5
In the dead of night, Kaelen was jolted awake by his phone. His subordinate’s voice was frantic. “Boss, she’s
gone! We’ve checked every hospital in Canaan, nothing! But you need to see her medical records…” His voice
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dropped. “It looks like she already knew about the divorce. She even checked the public records at the clerk’
s office.”
Stella was woken by the smell of smoke. She found Kaelen in the living room, surrounded by a carpet of cigarette butts. “Is something wrong at the casino?” she asked softly.
He started, but for once, he didn’t put out his cigarette. “It’s nothing,” he said, his voice a raw rasp. “Just a small work issue.” He didn’t seem to notice the dark circles under his eyes, the bloodshot veins, the haggard look that made him seem like a stranger.
His man had told him. Zoe had gone to a hospital and had an abortion. On the exact same day he had brou ght Stella to the casino. While he was anointing a new queen in the kingdom they had built together, she was alone on an operating table, killing their child.
How dare she?
The first light of dawn crept through the window, illuminating Stella’s pure, unblemished face. So differen from the woman stained with blood, who now had the audacity to dispose of his child without his permissi
ɔn.
Fine. They were divorced anyway. Her leaving on her own saved him a lot of trouble.
‘It’s nothing,” he repeated, crushing the cigarette. “Let me just take a shower.”
He went into the bathroom and dialed his subordinate. “The West District scum. Leave none of them. Mak
t clean. Feed the trash to the sharks at the harbor.”
Stella moved into the villa. Kaelen had countless expensive dresses and jewels made for her and gave her comfortable, respectable position at the casino. But he felt a growing, gnawing exhaustion. After dealin with the blood and filth of his world, coming home to her innocent, uncomprehending eyes felt like splittin
himself in two. One half was the ruthless king of Canaan’s underworld; the other was a masquerade, th successful, respectable businessman she thought he was.
He started to think of Zoe. Only with her could he be himself. She was never afraid. She would strategiz
with him, cleanly and efficiently eliminating any obstacle in their path.
A gold-embossed invitation lay on his desk. The Southeast Asian Casino Summit, inviting the King of Cana an and his wife to compete. In the past, he wouldn’t have given it a second glance. With Zoe by his side, an game was just another performance to enhance their glory. But now… he couldn’t remember the last time he d seriously played. He was rusty. The simple games he played with Stella were just a way to pass the time.
He found himself returning to the penthouse more and more often, late at night. The old things brought back her presence, her sharp, confident energy. He had saved her from the drug lords, yes. But she had won him his kingdom. Theirs was never a relationship of a savior and the saved. It was a partnership forged in blood and fire, a silent understanding in the dark. Without Zoe, there would be no Kaelen.
So why had he thrown her away? Because her hands were bloody? Because her occasional moments of vulnerability annoyed him? But when Stella showed the same weakness, he felt nothing but a protective ten-
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derness.
A sharp pain lanced through his chest. He stood up abruptly.
No. He had to get her back. The casino couldn’t be without its queen. And he couldn’t be without Zoe.
“Tear this city apart if you have to, but find Zoe!” Kaelen roared into the phone. “I don’t care if she’s dead, I
want the body!”
“Boss, we’ve looked everywhere. Hospitals, docks, black-market clinics… no sign of her.”
“Then find her brother!” he slammed his fist on the desk. “He was injured. He has to be in a hospital somew
here! Get him. I’ll see how long she stays hidden then!”
He hung up, his chest heaving.
‘Kaelen?” Stella stood timidly in the doorway. “Who are you looking for?”
He turned, the violence still in his eyes, and she flinched back. He took a deep breath. “Nothing. Don’t worr
about casino business.”
She cautiously approached. “I made you some dessert soup. It will help you cool down.”
He took a sip. It was sweet, just like her. So sweet it was cloying, and it did nothing to quell the raging fire it his gut.
For two weeks, there was no sign of Zoe or her brother. It was as if they had vanished from the face of the earth. Kaelen’s temper grew shorter, and a cloud of fear hung over the casino. He couldn’t understand how a seriously injured woman and her sickly brother could just disappear.
He was drunk in the penthouse again when Stella found him. He was cursing at a subordinate on the phone
hen hurled his glass against the wall. The man saw her and quickly made his excuses.
Kaelen, you’ve had too much to drink,” she said, trying to help him up.
He grabbed her wrist, his eyes unfocused. “Zoe…” he mumbled, his voice breaking. “Don’t go… I was wrong..
Come back…”
The blood froze in Stella’s veins. He said his wife was dead. She looked around the opulent penthouse. The Iressing table, the closets, the nightstands… there wasn’t a single photograph. A grieving, devoted husband
wouldn’t erase every picture of his late wife.
The next day, he took her for a prenatal check-up. In the car, she tested the waters. “Kaelen, when are we going to get married? Soon, I won’t be able to hide the baby bump.”
3efore, he would have been ecstatic. Now, he just sounded irritated. “The casino is a mess right now. We’ll
talk about it later.”
“If… if this is too much for you,” she whispered, “I can leave.”
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He was silent for a few seconds. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’ll do it at the end of the month, after I sort things
out.”
Back at the casino, while he was in a meeting, Stella went to the records room. No one dared stop her. But she searched for hours and found nothing. No file, no record, no mention of anyone named “Zoe Galler.”
“Ma’am, what are you looking for?” one of the junior staff asked.
“I want to see Zoe’s file.”
“Miss Zoe’s file?” he blurted out. “The boss ordered all of them destroyed after she left-ouch!” He was viol-
ently elbowed by a colleague.
Stella’s face went pale. She walked out in a daze, her steps taking her down to the casino’s subterranear levels. She could hear a faint, inhuman screaming coming from the depths.
Scarface was chained to the concrete floor, which was covered in broken glass. “Boss, I’m sorry! We’ll stay
out of the East District, I swear! Just let me go…”
Kaelen laughed, a sound devoid of any warmth. “That piece of dirt? You think that’s worth as much as my
wife?”
Scarface, knowing he was doomed, let out a twisted, mocking laugh. “Your wife? Stop pretending, Kaelen You sat in your car and watched us take her while you cuddled your new toy! Now you’re playing the heartbr ɔken husband? You’re pathetic!”
‘Cut his tendons,” Kaelen said, his voice flat. He glanced toward the door and saw a flash of a skirt.
Stella turned and ran, but he caught her in a few long strides. She was shaking like a leaf, tears streaming
down her face.
He pulled her into his arms, his voice a harsh attempt at comfort. “Don’t be scared. They deserved it. They won’t be able to hurt you again.”
‘No! That’s not what happened!” she cried, looking up at him through her tears. “It was Zoe who protected
me! She was so badly hurt, but she still shielded me!” Her voice rose to a scream. “She was so good to me…
now could I do this to her?”
For the first time, a crack appeared in Kaelen’s cold, controlled facade.
“She saved my life,” Stella sobbed. “Why didn’t you cherish a woman like that?”
He had no answer.
