The words echoed through the room, making everyone panic again.
If someone could abduct the Vassari heir from their own mansion, then nothing was impossible.
Serena’s heart pounded. She waited for another gunshot, but none came.
Immediately, her gaze almost turned towards June, but she saw that Rauf had covered her perfectly.
Then, from behind her dark glasses, she saw one of the men she had identified as a Monterrio guy watching her closely.
She turned her gaze away from June, holding tightly to her cane.
"What do you mean my daughter is missing?" she screamed loudly.
The hall that had been in disarray suddenly became quiet.
Everyone seemed to freeze where they were.
Serena’s voice carried authority.
Immediately, Samir stood up, almost launching himself at Serena.
"Amie! Amie!" His voice was muffled with unshed tears. Without looking at anyone in particular, he screamed, "Guards, I want you to lock down everywhere. I want you to search every corner of the mansion for Amie."
Samir had temporarily forgotten that he wasn’t the one who gave commands to the guards. He had forgotten that he had no authority whatsoever in the Vassari mansion.
The guards stared at him, most of them looking towards Serena for confirmation.
It wasn’t until Chris ordered them to search the mansion that the guards started moving out and communicating with one another.
June pulled herself up, her gaze searching around.
"Amie is truly missing," she confirmed.
She couldn’t help but think that it could have been her if she hadn’t gone along with the plan her mother had suggested.
Meanwhile, Rauf frowned, his hand still hovering over his gun.
He had clearly heard the man say, The operation wasn’t going to happen tonight.
What could have changed?
Why did they suddenly carry out the operation tonight?
With the guards stopping anyone else from leaving the hall, everyone huddled together. People sat in groups, whispering among themselves.
Ellie had found June and was sitting beside her and Rauf.
June watched her father shouting and lamenting in the hall. She was certain that if it had been her who was carried off, her father wouldn’t have made a move.
He would have sat there like it was none of his business.
Chris stood beside Serena, acting as her guide as she held tightly onto her cane.
Serena didn’t scream again.
She scanned the room.
A few faces she had seen before the gunshot were missing from the room, including one of the three men she had identified as Monterrio men.
But she could see the other two glancing subtly at her and Chris.
"Chris, I need you to check the CCTV room. I need you to find out who fired that shot and also who was the first person to find out Amie was missing," she said loudly.
She knew she needed to act like the mother of the missing girl.
After years of searching and finally finding her baby girl, it would be odd for her to remain calm when the girl was missing.
Chris nodded and ordered two of his guards to follow him.
Serena remained seated, her legs shaking.
There was little a blind woman could do. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ
At that moment, she was glad she had never let anyone know she could see. Because of that, she was able to keep an eye on June.
No one knew she could see from behind the dark glasses.
It must have been why the Monterrio men had boldly come into the mansion and disrupted her party. Something they might not have done if they knew she could see.
"Now I know what you meant when you said mafia business is no joke." Ellie was practically shaking as she held herself beside June.
She threw a dirty glance at Rauf but didn’t apologize for talking about the Mafia.
June chuckled. "Yeah. From the outside, it’s all glamour. But being in it means living in danger every day. Without knowing how to guard yourself, you can easily find yourself walking towards death."
She said all that while looking at Rauf.
As if to save Rauf from responding, his phone beeped at that moment.
Rauf let out a breath as he read Henson’s response.
He had identified the guy Rauf had seen as the same man who had been watching their gate for a while.
Rauf’s hand tightened around his phone.
Did that mean he had come to the party for June?
But Henson didn’t mention anything about the person the man had been talking to.
Still, knowing that little detail seemed to put Rauf on alert.
Chris came back from checking the CCTV, and before he could get close to Serena to give her the details, Samir cornered him.
"What did you find? Who took my daughter?"
Chris glared at him, but Samir didn’t care.
If anything happened to Amie, all his plans for the future would be ruined in one moment.
"This is all your fault. You should have tightened the security around here."
Most of the guests watched him. No one dared to pull him away from Chris.
Mrs Salvador Snr watched from where she was seated, still shaken. She hadn’t expected such an incident at a high-profile party.
When Chris finally got rid of Samir, he moved closer to Serena and whispered in her ear.
"I see," Serena responded.
Her lips almost curved into a smirk, but she schooled her features immediately.
The guards who had gone in search of Amie weren’t back yet.
Then, slowly, she saw another Monterrio man leaving the hall.
Chris stepped forward, wanting to stop him, but Serena stopped him.
"Let him go."
"But Mother?"
Then the last man also stepped out of the room. Some of the guests saw them leaving and started to leave too.
Chris turned back to Serena. "Are we just going to let them leave?"
Serena sighed. "The guards will check them before they leave. We can’t hold them hostage forever. Moreover, they already achieved what they came here for."
But Chris barely understood her.
"What do you mean?"
Serena pinched the bridge of her nose.
"This was a test. But I don’t know if we passed or failed."