Chapter 124: Chapter-124. (It Was Her).
Dave’s Pov:
People say when one thinks they know everything, that’s when the ground beneath them slips away.
When I thought everything got revealed in front of us like cards, that’s when __entered the room.
Elena did not elope, but Josh kidnapped her. At that time, all the footages in the hospital were destroyed. This was the reason we could not point out whether they ran away or if Josh took her away forcefully.
But now the fog started to clear out. When Maximus and his team interrogated Josh, it took some time, but he spilled out everything.
He tried to gaslight Elena against us, and when she got suspicious about his lies, he forcefully took her away with him.
Of course, he wasn’t alone; he got help from his backup, which was yet to be revealed. They helped arrange that abandoned house and helped him financially, too.
Jessica then gathered all the footage and investigated with her other coworkers. Just last night, they informed us bout two people running into the woods.
And after getting the footage of the roadways, she got their faces. As she sent me that part of the footage, my eyes could not leave the screen.
It was her. Elena. That too, with a child clinging to her.
I could not shake off that image. By today, their team found the people who gave them a lift by the van’s license plate number.
Now, I was in my car with Grandpa Albert going to that couple’s house.
The city slowly faded behind us, replaced by quiet roads and open fields.
Grandpa sat next to me sat silent. His hand gripped his walking stick. Though he was calm on the outside, I could see his fingers twitch slightly.
It was an old habit he had whenever he was nervous and angry at the same time.
I had told everyone at the mansion that Grandpa and I were just stepping out for a while. Just the excuse of needing some fresh air, and would be back by evening.
No one suspected anything. Grace and Nicole didn’t even question it, nor did my parents.
Everyone was busy in their life.
Truth is, I had not gone back to that mansion for days. I stayed in my apartment instead, because I could not bear to see them.
I knew that none of them had a sweet spot for her, but today I discovered that they didn’t even have an ounce of humanity in them.
They had hidden that note from me.
The one that led to this day. I always wondered what if they gave those coordinates the moment they received them. I would have found Elena way before.
All the possibilities kept burning a hole in my brain.
They kept it from both Grandpa and me, and that betrayal dug a hole inside me every time I thought about it.
When I revealed it to Grandfather, he was too angry to even speak for a second. He could not believe it at first.
He just sat there, shaking his head, repeating, "They wouldn’t do that... not Grace, not Nicole..."
But when the truth settled in, I saw something break in him...quiet anger, deep and old. I wanted to confront them right then. I wanted answers, but Grandpa stopped me.
"We will deal with them later. First, we get Elena back. Everything else can wait," he said firmly at that time.
And I agreed, because he was right. It was not the time to act rashly.
As the car rolled along the dusty road, my mind refused to rest. Every minute closer felt heavier.
My chest tightened thinking about her, about how she might look now, what she might say when she saw me again.
Would she even recognize me after all this time? Would she still hate me for not finding her sooner?
What if she had suffered too much because of my mistakes?
The questions spun in circles until I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaned my head against the car window, watching the trees pass by in a blur.
The sky was pale, almost white, and the sun felt too far away.
Grandpa finally spoke, his voice rough from the silence. "You will see her soon, son."
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Yeah... I just hope she’s okay."
"She’s stronger than you think," he said simply. "
"Always has." That small line gave me something to hold on to, but it also made me sink into my anxiety about how many times I could not protect her.
After another hour, we reached a small town. There were quiet streets, a few cafés, and children running along the sidewalks.
The driver slowed down as Grandpa pointed toward a narrow lane near a corner café.
"This is it," he said.
We stopped a short distance away, but within seconds, people began to notice.
It wasn’t every day a luxury car pulled up in a small town, and us...the two well-dressed men stepped out. Heads turned, whispers began, and a few phones lifted for pictures.
Grandpa frowned slightly. "Tell the driver to park farther. We don’t need a scene."
I nodded and told the driver to take the car around the block. Grandpa and I walked the rest of the way, ignoring the murmurs and curious stares.
The smell of fresh bread drifted from the café, and somewhere, a radio played a slow song.
Then, just as we reached the building, something made me look up.
There, on the balcony of the small apartment above the café...stood a woman.
Her hair caught the light, moving gently in the breeze. Her clothes were simple. Just a faded cardigan and a loose skirt.
In her arms, a small child shifted, resting their head on her shoulder.
My heart stopped.
It was her.
Elena.
For a moment, everything around me went silent. The cars, the voices, the street. All I could hear was my heartbeat hammering inside my chest.
She looked tired, but beautiful. Her eyes scanned the street below as she kept pointing at things to that girl child, which made her.
When her gaze finally met mine, it was like time split in half.
The world we had before, and the world we were about to rebuild.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. I felt my throat tighten, and all the words I’d rehearsed in my head for months just disappeared.
Grandpa stopped beside me, breath catching softly.
"Go, don’t just stand there, son." He said, his voice trembling but smiling.
My feet finally moved, slow at first, then faster as I almost ran into the house. The people around us blurred into colors, the noises faded, and the only thing I could see was the image of her.
Standing there, holding that child, alive, real.
For so long, I thought I had lost her, but there she was.
Elena. I would not leave this chance to clear all the misunderstandings.
Elena’s pov:
Sometimes, silence feels louder than noise.
That’s what this morning felt like, the kind of silence that sits heavy on your chest even when the world outside looks calm.
I hadn’t planned to step out since I met Matteo. I barely slept last night after hearing the truth. Emma had woken up twice, crying, clutching my sleeve, mumbling something about a "dark room" and "bad man." Even in her sleep, fear chased her.
So when she asked me softly this morning, "Mama, can we see cars today?" I couldn’t say no.
It was her new fascination...cars, bikes, anything that moved fast and made noise. Maybe it was her way of replacing bad memories with new ones. Maybe it was mine too.
I wrapped her in a small cardigan, brushed her hair, and told her we’d only stay out for a little while.
The air outside was crisp and smelled faintly of baked bread from the café below. She smiled when she heard the sounds of engines from the street. It was small, but real.
That was enough for me.
We stepped onto the narrow balcony, sunlight spilling through the railings. The town was quiet, peaceful...too peaceful compared to everything we had been through.
From up here, I could see children running with their school bags, a man cycling past with a newspaper in his basket, and a few people chatting outside the café.
The kind of normal scene I had not seen in so long that it almost felt unreal.
Emma pressed her tiny palms against the railing. "Mama, red car!" she squealed, pointing down with wide eyes.
I smiled softly. "Yes, baby. That’s a red car."
Then she pointed again. "Bike!"
"Yes, and a bike too," I said, my voice gentler this time, my hand automatically resting on her back.
She laughed. It wasn’t some fake but a clear, ringing sound that felt like sunlight.
My chest ached hearing it. It was rare to see her so happy. After all the nights she spent shaking in her sleep, hiding under my arm, her laughter felt like a miracle.
I thought that moment would last. That I could stand there, even for a few minutes, and let the world feel kind again.
But then I saw him. Dave.