Chapter 36
“I don’t want children.”
His words keep replaying in my mind like a broken record.
No matter how hard I try to push them away, they return louder, sharper, more painful.
I lie on the bed staring at the ceiling, the quiet of the room pressing down on me. My hand slowly moves to my stomach, resting there instinctively.
My baby.
Our baby.
The words feel heavy in my chest.
Except Lorenzo doesn’t want this “our”.
He made that clear.
I close my eyes and take a slow breath, trying to calm the storm inside me. Maybe he didn’t mean it the way it sounded. Maybe he was just scared.
But hope is dangerous.
Especially in a world like his.
The mansion feels different now. Colder. Every hallway reminds me of him. Every room holds memories that suddenly feel fragile.
Later that afternoon, the house grows busier. Lorenzo leaves with his grandfather for work in the city. I watch from the window as their cars disappear through the gates.
The moment the gates close, something inside me settles.
A quiet decision.
If Lorenzo doesn’t want a child, then I won’t force one into his life.
But I will protect mine.
Leo is in the garden when I find him, stretched lazily beneath the olive tree. The moment he sees me, his ears perk up and he trots toward me.
I kneel down and wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face in his soft fur.
“We’re leaving, Leo,” I whisper softly.
He lets out a quiet huff, his tail wagging slowly beside him.
Maybe he understands.
After that, I move carefully through the house. Not rushed. Not panicked. Just quiet and deliberate.
I pack only what I need. A small bag. Some cash I had saved. My passport.
Nothing that would make it obvious.
Nothing that would make Lorenzo track me immediately.
I change into simpler clothes and tie my hair into a loose braid. When I finally step out of the room, the hallway feels unfamiliar.
Like I no longer belong here.
Before leaving, I pause at the grand staircase. The marble floor, the tall windows, the quiet library down the hall.
Memories linger in every corner.
My chest tightens.
“Goodbye,” I whisper under my breath.
Leo walks beside me as I slip out through the back entrance of the mansion. The evening air is cool against my skin.
At the gate, the guards recognize me instantly.
“I’m heading into the city for a while,” I say calmly.
They nod without questioning me.
No one suspects anything.
The car moves down the long road leading away from the estate. I don’t look back at the mansion standing tall behind us.
Away from Lorenzo.
Away from Italy.
And by the time the night settles over the quiet countryside, I am already gone.
Leaving behind no trace.
No explanation.
Just silence.
Fuck I hate these long business.
Why time waste when we have to kill them? By the time I reach home it was already late, the mansion was quite.
Grandfather already went to his room, I guess Ruhi is sleeping as well.
As I head upstairs and open the door of our bedroom.
The silence greets me the moment I step inside the bedroom.
The room is dim, lit only by the faint glow of the city lights slipping through the curtains. For a moment, I stand there, loosening the tie around my neck after the long day.
“Ruhi?” I call out lazily.
No answer comes back.
A small frown forms on my face as I walk further inside. My eyes move around the room automatically, expecting to see her somewhere.
The bed is perfectly made.
Her side untouched.
A strange feeling settles in my chest.
Maybe she’s in the bathroom.
I check it quickly.
Empty.
I step out and glance toward the balcony. The curtains sway slightly in the night breeze, but there is no sign of her there either.
My jaw tightens.
“Ruhi.”
This time my voice is firmer, sharper.
Still nothing.
I step into the hallway, irritation slowly building in my chest. She never sleeps this early, and she never leaves without telling me.
I walk downstairs, my footsteps echoing through the quiet mansion.
“Ruhi?” I call again.
A maid appears from the kitchen, startled by the sound of my voice.
“Yes, sir?”
“Where is she?” I ask, my tone flat.
The girl hesitates nervously. “I… I thought she was with you, sir.”
Something cold twists in my stomach.
Without another word, I turn and head straight for the security room. Two guards immediately stand up when they see me enter.
“Where is my wife?” I ask calmly.
