Chapter 114
Chapter 114
AARON
Time didn’t crawl anymore.
It snapped. Lashed. Tore.
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Every tick of the clock was a threat. Every breath I took without her felt like an insult. Like I was cheating time. Betraying her with my survival.
I didn’t go back to being docile. Hell no.
I barked orders like a general in a losing war. Snapped at Connor, Jane, even my mother. Sabine got it the worst, though she never flinched. Nobody was spared. My days became hollow: rituals of sharp commands, colder silences, and the taste of fury I couldn’t swallow. I didn’t eat. Didn’t sleep. My suits hung looser. My jaw stayed clenched. The empire was no longer mine to hold but I wasn’t done swinging.
My free time? A graveyard. A museum of dead ends and faded footprints. I reread every report. Cross-referenced files like they might bleed her name if I ripped them open hard enough. Nothing came. No sightings. No whispers. No messages. Venus was still gone.
And the blame? It didn’t knock. It broke the door down and buil a home in my chest. It fed off me like a parasite.
I should’ve seen it. Should’ve stopped her from going that night Should’ve doubled security. Should’ve fought harder. Should’ve trusted her.
Now she was out there. Maybe cold. Maybe hurt. Maybe…
No.
I wouldn’t finish that thought. Couldn’t.
Sabine had taken it upon herself to babysit me. She hovered like smoke not suffocating, just always there.
“You need air, Aaron,” she said every morning. “You’re not a machine p>
I ignored her until she threatened to call my mother.
That got my attention.
She dragged me out of the penthouse. To a mall of all places. Said I needed stimulation. Distraction. Her exact words: “Something shiny to occupy that obsessive mind of yours p>
I didn’t argue. Didn’t speak. I just followed, because fighting her look more energy than I had.
Sabine flitted from store to store with a practiced lightness. Effortless. Distant. But I saw through it. It bothered her too— Venus being gone. She had postponed the launch of her fashion label. Said it didn’t feel right without Venus.
I wasn’t sure who she was trying to be strong for.
I stayed behind her. Hands in my pockets. Eyes distant. Staring mannequins and mirrored walls that reflected a man I didn’t recognize anymore.
Then it happened.
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Chapter 114
I turned a corner too fast and collided with someone.
Hard.
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We both staggered. A paper bag hit the ground. Its contents spilled across the marble floor-boxes of pads, tampons, a bottle of Midol, a mini lavender heat pack.
I blinked, momentarily pulled out of the fog.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, kneeling automatically.
Then I looked up.
Gerald.
Smiling. Calm. Too calm.
His tone was light. “My fault, really. Should’ve been watching where I was going p>
He crouched beside me, gathering the scattered supplies without any sense of urgency. Like we’d bumped into each other over apples at a farmer’s market.
I didn’t say anything. Just handed him a box of pads.
He took it, offered that same smooth smile, and said-way too quickly-“They’re for Andrea. She’s been feeling under the weather. Hormonal stuff, you know how it is p>
I hadn’t asked.
But he offered it
anyway.
My brow lifted slightly. “Sure p>
Gerald stood, adjusted his blazer, and glanced at me with what could only describe as faux sympathy.
“I heard about Venus,” he said, voice soft. Measured. “I’m truly sorry, Aaron. I hope you find her soon p>
There was something about the way he said it. Too soft. Too polished. But my brain was too fogged to process. My gut, though it twisted.
“Thanks,” I said flatly.
He nodded once and turned toward the checkout line, humming a quiet tune as he walked.
I watched him. Watched the way he didn’t look back. Watched the way he carried that bag like he’d done it a hundred times.
That’s when Sabine’s voice sliced through the fog like a blade.
“There you are. Thought I lost you p>
I turned. She was holding a coffee in one hand, a pretzel in the her. Casual. Warm. Unaware.
“Ran into Gerald,” I said.
She stiffened. Just slightly.
“And p>
“Said he was buying supplies for Andrea p>
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Sabine snorted. “Andrea’s in Italy with Chase Crawford p>
My head snapped toward her. “What p>
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“Left two days ago for the Crawford Foundation gala. Gerald didn’t go with her. Caroline said she needed someone to stay behind and manage their end of things here p>
I stared past her. Not at her. Through her. Back into that moment. The bag. The lie.
Still. I didn’t jump to conclusions. Gerald had always been… off. Overly polite. Intense in a weird way. But not dangerous. Not… predatory.
Still, something unsettled me. Itched under my skin.
Sabine narrowed her eyes. “What are you thinking p>
I didn’t answer. Because I didn’t know.
Maybe Gerald was just awkward. Or maybe he was something else entirely.
Either way….. My instincts were screaming again.
And this time? I was listening.
Back at the penthouse, I didn’t say a word. Sabine watched me eat for the first time in days. She didn’t smile. Didn’t gloat. She just drank her tea quietly, like the world wasn’t cracking beneath our feet.
Later that night, when she fell asleep on the couch, I moved.
I cracked open my laptop. Cold fingers flying across keys. I typed a name into the search field: Gerald Marlowe.
Then I opened the building’s old security logs. The camera feeds. The archives Jane had stored from years of events, galas, travel logs, security reports-anything Venus had touched.
I wasn’t looking for dirt.
I was looking for patterns.
The first hit? Was at the first gala Venus and I ever attended together. I remember seeing him talking to her
Second? Rome, I remembered that night vividly. He walked her back home at 2am.
Third?
That wasn’t a picture. That one I remembered.
It was a club. One night Venus had too much to drink. Sabine cled me to come pick her up and when I got there p>
He was there.
With her. His hand hovering at her back. A drink in his hand. A worried frown on his face.
I sat back in my chair, heart pounding. Mind racing. Still no ha evidence. No smoking gun. But the patterns were there. Just beneath the surface.
Gerald had always been around. Close enough to see her. Maybe touch
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her. Maybe…
No. Not yet.
No assumptions. No accusations.
But I knew this: something had always been off.
Now?
I wasn’t unraveling anymore.
I was hunting.
And whoever had my wife?
They had just become prey.
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Ruby Walker
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby’s writing style is bold and irresistible—perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.