Beijing International Airport.
''Ah…''
A child bumped into a young man. Just as she stumbled backwards, slender fingers grabbed her wrist and pulled her up.
''Baby, are you fine?" A woman came rushing towards the scene, ''Thank you. Thank you, Mister. I just left her for a moment and she ended up coming here. Baby, say thank you to uncle!" she turned to her child.
''Thank you, uncle!''
Daisy stood rooted in her spot as she watched the mother-daughter walking away.
She looked at her palm as if she could still feel the warmth of those tiny fingers gently tapping her palm and caressing it weeks ago,
It has been almost two years since she last disguised herself as her alibi 'Dexter'. In the initial days when she fled from Beijing, she had made sure to not pick that disguise so as to not risk being caught by Ryle.
Daisy did not think Ryle would be bothered about her absence in any way but she was certain that he would have been more than just bothered if he knew that one of his trusted subordinates had duped him by cross-dressing. Relieved at her timely decision back then, Daisy stepped out of the airport.
''Take me to this address,'' Daisy showed the address of Si Yena's private mansion to the driver before entering the cab.
The sky was a canvas of colors, with hues of red, orange, and yellow blending together. The sun was setting slowly, casting a warm glow over the landscape. The rush of the city, the loud vehicles could not stop the growing anticipation in Daisy.
By the time she reached Si Yena's mansion, it was already dusk. Daisy stood in bustled streets looking at the luxurious house a few metres away from her.
She thought it would take a long time for the dust to settle. But her family was as expected the most concerned about their reputation. In a few days, they suppressed every news of the events that transpired in her wedding. She had kept an eye on them but she did not dig too much. Even though she had faith in her hacking skills, but Chen Family also had a team of talented hackers and she did not want to risk exposing her new identity or her future whereabouts
Daisy knew that there were men looking for her but they had to do it in a discreet manner while considering the family reputation and with her disguise, not many would be able recognize her.
Finally.
Daisy inhaled a deep breath, her fingers trembling slightly as she walked towards the mansion gates.
''Sorry sir, you can't go in,'' the security blocked her path.
''I am not a stranger,'' Daisy reached out to take her phone out but before she could call Si Yena, the man spoke up again.
''It's not that but…'' both the guards looked at each other before one of them spoke up, ''Nobody is there in the house. The lady has not been around for almost a month now.''
Daisy paused, ''I see.''
She had more questions to ask but looking at their clueless faces, she turned around and walked away. She tried calling Si Yena's number but it went into voicemail again and again.
In the past month, Daisy had been tracking the Chen Family's movement but she had overlooked Si Yena because Daisy knew that she could trust her child with her childhood friend. She had instead directed all her focus on her family so that she could find a gap in their activities and take the opportunity to come back, take her child with her and leave again.
'Si Family'
As Daisy typed the words in the search bar, various trending headlines popped up on the screen.
'The Young Miss of Si Family eloping with her bodyguard. Truth or a farce?'
'The Si Family disowns their daughter after her promiscuous affair with her bodyguard.'
'Young Master of the Si Family threatens to file lawsuits against media.'
Daisy's lips parted, her brows tugging together.
She stood there for some time, trying to make sense of this whole situation but she could not figure it out.
Si Yena had an affair with her boyfriend and she eloped with him? A huge part of her was inclined to believe that these were just some baseless rumors about her. But then having been told that Si Yena had not been in her mansion for a long time, Daisy did not know what to think.
Bewildered by the turn of events, Daisy checked into a hotel nearby. It has been only a month she she left. Then how could so much happen in Si Yena's life, unless all this has been happening for a long time.
Daisy sat on the bed and leaned back against the headboard.
After some time, she picked up her phone and tried to contact Si Yena again, only to be faced with failure again.
Daisy checked her phone to find if there were any texts from Si Yena in the past few days. But as she scrolled up, she realized that the last time they talked was on her wedding day. After that, the woman had not texted her even once.
The Si Family was not as influential as Chen Family. If Si Yena were to be dragged into her scandal, then it will drag the Si family into it. Hence, Daisy restrained herself from contacting Si Yena as well.
Daisy picked up her laptop. After a moment of hesitation, she entered the address that she had visited earlier, that is, Si Yena's private mansion.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard in a blur and a series of codes appeared on Daisy's screen. After 5 minutes, a message popped up on the display.
'No access'
Daisy paused. For a person as careless as Si Yena, she even went to this extent of deleting her CCTV records to elope with her bodyguard.
Daisy had no intentions of invading her friend's privacy but she always had that one rule in life.
Things that had to be done, should be done.
Her child's safety, at this moment, was her utmost concern. She trusted her friend but till the moment she got to hold the little girl in her arms, she would be unable to rest assured.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard, moving again, slowly at first before they picked up speed until one could only see shadows of Daisy's fingers over the laptop. Her movements were almost impatient this time and her eyes were cold.
With one last tap, Daisy stopped and looked at the screen.
The recordings of the past few months appeared on the laptop.
Daisy quickly skimmed over the first few videos of the empty mansion before she reached the video where Si Yena was last seen in the mansion.
Her eyes flew to the date, that happened to be her wedding date.
Did Si Yena elope with her bodyguard on her wedding day? On the day Daisy asked her to take care of her child just for one month?
A bad premonition rose in her chest as she looked through the recording of the little girl playing on the bed while Si Yena facetimed Daisy, lying beside the girl. Daisy remembered most of their conversation of that day before she had sent the makeup artist away and disguised as her.
Daisy increased the speed of the video, fast-forwarding it as cold sweat covered her forehead.