Mischa knocked on the door and entered the living room. His handsome face looked very haggard and depressed. He had dark circles under his eyes and they looked dimmed as if they had lost their light.
This morning he cremated Lisa and spread her ashes in the sea. The police have finished their investigation and couldn't find any meaningful clues.
They finally released the body to be buried or cremated by her family. Lisa's family accepted Mischa's presence at the morgue when they received her body because they understood how that man was destroyed as a result of her death.
Together, they then scattered Lisa's ashes into the sea as she always wanted. Now, no one was holding Mischa back in Paris anymore. He wanted to return to his home in Bucharest or join Elios to chase the kidnappers and Lisa's killers, even to the ends of the world, if necessary!
"Do you want to come with us to Targu Mures?" Elios asked when he saw Mischa coming. "My father-in-law said we should get out of Paris and look for a place with more privacy. At present, there is no guarantee that Vega is still held in Paris. Seven days have passed, and now they can be anywhere in the world."
Mischa did not need to think at all. He quickly answered, "Targu Mures."
"All right. Then we leave this afternoon," Elios said.
Nobody spoke again. They would immediately pack and go separate ways. The search would be carried out from several different places with strict coordination.
KNOCK
KNOCK
The butler who was always faithfully waiting in the corner of the room immediately opened the door to the penthouse. At the door, there was a hotel staff who stood with a box in his hand.
"Good afternoon, Sir. We received a package for Mr. Elios Linden."
The butler accepted the package and immediately took it to the living room and handed it to Elios.
"There is a package for you, Sir. The contents have been checked downstairs with the scanner. There are no suspicious items."
This package was sent by post. It had the sender's name and address on the box. Nicolae was quick to photograph the sender's information and check his identity. Elios took the box and prepared to open it.
"Hmm ..." Elios unwrapped the box and opened the lid to find out what was inside. His face immediately turned red. His jaw clenched, and his brows twitched.
Aleksis and Nicolae immediately walked closer to see what was in the box that made Elios so angry.
Aleksis screamed when she saw the contents. She took out a long, platinum-colored hair from the box in her hands. Her tears immediately flowed profusely. She was holding her daughter's long hair that had been cut.
The woman started wailing, and her mother rushed to hug Aleksis and try to calm her down.
"Ssshh ... Honey ... don't think bad about it. It's just hair ..." Finland herself felt an incredible sadness when she saw Vega's hair in the box. Her mind immediately imagined all the worst-case scenario. However, she tried to remain calm to coax Aleksis. "They didn't hurt her. They only cut her hair ... Calm down ..."
Elios held his anger in his chest and pulled out some photos from inside the box and a card.
In the photos, they found several pictures showing Vega when she was kidnapped, then taken by car, bound together with Alexei, then lying unconscious with short hair.
With a trembling voice, Elios read the contents of the letter on the card.
[Alaric Rhionen, you have ruined the lives of so many people. How can you sleep at night when there are thousands and even tens of thousands of people who are suffering from your actions? I was really offended when I heard that you have lived happily for ten years. That is so nice, huh?]
[For justice's sake, I will keep you from sleeping peacefully for the rest of your life. If you want your daughter to stay alive, I suggest you stop searching. I don't want to torture her to make her suffer. I just want to punish you.]
[But ... if you don't want to punish yourself. Then I will kill her. Today, you only receive her beautiful hair. Next time, I'll send a pair of beautiful blue eyes ... or her heart. Ah ... thinking about me gets me in the mood. Later, I will send word again.]
Everyone looked at each other when they heard the contents of the message on the card.
Who was the culprit? Why were they so mysterious?
Nicolae immediately told them that, as expected, the name and address of the package sender were fake and could not be traced.
***