Ruby
It was already midnight. We hadn��t received any ransom call, a threatening call, or anything related to it. I couldn��t believe I had lost my daughter to that stupid Liam Jackson. I was already a crying mess.
It was all a well-defined plan, which took hard for us to understand. Even if Liam kidnapped Everley, why didn��t he call us yet?
The room was dead silent with thick tension in the air, only with Vexon yelling through the phone. ��What do you fucking mean by you cannot trace him?�� He was as worried as I was. It was evident on his panicked face. ��That motherfucker kidnapped my daughter! I need my daughter back at any cost and I need that Liam Jackson alive in front of me. Wait, I am coming there.�� Vexon took his gun from the drawer and was about to walk out, without sparing any glance at me.
We hadn��t talked ever since we found that Liam kidnapped Everley, right under our nose.
��Vexon,�� I said with my cracked voice, standing in front of him. ��Did you find any clues? If you did, then let��s go together and bring our daughter back.��
��Have you gone crazy? Why would I take you out of all the people with me right now?" His voice was sharp enough to touch the nerves of mine.
I wiped my tears roughly with the back of my hand and let out, "Just what do you mean by that?"
Vexon let out a humorless laugh and said, "Don't pretend like all of this isn't your damn fault." I couldn't believe what I just heard him saying.
"What?" I breathed out.
He took a deep breath before snapping at me, "Why did you let that bastard take my daughter with him all alone?"
I took a step back at his angry voice. Was he trying to push all the blame to me? Well, he wasn't a saint either. I braced myself and snapped back, "And why didn't you come in the first place?"
"I told you I was busy!" He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"How busy were you to cut the call on my face while I was trying to talk about Eve?" I knew yelling at this condition was not good for my baby, but I couldn't help it. My mind wasn't working. All I wanted was for Everley to be safe. I wanted to hear her sweet voice.
He replied to me, which seemed the rudest of all."I don't have the time to talk to you over the phone all day, and your calls irritate me in between my work!"
"So shouldn't I even call my husband regarding important things?" I retorted.
"Why is the call even important? Shouldn't it be common sense to not leave our daughter in the hands of a stranger?"
"He isn't a stranger��" I paused to take deep breaths. I was crying all over again. I could feel my pressure rising but I couldn't care about it. "I trusted him as a friend. I didn't know he was going to��" he interrupted me before I could complete my sentence.
"Why would you trust that person who wants to put your husband behind the bars?"
"How should I know that? You don't tell me anything regarding your work. How can I tell who is an enemy and who is a friend unless you tell me, Vexon?" I demanded, feeling slightly dizzy.
Vexon was speechless for a few seconds. That was when I noticed how red his eyes were. His face was pale with worry and he was sweating. "Even so, you shouldn't have left Ev with that asshole. You are her mom for God's sake!" His voice was rising with every sentence. "You should have some sense of responsibility. How could you be so irresponsible? You should have informed me��" I spoke midway, interrupting his words.
"How could I inform you when you weren't receiving my calls? How busy were you to not care about your daughter? Does your work take priority over your family?"
He tried to reason out, "Don't you know I do all this for my family? I��"
"What's the point when your family won't be there anymore?" I answered back.
He closed his eyes, exhaling a deep sigh. "Ruby, you are being too sentimental now. How could you say that? You are the one who was irresponsible in this case."
"What did I say wrong? Your work is all you care about. We don't matter anymore. You know what? I fucking don't care, either! Just get me back my daughter. Then you can drown yourself in your work forever, I won't ever bother you!" I hollered at the top of my lungs. I was panting by that point.
"I will get her back without even you saying," he hissed and turned his back at me.
I was about to speak more but my ears started ringing; it was as if Everley's voice was blasting in my head until my vision went black for a moment and I lost my balance. Before I could hit the floor, a strong pair of arms held me.
"Do you want to kill our unborn baby by stressing over so much?" Vexon let out.
I shook my head to bring my consciousness. Vexon made me sit on my couch. He was about to get a glass of water for me but I wrapped my arms around his waist and started crying loudly. He stroked my hair lightly but I could feel them shaking.
"Please save my daughter, Vexon. I beg of you," I sobbed.
"I will. I promise you," Vexon said, his voice cracking as well.
"I can never forgive you or myself if something happens to her," I mumbled under my breath.
Everley was my first child. The thought of losing her was terrifying. I couldn't even imagine it.
Vexon knelt in front of me and took my shivering hand in his and looked at me in the eyes with his teary ones. He bit his lips and said, "Me neither. I won't let anything happen to her, even if it costs me my life. Trust me."
"I want to trust you, but you haven't been able to protect your own family. What if Everley dies before you can find her? What if you are too late? What if she's already��" I didn't even know what I was saying at this point.
"Ruby! Not a single word. Don't even think about it. Nothing will happen to her. I won't let it," he said desperately. I didn't know who he was trying to assure��me or himself?
Seeing him this broken also broke my heart, but I was helpless. I wanted to comfort Vexon, yet my pride was somehow not letting me. It kept saying that it was his fault that Everley was missing. He should have come or at least informed me how dangerous Liam was.
I wanted to shout at him more to relieve my stress a little but my throat felt dry and my heart was crying. My body felt weak and I wanted Everley back in my arms more than anything else. She was probably hungry by this time. She wouldn't even eat anything that the kidnapper offers. After all, she only liked my cooking.
I wonder how my little daughter was doing right now. Was she crying? Was she calling for me?
It was all that Liam's fault. I swear on my children's lives, I would make sure he would suffer the worst death if he went as far as to touch even a single strand of Everley.
"Ma'am, Allison has been crying for a while now. Would you take a look at her?" Maya's voice dragged me out of my haze. That's when I was able to hear Allison's cries. How long had she been crying? Had I been deaf?
I looked in front of me to not find Vexon anymore. He was standing in a corner, talking over the phone. He seemed frustrated enough to break everything in the room. He sounded as if the earlier information was wrong and they were unable to trace any location yet.
I was about to rush to Allison's side. However, I was stopped by the sound of my cell phone ringing. I took out my phone from under the couch cushion. My eyes widened as I saw the incoming number. My heartbeat fastened immediately.
I gulped and called out Vexon.
"Vexon��" I murmured.
He turned around and looked at me. I showed him the phone screen and he had the same reaction as me. It was a burner number, meaning the call we had been waiting for had finally arrived, and the burner number was hard to trace.
