HIS DECEITFUL WOMAN

42. Long Time

Two days. 

Mia is still missing after two painful days. No one knows her whereabouts... yet.

Neero was sitting at his study at the Betiko Villa, gazing at her picture on his mobile phone. 

Yesterday at the wedding...

"Ready?" Neero asked the woman with the white veil.

"Yes, your highness." The woman uttered, looking at the First Prince with determined eyes. Melinda wanted to help so she didn't have second thoughts posing as Mia at the altar.

The two sisters have almost the same frame, same height but different shade of green eyes. No one could tell the difference except if you stared at those eyes at the same time.

By doing this, they can take a glimpse of some of the guests' reactions. They were hoping that someone could give away their true emotions when they saw the maiden of Salem unharmed and walked down the aisle.

Zinnia and the other members of the Three Maidens were also missing. 

When Neero first heard the last location of Mia, he hurriedly went to the penthouse, where the bridal shower took place. 

Leah and the other girls literally slept longer than usual. She cried at the shocking news and was blaming herself for not taking care of Mia.

It was a tireless night for all of them. Neero talked to the people involved about keeping the matter confidential. Duchess Dinah and her people also were working alongside them. No one else knows about the disappearance of Mia except for these people.

"Brother…" Judah broke the silence. Dark circles and stubble chin could be observed on his brother's face. 

Neero hasn't got any rest starting from the night that Mia went missing. Together with his men, they've been secretly communicating with the Intelligence Agency and monitoring every port in the country. He sat straight on his chair and blinked his eyes to refocus. He's been looking at all angles of this horrendous act. 

No ransom has been demanded. All the CCTV recordings at the hotel's penthouse were cleaned. Even the nearby cameras on that specific timeline and nearby places were nowhere to be found. 

This isn't merely kidnapping. Neero wanted to know who dared to touch his wife. 

"My uncle is gonna be here any minute now." Leah whispered, not knowing how to appease herself so she dragged Boar into the circle.

"Gad, Benj, any progress?" Judah asked in a low voice.

The twins were doing what they could to dig through the various intricate transport systems but still couldn't find any clue about Mia. It seems that their enemy is intelligent enough to hire their own set of highly skilled hackers.

“We’ve found a lead but the encryption is full of tricks. We need to be careful not to trigger the firewall.” Gad uttered, not averting his eyes from the laptop

“But we’re drafting a special algorithm for it.” Benj added as he stretched his fingers.

The wooden door of the study opened. Then a tall man with a large coat and a beret hat entered the somber room.

"Your highness, this is my uncle Boar." 

Neero stood up and sized the man. He then shook his hands and silence fell once more inside the room.

"So, you're the person who had last seen Amelia aside from the people at the penthouse." A cold voice echoed.

Boar raised his brows and sized up the First Prince in return. "And you're the husband."

Leah was sweating and was scolding herself on why she thought of inviting her uncle. 

'Don't be so bold, uncle! Address him right! I don't want to be imprisoned in a dungeon.'

Neero just stared blankly at the private investigator, ignoring the boldness and the casual uttering of the fact that Boar already knew about their marriage.

Aaron's lips twitched with the tone of the stranger. He was ready to send the man off but Neero stopped him.

"A warning. These documents can cause a lot of trouble if you aren't strong enough to deal with it and wouldn't stand your ground." Boar just wanted to be done with the drama and instructed his niece to hand over the untouched documents which he gave to Mia last time. Surely, the search could be narrowed down given those facts.

After saying the words, Boar lightly pulled Leah to the door. He doesn't want her to be deeply involved with the chaos that's bound to happen.

Aaron voluntarily escorted the two on the way out.

Boar turned around to face the oddly serious man, while still holding Leah's wrist. The younger man seemed to want to say something.

"We don't manhandle women here." Aaron blurted out as his expression got darker.

Boar, "..." 

Leah, "..."

Boar nonchalantly let go of his niece and silently chuckled on the hallways, leaving the duo behind.

Inside the study, Neero was staring at the documents. Judah gave him space and also left the room along with the twins.

After an hour of reading, his mind initially wanted to shut down. There are questions running in his mind and he wished to unread those facts but he couldn't. 

Absent-mindedly, he walked towards the master's bedroom, exiting the study while still holding the files.

He entered the room and shakingly sat down on the bed. He massaged his face unceremoniously and laid his back on the soft mattress. 

'Oh God. I miss her.'

* * * * * * *

Tamar has been zoning in and out in her room. She was dazed all day and tried to digest the successful wedding yesterday.

The plan to capture the maiden of the Salem family was perfect until the execution. A group of men in black clothes had beaten her hired abductors so the plan was ruined. She thought that Neero closely monitors that impaired bride of his. 

But that wasn't the case. Those men had nothing to do with the First Prince in contrast to what she thinks. 

"Tisha, what did those men say?" She inquired of her attendant to confirm what the kidnappers had told her. 

"Your highness, they tried to follow the vehicle where the maiden of Salem was rescued but it was going out of the city capital. They couldn't follow the van outside the capital because of the checkpoints. Though the kidnappers waited on the nearby entrances and exits of the city, the anonymous vehicle didn't reappear." The attendant replied in a gentle manner. She didn't want to trigger the emotions of the princess anymore.

But, Tamar was very curious how come the wedding still pushed through and the impaired woman was safe and sound. 

"Invite that woman for a tea time. I needed to see her."

"Yes, your highness."

* * * * * * *

In a dimly lit room, a lady was tied to a wooden chair. There's no ventilation inside and no windows, too but the room has a small exhaust fan attached to the ceiling. It’s not filthy unlike those of the usual fictional stories.

Mia couldn't care less about the room's condition but was thinking about how she could deal with her situation. 

Creak.

The door slowly unlocked and swung open. Heavy footsteps can be heard and Mia involuntarily turned her head to the door’s direction. She looked intently at the person with contempt.

“Long time no see, M.”

“Julius Bryne.”

* * * * * * *

A/N: I'm really struggling to write this past week. Running out of fuel. Sorry.

YM_1204