Chapter 4

I walked into Adam's office, and there was Nora, quietly playing with her building blocks.

Adam's office used to be dark gray all over.

After Nora started coming, he set up a mini playground in one corner of the office.

Even his break room had been turned into a kids' room.

When I entered, Adam stood with his back to me, deep in thought by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching all that was happening down below.

From his spot, he could take in everything that had happened down at the entrance.

"Tonight at the business gathering, I'm going to reveal who you both are," Adam said, cutting right to the chase.

"No, I don't agree," I replied flatly.

"Give me a reason," Adam said, his words crisp and direct.

I explained, "You know better than I do. The marriage between our two families—"

But Adam cut me off and said, "Don't give me those excuses. Is it family conflict, or is it all about Lucas? You know the truth yourself." He closed the distance between us with every word.

The weight of his presence crashed over me, and I couldn't help but step back, feeling uneasy.

Adam took hold of my chin and added, "Rachel, people's patience has its limits. Don't you dare test mine."

I slapped his hand away and replied coldly, "Adam, no one can force me to do something I don't want to do, not even you.

"If you feel like things aren't working out, we can call it quits whenever.

"The courthouse will be open tomorrow. We can get our divorce papers anytime."

Adam held my gaze for a long moment, and in his eyes was something I couldn't quite decipher.

I hadn't planned on going to the business gathering tonight, but Nora managed to sneak out when we weren't paying attention.

"Ms. Jones, I'm sorry. I thought Nora had your permission to leave and come find you," the butler said with an apology.

Adam's gaze turned ice-cold, and he shouted, "If so much as one hair on Nora's head is touched, every one of you will be fired."

I played the voice message from Nora. It was her worried but bold voice, "Mommy, please stop fighting with Daddy. It's all that bad man's fault.

"I'm going to go look for him and give him a piece of my mind so he won't ever bully you again."

The car sped down the road, blowing through several red lights.

When we arrived, Adam questioned the security guard at the entrance, but the guard swore up and down that he hadn't seen any little girl show up.

I tried calling Nora's smartwatch again and again, but it was turned off every time.

Adam immediately mobilized everyone at his disposal to search for her.

Adam and I split up to look for her.

Just as I turned around, I nearly bumped right into Lucas, and beside him stood Emily in her gorgeous evening dress.

Lucas's eyes sparkled. He blurted out, "Rachel, I knew you'd be here.

"Who was that man just now?"

Because of where he was standing, Lucas had only seen Adam's back.

I wasn't interested in small talk and snapped at him, "Lucas, where's Nora?"

Lucas blinked, clueless. Then he asked, "Nora? Rachel, enough with the drama already. Aren't you tired of this act?"

Emily glared at me, her eyes full of hostility.

Not wasting any more breath on them, I turned on my heel and walked away.

"You mean the little girl in the flowery dress, with her hair in two pigtails, clutching a bunny plushie?" Emily said.

Lane's voice made me freeze in my tracks.

I immediately rushed over, barely keeping calm. "Where is she?" I demanded. My desperate reaction startled Lucas.

"Cut it out, Rachel. This act is getting old. I know you're trying to make me pay attention," Lucas scoffed.

"Shut the hell up," I shouted, unable to take it anymore.

Emily was startled.

"I-I don't know," she stammered, her eyes wide with panic.

I grabbed her by the throat and said coldly, "I'm going to ask you one more time. Where is she?"

Emily's face flushed deep red. She stammered, "I swear I just bumped into her while I was out shopping. She asked me if I knew Lucas and said she was looking for him."

My glare pinned Emily in place. Emily trembled as she went on, "Then I told her I didn't know him and left. That was it. I haven't seen her since."

"You think I'm an idiot? Listen up. If anything happens to Nora, you'll be buried right alongside her," I spat.

With that, I spun around and bolted out the door.

Emily wasn't telling the whole truth. I could tell that from her voice.

But I had zero time to stick around and let her stall me.

I whipped out my phone and called Adam, telling him to pull every surveillance tape from the streets and shop entrances.

Emily bumped into Nora by accident. But with those shifty eyes, there was no doubt in my mind she was hiding something. She wasn't telling me everything.

After scouring the surveillance footage from every street, we caught a glimpse of Nora climbing into a suspicious car.