Blaze Anderson usually travelled by air anytime he went on a business trip. But today for some weird reason, he decided to travel by road. He needed to clear his mind of so many crippling thoughts.
It was already 10:55 PM, and the old country road that led through Lanche County wound up to a bridge.
Feeling the cold breeze on his handsome face and staring peacefully at the full moonlight, Blaze's tranquil thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a fast approaching car.
"What the hell...Fred get out of the way." Blaze's personal assistant, Marcus Haze, who was seated in the front passenger seat boomed at the driver, who was blasting his horn at the oncoming vehicle.
Suddenly the screeching of tires, followed by the shattering of glasses forced Blaze to look out the side window.
At that very split second, his gaze locked with those of the helpless lady in the slightly mangled sports car before it went over the bridge.
"Stop the car." Blaze heard himself boom, his heart beating fast and his pulse racing.
"Sir..." Marcus was scared out of his shit after missing death by just a whisker.
"I said stop the goddam car." Blaze thundered taking off his suit jacket.
Fred abruptly put his foot on the brake pedal and the car came to a halt.
Blaze got out of the car just in time to see another car pass by with three suspicious-looking guys in it. He took note of their car plate number as he watched them temporarily slow down at the crash sight before zooming off.
Blaze couldn't explain what was going on in his mind as he sprinted across the road and dived into the river.
Holding his breath, he swam up to the sinking car, whose headlight was still on, only to find the beautiful drowning lady, almost taking her last breath. She was pretty injured on the head. But thankfully, she had managed to free some part of her body from the flooded car.
Taking hold of her waist, Blaze managed to free the rest of her body and swam with her to the shore where Marcus and Fred were already waiting with some first aid supplies.
"Mr Anderson, are you alright?" Marcus shone his phone touch light on his boss who was gasping for air.
"She is badly injured. Quick get..." Blaze froze upon recognising the pale face of the lady in his arms.
"Isn't that Amelia..."
"Shawls..." Blaze completed Marcus's statement, his expression turning dark.
'Did I just risk my life for the daughter of the man who betrayed my father?' His jaws clenched.
Blaze snapped out of his thoughts and started performing CPR on his enemy's daughter, taking out as much water as he could out of her system and exchanging his breath with hers, through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
"Get the car started and get the team here. I want this matter treated discreetly and those f**kers captured." Blaze finally spoke up after getting a pulse from the unconscious beauty.
Back at Senator Gregory Shawls' magnificent mansion, there was tension in the air. All the servants and mansion workers spoke in hushed voices, afraid that they may bear the brunt of the senator's anger.
Rumours of the questionable disappearance of the bride were the topic on everyone's lips.
While some of the mansion staff outwardly lamented, praying for her safe return, others who never liked her secretly celebrated her absence.
"Poor Miss Amelia, I hope she's safe wherever she is." One of the uniformed maids serving food and drinks to the guests, shook her head sorrowfully as she passed by.
"Poor Miss Amelia..." Another maid in uniform mimicked the first one, snickering.
"Don't mind that fat fool. She is always licking Miss Amelia's butt." A third maid sneered.
"I'm sure Miss Amelia is having an affair with another rich dude. You know how she keeps a lot of male friends." The second whispered while preparing a lemon tea for the sad madam of the mansion.
"I feel so sorry for Mr Jerry. Such a handsome and generous man deserves someone better." The other hissed.
"If I were him, I would choose Miss Gwen. She is far better than that spoiled brat." The second maid hissed lifting the tray of lemon tea with biscuits.
"I hope she gets lost and never comes back to this house." The two chuckled and quickly left to carry out their respective duties.
Inside the large sitting room, some members of the family, already lavishly dressed for the occasion, sat in small groups whispering amongst themselves.
"Where is the Bride?" Was the question on everyone's lips.
Some professionally dressed men in black suits, who happened to be detectives were seen moving around speaking to different family members, and gathering intel.
"Dad, what are we going to do?" Gwen couldn't stop the tears from falling from her reddened eyes "It's been more than fourteen hours since I last saw Amelia. I'm really scared."
The troubled father pulled his second daughter into his arms. "Don't be, my dear. Your sister will be found. Let's stay positive."
Gwen nodded her head, sniffling. "I already called Jerry and he is very devastated."
"You called him? But I told you not to tell him anything." Senator Shawls' brows furrowed.
"I had to, dad. I'm sorry. He has been calling me all morning after Amelia stood him up last night. I didn't know what else to say when he insisted on speaking to her. I was scared he would find out and hate me." Gwen's body trembled in her father's arms.
"It's okay. Let's just hope he can manage this situation." The senator sighed, checking the time on his golden wristwatch. "We have less than an hour before the wedding. Have you spoken to Stacy?"
"Yes, she's a complete mess. We have both been to so many places searching for Amelia before we finally opened up to you guys."
"Oh, Amelia..." The Senator raked his fingers through his hair. "Where is Jerry now?"
"He is currently on his way here."
"Has he said anything to his parents?"
"No, I told him not to."
"That's good." Senator Shawls exhaled, releasing his daughter. "Let's keep this information contained for now. No one has to know anything about it until we are sure of what happened. We cannot afford to attract unnecessary attention to ourselves. I don't want the press hovering this place like flies."
"Okay, Dad. I'll go wait for Jerry outside." Gwen kissed her father on the cheek before leaving the sitting room.
The senator loosened the tie around his neck as he took a seat while massaging his forehead.
"Sir, I just finished speaking to the chief of police and there is no report about a missing person or an abduction." The detective handling the case said, trying to sound professional. "Is it possible that Miss Amelia never wanted to..."
"No." Senator Shawls replied without giving it a second thought. "She loves Jerry and she wanted this union. It was never forced on her. What about the places she could likely visit last night? Have you made any more inquiries?"
"Yes, sir. We have searched the hotel where the bachelorette party was held. We have also been to the location where the Bachelor's Eve took place. We discretely questioned some of the people who attended the party. We also visited the restaurant where she was supposed to meet her fiance last night."
"What about her penthouse apartment?"
"Nothing. She hasn't been there for almost a week now." The detective sighed. "From the intel we gathered from last night, Miss Amelia left the hotel but never showed up at her destination."
"What about the CCTV footage outside the hotel?" Mr Shawls asked, feeling a bit hopeless. "Can't it tell us where she went?"
"I'm afraid not, sir. The CCTV outside the hotel can only capture guests coming and leaving the premises. It captured her leaving the premises in her car. But she never returned. Weirdly, her car was parked four poles away from the hotel. There were no signs of struggle or forced entry. She left with her personal items, locking the car key inside the car. I don't know if this was a mistake or intentional. But If I didn't know any better, I would say she willingly hitched a ride with a stranger, with no plans of returning that night."
Mrs Regina Shawls (Amelia's stepmother), who had been sniffling quietly, cried out dramatically gaining everyone's attention.