Chapter 123

Author’s POV

Kelly stared into space, shocked about the entire event; she wished Alicia had not gone missing. Somehow, everything felt like her fault.

Grey noticed Kelly wasn’t looking good and decided to approach her.

“Kelly, I understand your feelings, but you must take things easy. All of this is not your fault, and we will find Alicia,” Grey consoled

Kelly smiled at Grey, hoping he wouldn’t notice it was fake. The events kept replaying in Kelly’s mind, and she wished she could identify the lady who picked Alicia.

Nevada wasn’t talking to her, and it hurt, not that she blamed Nevada for it. As a mother, Nevada was hurt and needed the space.

The police asked Kelly to come over, and she did.

“When was the last time you saw the little girl?” One of the officers asked

“I can’t recall the time, but it was in the evening,” Kelly replied, stuttering in between

The officers whispered something into each other ears; they had a reason to suspect Kelly for the kidnap but didn’t want to say it outright.

“So you don’t know the time the little girl got missing,” the officer said, noting it down.

He was beginning to feel something off about Kelly but couldn’t point his fingers at it. She looked innocent, but he had dealt with criminals like that.

“Yes,” Kelly replied, feeling lightheaded.

“Did you at any point fight with the mother of the little girl in question?” The officer asked and noticed a slight change in Kelly’s demeanor.

Kelly was shocked to hear the officer ask such questions; it was beginning to look like she was a prime suspect.

“No, I didn’t fight with Nevada,” Kelly replied

The officer whispered to his partner and smiled at Kelly.

“When you noticed the little girl wasn’t with you, why didn’t you call the police or inform the mother?” The partner asked

The question took aback Kelly, and she wasn’t in the right frame of mind when Alicia had gone missing and had hoped it would be something she could handle.

“I was destabilized, I didn’t know what to do, and I felt Alicia had simply gotten lost among the children,” Kelly responded

The police officers noticed Kelly was getting defensive and decided to push further.

“You gave two answers. Were you destabilized, or you didn’t take it seriously?” The police officer asked

Grey noticed what was going on and had to step in.

“Officers! What’s going on?” Grey asked

Kelly was grateful for Grey’s intervention and felt that, left to the police officers, she would be in jail already without any investigation.

“We are trying to get more information from Miss Kelly,” the officer replied

“Okay, the security officers will show you the footage of the incident, and I’m sure you would be able to get better information that way,” Grey said

The police officers looked at each other but couldn’t question Grey; something about his appearance was intimidating.

“Alright, thank you so much for your cooperation. We will get back to you if we hear anything or need anything to help with the case,” the officers said and went into their vehicle

Kelly released the breath she held; it was a lot for her, and Kelly knew she might have started to say things to please the officers if they had pressed further.

“Are you okay?” Grey asked, concerned about her.

Kelly nodded, knowing fully well it was a lie. She wasn’t okay and began feeling like she would slump anytime.

“Yes, I am. Thank you for helping out; I don’t know what I’d have said to those officers,” Kelly let out

“It’s fine,” Grey replied, understanding the situation.

He knew Kelly wasn’t in the right frame of mind, and the officers would have twisted her into saying things that weren’t real to make their job easier.

Grey left Kelly all to herself, and she sat on the ground. Alicia was a sweet soul and didn’t deserve what happened; Kelly wished she could take back time or change places with Alicia.

It was time to leave, and Kelly entered Grey’s car feeling lifeless and weak. The police didn’t look like they were going to do anything about the kidnap, and Kelly began to pray within her.

Nevada noticed Kelly was quiet and sulking but couldn’t say anything to help; Kelly had taken Alicia like a daughter and was feeling the same pain.

Grey dropped them at the house and waited till they were gone before driving off.

Kelly sat in a corner, unable to close her eyes; there was no point going into the room. She was going to wait for Grey to bring Alicia back.

He was her only hope, and she hoped Grey would not disappoint her; Kelly wanted to console Nevada but knew it wasn’t in her place because it happened right in her presence.

Kelly didn’t realize time had passed until Grey walked into the living room; Kelly looked up, wondering how he entered. She had locked the door when they came in, or did she imagine it?

Grey explained that he knocked but didn’t get a response, and the door was unlocked. Kelly looked at the time and realized it was extremely late.

Kelly felt better when Grey consoled her and explained that none of it was her fault.

“Thank you,” Kelly muttered, meaning it

Nevada walked into the living room and was shocked to see Grey inside; she didn’t hear when he came in and noticed he was trying to make Kelly feel better.

Grey was a good person and deserved an award for being there for her. Nevada knew it was better to let it all out and make sure Kelly got to rest. It was only fair that she rested after a long day.

“Kelly, I know you are feeling bad about the situation and scared. I’m scared as well, but I want you to have hope and believe that Alicia will be found soon,” Nevada said, forcing a smile.

Kelly sighed, realizing those words of comfort were all she needed to feel better.

“I’m sorry for causing you so much pain. I know I should have paid more attention to Alicia,” Kelly apologized

Nevada pulled Kelly in for a hug and insisted she went into the room to sleep. Kelly left Grey and Nevada in the living room and entered the bedroom.

She could imagine the kind of pain Alicia was going through, and it brought tears to her eyes. Kelly wiped off the tears and laid her head on the pillow, praying for sleep to take over.

It became difficult for her to sleep, and she rolled over the bed feeling restless; she had no idea if Alicia could sleep on a bed and wasn’t held in an uncomfortable place.

Kelly hoped whoever picked Alicia would treat her with care because she was a child and would make their conditions known on time.

She suspected that the nanny would have a hand in the kidnapping and was going to tell Grey about it later in the day.

Kelly felt that whoever was doing this wanted to separate Grey and Nevada.

Sleep slowly took over Kelly, and she yawned, feeling tired.

Kelly woke up a few hours later and heard sounds from the kitchen; she hurriedly dashed into the kitchen to see Nevada pouring a glass of milk for herself.

“Good morning, Nevada,” Kelly muttered, looking around for Grey.

“Good morning, Kelly, I’m shocked to see that you are awake,” Nevada replied

Grey had left earlier, and she wondered if he had gotten any sleep before leaving.

The ring on Nevada’s hands caught Kelly’s attention; Nevada couldn’t inform Kelly because of the incident and felt it wasn’t as important as finding her daughter.

Nevada noticed Kelly was staring at the ring and decided to inform her.

“Grey proposed to me at the launch, and I said yes,” Nevada explained

Kelly looked at Nevada in disbelief; the way Nevada had spoken about Grey a few weeks ago didn’t show that she would say yes if he ever proposed.

“Congratulations, Nevada,” Kelly said, wishing Alicia hadn’t been abducted and was here.

It was a celebration, but nobody could say it because of the incident till Alicia was found; Kelly doubted Nevada would ever speak about the ring again.

“Thank you. I was so happy yesterday and never knew my enemies had other plans for me,” Nevada muttered

Kelly felt a pang of guilt, and her smile disappeared.

“I’m sorry,” Kelly apologized

Nevada realized her choice of words might have hurt Kelly and quickly corrected herself

“I wasn’t talking about you, Kelly; you should know that I can never refer to you as an enemy,” Nevada explained.

Kelly nodded, understanding the situation. Nevada passed Kelly the glass of warm milk, and she gulped it down.

“Any news from Grey?” Kelly asked

“None; I haven’t even heard from Kai,” Nevada muttered

“Kai? Did you tell him about the kidnap?” Kelly asked, shocked to hear his name.

“Yes, I didn’t have a choice. I needed as many people as possible to help find Alicia,” Nevada explained.