Third Person's POV
If there was such a thing as karma, this was probably it.
Olivia clutched the note with the number tightly in her palm. She wished more than anything that time could turn back—to the very beginning.
She would have resisted the lure of money and chosen a life of simplicity.
After dinner, Olivia suddenly clutched her stomach, screaming in agony and writhing on the floor.
The servants and two bodyguards were taken aback and quickly called Leo.
Leo was already on edge, searching everywhere for Sunny. Upon hearing that Olivia was suffering from severe abdominal pain, he could only tell the bodyguards, "Take her to the hospital and see what's wrong."
With permission granted, the bodyguards helped Olivia into the car.
Leo had just left the Lawrence residence, his expression gloomy. As the night deepened, an unnameable sense of unease welled up inside him.
Moira followed closely behind, her face etched with anxiety. "Leo, do you think something's happened to Sunny? Where could she have gone?"
Leo's face froze. In a deep voice, he said, "She'll be fine. I'll keep looking."
"Please, you have to find her. I was terrified last time she nearly got kidnapped," Moira pleaded.
At the mention of "kidnapping," Leo was jolted. He turned to the worried Moira and said softly, "That won't happen. The kidnappers from last time are already behind bars."
"Thank goodness. Once she's found, tell her to call me," Moira said. She knew that the previous kidnapping attempt had been fueled by a jealous female celebrity, and the case had been cracked with the culprits apprehended.
"I will," Leo said as he got into his car, his mind heavy with worry.
He tried calling Sunny again, but her phone was still off.
"Sunny, where the hell are you?" Leo ground out between his teeth. He then contacted Sunny's work crew for the day and learned that after leaving the mall with her assistant Clarissa, she never returned. The driver, who had waited at the mall all afternoon, hadn't seen a trace of her either.
Leo obtained Clarissa's number and called her. The call was picked up quickly, with the sound of cooking in the background.
"Boss, what can I do for you?" Clarissa asked, her tone casual.
"Is Sunny with you?" Leo asked coldly.
"Nope! We went shopping this afternoon, and after she finished buying things, she left on her own," Clarissa feigned surprise.
"Where did she go?" Leo narrowed his eyes, his voice deepening.
"She didn't say. But she bought a gift, mentioning her mom's birthday is coming up. We parted ways at the mall entrance," Clarissa said. She dared to lie because she had deliberately avoided surveillance, confident that unless someone came forward, there was no way to trace that they had left in the same car.
"Which direction did she head in?" Leo's anxiety grew.
"Towards the company. I don't know exactly where. Boss, did you two have a fight? Shall I call her for you?" Clarissa asked, her tone feigning concern.
"If she contacts you, inform me immediately," Leo said before hanging up, his frustration mounting.
He recalled his interactions with Sunny that day and was certain he hadn't said anything harsh. The only dispute was last night about whether to disclose Sunny's identity to his mother. Sunny insisted on coming clean sooner, while Leo wasn't ready to face it, torn between his birth mother and his lover, fearing conflict between the two.
Although they reconciled later, Sunny seemed to still be sulking this morning.
"Could she be deliberately avoiding me out of spite?" Leo wondered.
He drove back to the neighborhood, parked downstairs, and looked up at his dark apartment—she hadn't returned yet.
"What a stubborn woman," Leo muttered, attributing her absence to a continued fit of pique.
Back home, he tried calling her again—still no answer.
At ten-thirty, Leo received an urgent call from the bodyguard. "Mr. Chavez, Olivia's escaped!" the bodyguard's voice was frantic.
"What happened? How did you lose her?" Leo's irritation flared into anger.
"She tricked us by saying she had a stomachache and needed to use the bathroom. We stood guard outside the door. But she switched clothes with a passerby and slipped away right under our noses!" the bodyguard explained helplessly. Despite their professional training, they weren't in a movie—they had only stood outside the women's restroom, oblivious to the comings and goings of others. Olivia had changed coats with a stranger inside the restroom, claiming the bodyguards were kidnappers after her, and fled after gaining the stranger's sympathy.
"Fuck!" Leo cursed.
He had thought Olivia had genuinely repented, especially after her sincere apology that afternoon. But that night, she devised an escape—proof that she wasn't to be trusted.
"Find her immediately! Bring her back!" Leo ordered coldly.
The bodyguard, panicking over his failure, hung up and scrambled to search for Olivia.
Leo called Blake right away to inform him of the situation.
Blake's expression hardened. "Why would Olivia run? Does she think she can escape us?"
"Blake, this woman's too sly. Next time we catch her, we need to punish her severely," Leo said through gritted teeth.
Blake knew Leo was furious, and he too was annoyed, considering Olivia an untrustworthy woman.
He had been too lenient, thinking her remorse sincere and deserving of mercy.
Perhaps a woman with such grave sins didn't deserve forgiveness or compassion.
"Find her first." Blake said gravely.
"Blake, one more thing—Sunny's missing too. I can't reach her!" Leo said, feeling humiliated and defeated, but knowing he had to come clean.
"How could she disappear? Did she collude with Olivia to escape?" Blake's face flickered with shock. He had always believed Sunny and his brother had a stable relationship; she wouldn't do something so heartless.