Chapter 574
Sebastian told Vaughn to stay in the car while he went inside to find Caitlin. But after searching the entire theater, she was nowhere to be found. Instead, he ran into James and Zinnia, both of whom were rushing around.
“Harrison, Zinnia, where’s Caitlin?” he asked urgently.
James, drenched in sweat and panting, said, “She didn’t come to find you?”
Zinnia added, “Caitlin said she was heading to the back door to meet you. You didn’t see her?”
“No. I was at the back door and didn’t see her. I came inside to look. I’ve been calling her but I can’t get through,” Sebastian explained.
James’s eyes widened in alarm. “Shit!”
He quickly explained to Sebastian what had happened earlier. “I think someone set us up with a diversion. They were targeting Caitlin all along!”
Sebastian’s expression darkened. Hearing that someone had delivered a fake severed arm to Caitlin, combined with the fact that she was now unreachable, sent a chill down his spine.
“Let’s move! We need to find her, now!”
He felt a wave of dread rising in his chest. They had clearly agreed to meet at the back door–Caitlin would have definitely gone there. Something had gone wrong.
Sebastian made a swift decision. “Harrison, Zinnia, go check the theater’s internal surveillance. Start from where everything happened and trace her movements to the back exit. I’ll search outside. If you find anything, contact me immediately.”
“Got it!”
They split up. Sebastian ran toward the rear entrance while calling his men to mobilize and assist in the search.
He thoroughly searched the back entrance and surrounding area. According to a security guard, a woman had exited the door and gotten into a car.
“What kind of car was it?” Sebastian pressed.
The guard thought for a second, then pointed to the Rolls–Royce parked nearby. “It looked just like that one.”
Could Caitlin have gotten into a Rolls–Royce?
Could it have been Zeke?
As the thought crossed his mind, his phone rang–Zeke.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Vanderbilt, I can’t reach Caitlin, so I called you. Do you have time tonight? I was thinking we could all go out to celebrate.”
Zeke was still parked near the theater with his mother, planning to toast their double win at the awards.
“Now’s not a good time. Caitlin’s missing–I’m looking for her!”
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“What? Where? What happened?” Zeke’s tone instantly turned serious.
Sebastian gave a quick rundown. Zeke listened and responded immediately, “Alright, I’m on my way. I’ll bring people with me.”
Sebastian was now almost certain someone had picked up Caitlin in a luxury car. Based on the direction the guard pointed, he could guess which way the car had gone.
He called Felix and asked him to tap into the city’s traffic surveillance to track the suspicious vehicle.
Felix was already home, about to wind down for the night, but as soon as he heard Sebastian’s request, he jumped up to get
dressed.
His wife Madison asked, “Where are you going at this hour?”
“Mr. Vanderbilt just called. It seems Caitlin’s in trouble. I’ve got to help.”
“Caitlin’s in trouble?” Madison was visibly shaken. “Go! Go quickly!”
As he left, Felix contacted the city’s traffic command center to access footage.
Meanwhile, out front of the theater, Zora staggered out the main doors only to be immediately swarmed by waiting reporters.
They bombarded her with ruthless questions, their cameras flashing as she tried to cover her tear–streaked, disheveled face. Her makeup had run, she looked an absolute mess, and her stomach ached horribly. She wanted nothing more than to escape.
Snapping, Zora snatched a camera from one reporter and hurled it to the ground–then promptly lost her balance and fell too.
The crowd gasped and recoiled.
“Oh my god! So much blood!”
Someone screamed.
“She’s having a miscarriage!”
One of the reporters stammered, “She grabbed my camera and fell. This isn’t my fault!”
“Someone call an ambulance!”
The chaos intensified. Some people rushed to help, others continued snapping pictures.
Zora writhed in pain, her hands gripping her abdomen as warm blood soaked through her dress, pooling beneath her.
That was her child.
She was losing her baby.
She could feel the life draining from her, and with it, her strength.
She had never known such pain or humiliation. And in this moment, she felt it all.
Through her haze of agony, a familiar voice broke through.
“Stop filming! Please, stop filming!”
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It was her mother.
Ximena pushed through the reporters, her heart nearly stopping at the sight of her daughter sitting in a puddle of blood.
“Zora!”
Zora was so helpless. The moment she saw her mother, she broke down completely.
“Mom…”
Ximena quickly pulled off her coat and wrapped it around her trembling daughter, trying to comfort her while waiting desperately for help.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. The ambulance is coming. Just hang in there, sweetheart…”
No matter how disobedient or rebellious her daughter was, she was still her child. And what mother doesn’t love her own child?
Seeing Zora like this broke Ximena’s heart into pieces.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the ambulance arrived. EMTs rushed over, lifting Zora onto a stretcher and carrying her into
the vehicle. Ximena climbed in after her.
As the sirens wailed, she silently prayed this would be the moment her daughter finally saw the truth and turned her life around.
At the theater’s back entrance, Zeke had arrived with his men and joined Sebastian, both of them deeply concerned for Caitlin.
“There’s no way to tell which direction the car went after it left the lot,” Zeke said.
“I’ve already contacted Felix. We should get something soon.”
Just then, Sebastian’s phone rang–it was James.
He answered immediately. “Did you find anything?”
“Yes! Two minutes after the incident, my sister walked to the back entrance. A black Rolls–Royce pulled up, and the driver got out and opened the door for her. She got in, and the car drove off. A few minutes later, your car pulled up and parked. Based on the footage, the car that took her had the same model and license plate as yours. The driver looked exactly like Vaughn.”
James and Zinnia had reached the theater’s security office and reviewed the surveillance footage. The moment they spotted the critical clip, they called Sebastian right away.
“That’s impossible. Vaughn is with me!”
Sebastian ended the call, eyes dark and anxious. “Someone impersonated Vaughn and picked her up.”
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Caitlin must’ve seen the matching license plate, the same car model, and even a famíliar face–there would’ve been no reason for her to suspect anything.
But now…
Where were they taking her?