Emma's POV 

The world around me had stopped moving. The air felt too thick to breathe, the sounds around me too distant, as though I were trapped inside a nightmare. The moment I realized my twins were gone, something inside me shattered.

I turned wildly, searching through the thinning smoke, scanning every face in the crowd for a glimpse of their tiny figures. The panic in my chest grew unbearable, twisting my stomach into painful knots.

“Jason! Anna!”

My voice cracked as I called their names, my vision blurred with unshed tears.

“Lock down the building!” Jeff’s sharp command cut through the chaos, “Check every exit! No one leaves until we find them!”

His security team was already moving, spreading out through the crowd, pushing past confused protesters and bewildered employees. Some people were shouting in frustration, others were yelling accusations, but I didn’t care.

My children were missing.

I felt Jeff’s hands on my shoulders, gripping tightly, “Emma listen to me,” he said, his voice firm but gentle, “We’re going to find them.”

I shook my head frantically, “They were right here Jeff, they were running toward us and then… ” My breath hitched as I remembered the white smoke, my stomach twisted in realization, “This wasn’t random, someone planned this.”

Jeff’s jaw tightened, “And I think we both know who.”

Sam.

There was no proof yet, but I didn’t need any. Deep in my heart, I knew Sam had done this, he had taken Jason and Anna.

I yanked my phone from my purse, my fingers trembling as I scrolled through my contacts. I found his number and pressed the call button.

The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times.

No answer.

I clenched my teeth and tried again.

Still nothing.

“Damn it, Sam! Pick up!” I whispered harshly under my breath.

Jeff was already on his own phone, issuing orders to his head of security, “I don’t care if you have to comb through every inch of this city,” he snapped, “Find them.”

I swallowed back my rising fear and opened my text messages.

Emma: I know you took them.

Emma: Where are they?

Emma: Sam, answer me.

Emma: Please, just let them go.

I stared at my phone, willing a response to appear. Nothing. The minutes ticked by, stretching unbearably long. My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my ears.

Jeff turned to me, “If Sam’s behind this, he won’t keep them somewhere obvious, he’s too careful and thorough for that.”

I barely heard him. I was still staring at my phone, my hands trembling, “I need to see him.”

Jeff frowned, “Emma…. ”

“I need to see him,” I repeated, more forcefully this time, “I need to look him in the eye and ask him why he would do something so cruel.”

Jeff hesitated but when he saw the determination in my face, he nodded. “Alright but I’m coming with you.”

We didn’t waste any more time.

Jeff had already deployed his security team to search the area, but deep down, I knew we wouldn’t find Jason and Anna anywhere near the building.

If Sam had taken them, he would have made sure they were well out of reach.

The drive to Sam’s office was tense. I gripped my phone the entire time, willing it to ring, hoping for some kind of response.

Nothing.

Jeff’s fingers tapped impatiently against the steering wheel as we pulled into the parking lot of Sam’s company. His face was set in stone, his emotions unreadable but I could feel the tension radiating off him in waves.

We climbed out of the car and walked straight to the entrance. Jeff barely slowed his pace as he reached for the glass doors, but before we could step inside, two security guards blocked our way.

“Mr. Newman isn’t accepting visitors.” One of them said, his voice polite but firm.

Jeff’s eyes darkened, “Move.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but we’ve been given strict instructions…”

“Get out of our way,” I snapped, my desperation boiling over, “I need to see him now.”

The guards didn’t budge.

I felt my frustration reach its breaking point. My babies were missing, and the man who had taken them was hiding behind a set of locked doors.

A surge of anger shot through me and before I could stop myself, I turned toward the entrance and shouted loud enough for the entire lobby to hear.

“SAM NEWMAN! COME OUT AND FACE ME!”

A few employees stopped what they were doing to stare. Whispers broke out among them. The guards shifted uncomfortably but remained firm in their stance.

Jeff placed a hand on my arm, “Emma….”

But I wasn’t done.

