"You ready?" I asked Shelby as she applied more lip gloss to her lips making it glossier than before. She nodded her head before walking out and with that I locked the gates to the company, pocketing the keys.

I frowned "We're going to the hospital to check up on Riele and the kids" but she pouted

"Why must we?" she whined throwing her head back against the seat catching the attention of the driver.

But something happened. I came across a small child painting with his fingers and showing his parents what he drew to which they smiled. Almost instantly, different memories flew to me and I wish they never did

"What did we say about painting?" his mother came behind him before grabbing his ear, twisting it so hard it turned red. The boy sighed yet again not surprised by his mother's attitude to which he was very much used to

"WE didn't say anything. All I heard was you barking out words" he rolled his eyes as his mom let go of his tomato red ear.

Frowning, he looked down at his painting then back at his mother. With tears in his eyes, he ran out of the room and of the building he used to call his home but is now merely a house. Running over to the dump behind his house, he placed his painting right beside the dumpster.

"Oh just a painting I bought. Why are you asking?" she asked. Walking over to it, he pulled it off the wall and flipped to the back and surprisingly found his signature on it.

"This is my painting" he whispered in disbelief

"Yes, I used to paint when I was young but then my mom said I couldn't get any where with it so I stopped. This was the painting I was working on that day, when she said it I went to dump it somewhere. I can't remember where. But why did you buy it?" he asked looking at her

"I don't know it was like a force of attraction" she said and he couldn't love any woman more than he loved her right now. He dropped the painting before pulling her by the waist closer to himself, kissing her passionately.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea. Don't you remember what the doctor said. What if something did happen to her? I'm scared Sean" I blabbered as my feet constantly bounced in fear and anxiety

I saw uncertainty flash in his eyes as he and Jade looked at each other before replying "I understand you Jace but looking at it from my perspective, I think Riele has every right to know about this. I mean it is her child we're talking about, not telling her might seem like we're depriving her from her rights" Sean said and I sighed in defeat.

"Ok whatever you say but please don't just drop the bomb at her, tell her bit by bit" I chewed on my bottom lip still disapproving his decision but what else could I do? It seemed like he had his mind made up.

He nodded making me shoot up from the couch, walking up the stairs to Riele's room. Passing by the boys' room, I smiled in relief to see that Lee was good as new and now playing with Daniel like he used to

Getting in front of Riele's room, a bit of hesitation coursed through my body as I brought up my fist to hit the door. I breathed out 'It's all for the best; I hope' I thought before connecting my fist with the honey brown coloured mahogany door matching with those across the hall.

I heard a faint "Come in" sound from the other side of the room. Gathering up all the courage in me, I twisted the handle of the door and walked in to see Riele sprawled over on the bed and from the looks of it, it seemed like she had been sleeping

Stifling a snort, I parted my lips to speak "I'm sorry to disturb your sleep but your attention is needed downstairs Ms. Downs" I spoke in a monotonous voice like one of those fancy bodyguards with stoic faces

She looked up at me before sighing and got out of bed. I bit my lip watching her closely. Once she got on her feet and walked over to me, I breathed out in relief glad she was still ok as she was when she got discharged from the hospital.

"Lead the way good Sir" she replied posh like making both of us burst out laughing as our silliness. With that, we bundled ourselves down the stairs into the living room where Jade and Sean were enjoying the company of the television

"Hey guys" Riele said catching their attentions and I watched as Jade got up to hug, well more like squeezed the hell out of her. "As much as I love the hugs I get from you, it seems like you're squeezing the life out of me" she choked out making Jade back up with an apologetic smile

"Sorry, I'm just excited that my in-law is back" she smiled winking at Riele as she hit Jade's head making her yelp

"You're forgiven" Riele stuck her tongue out and I laughed but shut my mouth immediately from the look I got from Jade which did nothing but made me gulp in fear

Riele sat on the couch I had sat on earlier while I took the space on the couch next to her. "So why are you guys here?" she asked making butterflies of anxiety do a parade in my gut

"Can't we just visit a friend with no absolute reason?" Jade joked as I shook my head in amusement as she tried to hide the main reason to why they were actually here but the look she got from Riele told her she didn't buy it as well

"That but there is another reason" Sean added all of a sudden making me sit straight and glare at him but he disregarded it giving me a look that said 'It's now or never buddy' or at least that's what I thought the look meant.

"I'm all ears" Riele replied now on full alert which was what I was trying to avoid. I sighed in frustration, hitting my fist on the arm rest but they all ignored me making me roll my eyes

"Well, just last week, the police station where we reported to, you know about Mary's sudden disappearance, got a message from an unknown number" he paused before continuing and I throughout my eyes were trained on Riele watching her every reaction

"Apparently, the kidnapper demands to see you Riele but he or she never did mention when to be exact but he did say to meet him up at the place where it all happened" he finished

I watched as she bit her lip in confusion before parting her lips open "Where it all happened? What does that mean?" she asked looking at everyone in the room. I sighed in relief, thankfully she didn't have a panic attack this time but I knew this information was enough for her today, for her own safety

"We were hoping you might tell us. Try and think it felt like the person loathe you, extremely, due to the way he addressed you in the text" Sean said as Riele puckered her forehead, thinking.

"I can't think of anyone. I never had quarrels with anyone unless you count my mom but we solved that ages ago. Well, I think we did but I know she couldn't have kidnapped Mary. As much as she did hate me, her undying love for children never ceased which made her love the kids easily. But who" she replied as I watched her itch her eyes but unfortunately couldn't come up with anything

"This is tiring. Mary has been gone for months, who knows how she's doing currently? Is she fine? These questions I want to ask but we're no where close to finding her" she pulled her hair in agony and immediately Jade was beside her rubbing her back comfortingly.

"It's ok Riele. We are trying our best but the only good thing we have now is to hope you can remember who the person can be and also have an idea of where it all began" Sean said smoothly

"Thanks Sean, I know what to do now, you've made it clearer. It's quite easy that we'll have Mary back in this house in less than twenty four hours" she smiled as him making me snort at her snarky remark

"Ok, ok. I was just trying to help" he retorted

"Wow, thanks for the great help" she rolled her eyes and I couldn't help but burst out laughing after holding it in for long.

Sigh... That was draining tbh... I hope you guys liked it because I used my reading time to type this and I don't want it all to go to waste