As dawn approached, Richard found himself unable to sleep, his mind consumed by the tangled mess his life had become since meeting Vanessa. Despite his wealth, all he had ever wanted was a simple life filled with love and family. Yet, here he was, grappling with complications and betrayals.

'How did it come down to this?  Why is it that whenever I am trying to rid myself of all these tangles, I am faced with more complications.' He said to himself, sitting in his room. 

Everyone had already gone to bed when he returned home. He did not even have anything to eat. But hunger was the last thing that was on his mind at that moment. He felt angry. He felt frustrated. 

'I'll not let Vanessa get out of this easily.' Richard muttered to himself, his fists clenched in determination. 'You have ruined my life, Vanessa. You have ruined my ability to trust anyone now. You have ruined my ability to love anyone anymore. I'll not let you have what you want.' 

He knew the first thing he would have to do in the morning was to talk to Emily and warn her of some potential danger coming towards her. 

'I don't know if she would even believe me or not. It doesn't seem like she is involved with Vanessa as yet but I'll have to confirm it as soon as possible. Then I'll sort Mr. Stener out.' 

Turning to his laptop, Richard began to sift through his emails It was Saturday so there weren't going to be any school runs that day.  

Without thinking he opened the folder which is always protected by high security. The detailed map of Rivertide appeared on his screen. Starting from his household, he saw Mrs. Swan preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Hayden was still sleeping in his room. 

He navigated his way to the Villa where Vanessa was staying nowadays. She was also sleeping. Zooming in he saw Robert sleeping beside her. Richard's gaze burned into the scene that was displayed on his screen. He took out his mobile and took pictures of them together. 

His head was pounding badly. Being sleep and food-deprived, he was feeling apprehensive about everything. 

He was about to turn off the map when he thought of Emily. He typed the name Tranquil Treats and immediately the Bakery came into view. He could see two dots indicating Lily and Emily were present in the house. His hand hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to intrude on their privacy but some part of his heart wanted to see her face. He was about to zoom into her house when he saw a man walking towards the bakery and stopping at its outer gate.

'Who could this be?' Richard muttered, his brow furrowing in confusion. 'He doesn't seem to belong to this town, otherwise his name would be displayed here.' 

Zooming in, he took in the man's features, noting his shabby appearance and seemingly aimless actions. Richard's suspicion deepened as the man began taking pictures of the bakery.

'Is he someone appointed by Vanessa?' Richard wondered aloud, his mind racing with possibilities. 'What is going on here?'

Richard watched as the man eventually retreated, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions. Determined to unravel the mystery, Richard made a mental note to investigate further, his instincts telling him that trouble loomed on the horizon.

With a sense of urgency, Richard turned off the laptop, picked up his coat and mobile, and left his room. Getting in his car he started driving towards Emily's home. The traffic was quite low because of the early hours of the morning so, he reached there in twenty minutes. 

After parking his car outside the bakery, a sudden thought came to him. 'What if Vanessa is keeping an eye on him? But then If Vanessa truly had eyes on everything, as she had suggested to Mrs. Swan, she would have known that had hired someone was following her everywhere.' He ruffled his hair, holding his face in his hands. 

Frustration enveloped him from all sides. He was starting to think whether he should see Emily or not as well. He didn't completely trust her as well. 

He took out his mobile, reopened the map, and scanned the area for any signs of suspicious activity nearby. It was barely 7 a.m. and it was quiet all around him. He could see Emily's name moving around her house now. 

'Soon people will start to come here once the Bakery is open. I should talk to her before that and leave quickly.' Richard thought to himself and got out of the car. He crossed the outer gate since there was no lock on it. As he reached the inner door, memories of his last visit flooded back to him.

'I hope she recognizes me now.' He thought, and a subtle smile crept onto his face.

He knocked at the door, making sure it was not too loud to wake the neighbors and Lily up. There was a bell there as well but he chose not to ring it. 

Emily was in the bathroom, getting ready to open her bakery. She had the habit of listening to the news while doing the bathroom chores to catch up on the world outside of her Bakery. But somewhere in her mind, she was waiting to hear something related to her long-lost husband, because this habit had started five years ago when he disappeared from her life. 

Richard knocked again. This time, it was a little hard. His head was throbbing because of hunger and lack of sleep. Emily heard a faint knock over the voice of the newscaster. She quickly turned the news off, rinsed her mouth, and ran downstairs. 

'I wonder who is here so early. Or maybe it's just a hallucination.' Emily was saying to herself heading towards the door. 

Richard had started to walk back towards his car when Emily opened the door. 'Mr. Sterling?' calling Richard, as so many questions erupted in her mind. 'What was he doing here so early in the morning?' Emily thought to herself. 

Richard stopped in his tracks. A subtle smile appeared on his face thinking that Emily did remember him this time. He turned to see Emily drying her face with a hand towel. Her hair was not made up yet. She was looking beautiful in the simplest way. 

He shook his head to throw away any such thought. He was here to talk on a serious note. He did not want to lower his defenses. He walked back towards her. Emily looked around Richard to see if Hayden was there as well. 

'Hayden didn't come with me. I came alone.' Richard answered the unasked question further enhancing the quizzical look on her face. 

Emily looked up at Richard and said, 'Good Morning Mr. Sterling. I hope everything is okay. If you are here to buy something then I am really sorry. The Bakery opens at 9 on weekends.'

'I am not here to buy anything. I came to talk to you about some things. If you have some time to spare right now we can talk inside before the customers start to arrive or before Lily wakes up.'  Richard said looking at her innocent face.

'Yes sure please come in.' Emily stood aside to let Richard in. As he walked past her it stuck Emily, 'How did you know that Lily is still asleep?' she asked, walking behind him. 

Richard's body stiffened for a moment. 'I assumed. Since it's the weekend.' He replied quickly. He didn't want anyone to find out about his surveillance system. 

Richard stopped beside the pantry between the kitchen and the Bakery counters. 

'Let's just talk here and then I'll leave.' Richard said turning around to face her. He could see his car from here as Emily had left the door open. 

Emily was getting confused by every passing minute. What is going on with him? she thought to herself. She looked at him closely. 'It seems like he hasn't slept in days.' 

'How do you know Vanessa?' Richard asked directly. He wanted to confirm first if there was any link between the two before warning her of a potential danger coming her way. 

'Vanessa?' Emily repeated taken completely off-guard by the question. It took her a moment to realize what Richard was talking about. 

'What do you mean Mr. Sterling? I didn't get your question properly.' Emily asked him as Vanessa's words about him tainting her image in front of the whole Rivertide flashed through her mind. 

'I mean,' Richard started to say when his eyes flickered past Emily towards the entrance of the house. Three ladies were standing beside his car and looking towards the bakery. 

'I think Emily has opened the Bakery early this weekend.' A voice came through the opened door. 

'Oh, that's great. I wanted to buy some stuff. Let's go in. The door also seems to be open.' Another voice came as the three started making their way towards the entrance door. 

Emily was about to turn around and see who the early customers were when Richard held her arm and dragged her with him inside the pantry.