Chapter 8
For three straight hours, Treston and Summer sat in a cramped room at the local precinct, hunched over a table covered with printed CCTV stills, notes, and statements–none of which gave them any real answers.
A uniformed officer cleared his throat for the third time that hour. “I’m sorry, Mr. Villarez, Ms. Jones. We’ve reviewed every camera around your estate. The exits. The staff gates. The road checkpoints.“!
“And?!” Summer snapped, her voice shrill and cracking at the edges. Her fingers twisted the hem of her coat so tightly that the fabric nearly ripped.
The officer shifted uncomfortably. “No usable footage. It’s like your son vanished into thin air.”)
Summer let out a strangled scream, slamming her fists on the table. “Amber took him! She took Joshua–this is all her fault! That bitch-”
“Enough!” Treston barked, his jaw tight, his eyes bloodshot from too many sleepless nights. “You think screaming will make them find him faster?“}
Summer spun on him, eyes wild. “You think this is my fault? My fault? I didn’t ask you to sleep with me behind her back-”
“And yet you did,” Treston spat, his lip curling. “Because you couldn’t stand her being better than you. She was your best friend, Summer- your best friend!“}
“Don’t you dare put this on me,” she hissed, jabbing a finger at his chest. “She’s the one who took him. She’s the one trying to ruin us-‘ –” He cut her off, voice low and venomous. “She learned about us. About what we did. You think this is just about revenge? No, Summer. She took Joshua because he’s the only thing we have left to lose.”!
Summer laughed, but it sounded like a sob. “So what? You were going to get rid of her anyway! You promised me once the investors gigned the new deal, you’d divorce her for real. Replace her name with mine. And now—“>
“Now?” Treston snarled. “Now she has our son! My son. And it’s your damn mess too.”>
Before Summer could spit another word, an officer reappeared with his tablet, expression strained. “We’ve scanned more city cameras, airports, terminals. Nothing yet. Whoever took your son planned this well. No footage. No witness statements that hold up.” Summer swayed on her feet. “No. No, you’re wrong. Keep looking–keep searching! She can’t hide him forever–she can’t–“>
But the officer didn’t flinch. He turned away, the silence of the precinct pressing down like a tombstone.
Days bled together.
One sleepless night became two. Two became a week. The cold mansion felt colder than ever, stripped of every illusion of wealth and control that had once made them feel untouchable.}
Summer stopped sleeping altogether. She paced the hallway barefoot, her hair matted at the ends, replaying every fight with Amber in her head. She remembered the day Amber begged Treston to drive her to the hospital for the baby check–up. How Summer had answered the phone instead–Treston’s busy–and laughed when she hung up.
She remembered the accident. The hospital bed. The look in Amber’s eyes when she lost her child.
She remembered how she’d messaged Amber afterward, sending those photos of herself with Treston and Joshua–so smug, so sure of her place.
Now her own child was gone.
She was haunted by her own words–Don’t worry about the baby. Treston already has an heir.
It was like karma had come alive, wearing Amber’s face.”
And Treston… Treston felt something he hadn’t felt in years.”
Regret.
He staiked from room to room, opening closets, searching the staff quarters like Amber might just be hiding there with Joshua–like this was just another threat she would take back. He clung to the memory of that fight they’d once had when she said she’d leave–and didn’t. When she packed her bag, but came back because she couldn’t stand being away from him.§
Maybe she’d come back this time too.
But the house stayed empty.
Joshua’s tiny shoes stili by the door.
The bear he used to sleep with–gone.
At night, when he thought no one could see, Treston sat in Joshua’s room, holding the toy cars he’d once tripped over on the marble floors. He squeezed them until the sharp plastic edges cut into his palm.
When sleep finally came, it brought only the echo of Amber’s face the day she lost their child. The way he’d blamed her. Called her useless. Told her she deserved it.
And now–he felt it.
The same jagged hole. The same helpless ache.M
1
The next morning, Treston sank to his knees in Joshua’s empty room. The early light cut across the walls, highlighting his hollow eyes, the mess of folders and maps and screenshots spread across the floor like a battlefield already lost.
Summer was slumped in the hallway, muttering to herself. But her voice barely registered.
Treston pressed his forehead to the edge of the toy chest. His hands shook.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into the silence. “Amber–wherever you are–please, I’m sorry. Bring him back. Please.“}
