Callista's POV
It was almost midnight.
Or maybe it was already midnight — I honestly couldn't tell anymore. My body was screaming for rest, dragged from college deadlines straight into this… nuisance of a fiancé, tangled up in stolen contracts and missing heirs.
Exhausted as I was, I wasn't about to let this go.
So, despite the heavy pull behind my eyelids, I turned to Aurelius.
"I need a laptop."
He gave me a look. One of those 'what kind of weirdo are you?' stares.
But after a beat, he sighed and snapped his fingers at one of the servants.
"Bring her a laptop," he ordered.
Of course, the laptop was brand new — sleek, top-tier, probably the kind of tech not even released to the public yet.
Not surprising, though. This was the estate of billionaires.
No… trillionaires, maybe.
Honestly, I couldn't even begin to count the power and money locked inside these walls.
Which made it all the stranger.
If they were this powerful, how did someone manage to kidnap a Valemont?
Was the kidnapper really that skilled? Or worse — was it someone inside this estate?
The thought made me smirk.
The mighty Valemont estate… cracking from the inside.
Weakened. Vulnerable.
Good.
But I didn't have time to enjoy the irony. I dove into the laptop, fingers flying over the keys.
Line after line of code, I broke through firewalls and security systems, pulling up surveillance feeds, hacking both inside and outside this suffocating estate. I didn't know who the kidnapper was yet, but I'd find them.
And then it hit me.
Wait… didn't Aurelius hack my laptop once?
I slowly turned my head, narrowing my eyes at him.
Aurelius was lounging nearby, watching me — and when he saw my glare, he just grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.
Oh.
So he's back to being his smug, annoying self now, huh?
I rolled my eyes, muttering under my breath.
"Asshole."
But I couldn't deny it — a tiny part of me was glad he hadn't completely shattered under the pressure. I was going to need his help… whether I liked it or not.
I tore my gaze away from Aurelius's smug face and turned to Lucien, who was still slumped on the couch like a kicked puppy.
"Tell me everything you know about Aurora," I said, my voice a little softer than I expected.
Lucien's face crumpled.
Tears welled up instantly, and before I could brace myself — he was bawling.
Loud, messy, raw sobs that made my chest tighten a little.
I hesitated.
Comforting crying people wasn't exactly my thing.
But before I could awkwardly pat his shoulder or something, Aurelius moved in.
He crouched in front of Lucien, his expression shifting — that cold, sharp mask he always wore cracked open, revealing something… warmer.
"Hey… hey, it's okay," Aurelius murmured, pulling his little brother into a firm, steady hug. "I've got you, Lucien. We'll find her. I promise."
I blinked.
Huh.
There it was again — this side of him.
The protective, family-guy side I kept pretending didn't exist.
The way he shielded his trembling little brother, voice steady, eyes fierce…
A part of me, deep down, liked this side of him.
The kind, caring, protective Aurelius Valemont.
But another part of me?
Yeah, still thought he was an arrogant, smug asshole.
The balance was weird. Annoying, even.
Once Lucien's sobs softened to quiet sniffles, Aurelius let go and sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.
He turned to me, expression serious again.
"Aurora is… was born the youngest Valemont. She's Lucien's twin," he began, his voice low but clear.
"She's not just a sister — she's important to this family. Not for power, not for politics. She's… different. Special."
His gaze flickered. "She wasn't meant to be dragged into any of this. She was the light in this house, the only one who could actually laugh and mean it. And now…"
He swallowed hard, jaw clenched.
"Now she's missing. And without that contract… everything falls apart."
I stared at him.
There was no arrogance there. No smugness. Just pure, desperate fury and fear wrapped tight in control.
I shut my laptop for a second, leaning back.
"Alright," I said quietly. "Then let's find her."
I took a breath, my mind already piecing together questions like puzzle fragments.
Time to cut through the emotions and get to what mattered.
I turned to Lucien, who was still wiping his face with his sleeve.
"Okay," I said firmly, my voice clear now. "Tell me — how, why, when, what, where, and with who was the last time you saw Aurora?"
Lucien blinked at me, wide-eyed.
Even Aurelius stiffened a little at my sudden interrogation tone, but I didn't care.
Lucien was the last person to see her — that made him the key.
And I needed answers.
"I… I-I…" Lucien stammered, his voice cracking. "It was… three nights ago… by the garden courtyard. She was supposed to meet me after dinner, just to hang out. She… she said she had something important to tell me. Said it was a secret."
He sniffled, clutching his hands together.
"I waited… but she didn't show up. So I went looking — and I… I saw her leaving through the east wing gates… with someone."
I leaned forward, heart pounding.
"Who?"
"I-I don't know!" Lucien cried, frustrated. "They were wearing a cloak… like one of the old ceremonial ones from the vault. I couldn't see their face… I thought maybe it was just one of the staff… but then… she was gone."
He buried his face in his hands again.
I glanced at Aurelius, whose face had gone cold again — stormy and dangerous.
"Well," I said, grabbing my laptop again, my pulse quickening, "I guess we've got our first lead."
