her disappearance

26

CREIGHTON

My mum rubs my back comfortingly as we sit with Anoushka's parents. Anoushka's mum shed a few tears whereas her dad looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

"I don't know who could've taken her." I lie. "Some other girls have been kidnapped as well."

Her mum cries more. "Are we sure she hasn't run off with some boy?" her dad asks, boredly.

My fists tighten. "Say something like that again and you'll see what happens."

"She has a history Creighton." her dad sighs. "I wouldn't put it past her."

I stand up abruptly. "Get the fuck out of my house." I snarl.

My mum stands up as well, attempting to calm me down. "Your daughter has been kidnapped and you're out here acting like she's run off with a boy? I saw the footage of her being dragged by her hair out of the parking lot." I let out an unenthusiastic laugh. "I mean I don't expect you to feel any sympathy given all the times you laid your hands on her. The marks on her back? Yeah don't worry I've seen them. Leave now before I do something you'll regret."

He looks at my stepdad pleadingly. "You put your hands on your daughter?" my stepdad asks, his voice full of contempt.

"Discipline." Ishan tries to defend.

"She has marks from his belt all over her back," I add. My mum gasps at that. I look over at her and hate and disgust are written all over her features as she stares at Ishan.

My stepdad shakes his head unapprovingly. "I don't condone abuse. Our business deal is over. I can't work with someone who lashes out that quickly, especially at their daughter. Things like this can really bring down a business, Ishan."

"Daniel." Ishan tries to say.

"My son said to leave." Daniel snaps. "So leave."

Anoushka's parents leave the house immediately and I face my stepdad. "I may not particularly like that girl but I wouldn't ever lay my hands on her," he tells me.

"She never had anything to do with Isabella's disappearance. Your daughter was a bitch."

He clenches his jaw tightly and my mother gasps again. "What did you just say?"

"Your daughter had incriminating photos of me and she pressured me into doing things I never wanted to do. She did the same to Anoushka."

He blinks twice. "She did what?" he asks, my gaze lowers to the ground and my jaw locks. Deep breaths, Creighton

I glance up and my mum pushes past Daniel and tears brim her eyes as she looks at me. "I'm sorry," I whisper to her.

She shakes her head and cradles my face in a motherly way. "What did she do to you?" my mum cries.

I was tired of lying about what Isabella did to me. It was a burden to keep to myself and I needed to tell them what she did.

"She blackmailed me for sex." I simply say.

Daniel freezes as does my mum. Daniel shakes his head as if he couldn't believe what I was saying. He drops onto the couch behind him and my mum sobs at my words. She pulls me down so she can hug me. "Oh god." she sobs.

I hold her tightly. "I should have known," she says. "I should have realised that you weren't you. Those outbursts weren't you Creighton." she sobs. "I failed you."

"No, you didn't," I tell her. She kisses my cheek as she hugs me tighter.

She shakes her head as she tightens her arms around me. My stepdad takes a step closer and touches my Mum's back. "I need to talk to Creighton." my stepdad says, his voice was hoarse and it looked like he was on the edge of emotion.

My mum nods before turning around Daniel and whispering something in his ear. He kisses her cheek and she leaves the room.

"If I knew what she was doing to you, I would have stopped it." he breaks the silence. "I would have done something for you," he says, his voice cracking. My stepdad was getting emotional over what happened. "It doesn't matter if she's genetically my daughter. You're just as much as my child as she was. I protect my children. If she was hurting you, I would've helped you." 

I wish I had known that before it all started. If I had a closer bond with Daniel, I would have told him from the start that Isabella was blackmailing me. "The videos and pictures she had, she was going to flip it around and make it look like I was blackmailing her," I tell him.

He shakes his head as if the words were physically hurting him. "I'm sorry." he finally says. "Not just for not noticing what she put you through but for everything. I wasn't there for you when I should've been. I just struggled to build a connection with you because I thought you didn't want me to."

I shake my head. "I didn't know what having a good father was like," I say.

"And I hate that, Creighton. You're my family. My son and my heir. Family help each other so tell me everything from the start and I promise I'll help you."

"Isabella orchestrated her disappearance because she was jealous. She wanted me but I only had eyes for Anoushka. I know where she might be."

"Where?"

"Lakewell Avenue."

A sad smile tugs at his lips. "I used to take her there as a child."

Oh. Well, that makes sense.

"The abandoned house?" I ask.

"That house isn't abandoned, Creighton. It's my family's house. I own it, I just don't have any use for it."

That makes fucking sense.

"Well Isabella has been living there for the last 8 months and she has taken Anoushka. I know you never liked her but I do." I admit. "I really like her and I haven't had the chance to tell her so help me get her back. I'll do anything to see her again."

My stepdad nods his head and I wanted to hug him but I held myself back. "We'll go tonight."

He takes a step forward and embraces me in a sort of fatherly hug. "We'll get Anoushka back." he promises and I believed him.