"What the f*ck happened Mrs. Bowen? Where is my daughter?!" -Zander 

ZANDER's POV

I was busy working in my office when the intercom buzzed.

"Yes?"

"Ms. Vanessa is here sir" My secretary informed me and I groaned in frustration. I was already tired with my work and the last thing I need right now is someone to nag at me.

"Tell her I'm busy" I commanded and then continued my work. It was a hectic schedule for us in the office that's why I wasn't in the mood to talk to my nagger girlfriend. We were going out for almost 5 months now. At first, she was okay. She wasn't that demanding about my time but as time goes by, she became needy with my attention and time. Even my attention to my daughter was like a competition to her and I hated it. It was tiring.

I was surprised when the door burst open and Vanessa came in with my secretary following her from behind.

"I'm sorry sir. I told her that you're busy but she wouldn't listen" I heaved a sigh and motioned her to leave us alone. When the secretary was gone, Vanessa sauntered towards me and sat on my lap with sultry look on her face. She was about to kiss me when I looked at the other side and her kiss landed on my cheek.

"Why are you here? My secretary already told you I am busy" I said coldly. She rolled her eyes heavenwards.

"You aren't texting and calling me! What do you want me to do? Just wait for you to remember me when you feel like it?!" She asked me exasperatedly. Now, my head started hurting.

"You know I have a lot of work. Why don't you go and pick up Camila and have a girl bonding time with her. She's at home right now. You can take her somewhere. You said you want to get her to warm up to you but you're not exerting any effort to do so" She stood up from my lap and started pacing the floor irritably.

"You're changing the topic. I am not here to talk about your daughter. I am here because I want to spend time with my boyfriend" I began to get irritable of her demanding behavior and didn't comment anything to whatever she was saying. She was just saying the same things and I was growing tired of it. I continued my work and pretended not to hear whatever she was saying.

I had a lot of things I must finish rather than listening to her nonsense. Sometimes, I was wondering why I was with her until now. I tried concentrating on my work when I suddenly felt her hands slapped my hand which was holding the pen and it caused it to accidentally ruin the blue print I was currently studying. My efforts were gone in an instant. Even the neatly arranged documents on my table were now splattered on the floor.

"What the f*ck!" I shouted at her as I stood up and grabbed her hand tightly. I was so angry that I wanted to hit her but I summoned all my will power not to do so. It's against my code to hit a girl whatever the circumstance was. She didn't even flinch. She just remained bitchy while looking at me defiantly and even smirking because of what she's done.

"Get out! Now!" I yelled at her as I pointed to the door. That seemed to catch her off guard because the expression on her face changed.

"Sorry babe. I didn't mean it" She said apologetically and hugged me.

"Just go Vanessa. I don't need you here. You know your way out and don't bother to come back" I said impatiently and started gathering all the documents on the floor. She was about to say something but I motioned her to stop. I didn't want to hear her stupid apologies which for sure wasn't even sincere.

"Don't do this babe. I already said sorry" She said pleadingly and was already on the verge of bursting into tears. I gritted my teeth while looking at her.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again Vanessa. We're over! Get out of my office and get out of my life! I've had enough of your constant nagging and unreasonable whining!" I said and pressed the intercom.

"Alexa, come here and lead Ms. Lim out of here" I instructed her with poker face. Vanessa shrieked angrily upon hearing that.

"No! You can't do this to me Zander! You can't just dump me like this!" She yelled at me. She looked like she was about to pounce on me like an angry lioness.

"I just did" I said matter-of-factly. Then my secretary came in and told Vanessa to get out. She even called the body guard with her.

"We're not done yet Zander! I swear, you'll pay for this!" She shouted furiously before she walked out without the guard dragging her out. I heaved a sigh of relief and massaged my temples.

I don't know why I didn't do that long time ago. I thought we had something special going on between us but I guess no. She was a self-centered b*tch. I chuckled humorlessly. I couldn't believe I almost proposed to her. I thought she could be a mother to my daughter and a nice and understandable wife for me but thankfully I didn't marry her.

I shook my head and began redoing my work that she just destroyed. Now I was behind time in finishing all these. I guess I won't have a night of sleep again. I was so engrossed with my work when my phone rang. It was my daughter.

"Hello sweetheart" I greeted her.

"Daddy, where are you?" She asked me. I looked at my wristwatch and it was already 6:30 pm. I usually go home at 5:30 pm but now, I needed to extend my time because of what happened a while ago.

"I'm still at the office baby. Don't worry, I'll be home shortly. Just eat dinner without me" I heard her groan with annoyance. I could already picture her pouting right now.

"I'm not hungry yet daddy. I'm going to wait for you" I groaned inwardly. I forgot that she wouldn't eat dinner without me. I look at my unfinished works and decided to just take it all home.

"Okay sweetheart. I'm getting ready to go home now" She squealed with happiness and I couldn't help but to smile. After I hang up the phone, I started gathering all the things that I needed to take home and put in in my briefcase. I said my goodbye to the other employees who were getting ready to go home too and then went to the elevator. I pushed the parking button.

When I was inside my car, my daughter called me again to ask me where I was. She was making sure that I was really on my way home. I drove faster and when I arrived home, she hop into my arms excitedly and greeted me with a tight hug and kiss on the cheeks.