“If you don’t let me in, I swear to God, I will turn this entire place upside down!” My voice trembled with emotion, “I won’t leave until I see him!”

A few seconds of silence followed, and then, my phone buzzed in my hand.

I sucked in a sharp breath as Sam’s name appeared on the screen. My fingers shook as I answered the call.

“Leave.” Came his cold voice on the other end.

I clenched my jaw, “Not until you tell me where my kids are.”

A short pause, then a low chuckle, “So you already know.”

My blood ran cold, “You admit it?”

Sam’s voice remained disturbingly calm, “I never said that.”

I gritted my teeth, “Then prove me wrong, let me see them, let me hear their voices.”

Another pause, “You’re in no position to demand anything.”

My grip on the phone tightened, “Sam please, don’t do this. Whatever your problem is with Jeff and me, don’t involve Jason and Anna, they’re innocent.”

“Innocent?” Sam repeated, his voice turning sharp, “Like I was? Like my family was when you and Jeff destroyed my life?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, “You can’t possibly think this is the same.”

“It’s exactly the same,” he hissed, “Ruining Jeff’s company wasn’t enough, getting you fired wasn’t enough because no matter what I did, you both still had each other. You still had something to hold on to.”

His breathing was steady, but his words were laced with bitterness, “That’s why this is the only way.”

Fear twisted in my gut, “Sam, what are you planning?”

“I won’t hurt them,” he said, almost thoughtfully, “Not unless you give me a reason to.”

I felt a wave of nausea crash over me. My knees felt weak.

Jeff had been listening closely, his eyes locked onto my face, reading every flicker of emotion. He leaned in slightly, signaling me to put the call on speaker. I did.

“What do you want, Sam?” Jeff demanded.

A dark chuckle, “Ah Jeff, always so direct. That’s what I liked about you.”

Jeff’s hand curled into a fist, “Say what you want and let my kids go.”

There was a pause, then Sam’s voice dropped to a chilling whisper.

“You’ll do exactly as I say, both of you. Or you’ll never see them again.”

A suffocating silence followed.

Then the call disconnected.

I stood frozen, my entire body shaking as the weight of his words crashed down on me.

He had them.

And he was willing to do anything to make us suffer.

I barely noticed when the security guards moved toward us, their expressions blank as they gestured toward the exit, “Mr. Newman has given his instructions. You both need to leave.”

Jeff’s eyes burned with fury, but he didn’t fight it. He placed a firm hand on my back and guided me away.

As we stepped out of the building, the cold evening air hit my skin, but I didn’t feel it. All I felt was the crushing reality of what had just happened.

Sam had our children.

And we had no choice but to play his game.

The silence in the house was unbearable.

It wasn’t just quiet, it was wrong.

The kind of wrong that seeped into my bones, twisting my stomach into knots and making every breath feel too heavy. Jason and Anna should have been running around, laughing, playing, filling the house with their endless chatter but they weren’t here.

They were somewhere out there, alone. Afraid, maybe crying for me.

A choked sob broke from my throat as I curled into the couch, gripping one of Anna’s stuffed animals so tightly my knuckles turned white. It still smelled like her, like baby shampoo and warmth.

I pressed my face into it, breathing in the faint scent, as if that could bring them back.

It had been almost twenty-four hours since Sam had taken them and there was still no word.

No ransom demand. No threats. No conditions.

Nothing.

The waiting was killing me.

“Emma.”

Jeff’s voice was gentle, but I barely lifted my head.

He had been on the phone for hours, making calls, issuing orders, talking to people who were supposed to know how to fix this but it wasn’t fixed. Nothing was fixed.

I heard him sigh as he walked toward me, “You need to eat something.”

I shook my head, my stomach was in knots, food was the last thing I could think about.

He crouched in front of me, his hands resting on my knees, “I know this is hell, but you can’t shut down like this.”

I swallowed hard, my throat raw from all the crying, “They’re just kids Jeff,” I whispered, “They’re just babies. What if they’re scared? What if….” My voice broke.

