Chapter 94: The Vanishing Act

Words : 1885 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 94: The Vanishing Act Sebastian~ I stood frozen, my entire world having just turned upside down in the span of a few seconds. The scent, the bond, the way my heart had nearly leaped out of my chest—it was undeniable. That woman, Brielle Hector, was my mate. But she ran. I blinked, still processing what had just happened. My mate had turned on her heel and bolted out of the office like I was some kind of monster. She had shoved Zane aside like he was nothing more than a piece of furniture in her way. Zane, standing beside me, still looked stunned. His brows were furrowed, and he glanced toward the open door before turning to me. "Did she just... push me?" I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. Griffin, who had been just as frozen as us, suddenly cursed under his breath and took off after her. Zane let out an incredulous laugh. "What the hell is going on? Why was Griffin here? Who was that woman? And why did she push me?" I barely heard him. My head was spinning, my breath unsteady. The room felt too small, too confining. My heart was still racing, my body thrumming with a need I had never felt before. I had a mate. I had a mate. I turned to Zane, and the sheer awe in my eyes must have been obvious because his expression shifted from confusion to wariness. "That woman," I said breathlessly, barely able to contain the overwhelming joy rising in my chest. "She’s my mate, Zane. My mate!" Zane’s eyes widened. "What?" My entire body buzzed with excitement. I spun around in a full circle, then turned back and grabbed Zane by the shoulders, shaking him. "Zane! I have a mate! I never thought I’d have a mate, but she was right here! Did you see her? She was—" Zane didn’t respond the way I expected him to. I thought he’d be happy for me. Thought he’d smirk and say something sarcastic, or maybe even pat me on the back. But instead, his face darkened. He looked... scared. "Sebastian," he said slowly, his voice low, cautious. "Are you sure?" "Of course I’m sure!" I practically shouted. "I felt it. The pull, the bond. My entire being is screaming for her! That woman is mine." Zane exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening. "Sebastian... be careful." I frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" "That woman might be dangerous." I recoiled like he had just slapped me. Anger flared in my chest. "Are you serious right now? I just told you I found my mate, and that’s the first thing you say?" Zane pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sebastian—" "No," I snapped, my joy twisting into frustration. "When you told me about Emma, I was happy for you. When you found Natalie, I was happy for you. But now that it’s me, suddenly I need to be ’careful’? What the hell, Zane?" He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just... she ran, Sebastian. She looked at you like she’d seen a ghost and then bolted. That’s not normal." My anger softened slightly, but I shook my head. "I don’t care. I need to find her. I need to know why she ran. I can’t just let her disappear." Zane exhaled, looking reluctant. "I think you’re rushing into this." "Maybe I am," I admitted. "But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong." Zane stared at me for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine. I’ll help you." A grin tugged at my lips. "Really?" "Yeah," he muttered, clearly not thrilled. "What’s her name?" "Brielle Hector." Zane nodded, then grabbed his phone. "We start with the internet." For the next twenty minutes, we scoured every database, every public record, every social media platform we could think of. But there was nothing. No trace of a Brielle Hector who matched the woman I had seen. Zane leaned back in his chair, frustration flickering in his gaze. "Nothing. It’s like she doesn’t exist." I clenched my jaw. That didn’t make sense. She had been standing right in front of me. She was real. She had to be. Zane hesitated before saying, "We need to talk to Griffin." I scowled. "I know how you feel about him." Zane ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. But he clearly knows her, and right now, he’s the only lead we have." I hated to put him in such a situation but I was grateful. I grabbed the intercom and buzzed Brianna. "Get me everything you have on Griffin Blackthorn and Brielle Hector." Brianna’s voice was professional, but I could hear the curiosity underneath. "Right away, Mr. Lawrence." As I waited, I clenched my fists. I didn’t care what it took. I was going to find Brielle Hector. And I wasn’t letting her go. The moment Brianna came with the information, I could tell from her hesitant expression that something was off. She smoothed down her already-perfectly-ironed blouse and set the papers on my desk with a small frown. "I found Griffin Blackthorn’s contact details," she said, voice clipped and professional, but there was something uncertain about the way she held herself. "But... there’s no record of a Brielle Hector in our database." I frowned. "What do you mean?" Brianna shook her head. "There’s nothing on her. No contact info, not even a visitor’s log. It’s like she was never here." Zane, sitting beside me with his usual impassive expression, exhaled sharply. "Well, that’s unsettling." I forced myself to stay calm. "It’s fine. I’ll start with what I have." I snatched up Griffin’s number, pulled