Christopher McDowell POV:
Weeks. It had been weeks since Allison had disappeared, since she' d finally stopped answering my calls, since she' d sent that final, scathing text. I' d expected her to come crawling back, as she always did, perhaps after a few days of sulking. She always did. But her silence was a suffocating blanket, a heavy weight that settled over the mansion, over my life. I found myself checking my phone obsessively, a strange, gnawing anxiety twisting in my gut. I told myself it was annoyance, a powerful man irritated by the insubordination of a woman he owned. But deep down, a colder, more unsettling feeling coiled.
When my phone finally vibrated, a jolt of something akin to relief shot through me. "Finally," I muttered, snatching it up. "She's come to her senses." I leaned back in my office chair, a smirk playing on my lips. She couldn't stay away forever. She loved me. She always had.
"Mr. McDowell, it's Julian," my assistant's voice crackled through the phone, tinged with a frantic edge that immediately put me on guard. My smirk vanished. My gut tightened.
"What is it, Julian? Has Allison finally called?" I demanded, my voice sharp, impatience thrumming through me.
"Sir… it's about Allison's grandmother," he stammered, his voice choked. "She… she passed away. Days ago. The funeral was held last week." The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the wind out of me. My grandmother? Dead? But Allison had just been exaggerating. She always did. This couldn't be right.
"What are you talking about?" I growled, my voice laced with disbelief. "That's impossible. Allison just sent me a message a few days ago, threatening me with her grandmother's condition if I didn't send money. She' s just being dramatic." My mind raced, trying to find the lie in his words.
Julian took a shaky breath. "No, sir. It's true. I have the death certificate right here. And there's more. Allison… she underwent a procedure. A termination." My blood ran cold, a freezing wave of shock washing over me. Termination. The baby. My baby.
