Chapter 201: Lila Is Missing

Ethan’s POV

By the time I pulled into our driveway, the afternoon was waning. I expected to find Lila and Violet in the garden or perhaps the living room, but the house seemed oddly quiet when I entered.

"Lila?" I called, dropping my keys on the marble-topped table in the foyer. No answer.

I checked the kitchen first, then the living room, finding only Nora playing with Violet on the floor.

"Mr. Pacheco," Nora greeted, her expression pleasant but reserved. "I wasn't expecting you back so early."

"Where's Lila?" I asked, kneeling to press a kiss to Violet's forehead. She squealed and reached for me, her tiny hands grabbing at my tie.

"She went out this morning," Nora replied, gathering up some of Violet's toys. "Said she had meetings at Felicitas."

That made sense. Lila had thrown herself into her work with impressive dedication these past few weeks. I smiled, thinking of how quickly she'd transformed from reluctant CEO to formidable businesswoman.

"Did she say when she'd be back?"

Nora shook her head. "No, sir. Just that she'd be home for dinner."

I checked my watch. Still a few hours until then. "I'll be in my office if she calls."

With Violet contentedly playing with Nora, I retreated to my office, planning to catch up on some paperwork.

\---

Hours passed as I worked through financial projections and legal documents. The light outside my window gradually shifted from golden afternoon to the purple-blue of early evening, then to darkness. I glanced at my watch again, frowning.

It was nearly 8 PM. Lila should have been home by now.

I picked up my phone and called her. The call went straight to voicemail.

"Lila, it's me. Just wondering when you'll be home. Call me back."

A knot of unease began forming in my stomach. I told myself she was probably caught up in work, lost track of time. It wouldn't be the first time. But something felt off.

I dialed Eliana's number next.

"Mr. Pacheco?" Her voice was tentative, surprised to be receiving a call from me directly.

"Eliana, is Lila still at the office with you?"

A pause. "No, she hasn't been in all day. I assumed she was working from home. Is everything okay?"

The knot in my stomach tightened. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday afternoon, before she left for the day. She mentioned something about research for a potential client, but she didn't give details."

I ended the call with a terse thank you, already dialing Beau's number. He answered on the third ring, his voice instantly wary.

"What do you want, Ethan?"

"Is Lila with you?" I asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"No. Why would she be?"

"She's missing," I said, the words sending a chill through me as I spoke them aloud for the first time. "She left this morning and hasn't come back. Her phone's going straight to voicemail."

There was a pause, then the sound of movement. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Call Daniel."

I was already dialing as Beau hung up. Daniel's response was similarly immediate, promising to meet us at the mansion as soon as possible.

By the time they arrived, I'd already called Noah and Mason, organizing a search effort. Leo had accessed the GPS on Lila's phone, but it showed her last location as our home address early that morning.

The six of us gathered in my study, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

"When did you last see her?" Daniel demanded, his normally composed demeanor cracking under stress.

"This morning," I replied, pacing the length of the room. "She was still asleep when I left to visit my father. Nora says she went out shortly after that."

"And you have no idea where she was going?" Beau asked, his tone accusatory.

I shook my head, frustration and fear building inside me. "She didn't say anything about plans yesterday."

Mason shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting between the floor and the door. "Maybe she went shopping? Or to see a friend?"

"For twelve hours?" Daniel snapped. "Without calling anyone?"

"We need to check surveillance footage," Noah interjected, always the practical one. "From the house, the neighborhood, traffic cameras. If she left by car, we should be able to track her movements."

I nodded, already pulling up the mansion's security system on my laptop. "Leo, start pulling footage from any cameras within a five-mile radius of the house. Mason, contact our informants in the police department. See if anyone's reported an accident involving a woman matching Lila's description."

Mason nodded, though I noticed a slight delay before he pulled out his phone—a hesitation that might have seemed insignificant if I hadn't been looking for it. Something about his behavior felt off, had felt off since we discovered that photo of Benjamin.

"Found her," Leo announced, his eyes fixed on his laptop screen. "Traffic camera picked her up heading north on Madison Avenue around 9:15 this morning."

We crowded around his screen, watching as Lila's sleek black Tesla moved through the morning traffic.

"Keep following her," I instructed, my eyes never leaving the screen.

Leo tapped rapidly, pulling up footage from camera after camera, tracing Lila's path through the city. The tight knot in my stomach loosened slightly as we tracked her movement—at least we knew she'd been okay this morning.

But then Leo pulled up footage from a camera near the outskirts of the city, and the knot returned with a vengeance.

"Is that—" Noah started.

"The road to the Osorio estate," I finished, my voice cold with dread.

The footage showed Lila's car turning onto the private drive that led to Benjamin's property.

I had a terrible thought in my mind that Lila was trying to sneak into Benjamin's office. I closed my eyes in despair.