Daisy\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f66 \u0f22 42%\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f41\u0fad\u0f0b\u00a0<\/p>\n
The presidential suite was spacious and elegantly appointed, but Aria sat on the leather sofa in complete silence, her small frame unnaturally still, lost in whatever thoughts occupied her young mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After losing Aria last time, I\u2019d had to carefully manipulate the situation\u2013convincing the child to request returning to my care and promising Ridley there would be no more mistakes. It had taken all my persuasive skills to make him agree to let me continue as Aria\u2019s dance instructor and occasional caretaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned against the floor\u2013to\u2013ceiling window, phone pressed to my ear, my one deliberately languid and seductive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRidley\u2019s still with his private physician,\u201d I sighed into the phone. \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for two hours now, and my makeup is starting to fade.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I twirled a strand of hair around my finger as I continued: \u201cI don\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s wrong with him. Probably just executive stress requiring some therapeutic intervention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sterling family places such enormous pressure on him. He carries the entire business empire on his shoulders. His health will inevitably\u00a0<\/p>\n
suffer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I listened to my friend\u2019s response before adding with calculated vulnerability: \u201cOf course I\u2019m getting impatient\u2014I\u2019ve been waiting for years! But what can I do? Ridley\u2019s heart still belongs to Irene. She\u2019s been dead for ten years, and he still can\u2019t let her go\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out another dramatic sigh. I\u2019d been waiting since I was sixteen, and now I was twenty\u2013six. Ten years of my youth, gone in a flash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How many decades does a woman\u2019s prime last? With thirty approaching faster than I\u2019d like, my urgency was growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t rush this. Pushing too hard would only drive Ridley further way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As long as I maintained my connection to Aria\u2013my ultimate ace card\u2013Ridley would eventually make me a Sterling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned back toward the sofa, ready to engage the child in some performative affection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sofa was empty,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Ar\u00eda? Where are you?\u2018 My voice echoed in the empty room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hung up immediately and began searching the office. The sprawling presential suite suddenly seemed impossibly large.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I scoured every corner\u2013behind the desk, under the conference table, in the private bathroom\u2013but there was no sign of her. Sweat began to form on my forehead, ruining the perfect makeup I\u2019d spent an hour applying this morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Aria had disappeared again, I couldn\u2019t even imagine the consequences..\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aria, sweetie, this isn\u2019t funny anymore. Come out now!\u201d My voice became higher with anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Aria, if you don\u2019t come out right now, I\u2019m going to be very angry! You know what happens when I get angry\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice carried a clear threat, but still, there was no response. No sign of the child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
16:24 Thu, Feb 5 BNB\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 108\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now genuinely panicking. I flung open the office door and rushed toward he adjacent rest area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knocked frantically before pushing the door open. \u201cRidley, it\u2019s an emergency, Aria is missing\u2013AHH!\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words died in my throat as I witnessed a truly horrifying scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f66 \u0f5f\u0fad 42% \u2601\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley lay shirtless on a treatment table, his back covered with acupuncture needles. Some had drawn blood, creating a crimson pattern across his muscular back. The white sheet beneath him was soaked with blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRidley, you\u2019re\u2013you\u2019re\u2026\u201d I couldn\u2019t form a complete sentence, my hand covering my mouth in shock.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew Ridley underwent monthly treatments, but I had no idea they were so brutal. What kind of condition required such extreme measures?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley coldly motioned for the doctor to remove the needles, then turned his head toward me. \u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed down my horror and stammered, \u201cI was on the phone with a friend for just five minutes, and when I turned around, Aria was gone! She can\u2019t have been missing more than five minutes. Ridley, you need to lock down the building immediately!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the last needle was removed, Ridley grabbed his shirt and began buttoning it, his movements precise despite what must have been\u00a0<\/p>\n
considerable pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Unfinished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 108 Daisy\u2019s POV\u00a0 \u0f66 \u0f22 42%\u2013\u00a0 \u0f41\u0fad\u0f0b\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}