Now great.
Another damn problem to solve.
I sighed, rubbing my temples. My exam's in the morning — and what have I done? Studied? No. Slept? No. I was here, caught in some twisted billionaire family drama, hacking through surveillance feeds like it was my final project. Brilliant.
I turned to Aurelius, already irritated.
"Find me evidence about Aurora's whereabouts," I said flatly, like I was giving orders to some low-ranking assistant.
His head snapped toward me, eyes narrowing, clearly not expecting that.
He blinked — once, twice, like his brain had to reboot from the audacity of someone ordering him.
The great Aurelius Valemont, heir to this trillionaire empire, who probably hadn't been bossed around by anyone since diapers — except maybe by his father, the head of this overbearing dynasty.
He cleared his throat, jaw tightening, trying hard not to let Lucien see how that pissed him off.
Good.
Let him stew in it.
Because right now, I didn't have time for fragile egos.
I had a missing girl, a centuries-old contract gone missing, and a college exam waiting to ruin my GPA.
Priorities.
Aurelius cleared his throat again, squaring his shoulders like he needed to remind himself who he was.
"I don't take orders from you," he muttered, voice low, like a warning meant to bite.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Good thing I wasn't asking for your permission."
Lucien let out a tiny, nervous squeak between us.
Aurelius sighed, raking a hand through his perfect, infuriatingly expensive-looking hair.
The cold arrogance in his expression melted just a little, replaced by something sharper — calculating.
"Fine," he said at last. "But don't think it's because you told me to. I want Aurora back just as much as anyone in this house."
He turned to one of his men by the door, snapping his fingers. "Get me everything — surveillance logs, visitor records, staff rotations for the last seventy-two hours. I want to know if a damn leaf moved outside this estate."
The servant scurried off without a word.
Aurelius glanced back at me, his gaze unreadable.
"Happy now, princess?"
I smirked. "Not yet. But we're getting there."
I sighed inwardly, my head pounding, exhaustion creeping in like a slow, heavy fog.
What was I even doing here?
First, my so-called mission — seduce him, gather intel, dig up anything I could about the Valemont family — failed spectacularly.
And now, here I was… chasing after a missing girl and playing detective in a house that was never meant to be mine.
I turned to Aurelius, narrowing my eyes.
"Does your father have enemies? Or you?" I asked, my tone colder than I intended. "Because that cringe note was about me — specifically me — but if it's connected to the Valemont, it means someone's targeting both of us."
Aurelius's face stiffened, the playful arrogance gone in an instant.
He crossed his arms, leaning slightly against the wall.
"We have enemies," he said simply. "Plenty of them. Power like this… it breeds jealousy, hatred, grudges. Old ones. New ones."
His voice dropped lower. "But none of them would be reckless enough to leave a note like that, here, inside this house… unless…"
He trailed off.
I caught that look in his eyes — a flicker of something dark.
And for a moment, a chill ran down my spine.
"Unless what?" I pushed.
But Aurelius just shook his head, lips pressed into a thin line.
"I'll handle it."
And just like that, he closed himself off again.
I scoffed under my breath, shaking my head.
"No wonder why your little sister got kidnapped," I added, my voice like a blade. I didn't even mean to say it out loud — but the words slipped out before I could stop them.
Aurelius's jaw clenched, his eyes darkening instantly.
For a moment, the room felt heavier, the air thick between us.
Lucien stiffened, looking between us nervously.
But I didn't back down.
Because if no one else was going to say it — I would.
"This is what happens when you let your guard down, Valemont," I said quietly, my gaze locked on his. "Power makes people reckless. Careless. It makes enemies braver."
Aurelius took a step closer, his voice low and dangerous.
"Careful, Callista," he warned. "You're still standing in my house."
I tilted my chin up, matching his stare.
"Good. Then maybe you should start cleaning it up."
"I can leave this estate if I want to," I snapped, scowling at him. "I have exams this morning. Stop ruining my GPA."
Aurelius raised a brow, crossing his arms like the arrogant noble he was, but he didn't say anything. Good — because I wasn't done.
"Be grateful I'm helping you at all when I know you're good at this too," I added, jabbing a finger toward him.
But then… something clicked in my head.
Wait a second.
I narrowed my eyes at him, leaning back against the chair. "Hold up. How old are you, exactly?"
He blinked. "What?"
"I mean… I thought you were around my age. You look like you're in your twenties, but now that I think about it — I've never heard of you going to college. Do you even go? Or did you skip that and jump straight into being your daddy's little heir? Or…" I grinned, sharp and teasing. "Did you not graduate? Not a good student, huh?"
Aurelius looked at me like he was debating whether to strangle me or laugh.
Lucien snorted in the background.
"Well?" I pressed, tilting my head.
Aurelius let out a sharp breath, his jaw ticking as if reining himself in. His eyes locked onto mine — those stormy, dark irises glinting like he was both irritated and oddly entertained.
"I'm twenty-seven," he finally said, voice low and controlled. "Graduated years ago. Top of my class, actually — international business and political science, if you must know."
