Page 57 of Breaking the Annulment

Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her belly. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Michalis… I’m so sorry.”

23

he master bedroom was quiet, bathed in the soft glow of moonlight spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Michalis stepped inside, his tuxedo jacket slung over one arm, his tie loosened at his throat. The events of the evening replayed in his mind—the party, Aurelia’s radiant smile, the way she’d stood by his side, letting the world see that she was his.

For the first time in years, hope flickered in his chest. Aurelia loved him. She’d finally said the words he’d longed to hear. And the baby… He pressed a hand over his chest as he thought of their child. He imagined a life filled with laughter, family, and a love that could withstand anything.

But the moment he stepped farther into the room, a subtle wrongness prickled at the edges of his awareness. The bed was neatly made, the duvet untouched. He set his jacket down, his sharp gaze scanning the room. A faint movement caught his attention—a folded piece of paper propped against the vanity mirror.

Michalis’s stomach dropped as he crossed the room, his footsteps heavy against the hardwood floor. The note trembledin his hand as he unfolded it, his breath catching as his eyes skimmed the words.

Michalis,

I love you. I love you more than I can ever say. But I can’t raise a child in your world—a world you’ve admitted is too dark and dangerous for me to even know about. If you love me, if you love this baby, you’ll let us go. Please don’t try to find us. The only way we’ll ever be safe is away from this life. I’m so sorry.

The note slipped from his fingers, fluttering to the floor. He sank onto the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. Her words echoed in his mind, hollow and cruel in their finality.

For years, Michalis had kept the darkness of his world at bay, protecting Aurelia from the worst of it. He thought he’d succeeded. He thought they could finally have the life he’d dared to dream about. But now, the emptiness of the room mocked him. She was gone.

A sharp knock on the door jolted Michalis from his daze. He didn’t respond, his eyes fixed on the crumpled note on the floor. The knock came again, louder this time, followed by the door swinging open. Dimitris strode in, his expression grim, followed by one of the guards.

“Michalis, we need to talk,” Dimitris said, urgency in his tone.

“Not now,” Michalis muttered, his voice flat.

“This can’t wait,” Dimitris insisted. He held up a small plastic bag containing a syringe. “We found this in the bathroom.”

Michalis’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowing. “What?”

Dimitris stepped closer, his expression taut. “Tanya Morrow planted this during the party. We caught it on the security footage. She was supposed to drug Aurelia, but they didn’t get the chance.”

Michalis frowned, his mind racing. “They didn’t need to,” he said coldly. “Aurelia left on her own.”

“No,” Dimitris said firmly. “She was running, yes. But she ran straight into their hands.”

Michalis’s jaw tightened, denial warring with the gnawing sense of dread in his chest. “She left this,” he said, pointing to the note on the floor. “She doesn’t want to be found.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s running into,” Dimitris countered. He pulled out his phone, showing Michalis a clip from the security footage. Tanya slipped into the bathroom, pulling a syringe from her bag and tucking it behind a stack of towels.

Michalis’s hands curled into fists. “Where is she now?”

“We’ve been tracking David and Tanya since they left,” Dimitris said. “We’ll find them.”

Michalis pushed to his feet, his expression shifting from devastation to steely resolve. “No,” he growled. “I’ll find them. And I’ll bring her back.”

Michalis strode out of the bedroom, his movements precise and purposeful. He barked orders to his men as they hurried to follow him.

“I want every traffic camera within a hundred-mile radius pulled. Hack into private security feeds if you have to,” he commanded, his voice cold and sharp. “Get me a location.”

“Yes, sir,” one of the guards said, already reaching for his phone.

“To the team at the gates,” Michalis continued. “Get the make and model of the car they left in and cross-check it with toll booth records. I want the exact route they took.”

“On it,” another guard replied, breaking into a jog.

Dimitris kept pace with Michalis as they descended the stairs. “If they’re delivering her to Victor, they won’t waste time,” Dimitris said.

“They won’t get far,” Michalis snarled. “If they’ve touched her…” He didn’t finish the thought, the unspoken threat hanging heavy in the air.

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