The Day Our Promise Breaks

Chapter 635

Night had fallen, draping the city in a velvet blanket of deep blue and black.

Evelyn's phone rang out of nowhere. It was Taylor, calling to remind her-the semi-finals were about to start. Once they began, she'd be cut off from the world for a whole week.

"Yes, Ms. Sanders. I got it," she replied, her voice scratchy and weary. She hung up, but the weight in her chest only grew heavier, as if she was being pressed down by a mountain.

On one side was her daughter-lost, found, but still heartbreakingly out of reach. On the other was the dream she'd built together with Charlie, the dream they'd both sacrificed so much for.

Charles watched the pain flicker across her pale face. It tore at him, sharp and merciless.

He stepped closer, voice steady and deep, a promise in every word. "Eve, I've already lined up the best people. There'll be someone outside the villa watching over Charlie, twenty-four seven. I promise you-on my life-she'll be safe."

"Just give me some time. I swear, I'll bring our daughter back to you, unharmed. I won't let anything happen to her. Please, trust me one more time. Just this once, okay?"

His eyes were dark, filled with guilt and a resolve that wouldn't be shaken.

Evelyn didn't respond. She just stared at the brightly lit villa, silent and unmoving, until the clock ticked to nine and Charlie's bedroom light blinked out.

The darkness swallowed the last bit of light, and with it, Evelyn's strength seemed to drain away.

"...Take me back to the hotel."

Her voice was barely a whisper, light as a feather.

...

Evelyn felt trapped in a

nowhere to

and turned in bed, the sheets feeling like they were made of thorns- every minute a new kind of

door, Charles watched her on the security feed, his

light a special candle in her room, one meant to calm nerves and ease

unraveling the tight knot inside her until, finally, sleep claimed her-soft,

though, the lights never went

opened his laptop, its cold glow outlining the hard lines

flew over the keys, searching

into his elite network,

complete dossier on Luna lit up his

glance, it was perfect: a family,

social ties. Not

sight.

Charles's suspicion only

in

Luna's baseless animosity toward

bet

at him, sharp and

hatred come from?

eyes narrowed, and he dove back into the

date, every gap.

ticked by in the silent,

his eye-a tiny medical