He stepped a little closer, leaning one hand on the table between us, his grin returning — the one that made it hard to tell if he wanted to kiss me or kill me.
"I don't parade around campuses because while you're worrying about midterms, I'm running half this empire. And trust me," he added smoothly, "being a Valemont isn't a desk job. Or a GPA contest."
He straightened, dusting imaginary lint from his sleeve with infuriating calm.
"But it's cute you thought I was your age. I'll take that as a compliment."
Lucien burst out laughing in the background while I just scowled harder.
"Ugh. Whatever, grandpa," I muttered, turning back to the laptop.
.....
Callista sighed under her breath, her fingers flying over the keyboard as lines of code reflected in her tired eyes.
"Can't believe I'm engaged to an old man," she muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm and quiet frustration. "I'm hating this engagement more by the second."
Aurelius raised a brow but didn't comment — though she could feel his stare like a heat against her skin.
Nineteen. Barely even twenty next week, and nobody would probably remember. Not that it mattered. Birthdays in her family weren't for celebrating — they were for closing deals, making statements, or attending dinner meetings disguised as family gatherings. Her father would probably toast to the company stock before even mentioning her name.
And now this. A six-year gap sealed by a 50-billion-dollar engagement she never asked for.
She had her standards — she always said three years older was her limit. But six? Six and a trillionaire control freak at that?
Callista clenched her jaw, more annoyed by the second.
She kept typing, muttering under her breath.
"All this for a damn contract and bloodline… yeah, no. Not how my life was supposed to go."
As Callista continued typing, the laptop's screen flashed — she finally cracked into the estate's internal surveillance archives and data logs. Rows of timestamps, camera feeds, and hidden file directories unfolded like a puzzle before her eyes.
"There," she pointed, narrowing her gaze. "East wing, 11:43 PM… someone bypassed the security loop."
Aurelius immediately moved beside her, his expression shifting from irritation to sharp focus.
"Show me."
She pulled up the grainy footage — a figure cloaked in black, carefully disabling a vault sensor with practiced precision. No alarms, no alerts. The figure vanished into a blind spot, the same one Callista had flagged minutes ago.
"See? Either someone inside knows too much… or you have a mole." Callista smirked, half proud of herself, half disgusted by how easy it was to tear through their billion-dollar defenses.
Lucien sniffled, still sitting on the couch, but his attention sharpened.
"That's… that's the hallway leading to Aurora's room…"
Aurelius's jaw tensed. "Get the timestamp logs. Trace everyone who accessed the east wing entrance between 11:00 and midnight."
Callista already had them on-screen. "Done. Only four IDs registered — two servants, a groundskeeper… and this one's blank." She pointed. "No name, no ID… that's your guy."
Aurelius muttered a curse under his breath.
"Looks like I'm better at this than you after all," she teased, though exhaustion lined her voice.
He shot her a sidelong look, half-grudging, half-impressed.
"Fine. You win this round. But you're not leaving until we find Aurora."
Callista sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm not heartless… but you owe me after this. Big time."
While Callista hacked away at the laptop, she noticed Aurelius step aside and quietly issue orders to one of his most trusted men — Marcus, the head of security.
"Search the east wing vault corridor, check for signs of forced access or tampered sensors. Get me the surveillance backups, entry logs, and any servants on duty during that hour. I want names, locations, and their alibis in ten minutes," Aurelius commanded coldly, his voice sharp and absolute.
Marcus bowed slightly. "Understood, sir."
He disappeared swiftly into the shadows, efficient and unquestioning.
Callista noticed. "Hmph, good. You actually can follow orders," she muttered under her breath, still scanning through her own stolen data.
Not long after, Marcus returned carrying a sealed evidence folder and a flash drive. "Sir, we found this tucked behind a loose panel near the vault. A torn piece of cloth… looks like part of a servant's uniform, but there's blood on it. The hallway sensors were also disabled manually."
Aurelius took the items, his expression darkening.
"Run a DNA test on the blood. Cross-check every servant on staff. Now."
He turned to Callista, who looked up from her screen, brows raised.
"Well… look who's actually pulling his weight."
Aurelius ignored the jab. "Found anything?"
She nodded. "There's a ghost ID in the logs — no name, no entry record. They slipped through while your guards slept."
Marcus added, "We're narrowing down possible suspects from the servant quarters. A few unaccounted for."
Aurelius met Callista's gaze, a fire sparking between irritation and reluctant teamwork.
"We'll get her back," he promised, quiet but firm.
And for the first time, despite the annoyance, Callista almost believed him.
Just as Marcus was about to leave with the evidence, the laptop in Callista's lap flickered — an unknown encrypted message flashing on the screen.
"You're too late. She's already gone. Next… it's you."
Callista's fingers froze mid-code, her breath catching.
Aurelius noticed the pale shift in her face.
"What is it?" he asked sharply.
Without a word, she turned the screen toward him.
His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing as he read the message.
A sudden, cold dread settled over the room like a storm cloud.
Callista's heart raced.
And then — the screen cut to black.
To be continued…