Chapter 2

2..

I didn't see any news about Cillian and Gideon until a day later.

By then, Maisie and I had already slipped away to a remote island. We were currently drinking wine and wearing face masks while scrolling through the headlines.

On the screen, Gideon looked like a ghost, and Cillian's eyes were bloodshot. They were sitting in a car together.

The reporter spoke into the camera with a grave tone.

"Breaking news. Famous designer Sera Miller and her sister Maisie have gone missing after a tragic accident at the beach. Their husbands, Cillian Blackwood and Gideon Sterling, are leading a private search and rescue mission."

Maisie scoffed, tossing her phone aside.

"Hmph. Let them search. If they had the balls to cheat, they should have known we'd leave eventually."

I nodded in agreement and swiped to the next news clip.

"Shocking scandal! Is Gideon Sterling a cheater? A mistress and a secret child spotted in public!"

It was a viral video from a gossip account. Gideon was standing with a young woman, holding the hand of a little girl.

The video was a week old, but it was exploding now because of the disappearance.

I scrolled through the comments. The top one was about us.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is too convenient? The secret kid gets exposed, and then the wife disappears?"

A string of replies followed.

"Exactly. Being a billionaire's wife isn't all it's cracked up to be. This feels like a cover-up."

"Stop with the conspiracy theories! You can't believe everything you see on TikTok."

The comment section was a war zone. Most people were just there for the drama, while a few posted beach safety tips.

Maisie's face went dark, so I turned off the phone.

She stared at the blank screen and slammed back the rest of her wine.

After a long silence, she looked at me with watery eyes.

"Sera, why did it have to end like this?"

I sighed and stroked her hair.

"Maybe it's just the way men are, Maisie."

She stayed quiet for a few seconds before burying her face in my shoulder.

"Gideon was such a good liar. Part of me is still heartbroken. I really thought he loved me."

Her voice was muffled, and my heart ached for her.

Thinking about how Vivienne had answered Cillian's phone, I felt a fresh wave of disgust for both of them.

"Maisie, men aren't worth our tears."

"Let's just enjoy our vacation. I've made enough money from my designs to keep us comfortable for thirty years. Don't let a trashy man ruin your mood."

I knew Maisie's personality. She was a total brat for money, but she was loyal to a fault.

She had stayed with Gideon when he was kicked out of his family home with nothing.

They used to share cheap ramen and live in a tiny studio. She never complained once.

Later, Gideon built Sterling Group and crushed his family's rivals. He became a titan.

Just when things seemed stable, a secret family appeared. It was like he had ripped her heart out and stepped on it.

But luckily, we both had the power to walk away.

In the months that followed, we traveled everywhere, trying to forget the past.

Occasionally, we'd see news reports about them. They never stopped looking for us.

From the initial search party to hiring international investigators, they seemed obsessed. They even publicly stated they wouldn't stop until they found us.

This wasn't what I expected.

They both had other women waiting for them. Why were they putting on this big show of grief?