Chapter 784: If she is wrong, she deserves to take the consequence.
The housekeeper shifted on her feet nervously. "Sir, we are not sure about it. Young Miss was here last night. I personally went to deliver her the dinner. She was also here in the morning. One of the maids went with the breakfast. But then ..." she hesitated, her voice carrying the tremble of anxiousness. "In the afternoon, when they went with the lunch, she was gone."
Caden’s brows tugged in a frown when he heard that. "She was gone, and what were you all doing?"
"S-sir, we —"
"Shut up! You all were supposed to keep an eye on her." He snapped, not ready to hear anything more. He rushed upstairs to check in Selene’s room, trying to find some clue, but there seemed to be nothing there.
He grabbed his phone and dialled his secretary’s number. The moment the call was answered, he barked, "Find where Selene has gone. I want to know what she is up to."
The secretary on the other end of the line was slightly taken aback. But he didn’t ask much. He simply reassured, "I will get onto it right away, Sir." And with that, he hung up the call.
As the beep of disconnection rang in Caden’s ears, he could help but slum onto the bed helplessly. He knew he had gone to extremes in recent days. Caging his own daughter at home like that, keeping her devoid of her work and everything she liked, like that was not the right move, but had she left him any other option other than that?
Her obsession with Aiden wasn’t simply and that was only the way to keep her away and safe.
Safe...
The moment his thought went to her safety, his heart clenched. He shook his head, denying the strongest possibility. "No ... n-no, she would be just feeling caged up here, and that’s why she ran away. There is nothing else to this. She must be on some random holiday." But he very well knew that he was just giving himself the hope —hope that Selene hadn’t just taken her way down to her destruction.
Because this time, he would have no way to save her.
Just as the silence was growing intense, his phone rang. He quickly took it and answered, "Did you find her?"
"Sir ..." the secretary hesitated over the line. "Ms. Martin was spotted at the airport in the late afternoon. She ... she possibly took a flight to Cralens."
Caden’s heart dropped. He shot up from the bed. "No! Not Cralens. She can’t go there." Her brows drew in anxiousness.
The secretary understood his fear, and that’s why he slowly explained, "We have checked the records, sir, and it shows that Ms. Martin has boarded a plane to Cralens this afternoon."
"Hide her tracks," Caden spoke almost immediately. "We can’t let Aiden find that. He can’t know."
"But sir, we won’t be able to keep it hidden for long. He might know it and —"
"I will go and bring her back myself before he realizes."
"But, Sir, you can’t leave right now. The company needs you here and —"
"My daughter is more important to me," Caden snapped, almost losing his calm. "I know I won’t be able to save the company, but I need to save her." He took a small pause before he added, "Get me the ticket. I need to board the flight as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir." The secretary responded and then hung up to make the necessary arrangements.
Meanwhile, Caden, back at his mansion, quickly gave orders to the housekeeper to arrange the bag for him. He didn’t waste the time. The moment it was done, he was ready to leave for the airport.
But just then, a voice made him halt.
"Where are you going in such haste, Caden?"
Caden paused and glanced up, only to find his father standing at the door with his antique cane in his hand. "Dad! When did you come back? Weren’t you —?"
The old man tapped the cane hard against the floor, making him shut at once. "If I hadn’t come, how would I have known what’s happening here? After all, my son no longer feels important to discuss such important details with me."
"Dad, it’s not like that," Caden said, checking the time on his watch. There was still plenty of time, but he was growing impatient. Every moment was scaring him for Selene. And he just wanted to rush to her side to make sure that she stays fine. "I was just caught up with things here. I was trying my best but —"
"Failing terribly." Old man Martin said, without holding back. Caden was his second son. He chose him to lead because he thought he could he was capable enough. But now ... now he was doubting his decision. "Caden, I am not here to listen to your excuses. So, instead of telling me what kept you busy, tell me what’s exactly happening."
"Dad, I will explain everything to you, but first, let me go and fetch Belle. I need to bring her back."
The old man heard him and his brows tugged in a deeper frown. "Fetch her? Fetch her from where?" he asked.
"From Cralens, Dad," Caden said, almost losing his calm. "She left without informing, and now, if I don’t get her back, she will be in trouble."
The old man wasn’t aware of anything, so when he heard his son making a fuss over a simple thing like that, he couldn’t help but scold. "She is already in her late 20s, Caden. She is no longer a kid for you to worry like that. If she had gone, she would come back on her own. You don’t need to go there when you are needed here."
"I need to go and get her, Dad. Or else, we might never see her again." Caden knew this for sure. He might have doubts before, but not after seeing how much Aiden values that one woman in his life. He wouldn’t hesitate to turn the world upside down for her. And Selene has gone out there just to trigger that cruel side of his.
Caden fears that if he doesn’t make haste, he might lose his daughter completely.