A few minutes later.

Kaito had reached the main house by now and both the men searched for Ivy once again, starting from the house to the garden. They checked upon her vehicles and to their horror, all her vehicles were in place. Even the motorbike she had used the day before was in the garage. Now, Joshua could not help but get anxious and he worried for Ivy's safety.

"When did you guys return home?" He questioned Kaito after trying Ivy's phone a hundredth time by now. But all he received was the same answer: unreachable.

"Somewhere in the evening, Master. We returned before dinner."

"Did something happen yesterday? Was she in a bad mood?"

"Nothing like that happened, Master. In fact, Miss was in a good mood and she was even smiling brightly. She was happy to go home and meet you."

"Then, where did she go all of a sudden? And most importantly, if you guys returned home yesterday evening, why don't I remember meeting her?"

"How could that be possible, Master? She was excited to have finished the mission early and was happy to meet you."

Kaito's words made Joshua frown and he tried to remember what had happened the previous night. However, all he could remember was getting a phone call and then chugging down glasses and glasses of alcohol. The realization hit him and hard and his eyes widened automatically. He rarely drank as he did not even know what he did in his intoxicated state. But the worse part was, he would not remember a thing he did once he became sober.

Fearing the worst, Joshua bolted out of the living room to his laboratory downstairs to check the surveillance cameras. For security reasons, he had installed cameras at the entrance of the door and the living room. He could at least try to see what had happened using them.

Joshua rewinded the video from the time when Ivy had arrived home. It was somewhere around six and she seemed to be in high spirits. He saw her going towards the kitchen and her silhouette vanished from the screen. He then fast-forwarded it, trying to see what had happened. He noticed that somewhere around midnight, Ivy had come rushing towards the door and he resumed the video in normal mode.

But what he saw and heard, made his eyes go wide. He had treated Ivy so bad that he himself felt hurt. Why would the girl not feel depressed? He had pushed the girl away himself and he did not know why he had even done that. "Why? Why? Why?" He banged his hand on the table with so much force that his hand hurt. But he did not care about it. The way he had treated Ivy was worse than the pain he was experiencing right now.

Joshua remembered why he had lost his cool and had surrendered to alcohol. It was all because of the damn phone call. If only he had not received the call. But there was no time for regrets now. His first priority was to find Ivy and make sure she was safe. He had to make sure that she was fine, especially when there was a psychopath who wanted her.

"Shit." He cursed loudly and kicked the chair in anger. "I am sorry. It was all my fault. I am sorry." He apologized and gritted his teeth. The next second, something struck him and he remembered the Ivy had taken her phone with her. Using his skills he tried to track her phone. However, the result only made him astonished. The phone was right in the house. The location showed that Ivy was somewhere nearby.

Once again, he searched for her, hoping against hope to find her somewhere. But in vain. He wondered where her phone was as the signal pointed to his house when she was clearly not here. He was still in Ivy's room and his eyes fell on the drawer beside the bed and it was slightly open. Perplexed, he opened it completely only to find her phone inside.

Joshua was spooked now. Ivy was nowhere to be found and her phone was here. 'Where could she have gone without taking her phone?' Once again, he went back to his laboratory to view the complete surveillance footage. From it, he found out that Ivy had left the house at five in the morning without informing anyone.

It was no wonder that Kaito did not realize her absence as it was still early to keep tabs. Also, unlike Noah's mansion, Joshua did not keep guards around his house much as it was almost impossible to enter his house without permission. Also, he did not like the pomp and splendor of having bodyguards around him all the time.

But for the first time, he regretted not having them around. At least, they would have stopped Ivy from leaving, and if they couldn't, they would have informed him about it. "Damn it. Ivy, where are you? Please come back. I am sorry."

Not knowing what to do, Joshua called Noah and as soon as the call connected, he started blabbering without greeting his friend. His patience was running out and this was no time to exchange greetings. "Noah, is Ivy in your house right now?"

"No. Ivy has not come to meet me since the day before. What happened? Didn't she go on a mission?"

"Yes, but she returned home yesterday and now I cannot find her."

"Try calling her."

"No use. She has left her phone at home." Joshua replied, his eyes narrowing in helplessness.

"Jo, did something happen?" Noah questioned, his mood changing all of a sudden. Aria was right beside him when he had received the call. She too frowned seeing his sudden change.

"I hurt her unintentionally, Noah. It was all my mistake." The man replied, his voice barely audible over the phone. "I am at fault."

"Joshua, listen to me. Now is not the time for that. We need to find Ivy and make sure she is safe. I'll come to your house right away and let's see what we can do. By then, ask Ian if he knows something."

"What happened? Is Ivy fine?" Aria queried as soon as Noah ended the call. She had more or less guessed what might have happened from whatever she had heard.

"I don't know. Joshua hurt Ivy and the girl left his house in the early hours of dawn without informing anyone. And she has not even taken her phone."

"What the heck!!!" Aria cursed loudly.

"Yes. I am going to his house to search for Ivy."

"I am coming with you." Aria jumped off the bed the next second and started to wear her shoes.

"No way." Noah refuted immediately. She was supposed to be taking rest, not running around in search of her sister.

"Noah, I am coming with you." Aria deadpanned and she continued. "Don't you dare use yesterday's bet now. I am not going to listen to it, not right now at least. She is my sister and I am going to search for her."

Seeing Aria's stubborn gaze Noah could only give and the couple drove towards Joshua's house.