Chapter 10

Keith stood by the castle window, his lone figure framed in a haze of cigarette smoke that hid his expression. When the ember reached his fingers, the sharp burn brought him back to his senses. It had been ten days since Sean took Ariel away. Ten days of radio silence. Keith looked down at his chat with Ariel. He had sent her countless messages. "Why did you leave with Sean? Why did you leave without telling me?" "I know everything now. Come home, and we'll talk it over. Stop sulking." "I really miss you, Ariel." Every message had gone answered, and none of his calls had gone through. For the past five years, when Ariel stayed in the castle he built for her, her life revolved around him. She would instantly respond to any message he sent her. He used to be the only person in her world. But he came up with the stupid idea of finding a stand-in to attend public events with him in her stead and broke her heart. Regret crashed into him. Seeing the marriage certificate and their wedding photo on his desk, Keith felt his heart ache again. Ariel left so suddenly. She didn't take anything with her, not even the marriage certificate and the wedding photo she used to treasure. Keith teared up. He caressed the marriage certificate and muttered, his voice raw, "Ariel, where are you now?" The room was so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat. Ariel's smile in their wedding photo was blinding, her eyes overflowing with joy. When had Ariel stopped smiling like this? Keith had no idea. Maybe it was when he left home for a week to accompany Natalie, or when Ariel found out that he had found a stand-in for her. However, it was pointless for him to think about the reason she left, because Ariel might never come back again. Keith lost his mind at the terrifying thought of losing her. He called Ethan again. "Have you found Ariel's whereabouts? Where's Sean?" "I'm sorry, Mr. Ford. We haven't found anything new," Ethan answered nervously. "Our men had been staking out Miller Group for the last ten days, but they hadn't seen Sean at all. His subordinate said he's on a business trip, but there's no record of him leaving the country." "Useless trash!" Keith snapped with a frown. The air around him turned chilly. "Continue the investigation! Find her!" Ethan politely acquiesced and continued, "Mr. Ford, the evidence showed that Ms. Green harmed Mrs. Ford. Now that we know that Ms. Green is guilty, how should we deal with her?" Keith's eyes darkened at the memory of what Natalie did in the video. He replied coldly, "Find her and keep an eye on her. I'll make her pay soon." "Y-Yes, sir!" After ending the call, Keith felt an indescribable rage. He was angry at himself for falling for Natalie's deception and for failing to notice Ariel's feelings before it was too late. Images of Ariel before she left filled Keith's mind. In his memories, the disappointment in her eyes, the pain in her expression, and the anger she felt when he defended Natalie were now clearer than ever. There were so many signs that she was going to leave him, but he missed every single one of them! "Damnit!" Keith cursed and called Sean's number again. As usual, all he got in response was a cold, robotic voice that said, "Sorry, the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please try again later." Frustrated, Keith frowned. Now that Ariel and Sean were alone together, he couldn't bear to imagine what had happened between them. At the 99th attempt, the call finally connected with a beep. Panting, Keith yelled, "You bastard! Where have you taken my wife?" The air on both sides froze. After a pause, Sean chuckled. "Mr. Ford, it's rude of you to interrupt a person's sleep at dawn." His voice was husky and lazy. He sounded like he had just woken up. Before Keith could interrogate him, he just barely heard a hoarse, female voice from the other end of the line. "Sean, what's wrong?" "It's nothing." Sean's voice was so gentle that it made Keith gag. It sounded like he was smiling. "It's just a scam call. I'm hanging up." The call ended with a beep. Keith's body was tense. He was rooted to the spot. The woman's voice was soft and familiar. It was just as melodious as the voice he had gotten used to hearing five years ago. Alarms went off in Keith's head. Despite not knowing if and how Ariel had recovered from her post-traumatic mutism, he was certain that the person next to Sean was her.