Ethan's hands shook as he dialed her number again.
No answer.
He knew something was wrong the moment the line went straight to voicemail.
The Search Begins
Ethan contacted her friends.
No one had seen her in days.
He tried the hospital where her mother had been admitted—everything was paid, immaculate, but no visit records for Loraine.
"That's… strange," the receptionist muttered.
Ethan's heart sank.
"She wouldn't just vanish," he said. "Someone must have taken her."
Jason Notices
Back at the house, Jason's eyes narrowed.
He had felt the shift—slight, but dangerous.
Outside interest had been creeping closer, probing.
He stood at the window, watching shadows move near the driveway.
A car? Perhaps a stranger.
Jason's lips curled slightly—not in amusement, but calculation.
"She's mine," he murmured under his breath. "No one touches what's mine."
Loraine's Awareness
Loraine noticed the shift first as a whisper of wind through a cracked window—she thought it was imagination.
Then she heard the distant hum of a car engine.
Her stomach twisted.
Someone is here.
Jason did not acknowledge it at first, only standing silently behind her, cold and still.
"Do you feel it?" she whispered.
He did not answer.
But his hand brushed against her shoulder, firm. Protective. Possessive.
"Stay close," he said softly.
Her heart raced.
She didn't know whether to obey or flee.
The Outside Pressure Grows
Ethan was relentless.
He contacted a private investigator, tracing her mother's medical records, cross-referencing addresses, following every possible lead.
He was cautious—he didn't want to alert Jason if he had found her.
"I will find her," Ethan muttered to himself. "She's not gone."
Jason's Reaction
Later that evening, Jason paced the hallway.
He could feel the outside world pulling at her—small tugs at her attention, tiny threads threatening to unravel her loyalty.
His jaw tightened.
"She's mine," he whispered. "I will not let her forget that."
He circled the house mentally, calculating every entrance, every shadow, every possible intrusion.
Even a whisper of concern from outside could ruin everything.
Loraine's Internal Struggle
That night, Loraine lay awake, thinking about the faint chance someone from outside was trying to reach her.
Her body reacted to the idea of freedom, her chest tightening, pulse rising.
Jason noticed immediately.
He leaned close, voice low and tense.
"You think someone out there can save you?"
She did not answer.
His hand rested on hers, a weight she could not shrug off.
"I won't let them," he said. "You are mine. Mine, and no one else's."
She felt her stomach churn.
Part of her wanted to resist.
Another part knew resistance could be dangerous.
Questions Hanging in the Air
Will Ethan reach her in time?
Can Loraine signal someone without Jason noticing?
How far will Jason go to protect—or possess—her?
And now that the outside world has noticed, what does that mean for her fragile hope of freedom?