( In The Middle Of Nowhere. )
It must’ve been sometime during the night when Natalia’s eyelids weakly fluttered open.
As usual, the room was devilishly dark. The royal could barely keep her eyes open so she shut them back and focused on her sense of hearing instead.
She didn’t know how many hours she was out but she felt sore all over. Her body was stiff and she couldn’t move a finger. She was even too weak to think.
So before she knew it, she fell into unconsciousness again.
By the time she vaguely became aware of her surrounding again, Natalia wasn’t alone in the room!.
Cold fear broke through her and panic consumed her entire being but she was too weak to show it. So, she feebly listened to the conversation instead.
“…. she’s more useful to us alive than dead. At this rate, all our years of hardwork and precision will all go down the drain.” A familiar voice spoke and Natalia silently cringed.
It was Lady Rosa. And she was speaking in low tones.
“You should know me, Mother. I don’t care if she’s dead or alive. Because either way, I’m still getting what is rightfully mine.” The Mob boss’s frosty voice echoed through the room in a tight whisper.
A brief silence.
“Still, caution is recommended. The doctor….”
“Rosa!” A note of warning clearly sounded beneath those words making the silence stretch longer than the previous time.
When Lady Rosa spoke again, her voice was more controlled and calculating.
“She’s weak and miserable. Going the extremes seems carastrophic. For your plans to go as intended, she needs to look a lot more better, mentally and physically, or suspicions, problems we don’t need, will be raised.”
“The royal brat isn’t making her jolly trip easy for herself either. Watching her break is much more effective…. and fun.” A psychopathic smirk laid beneath those inhumane words.
Natalia couldn’t hear a thing afterwards because sleep consumed her again and she willingly drifted away…
***
( Beverly Hills, California. )
Arian De’ Argent drove into his escape place in the dead of night and found Megan, his housekeeper, waiting patiently at the door.
She professionally reached for his coat but her employer walked past her wearily without sparing a glance.
The whole house was silent and more emptier than it’d ever been. Arian didn’t know the last time he’d been home. The sound of his exhausted footsteps and the dainty ones of the person following behind in a respectful distance silently echoed round the hall.
As he made his way upstairs, Arian suddenly stopped and Megan did the same, at the bottom of the stairs.
“Don’t make breakfast, lunch or dinner anymore from now on.” He said in a low, tired breath.
“In fact, go on a holiday.” He decided.
“But sir…” Megan started, confusion etched in her pretty, innocent features.
“It’s an order. Have a holiday in any country of your choice on my expense. I don’t need you anymore for now. I just need to be alone. Don’t worry, you’ll still get your paychecks till whenever I need you back.”
Arian couldn’t bear it. Left to him, he’ld have permanently sent her away needing all the space he could get. Not that his housekeeper was a loud one though. As a matter of fact, Megan was close to a ghost. A shadow.
But Arian couldn’t.
Natalia had wanted her to stay for some reason. Probably so he’ld never be alone? Even at her absence her love was still very much felt.
Arian’s spirit sunk deeper into the vortex of depression as that thought surfaced.
Megan, the ghost housekeeper, gently raised her head and directly looked at her employer for the first time since her employment.
“But sir, I love my job.” She said this thinking it was her employer’s thoughtful way of letting go of her.
“I’m not firing you. You’re young, Megan. You have a life. Don’t be like me. Don’t be so incapable of protecting the person you ever fall in love with.” He whispered as a bitter emotion surged through him.
Megan looked at him with innocent eyes staring in admiration at her employer, and nodded like she understood a thing!.
Arian resumed his journey to their bedroom and sat on their bed. His heart was heavy and broken. He weakly reached for a framed photograph sitting on the bedside drawer and stared at it.
It was a cozy selfie Natalia had taken of the both of them in bed. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she was naughtily placing kisses with her peach lip gloss on Arian’s face while he was asleep.
A smile curled itself on Arian’s lips despite his emotions. After staring at it for a while, he purposefully walked into their closet and shuffled around until he found the dress she’d worn the day before her kidnap.
