Falling For My Accidental CEO Husband
Chapter 38: An Invitation

Chapter 38: An Invitation

"Any news?" the man demanded sharply, his voice cutting through the tense silence as he sat staring at the row of people

The investigators exchanged uneasy glances, each of them already dreading the inevitably disappointing news they were about to deliver. And yet, they had exhausted every lead, followed every possible trail, yet their search had yielded nothing.

The man’s eyes, sharp and cat-like, narrowed as he glared at each of them in turn. He could already anticipate their answers. His voice dropped to a softer, almost wondering tone as he fixed his gaze on the leader of the group. "Tell me, do you believe someone can simply vanish into thin air? Or did she perhaps get abducted by aliens?"

A cold shiver ran through the room. Though his words were spoken with a casual air, everyone present could feel the simmering rage beneath them. The tension thick enough to cut through.

Finally, the lead investigator gathered the courage to speak.

"We’ve done everything we could, sir," he began cautiously, "We’ve searched every possible location, followed every lead. But it’s as if she’s vanished without a trace. There’s been no sign of Serena anywhere."

The man’s eyes narrowed further, his patience wearing thin. "And that Owen Thompson?" he demanded, his tone laced with contempt.

"We did manage to trace Owen for a while," another investigator added in a strained voice. "He’s been moving around, but always alone. There’s no evidence that Serena was with him. We thought... perhaps he was hiding her, but—"

"But now Owen has disappeared again too," the lead investigator finished, "We lost his trail a few days ago. He’s gone completely off the grid. He seemed to have known that we were following him. But even before he discovered, he has been separated from her. I don’t understand, sir. Those two eloped because they wanted to be together. But they have not yet married or even lived together."

Just then, the investigator trailed off. The last place that they knew that Miss Serena had gone to was Vancity. But she and Owen had already disappeared when they’d reached there and since then, she had not been seen anywhere. There was only kind of place left to ask around... The morgue. However, he dare not voice that to the person in front of him.

Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the room, making every one jump as the delicate paper weight that had been sitting on the desk now lay in shards against the floor.

"I don’t care if you kill Owen," the man snarled, his voice dangerously low. "For all I care, you can throw his corpse into the ocean. But Serena... Serena must be brought back to me. Safe. And sound. Now get out," he hissed, his eyes flashing with fury. "And don’t come back until you have something worth reporting."

The men all shuffled out of the room hurriedly then, almost fearing for their lives.

As Sidney Price watched the men walk away, he could not help but kick his own desk in frustration. He glacned at the picture on his desk and sighed. "Rena... where are you? Come back, please. I..." He gulped and looked down at his own hands before continuing," I promise. I promise that I won’t force your marriage. I’ll even let that Owen live. Please come back. You know I won’t let things rest until I bring you back."

As he stood there, breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on the picture, he clenched his fists, trying to suppress the wave of frustration that threatened to overtake him. A year. It had been a year since he had seen her! And each day he had only worried about her.

A soft knock on the door broke the tense silence and he placed the picture back on the desk before taking his seat.. The butler entered the room, his gaze briefly falling on the broken paperweight before he looked back at Sidney.

"I’ll have that cleaned up immediately, sir." With that, he stepped forward, careful to avoid the glass as if it were a regular occurrence and placed a gilded envelope on the desk in front of the master.

Sidney didn’t even glance at the envelope. "I’m not interested in any invitations until Rena is found. Haven’t I made that quite clear?" he said coldly.

The butler hesitated at the reminder but pressed on, "This particular invitation is from Mabel Hawk, sir."

Sidney’s attention snapped back to the butler at this, as he leaned forward. "Mabel Hawk?" he repeated, his voice tinged with surprise and curiosity.

"Yes, sir. She’s celebrating the marriage of her grandson,and has invited a select few guests."

"Aiden’s getting married?" he asked, more to himself than to the butler. "Which poor girl decided to ruin her life with him?"

Sidney set the invitation down on his desk and leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Aiden Hawk, married? The idea was almost laughable, yet here it was, an invitation from the lady herself.

The butler remained quiet, knowing that the question was not put for him and simply awaited instructions.

Sidney picked up the invitation and cocked his head. Mabel Hawk was not a woman to be ignored, nor was she one to send out invitations lightly. Whatever his problems and enmity with Aiden might be, he could not ignore Mabel Hawk, the matriarch of the Hawk family.

He hesitated for a moment, then picked up the envelope, his thumb running over the embossed insignia and sighed," Arrange a gift. And let them know that I will be honoured to join them."

"Prepare for our return to the city. Also I want to know more about this elusive wife of Aiden Hawk. Who is she? Where did she come from? And more importantly," he added, his eyes narrowing, "what kind of woman marries a man like Aiden Hawk?"

"I’ll see to it immediately, sir. And what about the investigation into Miss Serena?"

Sidney snorted," What about it? Keep looking."