"How's my baby?" I asked her sweetly and she giggled.

"I'm so excited daddy. Tomorrow is our school trip. Are you going to drive me to school?" She asked me expectantly. It's been a while since I drove her to school because of my hectic schedule. She looked like she really wanted me to accompany her tomorrow.

"Hmm...Maybe next time because daddy is kinda busy. I'll ask the driver to drive you there" Her face suddenly became sad and wiggled out of my arms. I put her back on her feet and she ran away. I cursed inwardly. Rita was about to follow her when I stopped her and followed my daughter instead.

I found her in her room while hugging her big teddy bear. She was on the verge of crying.

"Sweetheart, are you angry with daddy?" I asked her gently and sat next to her. She nuzzled her face on the teddy bear's chest without answering me.

"Baby..." I brushed her hair through my fingers. I heaved a sigh.

"If you won't talk and give daddy a hug right now, then I won't drop you off to school tomorrow" I said and pretended to leave. She suddenly shoved away her teddy bear and stood up as she hugged me from the back. I almost laughed because of how fast she moved upon hearing my condition.

"Really daddy? Promise?" I faced her and nodded my head.

"Yes. I need to talk to you teacher anyway about the trip" She had a wide smile on her lips as she jumped on her bed happily.

****

Even though I felt really groggy and sleepy as hell, I sacrificed my time of sleep and dropped my daughter at school. They were going to meet in front of the school and then ride the school bus to their trip. I kept on glancing to her while I was driving and she looked really happy. She was even excited about their trip and she asked me to come and pick her up after their trip.

"Okay, I'll pick you up this afternoon but you must promise me to follow all my instructions" She nodded vigorously while grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes daddy. I'll behave, I promise" She even raised her hand and pat her chest.

When we arrived at school, many students were already there. I saw a couple of parents and the teachers.

"Where is your teacher baby? I want to talk to her" I asked Camila while looking around. She looked at the direction of the teachers.

"She's not here yet daddy. But you can talk to our other subject teachers" She suggested as she pointed at the teacher who was busy talking to the one of the parents.

"She's our science teacher" I took my daughter's hand and when the teacher finished talking to the guy, we approached her.

"Good morning Miss. I am Camila's father. I just want to ask if I could pick up my daughter directly at the site after their activities?" I asked her and she smiled at me and introduced herself as Ms. Hill.

"Of course you can Mr. Montealegre. I'll just tell Ms. Morrison about it. She's already at the site because of some important matter she needs to do there. I don't understand why I my heart thumped wildly just hearing that surname. I was about to say something when the principal asked the students to form a line. I said goodbye to my daughter and then watched them assisted by the teachers to get into the bus one by one.

****

I went to the office and continued my work. This has been my life since the company started to become bigger and successful. It has become harder but at the same time I felt so accomplished everytime a successful project finished. Aside from this firm, I also tried investing in different businesses and so far, my investments were doing well and my hard works were paying off.

It was already past 4 pm and thankfully I finished my work for the day. I really needed a sleep that badly but because I promised my daughter to pick her up, I must do it. I was about to go out of my office when my phone rang. It was from an unknown number. I ignored it because honestly, I don't answer unknown numbers. But then it rang incessantly that it irritated me.

I took it out from my pocket and answered it with the purpose of yelling to whoever it was.

"Who's this?" I asked irritably.

"Mr. Montealegre, I have a bad news. Your daughter has been kidnapped" I almost dropped my phone when I heard what the caller told me.

"What are you talking about? Who is this?" I asked as I began to panic. Deep inside me, I was wishing that it was just a prank call.

"This is Mrs. Bowen, the principal at Davidson Elementary School. You need to come here right now" She told me that they were still in front of Science Center. I went as quickly as possible to the parking lot and drove as fast as I could. I couldn't care less if I was over speeding. While I was on my way, I kept on praying and wishing that it was all just a mistake.

When I arrived there, there were already police everywhere. Even the press were there. I searched for a member of the faculty who was still there and I saw one who was currently interviewing by the press. I saw Mrs. Bowen who just finished talking to the police.

"What the f*ck happened Mrs. Bowen? Where is my daughter?!" I almost shouted at her and she flinched at my loud angry voice.

"W-We just came out of the Science Center when a white van stopped in front of us and grabbed Camila inside the car. They had gun with them that's why we couldn't do anything to help her" She said with a trembling voice. She looked scared. The other children were crying too. I wanted to shout with frustration when the police told me that they couldn't trace the car because the plate number was fake.

I felt like my knees lose their strength as I slumped down on the ground, uncaring if my pants would get dirty. I tugged on my hair like I was going crazy as tears fell from my eyes.

"What happened here?" My body went still as I heard that very familiar voice. Even though it has been years since I last saw her, I couldn't be mistaken. I recognized that voice. I wanted to look at her direction but I couldn't move my head. I felt like my senses became numb.

"Camila got kidnapped by 3 men when we went out of the Science Center" Mrs. Bowen answered her.

"What?! How did that happened?! Did you get the plate number?! What did the police say?!" She queried with an exasperation evident in her voice. I slowly stood up and was about to discreetly go away from them when Mrs. Bowen called my name.

****

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