The French heir’s gracious back slid on the wall till he ungraciously sat on the floor, still clutching the dress tighter. Her intoxicating lavender scent was faint and he gently sniffed. He could still feel her presence.
“Only a clue, my love. Just give me a clue and I’ll find you. Hang in there, okay?” He whispered with full faith that she heard and hugged it closer to his chest.
“Please be alive for me. You entrusted your safety to my care and I failed you. Please be safe so I can make it up to you, okay?” He softly kissed it, coinciding with a lonely tear sliding down his cheek…
~~~
Mom Rose was the only person Arian sighted as he walked into his room at the Argent’s mansion. The unfilial son didn’t need a doctor to prove that she hadn’t rested a bit like he’d told her to.
Mom Rose’s worried heart sparked gratitude and she rushed to him.
“Arian, where have you been?! You promised you’ld be home early but you weren’t! It’s almost six in the morning and you know how much I hate late-nights drivings!
“What was so important that you had to put your life at risk, huh?! I thought that maybe you were with Natalia. I tried calling but she wasn’t picking her calls either. I’m worried!. Arian, you’re both getting me worried.
”Arian, what’s happening?? You’re not sleeping, you’re not eating, you don’t rest, you’re always vanishing to God knows where, you’re always in a hurry like….”
“Mom, I…”
“I’m not done.” She hypertensively cut him off with the raise of a shaky hand.
Arian became troubled seeing her that way. She barely got out of the hospital some hours ago and yet, he was causing her to lapse into her illness again.
“What’s wrong, Arian? Tell me! If you’re ill, let me know. If you’re in trouble, tell me. I’m your mother! Stop keeping things to yourself. Or is it Natalia?… Are you guys having problems?”
Arian’s eyes started to water all over again. Mom Rose took his hands as her voice mellowed into a soft whisper.
“Is that it?” She asked. He weakly nodded.
“Then what is it?”
“She… she’s….”
“Is she gone?” She whispered in fright, remembering it was the same heartbreaking scene from a year ago.
Arian nodded again. “She’s missing.”
“Missing?!”
“She was abducted some days ago.”
“Goodness!” Mom Rose grip quivered and Arian’s hands dropped. He went over to the nearest couch and dropped on it.
“Is… Have… Does the authorities know??” She slowly sat beside him.
“Apparently, it’s a ‘private’ investigation because she’s royalty. The situation is delicate. So I can’t simply report her case.”
“Bu… but.. y..” She paused and gasped. “D… do you think Selina is in….” The horrified mother couldn’t bring herself to complete it, after noticing the Mademoiselle’s strongly possessive side!.
Arian rubbed his aching head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. But Selena confessed to something. I don’t know the extent of her involvement but… There’s a suspect they’re after. He’s involved with her family’s death and now he’s after Nata….”
“Oh my God!” Mom Rose turned paler as her breath repeatedly hitched.
“She’s gone through so much, mom. She’s suffered a lot. I was supposed to end her sadness and loneliness, and give her happiness. That was my job. I was supposed to give her joy again, mom… But the only thing I’m good at, is failing her repeatedly.”
“Pumpkin, don’t say that.” His mother reached for him.
“It’s true, mom. I couldn’t protect her. Can’t you see? I couldn’t even protect her!” The restrained tears finally fell.
Mom Rose placed his head on her laps and gently massaged it. Arian curled up on the couch like an injured kid with his shoes still on.
“She’s gonna be fine, okay? Natalia’s strong. You’ll find her and she’ll come home. You’ll see. You just need to have faith in your love.” She soothed despite her own tears.
Arian was too tired to say anything. He was ill in spirit and it was slowly spreading to his health. His stomach was cramping but he wasn’t hungry. The smell of the covered dinner on the table was sickening but he couldn’t tell his mother that.
Mom Rose kept brushing his hair softly until he unwillingly fell into a tired sleep, still holding onto her…
***
( A few days later, still in the middle of Nowhere. )
“…. Go back to that same master of yours and tell him to shove it up his evilly perverted ass because I’m NEVER gonna put that rag on me!
”I’m a Royal, not one of those cheap prostitutes he fools around with!” Natalia seethed, glaring at the assembly of maids in her prison room…