Taken By The Arrogant Billionaire

He was working late and Valerie had to stay too. Jared came out of the office and met her seat empty. He wondered where she had gone to. Her bag was still on the table. He was about to turn to leave when he saw her phone on the table.

“So careless” he muttered. She was supposed to take her phone everywhere. What if he needed to call her? His thumb touched the screen, and it came to life. It was a picture of her smiling with her two friends. Her smile was so bright. He caressed her face through the screen, ready to drop the phone when someone caught his eyes. Beside Valerie stood Sandy, and beside Sandy was……. He could not believe his eyes. Was he seeing right? Was he hallucinating?

Valerie returned and met Jared at her desk. His expression looked off.

“Boss, is something wrong? Are you okay?”

He turned the screen to her and pointed at it.

“Who is this person?”

“Oh! That is Layla. My other friend”

“Layla? Is that her name?”

“Yes. Why?”

“It’s nothing. You should leave now. I’m done with work also” Without saying anything else, he turned to enter his office.

“What’s with him?”

Jared returned to his office, looking lost. After making sure Valerie had left, he summoned Will into his office.

“Find out everything about Valerie’s friend. Layla Harris. Now”

“Yes sir” he immediately got to work. His heart almost jumped out of his chest at her shocking resemblance to the dead Cheryl. His eyes narrowed as he began to dig more.

He returned to his office.

“I forwarded her personal information to you”

He sat straight and opened his laptop. His eyes scanned through it.

“Her name is Layla Harris. Her parents are both dead. She works as a manager to an actress. The schools she attended are all there. She isn’t in town at this moment”

“I know”

“Also” he hesitated for a bit. “She is 24 years old”

“Cheryl is also 24 years this year” he murmured.

“Are you suspecting it’s her? She was clearly buried five years ago. We all saw that”

He rested his back with eyes narrowed. “We don’t know for sure”

Will balled his hands into a fist as he tried to make sense of it. It could be a lookalike. They had entirely different backgrounds and there was no way it was her.

“Let’s try to find out” he said with a sigh, standing up.

“How do we do that?”

“We are heading to Dylan’s place”

Will looked confused at first before realizing what he was going there to do.

He met one of the servants and was directed to his brother’s study. He was about to go there when he heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

It was Dylan and Sandy. He was helping a very pregnant Sandy down the stairs.

“Jared?” He was surprised to see him. “You didn’t say you were coming”

“Yeah. I didn’t think I was going to come, but it’s important. I need to talk to Sandy”

She pointed at herself. “Me?”

“Yes”

She could sense a bit of urgency in his voice.

She settled on a sofa.

“What is it about?”

“It’s about your friend, Layla. How long have you been friends?”

“A little more than four years now. Why do you ask?”

“What about her parents? Have you seen them?”

“No. Her parents are dead. What is going on? You are starting to scare me? Is she okay?” The agitation on her face was obvious, and Dylan was quick to step in.

“That’s enough. What is all this about?”

“It’s nothing much. Don’t worry. Your friend is safe and sound. I was just curious”

Sandy heaved a sigh of relief.

Dylan stared at Jared intently. “Sandy, I’ll be back soon. Jared, let’s talk in my office”

Dylan stopped walking as soon as the door of his office was shut.

“It’s just us here. Can you now tell me what is going on?”

Jared walked to the sofa and sat on it. He brought out his tablet and handed it to him.

Dylan’s brows furrowed. “Isn’t this Cheryl?”

“That’s Layla. Your wife’s friend”

“They look so much alike”

“Or they are the same”

“That’s impossible”

“Cheryl is undoubtedly dead”

“Didn’t you find it weird that out of Sandy’s friend, we never once saw her. Like she was avoiding us or something”

Dylan was silent. That was true. Sandy had two best friends and he only knew one. Never has he seen the other. He shook his head.

“The profile here is wholly different” he took a seat at his table.

“Sandy seems to know nothing”

“But if she were alive, she would have let us know and returned”

Jared smirked. “Return? Don’t you know the kind of person she is? What Cheryl wanted most was to get the hell out of this family”

Dylan sighed, pinching the space between his brows. Of course, he knew. She was treated like a princess, but Cheryl wanted freedom. Something the Smith family could not give to her “Who else knows about this?”

“No one, except Will”

“Make sure mum, or dad or anybody else doesn’t find out about it. Let’s be sure first. We don’t want to alert the culprit. How should we deal with this?”

“I only came to let you know. I’ll take care of everything. Just focusing on taking care of Sandy”

“It would be nice if she is truly alive”

************

“What did you and Jared talk about?” Sandy asked after he left.

“Just business stuff. Nothing to be concerned about”

She was not concerned. She had called Layla to make sure she was fine. “I have something for you”

He went into the room and returned minutes later with a small box.

“What is that?”

“Open it”

She did and saw a beautiful, exquisite necklace. “This is for me?”

He nodded. “Do you like it?”

“I love it”

He helped her put on the necklace. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you”

“But promise me one thing. You will never take it off. Ever. It must be on you every single time”

“Why?”

“Just consider it a lucky charm. It will also keep you safe”

She rolled her eyes, “What lucky charm? It’s just a necklace”

“Promise me” he didn’t back down.

“Fine. I promise” she yawned. “I feel so sleepy”

“Let’s get you to bed”

He swooped her up in a princess carry.

“What are you doing? Put me down” the servants were still in the house. Her face was burning up.

“Why should I?”

“I’m heavy”

He laughed. “Not at all”

Her eyes were dim by the time they were at the door.

He placed her gently on the bed and was about to turn back when she grabbed his hand and pull him. He held himself steady in time, so he won’t fall on her belly. Her eyes were closed.

“Stay with me” she murmured.