Too calmly.
The guards exchange a quick glance before one of them clears his throat.
“Mrs. De Romano left earlier this evening, sir.”
For a moment, the words don’t fully register.
“Left?”
“Yes, sir. She said she was heading into the city.”
My heartbeat slows.
Dangerously slow.
“Alone?”
“Yes, sir.”
Something inside me snaps.
“Why the fuck did no one call me?” I slam my hand against the desk so hard the monitors shake.
The guards stiffen immediately.
“She said it wasn’t necessary, sir.”
Ruhi never leaves without telling me.
Never.
I pull my phone from my pocket and dial her number instantly. The ringing fills the silent room.
Once.
Twice.
Then it goes straight to voicemail.
My chest tightens.
“Track her phone,” I order coldly.
One of the men quickly begins typing on the computer. Minutes pass in tense silence before he slowly turns back toward me.
“Sir… her phone is off.”
The room suddenly feels too small.
Too quiet.
“Find her,” I say slowly.
The entire mansion erupts into movement after that. Cars leave the estate within minutes. Guards, drivers, and every available man begins searching.
I drive into the city myself.
Every hotel.
Every restaurant.
Every street.
I search all night.
Nothing.
The next day the search grows bigger. Rome. Milan. Florence. Naples. Every hotel in Italy is checked.
Airports.
Train stations.
Ports.
My men turn the entire country upside down.
But Ruhi…
Is gone.
Like she vanished into thin air.
No trace.
No message.
No goodbye.
Just silence.
And for the first time in years, something dangerously close to panic begins to settle in my chest.
I remain standing in the security room long after everyone else has left.
The screens in front of me glow quietly, showing empty roads and distant cameras, but I’m not really looking at them. My mind keeps circling the same thought again and again.
Ruhi is gone.
Days have passed with no calls, no messages, no trace of where she might have gone. It doesn’t make sense. Ruhi isn’t careless. She wouldn’t just disappear without thinking it through first.
She would have planned this.
A cold thought suddenly crosses my mind.
Without wasting another second, I turn and leave the room. My steps are quick and heavy as I head upstairs toward our bedroom. The silence inside feels heavier now than it ever has.
Her scent still lingers faintly in the air.
I walk straight to the closet and open it. For a moment, nothing looks different. Her dresses still hang neatly where they always were. Her shoes are still lined up perfectly on the shelves.
But something feels wrong.
I begin checking more carefully, opening drawers one by one. My movements grow faster as irritation and unease build inside my chest.
Then my eyes land on the small box where we keep our documents.
It’s slightly open.
My chest tightens as I walk toward it and pull it out. Inside are passports, travel papers, and other documents we rarely touch.
I flip through them quickly.
Mine.
Grandfather’s.
Old travel records.
My fingers move faster as I search through the pile again.
Then I stop.
Her passport isn’t there.
I check again, slower this time, as if it might magically appear between the pages.
Nothing.
My heartbeat begins pounding in my ears.
It’s gone.
My hand slowly lowers as the realization begins to sink in. Ruhi didn’t just leave the mansion.
She left the country.
My jaw tightens as my mind starts running through possibilities. France. Spain. Germany. Anywhere in Europe where she could disappear easily.
But then another thought suddenly hits me.
So obvious that it almost makes me laugh at myself for missing it.
Ruhi’s home.
My eyes widen slightly as the answer becomes painfully clear.
India.
Of course.
That’s the one place she would go if she truly wanted to hide from my world. A place where she feels safe. A place far from my reach.
My hand tightens against the edge of the table as I stand there, staring at nothing.
For a moment, the room is completely silent.
Then a slow, dangerous smile forms on my face.
“So that’s where you ran to,” I murmur quietly.
Running across the world just to hide from me.
I reach for my phone and dial a number immediately. The line connects within seconds.
“Prepare the jet,” I say coldly.
There’s a short pause on the other side.
“Sir?”
“I’m going to India.”