Divorced Heiress
I am Not A Contract Chapter 14

The excitement and hope grew in Bastian's chest upon hearing Abby's short but sincere words. From the beginning, he knew it wouldn't be easy, and although it was indeed somewhat complicated due to that woman's reluctance, which made his heart beat faster. It had been worth it because she was finally starting to give in.

It was only the beginning.

Inside, Bastian celebrated with an exaggerated dance and shouted with happiness, but on the outside, he only showed a slight smile that highlighted the dimple in his cheek.

This has been the first step towards her heart, Bastian thought, never taking his eyes off Abby's.

He took a big risk by gently holding her hands on the table, and although she found it unusual, she didn't give it much importance. On the contrary, Bastian felt a tingling sensation that ran from the palms of his hands to the nape of his neck, making his skin tingle along the way.

Truly, that woman had more of an effect on him than he could have imagined.

The dark-haired man swallowed hard, attempting to keep his emotions under control.

"Thank you, Abby. You can see me as a great support, you're not alone, okay? So, let's take good care of this pregnancy, of you and the baby. Forget that I'm Vincent's brother, we've known each other our whole lives, treat me as you always have, as Bastian, Sarah's cousin," Bastian said with a half-smile, trusting that someday he would no longer be just her best friend's cousin, but even better.

In the future she would call him husband and that baby wouldn't see him as a nephew, but as his son.

Bastian knew how crazy and risky what he was facing was.

Perhaps many would gossip about him for taking on the role that rightfully belonged to his own brother.

But for him, what he was feeling for Abby knew no limits.

He didn't care who talked about him or pointed fingers at him. All he cared about was making that woman with lifeless eyes the happiest and luckiest person in the world because Vincent had let her down.

"Thank you, Bastian. You have no idea how relieved I am that you're not like your miserable brother. You're doing what he should be doing, and I appreciate that a lot. Thank you," Abby said, proving that she had brought down the wall she had built to protect herself from the Lefebvre family.

However, she understood that the only one she had to keep away from was the eldest of them.

Bastian felt a warmth in his chest that he had never felt before, at the same time as a shiver ran down his spine.

For him, the mix of emotions that a few words from her caused was truly fascinating. He felt like a teenager who was just beginning to experience love.

Bastian wanted to respond, but the words had gotten stuck in his throat, and he felt saved by the bell when Rosalie arrived with their food, forcing him to let go of Abby's hands.

The next day, Abby didn't go to the company because Sara and Alexander would arrive from their private cruise, and she wanted to welcome them and hear all the details of the luxury marriage proposal.

Before leaving for Villa Doinel to await her friends, she sent a message to Bastian to let him know the reason for her absence and to inform him that he would be alone in the company for that day.

She no longer felt uncomfortable around him, nor did she hold any resentment. On the contrary, she was happy not to lose his friendship.

After all, Bastian had always been very kind to her, and he was the only one of the Lefebvres who shared the same sense of humor and had the same quirks. It was impossible to despise him. "Today, Sari arrives. Don't expect me at the company because I won't be there."

Bastian finished his usual morning run, and with his breath rapidly coming back to normal, he smiled as he read the message. The lunch from the day before and the short time they had spent together working diligently after leaving that restaurant had been a

success.

He was getting closer to her, and that was already a win.

"You're leaving me with all the work. I'll deduct it from your salary."

Abby laughed and shook her head as she started her car.

Instead of responding to Bastian, she texted Sarah to let her know that she would be very attentive to their arrival.

Upon arriving at Villa Doinel, Joelle Doinel greeted her with a big smile. Abby hugged her, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

No one knew, but she needed the warmth and love of a mother, and Joelle was the closest thing to it.

After a couple of hours talking about Leonardo and Joelle's

"vacation", Abby looked at her cellphone screen for the umpteenth time, waiting for a response from Sarah, who had sent a last message two hours ago, saying they were on their way to the Villa, and Abby's subsequent messages were not even reaching her. They should have arrived at the villa by now.

Sarah's parents were playing with Tristan in the living room, waiting for the lovebirds' arrival, and even though they didn't want to show it, they were as confused as Abby about the unusual delay.

It was really strange that they hadn't arrived yet.

Abby's phone rang in her hand and she didn't even wait a second to answer, and despite it being Julian, she had the slightest hope that he knew Sarah and Alexander's whereabouts. "Julian, tell me you know something about..."

Julian didn't even let Abby finish the sentence, as he completed it with something completely different from what she was going to tell him.

Julian, sitting at his desk, was biting his thumbnail, while his worried gaze was fixed on his computer screen, finishing reading the unexpected news in the digital newspaper.

"About Paul's prison escape? Yes. That's exactly why I was calling you, this isn't good for anyone, especially not for Sarah. Is she back already? I've tried calling her, but she's not answering." Julian said, thinking that's what Abby was going to talk about. On the other end of the line, an intense shiver ran through the brunette from head to toe, who was completely petrified and with a lost gaze in the middle of the room. Suddenly, she felt a pang in her chest that almost left her breathless. Did I hear right? Or is Julian playing a heavy joke on me?

Because if that's the case, I swear I'll go wherever he is and beat him until he's tired, he owes me several.

Abby's gaze stopped at Mr. and Mrs. Dainel, who were looking at her with curiosity and a glimmer of hope in their eyes, thinking she had news about Sarah.

But no, the only thing she had in that very moment was fear.

"It's Julian, I'll talk outside."

Abby informed them after a few seconds of silence, realizing the seriousness of the matter, if what Julian was saying was true.

What the brunette least wanted was to needlessly worry the Doinels. She needed to know first how true that was. Abby went out to the backyard, far from everyone, and after taking a deep breath, she resumed the conversation.

