“Do you know how scared I was when I couldn’t find you? I almost called the police.”
Through the car window, Sheena noticed a cake box sitting on the passenger seat.
It was vanilla-flavored, Jasmin’s favorite.
She had heard that cakes from that bakery needed to be pre-ordered a week in advance. Once, Sheena had paused outside its window, admiring the cakes on display.
But Travis had dismissed her interest at that time, saying, “There’s nothing special about that bakery. They just use advance bookings as a marketing gimmick to attract customers. If you want cake, I’ll take you to the shop next door—they have ready-made ones.”
In the end, Sheena hadn’t bought any cake at all.
Now, she realized that while the bakery might not have been special, people certainly could be.
She wasn’t special enough—not even for a simple cake.
“Sheena, Sheena?”
When she didn’t respond, Travis frowned impatiently. “If I’ve come looking for you, it means I’ve already forgiven you for what happened last time. You should know when to back down.”
Seeing that she wasn't responding, Travis dragged her inside the car. His expression remained sour.
Since their last unpleasant encounter, he had been waiting for her to lower her head and apologize. After all, that was what Sheena always did in the past. But this time, three days had passed without so much as a phone call or a text.
An unexplainable unease crept over him, as though something precious was slipping away from his grasp.
He went to the Brooks family house, needing to see her in person, convinced that her presence would calm his inexplicable sense of alarm.
Yet, she wasn’t there, and even the servants claimed they didn’t know where she had gone.
Desperate, Travis drove through every street in the city until he finally spotted her outside the hospital.
Now, glancing at her through the rearview mirror, he felt some relief. As long as Sheena was within arm’s reach, the alarm bells in his mind seemed to quiet.
But during the drive, Sheena remained silent, not saying a single word.
That was simply impossible in the past.
The uneasy feeling surged again. Travis abruptly stepped on the brakes, stopping the car in the middle of the road.
Although the route to the Brooks family villa was usually empty, Sheena was startled. She instinctively grabbed his sleeve.
Seeing her still clinging to him, Travis’s panic melted into satisfaction.