Vanished Not Forgotten
Country: Eldoria
Adrian
I stood before the massive glass windows of my penthouse, watching the city stretch endlessly beneath me.
I could see everything from here.
The businesses.
The power.
The influence.
Everything beneath my feet.
And yet… my control could not reach the one person who had slipped away from me.
My jaw tightened.
Alvara.
Somewhere in this very city, she was hiding.
The thought irritated me more than I cared to admit.
How was it possible that a girl like her had managed to disappear so completely?
For two weeks now, every search had led to nothing but dead ends. Every lead vanished the moment we got close.
Hilliard had repeated the same useless information over and over again.
Her phone was switched off.
Untraceable.
Completely silent.
It was the most frustrating report I had ever received.
There was also still no news about Mrs. Whitmore.
My mother had contacted the agency that originally introduced the woman to our household, but even they claimed they hadn’t heard from her.
Two people are gone.
Without a trace.
I clenched my fists behind my back.
This whole situation was humiliating.
Alvara’s escape had turned into both a personal and public embarrassment.
And the worst part of it all was the way my father now looked at me.
Like I had failed.
Like I had somehow lost control of something that should have been easily managed.
The man who had always trusted my decisions now looked at me with disappointment.
That alone made the entire situation unbearable.
“ What are you thinking about?”
The soft voice broke through my thoughts.
I turned slightly and looked toward the bed.
Eliora was lying there, stretched across the sheets like she owned the place. Her hair spilled across the pillow as she watched me with lazy curiosity.
“ The fact that this girl is out there somewhere,” I said slowly, my voice heavy with irritation. “It makes me so angry.”
Before I could say anything else, I felt arms wrap around me from behind.
I glanced down.
Eliora stood there, completely naked, pressing herself against my back.
Her lips brushed lightly against my shoulder as she hugged me tighter.
“ You don’t have to get yourself worked up,” she murmured softly, kissing the back of my neck while pressing herself closer.
Her body was warm against mine.
“ Maybe she’s not even alive,” she continued casually. “Who knows? She might be dead somewhere.”
For a brief moment, I considered the possibility.
If she was dead, that would solve a lot of problems.
I exhaled slowly.
“ I would be very happy about that,” I admitted. “But the problem is nobody knows where she is.”
I turned slightly to face her.
“ And the fact that my father is disappointed in me makes it even worse.”
Eliora lifted her head and looked directly into my eyes.
“ You know me, Eliora,” I said firmly.
“ I never fail.”
She smiled immediately.
“ And you’re not going to fail,” she replied calmly.
Her fingers rested lightly on my chest.
“ This is just a passing phase. Nothing will go wrong.”
Her eyes remained steady.
“ She can’t do what you think she can do.”
Her confidence in me was comforting.
I reached up, holding her face gently before kissing her forehead.
Then I leaned forward and kissed her lips deeply.
The kiss lingered for several seconds before I finally pulled away.
“ Thank you, babe,” I said quietly.
I rested my forehead against hers.
“ I will always be grateful for the gift of you.”
She smiled warmly.
“ Always, baby,” she said softly.
“ I’ll always be here for you.”
Then she lightly pushed my chest.
“ Come on,” she said.
“ You need to get ready for work.”
The drive to the office should have cleared my mind.
But instead, my thoughts kept returning to Alvara.
Was this really her plan?
Had she been planning this for a long time?
The more I thought about it, the more something about the situation felt strange.
Still, I refused to believe she was capable of something this calculated.
No matter what the truth was, one thing remained certain.
I would find her.
Eventually.
The moment I stepped into the company building, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
Of course.
That always happened when I arrived.
The whispers began almost immediately.
“ Here comes the storm… stay out of his way.”
“ Did you see how he glared at Sam yesterday? That was scary.”
“ I heard he canceled three meetings because of a typo in the report.”
“ His assistant ran out crying again… poor thing.”
“ When he passes, it’s like a shadow over the whole office.”
The murmuring continued as I walked past.
But I ignored it.
I had more important things to worry about than frightened employees.
When the elevator doors opened, the five workers inside rushed out almost immediately.
Clearly they knew better than to remain inside with me.
“ Good morning, sir.”
Kate hurried toward me the moment I entered the office floor.
“ Morning,” I replied briefly.
She followed closely behind me into my office carrying my coffee.
The moment I sat down, she placed the cup carefully on my desk.
Then she set a stack of stapled papers beside it.
“ These are your schedules for today, sir,” she began, quickly explaining the meetings and tasks arranged for the day.
When she finished, I looked up at her.
“ Is that all?” I asked.
“ Yes, sir.”
Something about the schedule felt incomplete.
Then I remembered.
“ I thought today was the meeting with Edwards Buildings and Estate.”
Kate froze.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the papers.
“ I… I’m sorry, sir,” she stammered nervously.
“ I just thought it would be tomorrow.”
Silence filled the room.
My patience snapped instantly.
