhaled softly.
“It’s okay,” she whispered to the child inside her. “Your father will find us.”
She had to believe that.
Because believing anything else would break her.
Elara wasn’t helpless.
Fear had sharpened her mind.
On the first day, when Calvin had dragged her into the van at the airport, panic had nearly taken over. But somewhere in the chaos, instinct had kicked in.
Wayne had always told her something.
If you’re ever in danger… leave a trail.
So she did.
While Calvin forced her into the van, she had slipped off the silver bracelet Wayne had given her months ago.
She had dropped it onto the airport pavement without him noticing.
A tiny glint of silver.
A breadcrumb.
Wayne would notice.
She knew he would.
He noticed everything.
Back at the airport, investigators had combed through security footage frame by frame.
Wayne stood behind them, arms crossed tightly, eyes cold and focused.
“Zoom there,” he ordered.
The footage paused.
Elara struggling.
A van door open.
And then
A small object falling to the ground.
Wayne leaned forward.
“What is that?”
The footage zoomed closer.
Silver.
His heart tightened.
“That’s her bracelet.”
Daniel nodded grimly. “She dropped it intentionally.”
Wayne’s jaw clenched.
“She’s leaving clues.”
Hope flickered in his chest.
But hope alone wasn’t enough.
They needed more.
The van ride had been long.
At some point Calvin had stopped for gas.
He had stepped out of the vehicle, leaving her inside.
Elara had only seconds.
Her fingers shook slightly as she slipped one of her earrings loose.
A small pearl stud.
She dropped it beside the van door as Calvin returned.
Another breadcrumb.
Another chance.
Two hours later, when they finally reached the isolated house, Calvin had noticed the missing earring.
He stood in the doorway staring at her.
“Trying to leave a trail?” he asked quietly.
Her heart jumped, but she forced herself to remain calm.
“I lost it,” she said.
Calvin tilted his head.
“You’re smarter than that.”
He walked closer.
His eyes dropped briefly to her belly.
Then back to her face.
“You think Wayne is going to follow little fairy tale clues and save you?”
She didn’t answer.
Calvin smirked faintly.
“He won’t find you.”
But Elara wasn’t listening to his words.
She was listening to her instincts.
Wayne would try.
He always tried.
Three days later, Wayne looked like a man who hadn’t slept in years.
His office had become a command center.
Maps covered the walls.
Screens displayed security footage from dozens of locations.
Private investigators came and went constantly.
Every lead.
Every possibility.
Every road.
Wayne had followed all of them.
The bracelet had been found near the airport.
The earring had been discovered at a gas station nearly forty miles away.
And then…
Nothing.
The trail ended.
Wayne slammed his hand onto the table.
“Damn it!”
Daniel watched him carefully.
“Sir”
“He has her somewhere between those two locations.”
“Or further.”
Wayne ran a hand through his hair.
“She’s leaving clues. I know she is.”
Daniel nodded.
“She believes you’ll find them.”
Wayne’s chest tightened.
That belief carried weight.
Too much weight.
If he failed…
No.
He wouldn’t allow that thought to exist.
Back at the house, Elara moved slowly around the small room.
Calvin had become cautious.
He rarely left her unattended now.
But even careful men made mistakes.
When he brought food, she noticed something.
The tray.
Metal.
Heavy.
And the napkins.
Paper.
When Calvin stepped away briefly, she grabbed the napkin and quickly scribbled with the edge of the fork.
HELP.
Then below it
CALVIN.
And finally
WAYNE.
She folded the napkin and tucked it into the bottom of the food tray.
Later, when Calvin disposed of the tray outside, she prayed the wind or someone would carry that message to the right place.
It was a long shot.
But hope was built on long shots.
Calvin sat in the living room that evening watching the news quietly.
Coverage of Wayne’s search was everywhere now.
Business tycoon Wayne Brooks searching for abducted pregnant wife.
Calvin laughed softly.
Wayne looked exhausted in every interview.
Desperate.
Powerless.
The golden brother finally cracked.
Calvin leaned back in his chair.
“You always did hate losing control,” he murmured to the screen.
Later that night Calvin entered her room.
She tensed instinctively.
He sat down across from her.
“Three days,” he said calmly.
“You’re still looking for attention.”
“I’m waiting.”
“For Wayne?”
“Yes.”
Calvin smiled faintly.
“He’s searching.”
“I know.”
“But he’s searching blind.”
She met his gaze firmly.
“He’ll find me.”
Calvin studied her face.
“You have a lot of faith in him.”
“He deserves it.”
Calvin’s expression darkened slightly.
“He always does.”
Silence stretched between them.
Then Calvin stood.
“You should rest,” he said. “For the baby.”
She hated that he mentioned the baby.
Hated the false concern in his voice.
When he left, she placed both hands over her stomach again.
“We just have to hold on,” she whispered.
That same night Wayne stared at the city skyline from his office window.
Three days.
No location.
No solid lead.
Just fragments.
Just breadcrumbs.
He clenched his fists.
“Elara,” he whispered quietly.
Daniel approached carefully.
“We’ll find her.”
Wayne didn’t turn around.
“I should’ve protected her better.”
“You did everything you could.”
“Not enough.”
Silence fell between them.
Then Wayne spoke again, quieter but colder.
“When I find him…”
Daniel knew the rest of that sentence didn’t need finishing.
Wayne turned slowly.
His eyes burned with determination.
“She’s still leaving clues,” he said.
“You believe that?”
“I know her.”
Hope.
Instinct.
Love.
All pointing him in the same direction.
Wayne grabbed his coat.
“Then we keep searching.”
Back in the quiet house miles away, Elara lay awake staring at the ceiling.
The baby shifted again.
She smiled faintly despite the fear.
“Your father is stubborn,” she whispered.
“And he loves us too much to stop.”
Somewhere in the darkness, a trail existed.
A path only Wayne could follow.
The question wasn’t if he would find it.
The question was
Would he find it before Calvin decided the game was over?