Jeff’s grip on my knees tightened, “We’re going to find them.”

“But what if we don’t?” The words spilled out before I could stop them.

My biggest fear, spoken out loud, “What if we never see them again?”

Jeff’s jaw clenched, “Don’t say that.”

Tears slipped down my cheeks, “I can’t help it. I can’t stop thinking about it. Every second they’re gone, it gets worse. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

His hands moved to cup my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears, “We will get them back Emma, I swear it.”

I wanted to believe him.

I wanted to believe that Jeff, this strong, powerful man who always had control, could fix this but even he looked exhausted.

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, his usually sharp suit wrinkled, his tie long discarded, he looked like a man on the edge.

And that was because, he was.

We both were.

I sniffled, clutching the stuffed animal tighter, “You’ve been making calls. Has anything come up?”

His lips pressed into a thin line, “Nothing useful, Sam’s vanished. His office is running like normal, but he hasn’t shown up. His staff claims they haven’t heard from him. His personal number is disconnected. It’s like he disappeared into thin air.”

I swallowed hard, “And the security footage?”

Jeff exhaled slowly, “The cameras at the protest were tampered with. There’s a gap in the footage, right at the moment the smoke bomb went off. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.”

My heart sank, “So we have nothing.”

“For now,” His eyes darkened, “But I’m not giving up.”

I stared at him, searching his face, “What are you going to do?”

Jeff’s jaw flexed, “I have people looking for him and I don’t mean just security, I mean people who know how to find ghosts.”

A shiver ran down my spine, Jeff wasn’t just talking about private investigators, he was talking about people from his past. The past he’d tried to keep buried.

I should have been worried about what that meant, about the kind of people he was involving, but I didn’t care.

All I cared about was getting my babies back.

I nodded slowly, “Whatever it takes.”

His expression softened, and he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead, “I promise you, we’re not going to stop until they’re home.”

I wanted to believe that. I needed to but the fear wouldn’t leave me.

Jeff’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. He grabbed it instantly, answering without hesitation.

“Tell me you have something.”

I watched his face carefully, searching for any sign of hope but after a few seconds, his expression remained unreadable.

“Understood. Keep me updated.” He hung up, rubbing a hand over his face.

I swallowed hard, “Nothing?”

“They’re expanding the search but so far, no sign of Sam or the twins.”

The room felt even smaller, even darker. I turned away from Jeff, curling deeper into the couch.

I felt like I was suffocating.

Every second that passed felt like another nail in my coffin. My mind spiraled with horrible thoughts, images of my babies crying, calling out for me, wondering why I hadn’t come for them.

My breathing hitched. The walls were closing in.

“Emma?” Jeff’s voice was cautious.

I shook my head, my hands gripping my arms tightly, “I can’t do this. I can’t just sit here while they’re out there, scared and alone.”

Jeff reached for me, but I flinched away, standing up abruptly, “I have to do something. Anything.”

“Emma, wait…”

But I was already moving, I rushed to the front door, yanking it open. I didn’t know where I was going, I just knew I had to go.

Jeff caught up to me in seconds, his arms wrapping around me, pulling me back inside, “Stop.” He said firmly.

I struggled against him, “Let me go!”

“Emma, listen to me.” His voice was sharp, commanding. “Running into the streets isn’t going to bring them back!”

Tears streamed down my face as I fought against his hold, “I can’t just do nothing Jeff. I can’t just sit here and wait for a phone call that might never come.”

His grip tightened, “You are not going to break down on me now.”

I let out a broken sob, “I already have.”

Jeff’s arms tightened around me and this time, I didn’t fight him. I sank against his chest, my body wracked with sobs as he held me.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered, “I can’t lose them.”

“You won’t.” His voice was quiet but full of steel. “I swear to you Emma, we will get them back.”

I buried my face against his chest, gripping his shirt like a lifeline.

I wanted to believe him, but the darkness in my heart was spreading.

And I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on.