Mr Steele gawked at the footage before him with unblinking eyes. He couldn't believe what he was staring at!
Was that truly his Elle? His daughter?
Jacob could not just believe it.
He slowly turned to his wife, who was equally staring at him with disbelieving eyes as wide as saucers.
Her trembling jaw as she fell backwards to the couch showed just how stunned she was. She gasped, and her hand flew to cover her mouth as her body continued to tremble.
"Jacob," She softly muttered, her tone hinted with disbelief. This was her child! What was she doing?
She didn't even know what to think or say!
H-how could Elle do something like this? Absconding from her wedding with an unconscious man - her sister's man! What was she thinking?
And now she had made Nevaeh marry her sister's supposed husband? What sort of twist was this? Her eyes welled up with tears as she realized the gravity of the situation. Nevaeh!
Oh, Lord! What has she done?!
Jacob was still frozen as he watched the footage for the second time. He was too shocked! He couldn't even respond to his name being called by his wife.
He watched the footage in utter disbelief. Francis was unconscious and was being carried into a car which obviously wasn't Elle's, by two unknown men, and that was with Elle trailing behind at the underground park. She looked so serious and focused on what she was doing as her eyes kept darting around on the lookout.
He watched as she opened the car and handed them a stack of cash, which they received and quickly left in another car. Elle looked at the back entrance door of the hotel. Her eyes lingered there for a while as if contemplating on something before finally hopping into the car, and she drove away.
His eyes remained fixated on the screen till the car disappeared from the view of the camera.
Jacob was in shock. Anger was slowly brooding inside him.
This was unexpected!
Had he been asked to guess a thousand reasons how or why Elle had left her wedding, he wouldn't have been able to guess this. He had not seen this coming at all!
Why, in the name of the devil, did Elle kidnap Francis? What sort of connection existed between them? And what in the name of the demon's had possessed that child?!
He looked at the young man sitting opposite him. "John", He called out.
"Sir!"
"Find that car." He ordered in a stern and angry voice.
"Yes, sir!" The young man replied, knowing full well what car he was to look about for.
"Now!" Jacob roared, startling the man who quickly jerked to his feet, grabbed his laptop and dashed out of the house to get his task done.
Mrs Steele had tears streaming down her eyes as she turned to her husband,
"Jacob, what do we do?" She asked in a helpless tone. This had suddenly changed from a case of absconding to something far worse - worse in every ramification.
"What has gone into Elle?" Panic, confusion, and frustration twirled in her eyes as tears continued to roll down her face.
Jacob sighed when he saw how worried and perplexed she looked. He could tell her concern wasn't just for Elle but also for Nevaeh. That poor child. She had just been thrown into a big mix that they had no idea how to fix.
How were they going to start fixing this?
He turned to his wife with a cold glint in his eyes and a grave look on his face, "Nevaeh must not find out about this." He said while she readily nodded her head.
Of course! Neveah must not know about this, but what would they tell her when she asked for Francis again?
"Jacob...." Mrs Steele cried out his name.
"I'll get my daughter back!" He suddenly declared. But the question was how?
...
Neveah stood frozen in space as she stared at Dale, her brown eyes wildly staring at him in shock. She still didn't know how he had come to know about her desire to cook and her intention to seek his permission.
Perhaps, he spoke with Simon?
Oh no! She gasped when she realized something.
The call!
Her eyes grew even bigger, making Dale raise a brow at her. The ramming sound of her heart was loud enough to echo around within her ears. She suddenly felt her limbs grow cold with fear.
Her eyes zeroed at the serene blue-green eyes that were staring at her in an attempt to discern his thoughts, but his eyes were as calm as his face, and she couldn't tell or guess what was within his mind.
Just like Simon, he was also unreadable.
"Elle." His hand grazed her chin when her answer didn't come, and the look on her face told him she had a thought in mind, but what, he also couldn't tell. This, he found to be strange.
There was never a mind he couldn't read—any except his wife's.
Nevaeh blinked at the sound of his rich voice, which always seemed to cut through her thoughts and spoke to her wildly beating heart. With how intense his gaze was on her, she knew he was waiting for an answer.
Slowly and carefully, she nodded her head, "Yes." She replied as she frightfully waited for what he was about to say next.
"Why?" He suddenly asked.
Why does she want to cook? Was she supposed to give him a reason for that? Her eyes darted back and forth as she thought about what her answer should be. Because whatever she says might determine his decision.
"Be-cause It's my duty as a wife to - cook for you." She replied, lowering her eyes. She had just lied, and she couldn't look him in the face.
"Duty," Dale muttered as he gazed at her heart-shaped face. So she wanted to perform her wifely duties, huh?
"What other duties would you like to perform?" He suddenly asked, making Nevaeh snap her head to look at him with confused eyes.
"Eh?" She didn't know why her heartbeat suddenly piked at his words.
She gulped when he suddenly scanned his eyes over her from head to toes before staring at her lips, making her instinctively purse them. Her legs subconsciously tried to take a step back, totally forgetting that she was trapped in his embrace.
"Wife, if you're in a rush to perform your wifely duties, there is one I'd want you to do now." He smoothly said with a mischievous glint dancing through his eyes as he slowly lowered them towards her chest.
Nevaeh felt her heart skip a beat and her lips quivered. But before she could say a word, she felt her body move, and the next second, she was being pressed against the wall. Her body was sandwiched between the cold wall and the rock hard body of a man staring at her with gleaming eyes that were causing a crawling effect on her skin.
Her breath hitched when he gently lifted her chin. His burning eyes stared at them like he was dying to have a taste of them. And just like earlier, he brushed his finger over it while he let out a sigh.
"I wish I knew what you were thinking now?" He muttered before gazing directly into her eyes.
Did he want to know her thoughts? She wanted him to stop - stop what he was doing now. He- he was torturing her.
Nevaeh couldn't control her eyes from staring at his thin and firm looking lips, and she couldn't wonder if they were soft.
Nevaeh!! What was she thinking now?!
She bit her lips in embarrassment when she saw his lips curve up amusingly. He must have guessed her thought.
"You're amusing, wife." He said, trailing his finger down her arm, sending a tingling sensation all over her.
She was amusing?! She didn't think so! He was the one torturing her with his eyes and touch.
Dale let out another sigh after staring at her for a while. "Cook as much as you want, but do not share a smile with the butler." He suddenly said before letting go of her. Nevaeh quickly let go of the breath she held, but the heat still lingered under her skin.
He paid her one last look to her and said, "I'll let you be now, my wife," before walking away with Nevaeh staring at his huge form.
What was this man doing to her?