Chapter 12
When Rylan couldn’t reach Gigi by phone, he pulled every string he had and turned the whole city upside down, but she had vanished without a trace.
He looked drained and desperate, as if every dead end was another blow straight to the chest.
Donovan, Meredith, and Kenny were just as frantic. They kept their phones close at all times, praying for any news about Gigi.
Meredith spent every day sobbing her heart out as she beat herself up. “It’s all our fault. We drove Gigi away. If only we had uncovered Catherine’s scheme earlier and treated her better,
she wouldn’t have left us.”
Donovan wore his regret like a mask. His posture sagged, and all his former pride had that remained was a tired old man who was worried sick for his daughter.
gone. All
Kenny was like a headless chicken, asking anyone he could find about Gigi, but he kept coming up empty. With each passing day, everyone grew more and more anxious, teetering on the edge of despair.
Rylan widened his search. When Gigi was nowhere to be found in the city, he expanded his efforts to the entire nation. When that failed, he looked across the globe.
Donovan and Meredith put up Gigi’s photo all over town, hoping a kind stranger might come
to them with a lead.
Kenny flooded the internet with missing person posts about Gigi, detailing her appearance and how she went missing. Unfortunately, he got nothing back.
One day, a private investigator called and said a girl resembling Gigi had been spotted in a remote town. Rylan hit the road immediately, heart pounding with anticipation but also bracing for disappointment.
When he got to the town and followed the address the investigator gave him, he realized it had all been a mix-up. The woman only looked like Gigi from the back. The moment she
turned, he felt his heart sink.
The moment the Hart family saw the disappointment on Rylan’s face, their last shred of hope
crumbled
Meredith collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Donovan sat silently nearby, his head buried in his hands as tears slipped through his fingers.
Kenny slammed his fist into the wall, blood pouring from his knuckles as he screamed, ”
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Where are you, Gigi? Why are you punishing us like this?”
Just when everyone was about to give up, Rylan recalled something Gigi had mentioned to him. Her biggest dream was to live in a secluded place, painting freely and enjoying a peaceful
life.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. Could she have escaped to an uncharted island?
He pulled himself together and began looking into uncharted islands. After a long and difficult
search, he finally uncovered some clues on a far-off island.
Without missing a beat, he took the Hart family to the island right away.
As they arrived and took in the tranquil beauty of the island, their hearts stirred with renewed
hope.
They scoured the island for any sign of Gigi. Rylan could hear his heart thudding in his ears, and his palms were slick with sweat.
At last, under the shade of coconut trees, they spotted a familiar figure. She was fully immersed in her painting, as if nothing else in the world mattered.
Rylan slowly walked toward Gigi and called out in a trembling voice, “Gigi.”
Gigi stiffened slightly before turning around. When she saw the rest of the Hart family and Rylan standing there, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she quickly regained her
composure.
Her voice was soft, but on this quiet island, it rang out crystal clear. “What brings you here?”
Meredith couldn’t hold back any longer. She rushed forward, threw her arms around Gigi, and broke down in tears. “I’m sorry, Gigi. I was wrong. We’ve been through so much trying to find
you.”
Chopra: 13
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