Twin Cupids at Work Daddy Come Home novel Chapter 405

“Ah! Stop… let me go, please… help! Somebody help me!”

“I’m going to kill you. You’re a curse, always bringing trouble to Julian, again and again. I swear, I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done.”

Christian pressed his fingers to his forehead, shut his eyes, and took a slow breath. He waved his hand, tired and frustrated. “Get her off, will you? Separate them.”

“Get the cars ready. Gather everyone. We need to search right now. Go, hurry!”

…

Julian spent half an hour scouring the ocean.

Nothing. Not a single sign.

He pushed himself to search farther and farther, refusing to quit.

The sea was eerily quiet, the air heavy with fear. No one dared say a word.

They all knew what this meant. The waves had been wild. Madeline was hurt. If she couldn’t be found after all this time, there was almost no hope.

“She can swim. Madeline can swim. She’s going to be okay… she has to be okay…” Julian muttered, searching nonstop as if sheer willpower could change fate.

…

Madeline had no idea how she finally washed up on shore. The freezing waves kept crashing over her, beating what little strength she had left.

Digging her fingers into the wet sand, she used every ounce of will to drag herself just a little farther from the water, desperate to keep from being pulled back out to sea.

That was all she could do. Afterward, she just lay there, completely drained, face pressed to the sand.

Somewhere beside her, a woman appeared. She wore a dark cloak and a hat pulled low. Slowly, she crouched down and just stared, her gaze lingering for a long time. A twisted smile crept across her lips, something cold and evil that sent a chill straight through Madeline’s bones.

It was the kind of smile that belonged to a monster.

Madeline blinked, barely conscious.

She tried to focus, to see the woman's face clearly.

Maybe she was hallucinating, but the face she saw… it looked exactly like her own.

Madeline’s eyelids barely stayed open, her thoughts muddled and dreamlike. She couldn’t tell if this was real or just a nightmare.

The next thing she knew, the woman drew a small vial of blood from her arm. She watched Madeline with a slow, almost lazy interest.

“Five years. I almost start to think I can’t find you. You’re just like him, always hiding so well.”

Her eyes drifted to Madeline’s wounds. She smiled, soft and chilling. “Does it hurt? I bet he felt just like this when he died.”

She stood, looking down at Madeline, and took out her phone. She snapped a picture, like she was commemorating her victory, then turned and walked away without a word.

Madeline’s vision blurred. The woman’s figure faded, swallowed by the darkness, until there was nothing left.

Madeline finally slipped into unconsciousness.

…

Three days passed. And there was not a single sign of her.

Everyone was exhausted, running on empty, but they kept searching anyway.

Nobody said it, but they all knew. If they hadn’t found her at the start, there was no hope left. At this point, they were only searching for a body.

Julian stood on the shore, hollowed out, and then his legs gave way. He dropped onto his knees, clutching a torn piece of Madeline’s clothing, shaking and crying so hard he couldn’t make a sound.

He hadn’t been able to save her after all.

Brenda thought Madeline had gotten away safely, but after days of radio silence, she tried calling Casey too. Neither of them answered. It was like they’d both disappeared.

That’s when Brenda realized something was seriously wrong.

She asked around and found out that the woman who wanted nothing more than to escape and live a quiet life with her child hadn’t even made it out of the city.

Brenda rushed to the coast. The second she spotted Julian, anger exploded inside her. She stormed over, voice trembling. “Where’s Madeline? What happened to her?”

Miles hurried to block her path. “Ms. Mullins, please, calm down. We’re still looking for her.”

“What?” Brenda’s lips shook. She shoved Miles aside. “Really? You’ve been looking for three days?”

“She fell into the sea, swept away, and after three days you still haven’t found her. What are you even looking for? Just a body?”

Brenda’s eyes filled with tears as she stared at Julian.

She couldn’t hold back the rage in her chest anymore. She lunged forward, grabbing his shirt. “You bastard, give Madeline back to me. Give her back!”