A Ruling Passion – Chapter 1859

When Mark spoke, his voice was quaking as much as he was. “M-Must continue searching... T-Tell all of our people that we’ll... We’ll find her no matter how difficult it is, no matter the cost, no matter life or d-d-death... I want her found!”

How close to the truth the parcel implied was already beyond his care, for the note and the earring had defeated his mental fortress. It had been days since anxiety became his companion in the dark, denying him his nightly reprieve and forcing him to turn to medication just to emulate some form of emotional stability.

Home had become the den of his nightmares. He feared stepping inside the Tremont Estate because being in there, with emptiness surrounding him, forced him into confronting Arianne’s absence. Then there was Smore’s questioning, he feared the boy’s endless pelts of “Where is Mom, Dad? Where is my mom?”

Deep down inside, he had become just a mortified man who wanted to run away from everything.

Mark had not told Jackson nor Tiffany about the earring. Alejandro, too, was none the wiser. Ever since Arianne went missing, Alejandro and his wife had been pouring aid into the search. The last thing Mark needed was one of them telling him that she might be dead and that he should “give up”.