"Look, Julian, I'm not in the mood for heavy jokes, Ill give you one chance to tell me it's a game, otherwise, I'll feel its my unpleasant duty to go wherever you are just to leave you with a nice purple eye."Abby did her best not to panic, it wasn't good for her condition, now she had to be more careful with her emotions, for the sake of her pregnancy.

Julian furrowed his brow, feeling somewhat confused.

Wasn't that what she was talking about?

"Do you think I would joke about something like this? Look at the news. Paul has escaped."

When Abby heard his serious words, a tear escaped from her eye uncontrollably. She refused to think the worst, but soon she felt panic just by imagining that Paul, her brother, had something to do with Sarahs unusual delay.

Her heart was beating so strongly in her chest that it seemed like it was going to jump out at any moment, her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

The poor woman didn't know what to do, her mind went blank, all she needed at that moment was to know that Sarah and Alexander were okay and far from that criminal's reach.

Damn Paul, he's the worst thing that could happen to the Dubois family, if I find out he's involved, I'll be the one to finish him off, I don't care if he's my own blood. Abby+25 Pointscursed her brother in her mind, but she had to take a breath to calm down for the baby's sake.

"Something is wrong, Julian. Sarah and Alexander should already be at the villa and neither of them is responding to me. We must do something if they don't report in the next few minutes." Abby spoke with a trembling voice, the fear was starting to take over her whole body, no matter how much she resisted for her baby, but it was impossible.

When Julian heard what Abby had to tell him, he quickly got up from his seat and widened his eyes as he connected the dots. That was exactly what Julian had feared.

"What?! No, Abby, we can't wait, we have to do something and it has to be right now. I'll try to contact Sarah, if I don't get any answers, we must go to the police station. I don't want to scare you in your condition, but we can't trust him, we're talking about Paul." Julian's concern in his voice was more than noticeable, and although it wasn't his intention, Abby was already scared, but he was right, Paul wouldn't escape with good intentions.

"This shouldn't be happening, not now."

If Abby had to do something, it had to be now, there was no time to waste.

"I'm heading to the police station, I'll ask them to trace their phones or whatever, I need to know they're okay. I'll let you know if I have any news."

Abby didn't even wait for a response from Julian, who was already rushing out to find his car. She just ended the call and wiped away the tears on her cheeks before going back into the house, pretending not to be trembling with fear.

The last thing she wanted at that moment was for the Doinel family to find out what was happening, even though she couldn't be certain herself.

"I have to go to the company to sign some documents, I won't be long. And don't worry, maybe the lovebirds just took a detour to have a good time, you know," Abby tried to sound as casual as possible while making a dismissive gesture, praying inside that her face wouldn't give away her true emotions.

"Abby! Don't mention those things in front of Tristan, you'll never stop being impertinent," Mr. Leonardo reprimanded her as always, and with that, she felt relieved that at least she hadn't deviated from her role. She didn't lose her touch as the best actress, even though she was a mess inside.

Mrs. Joelle couldn't hide her laughter at her husband's reaction, and Tristan joined in without understanding what they were laughing about. At least they were having a great time, and she hoped it would stay that way.

It was really unfair that they had come back after being missing for so long, searching for evidence and witnesses in the Dubois case, and now Sarah had disappeared.

"Abby, don't think about that."

Abby just forced a smile that seemed more like a grimace, and without further ado, she hurried out to the parking lot.

She couldn't afford to waste time talking to the Doinels at that moment, about what she should or shouldn't say in front of little Tristan.

She had never driven so fast in her life, like that day. It was a true miracle that she didn't lose control with the nerves running rampant through her body.

However, it was all in vain because when she arrived at the police station and filed the report, the officers' response was disappointing.

"I'm sorry, it hasn't been twenty-four hours and there hasn't been any ransom message. Maybe shes just spending a day with her husband, don't worry, miss."

When Abby heard that and the calmness with which they spoke, she looked at them incredulously, unable to contain her rage.

"Are you kidding me? Twenty-four hours? You're incompetent. Of course they'll find them in twenty-four hours! But dead! Or maybe they'll never find them! Do you realize who we're talking about? The same person your security system let escape. It's unbelievable." The angry brunette couldn't control her mouth as she complained about the officers' ineffectiveness. Apart from letting that useless person escape, they weren't even helping to catch him.

"Miss, I kindly ask you to choose your words carefully or we'll be forced to detain you."

Abby laughed out loud at what the officer had just said and shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm genuinely surprised. The one they should be detaining is that sewer rat who escaped and who could be planning anything at this moment to continue doing evil, not me, an honest woman, and pregnant, to top it off! I just want support from those who claim to protect the city. How absurd," Abby fanned her face with her hands, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks..

"They are complete useless.

"Abby, I'm here, what happened? Do you have any news?" Julian's voice made Abby turn and she saw him agitated as if he had run the whole block, he had the phone in his hand, waiting for a message while continuing to call Sarah, with no success. "Nothing, I have nothing! And these wonderful police officers don't seem concerned about the seriousness of the matter!" Abby gave one last contemptuous look at the officers who seemed indignant at those words.

Giving one last look to the inefficient officers, Abby left the police station, stomping her feet and fuming.

Julian looked ashamed at the officers, having no idea what had happened, but he was aware that Abby had not spoken well in front of them.

"Excuse us, she's not going through a good moment." H apologized for Abby's attitude before running after her.

"What happened?" Julian asked behind Abby, the latter rolled her eyes since she heard the azure-eyed man apologize.

"What a ridiculousness."

"The thing is, if we want to find Sarah and Alexander, we'll have to do it on our own." Abby informed him, stopping her steps beside the car, and in a matter of seconds an idea crossed her mind, like a ray of light returning her hope to find her friends, or in any case, the filthy rat Paul.

"And I already know what we're going to do. Follow me in your car."