Chapter 104: Gut feeling

Raphael’s POV

I had a very bad feeling, it was the same twist I had in my stomach the morning before the will was read.

Something was wrong, I could sense it. I laughed at how ridiculous the thought was. Of course, something was off somewhere. Things had been going sideways for me since that night.

.

A memory threatened to resurface in my mind, but I pushed it back before any of the images could play in my head. The host was still on the stage calling out bids…I had lost interest in the entire event since I was able to secure an item

I leaned against my seat, rubbing my forehead, trying to get over that unease that was in my stomach. The one which has been plaguing me for what felt like weeks now although tonight felt different

Gregor, although he was already over 6 feet below, was still tormenting the living with his funeral wishes. My eyes drew to my side, noticing the empty seat beside me ..

She wasn’t back yet. I glanced around the room, and to my dismay, he was not in either. Were they together? I wondered

My mind immediately thought of the worst possible scenarios, and my jaw slacked, rolling over. Was she on a rendezvous with her lover? I hissed at the thought

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But she had said she was heading to the restroom. I reminded myself and immediately had the urge to roll my eyes at myself. ..

As if she was going to say in public, where ears might overhear her, that she was stepping out for a moment because she missed what it felt like to have her lover’s hand all over her body.

She would never say that, but even if she were with Lucien, she had been gone long enough. She should have returned by now knowing her appearance was easy.

“What if?” I mumbled then quickly pushed it aside. She could not be in danger now. This place was well secured. I had doubled down security there was no way but yet the feeling of dread and unease continued

Something was wrong and it was not related to me but her. I immediately rose up, not too abruptly to raise suspicion and draw attention. Natasha noticed my movement, her silver brows furrowed at me. “Where are you heading to?” She asked with a soft smile ..

I kept my face neutral and simply said. “Braelyn had been gone for too long.” She nodded at me before glancing away. I left the auction hall. My hands twitched to contact the security team but I first needed to confirm she wasn’t with Lucien

For the first time, I hoped she was with that bastard and I was being paranoid. Nothing drastic could happen to her, she being my wife and her deciding shares were factors important for my goals

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I stepped out of the hall, my eyes darted around the hallway wondering which direction I should check first. I pulled out my phone to dial her number then it struck me she wasn’t with her phone the entire ball.

My teeth gritted, instead I scrolled through my contacts to find a number I rarely called and hoped the need never came ..

Lucian Volkov…

The call rang the first time, and the electronic voice rang in my ears

THE PERSON YOU ARE CURRENTLY TRYING TO IS ON ANOTHER CALL

That was strange. I waited for a minute before patiently trying again. Each second that went by felt like an hour.

The call went through. After it rang for a while, the electronic voice followed.

THE LINE YOU ARE CURRENTLY TRYING TO REACH IS CURRENTLY BUSY

I scoffed, holding back a throat chuckle. Now he was cutting my calls. I guess I would have to contact the security team first. I clenched my phone then turned in the direction of the elevator

I needed to get to the surveillance room and also inform security. I hope this was just a bad gut feeling

I immediately stopped on my tracks once I spotted Amelia standing not too far away staring intently at me. “Raphael.” She called out

My expression remained calm. “Amelia..” I replied. She clutched her dress, and her eyes nervously wandered around. I didn’t have time for her antics but I have already pushed her tonight

“You weren’t there during my speech,” she said, then clamped her mouth. She had more to say. .

“Something important came up and I had to step out of the room,” I replied to her at the same time, searching for the security team leader’s number to text him.

“I was hoping…” She continued. I flashed her a smile, a dazzling one that left her stunned.

“Amelia, we can talk about this later. The auction is still going on and I have something very important to do at the moment.” I chimed, still maintaining the smile, before dashing off.

“Yes sir..” the theme leader answered my phone call. I held the phone tightly.

“My wife stepped out of the auction hall 45 minutes ago. Search for her whereabouts..” I instructed him not to get into unnecessary details

He sensed the urgency in my voice immediately. “I will get right on it sir.” He curly replied. I hung up the call, and at that moment, I spotted two familiar figures..

One I knew so well for Shadowing Lucien our entire childhood like a little follower. His best friend Joey Alvarez just like Lucien he was another waste of excellent genes

They were both smart and capable but only used their intellect when it came to gambling and being reckless. My entire childhood majority of the memories I had were of the two of them doing something very stupid at times I would end up covering for them just out of consideration for my ’ uncle’ and family name

Joey was with another figure, Amber. I think that was her name. Her face was completely streaked with tears, and she was too nervous to look above her shoes. Joey didn’t look great either, but it had nothing to do with me.

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“Do you know where Lucien is?” I asked Joey, stopping him in his tracks. Something flickered across his eyes, a moment of hesitation

“Raphael..” he muttered, Amber clutched his jacket. Something was truly off about them. The only thing I could hope for was that wherever Lucien was Braelyn had to be there

Joey released a soft breath. “He isn’t far off.” He said before explaining the direction. I gave him a curt nod and left in the way

Halfway I started running until my footsteps slowed down. I spotted the devil but he was alone. Lucien also noticed me. There was something different about him too. Something was fishy but I could not point my finger at it

His mood seemed to have gotten worse than it was while I was dancing with Braelyn. We jogged towards each other and both spoke at the same time

“Lucien, where is Braelyn?”

“Raph, where is she?”

As soon as we asked the question, we both froze, and a dreadful realisation hit us..

“She isn’t with you…” I hissed my fist clenched

“You were the one who took her away, genius,” he snorted, getting on my fucking nerves..

I did not have the luxury of time to spend on him.. one thing was certain now.

My gut was right, my wife was in trouble. I started thinking of the next thing to do. I should head to the surveillance team

My line of thought was interrupted by an annoying alarm sound ringing from Lucien’s phone. His expression changed immediately

His grip tightened on his phone and he cursed out. “Fuck it…” That was what he said before bolting away.

The feeling in my chest got worse. My phone buzzed with an anonymous sms notification..it was an image

I immediately opened the image and what I saw made my eyes blur with rage and guilt….

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