“ You thought?”
My voice dropped coldly.
“ Did your parents raise you this useless?”
She looked like she might collapse.
“ I’m so…”
“ Shut up.”
I leaned back in my chair, staring at her with clear irritation.
“ You exist only to irritate me.”
I gestured toward the door.
“ Congratulations. You’ve just made my day worse.”
My voice hardened.
“ Get out.”
She quickly turned and left the office.
I slumped deeper into my chair.
This woman constantly made me feel like the only reason she existed was to disappoint me.
If it were entirely my decision, I would have fired her a long time ago.
But unfortunately, that option was not available to me.
And that only made everything more frustrating.
Evening
4:25 PM
My phone rang just as I finished meeting with a client.
Mom.
I answered immediately.
??“ Hello, Mom.”
Her voice came through sharp and impatient.
??“ Come to the house right now!”
Then the call ended.
I stared at the screen for a moment.
Whatever this was about, she sounded furious.
Which meant I needed to find out what was going on.
I drove straight to the Vale estate.
The moment I stepped inside the house, I noticed everyone sitting in the living room waiting.
Mom.
Dad.
And Isla.
“ What’s going on, Mom?” I asked as I sat down.
“ I was busy at work.”
Isla scoffed loudly from her seat.
Mom spoke before the tension could grow further.
“ The doctor called,” she said.
“ He said Alvara lost the pregnancy two weeks ago… almost three weeks now.”
The words caught me off guard.
I shifted slightly in my chair.
I hadn’t expected that.
“ That can’t be true,” I said immediately.
“ How are we sure the doctor isn’t working with her?”
Dad slammed his hand on the table.
“ Working with her?” he barked.
His eyes burned with anger.
“ Adrian, she fell down the stairs!”
I frowned.
“ What do you mean she fell? Nothing like that ever happened.”
Dad looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“ How can you be this dumb and still claim to be smart?”
His voice grew louder.
“ That girl almost lost her life and you had no idea what happened in your own house!”
His anger intensified.
“ Why are you trying so hard to tarnish the image of this family, Adrian Vale?!”
My temper flared instantly.
“ How was I supposed to know what happens inside the house?” I snapped.
“ I’m not a damn bodyguard!”
“ I always tell her to stay out of my way. How was I supposed to know about some stupid fall?”
Isla shot up from her chair.
“ You’re very heartless, Adrian,” she said angrily.
Her voice trembled with fury.
“ An innocent woman you deceived and got pregnant almost died, and you’re calling it a stupid fall?
”
She glared at me.
“ How wicked can you be?”
Then her voice sharpened even more.
“ How do we even know you didn’t push her? ”
I stood and turned toward her slowly.
“ Your audacity is impressive,” I said coldly.
“ But your judgment is laughable.”
My eyes narrowed.
“ Keep testing me and you’ll see exactly what I mean by control.”
She didn’t look afraid at all.
“ Your threats don’t scare me,” she replied sharply.
Her voice cut through the room.
“ You’re blind to your own failures.”
Then she added quietly:
“ Your pride and arrogance will ruin you one day, idiot.”
She turned as if to leave.
Something inside me snapped.
I rushed forward and slapped her.
But before I could react further..
She slapped me back.
Hard.
“ Isla!” Mom and Dad shouted at the same time.
She stepped closer to me, eyes blazing.
“ Don’t you ever lay your hands on me again.”
Her voice was dangerously calm.
“ In case you’ve forgotten… I’m not Alvara.”
Then she walked away.
Dad shouted after her.
“ Come back here!”
But she ignored him and continued upstairs.
I laughed bitterly.
“ Mom, you saw what your daughter just did, right?” I said.
“ Isla insults me and now she slaps me?”
Mom sighed.
“ I will talk to her,” she said quietly.
“ I don’t know what is going on with her these days.”
Dad looked back at me.
“ Why did you raise your hand against your sister?”
“ You were here,” I snapped. “She insulted me!”
The words hit like a hammer.
“ You caused all of this because of your lack of control.”
Then he stood up.
“ The only solution to this mess is simple.”
His voice turned cold.
“ It will be announced publicly that you divorced her.”
He walked toward the door.
“ That way nobody will believe her if she tries to act stupid later.”
He stopped briefly.
“ I want this taken care of by the end of the week.”
His voice hardened.
“ I’m tired of this embarrassment.”
Then he left the room.
I drove back to my penthouse feeling angrier than ever.
Everything that had happened today traced back to one person.
Alvara.
Because of her, my father looked at me differently.
Because of her, my family questioned me.
Because of her, I was now the center of humiliation.
I stood again before the large glass windows overlooking Eldoria.
The city lights stretched endlessly beneath me.
My eyes darkened.
“ For now,” I murmured quietly, “the hunt is over.”
But deep inside, I knew the truth.
This was far from finished.
“ No one forgets a Vale.”
My voice dropped lower.
“ And no one crosses me without paying.”