out my phone, and quickly dialed the number written on the paper. I pressed the phone to my ear, my heartbeat hammering as I waited. One ring. Two. Three. Then— "The number you have dialed is not available at the moment—" I yanked the phone away from my ear, scowling at the automated message before turning to Zane. "It’s not going through." Zane gave me an unimpressed look. "Yeah, Sebastian, I could hear that. I wasn’t suddenly struck deaf." I threw my hands up, pacing the length of my office. My mind was a storm, swirling with frustration, confusion, and an underlying panic I didn’t want to acknowledge. "I should have stopped her." My voice was raw, strained. "I should have chased after her. Should have—hell, I don’t know—pinned her down and demanded answers! But now she’s gone. And I have nothing." Zane leaned against my desk, watching me with an impassive gaze. "Sebastian—" "Don’t," I snapped, rounding on him. "Don’t tell me to calm down, Zane. If this were you—if this were Natalie—you’d be tearing the city apart right now." Zane’s expression shifted slightly, just a flicker of something in his otherwise composed face. Slowly, he raised his hands in surrender. "I wasn’t going to say that." I glared at him. "Okay, fine," he amended. "I was going to say that, but not because I don’t understand. I just don’t want you to do something stupid." I let out a frustrated breath, running a hand through my hair. "I can’t just sit here and do nothing." "Then we won’t." Zane pushed off my desk, straightening his jacket. "Let’s go find her." I stared at him, searching for any sign of insincerity, but Zane wasn’t the type to make empty promises. He meant it. I nodded once. "Let’s go." The problem, however, became immediately apparent the moment we stepped outside the company doors. Zane let out a sigh. "Okay. Now what?" I clenched my jaw. I had been so desperate to move, to do something, that I hadn’t actually considered the logistics. Brielle could be anywhere by now. Wandering the city, hiding, hell—she might not even be in the area anymore. Then, an idea struck me. My secret service contacts. "I have an idea," I muttered, already turning back toward the building. Zane groaned. "Oh, now we’re going back inside?" I didn’t wait for him, striding purposefully back to my office. Behind me, I could hear Zane’s begrudging footsteps as he followed. Back in my office, I immediately called security. The response was quick, efficient, just the way I liked it. "I need all the security footage from this morning," I ordered. A few minutes later, the footage was delivered, and Zane and I huddled over my computer, fast-forwarding through the morning’s events. "There," Zane pointed suddenly. "Pause." I froze the footage. On the screen, I saw Griffin entering the building. My eyes flicked beside him, expecting to see Brielle, but— I frowned. Where the hell was she? I rewound. Played it again. Griffin walked in. Alone. A chill ran down my spine. "No, no, no. This isn’t right. She was there. She walked in with him." Zane leaned closer, eyes narrowing. "Then why isn’t she on the footage?" I didn’t answer. I was already transferring the footage to my secret service contact. Maybe something was wrong with the footage, but, I trusted that they would be able to fix it and get me the information I needed. I wrote a quick message: "Find the woman who entered with Griffin Blackthorn this morning." I sat back, drumming my fingers against the desk, my frustration growing by the second. Zane eyed me warily. "You’re freaking out." I shot him a glare. "You think?" He sighed. "Look, let’s go home. Waiting around here isn’t going to make them work any faster." I hated the idea of sitting idly, but I knew he was right. With a reluctant nod, I stood. "Fine. But keep calling Griffin." "Already on it," Zane muttered, pulling out his phone as we headed for his house with his guards following behind. Hours passed. I paced the living room, my phone clutched in my hand, waiting, waiting, waiting— Then it rang. I answered immediately. "Tell me you have something." A pause. Then the agent on the other end said, "Sir, we checked the footage you sent over." "And?" I demanded. "There was no woman." I stopped pacing. My blood turned ice-cold. "...What?" "The footage only shows Griffin Blackthorn entering the building. No one else was with him." My grip on the phone tightened. "That’s impossible." "We double-checked," the agent said. "I’m sending the footage back to you now." A second later, my email dinged. I quickly opened the file and played it. Griffin walked in. Alone. I replayed it. Again. Again. Nothing changed. Zane, watching from the couch, muttered, "That’s a bad sign." I turned on him, my entire body vibrating with frustration. "I don’t want to hear your pessimistic bullshit right now, Zane. I need to find her." He held up his hands in a silent ’I’m not arguing’ gesture but didn’t say another word. Instead, he focused on his phone, still trying Griffin’s number. But Griffin wasn’t answering. His phone just rang. And rang. And rang. Like he had left it somewhere. Like he wasn’t even bothering to pick it up. I clenched my fists, my mind spinning in a million different directions. Brielle had been there. I had seen her. I had felt her. So why was she missing from the footage? And why did it feel like Griffin Blackthorn was avoiding me?

Chapter 94: The Vanishing Act

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