Robert had returned from his business trip. It was a long week away from family for him. It was four in the morning. He, silently, walked into his bedroom. He had not informed his wife of the return, he wanted to surprise her.

He saw his beautiful wife, Isabelle, sleeping on the bed with peace. It was a pleasure to his eyes to see his wife, sleeping like a baby after spending the whole week away.

He took off his clothes and kissed his wife’s head. Isabelle, being a heavy sleeper, she just stirred in her sleep. Robert chuckled at his wife’s innocence. He, gradually, slid down the strap of her nightwear and toyed with her bosom, like a child. He knew that his wife was such a heavy sleeper that even an earthquake could fail to wake her up. He slid his hands in her bottoms and bit her earlobe.

The couple was enjoying the pleasant morning after hours of heavy lovemaking. They were still charmed by the hours of passion and were in a daze. They kept on displaying affection and love for each other. Isabelle was completely awakened and was kissing him, trying to follow his lead. They had made love for two hours straight. Isabelle had lost her energy and was tired. Robert, on the other hand, was ready for the fifth round.

Isabelle realized her husband’s intentions and spoke up, “Robert, we have to stop now. I’m really drained.”

Not minding her words, Robert tried to kiss her when she said, “Baby, stop now. Please, I’m really tired.

Robert replied with a teasing smile, “I don’t think our body is tired.” He chuckled and prepared for another round when there was a bang on the bedroom door. The eyes of the couple balled out of their sockets when they heard a childish voice yelling, “Daddy!”

The couple looked at each other, horrified and raced to wear their clothes. Robert, in a hurry, had his leg stuck in his trouser. Isabelle giggled, only to receive a glare in return, and walked towards the door. She looked back to confirm he had worn his pants and opened the door.

The bubbly four-year-old, Gabrielle, ran to her father as soon as the door was opened, avoiding her mother completely.

Gabrielle ran towards her father and hugged him.

“Daddy, you said when you will come, you will meet me first. But you didn’t come.” , Said the toddler in her girly voice.

Robert grinned and replied, “I did come, princess. But you were sleeping. So Daddy thought not to wake little princess up. What if she punishes Daddy?”
“Oh, Daddy! You are so stupid. How can I punish you? I love you, Daddy. We do not punish the people we love.”

“I love you too, princess.” And they hugged each other while Isabelle just grinned lovingly at the duo.

******

It was a Sunday morning and Robert had planned to take a leave. While Gabrielle had some other plans like complaining to her father about her mother's various ‘torturous’ parenting methods.

“Your wife acts very differently behind your back. I’m telling you. She is so strict to me. Always keeps on scolding me.”

Robert said, smilingly, at his daughter’s tantrums, “Is that so? I didn’t know she scolds you? Why did my wife scold you, by the way?” He said and laid stress on the words, ‘my wife’.

“For eating cookies.”

“For eating cookies? What are you hiding princess? Tell me the truth. Why did she scold you?”

“I’m telling you the truth Daddy. She scolded me for eating cookies.”

“Yeah, that was the 7th packet of cookies. Didn’t you tell your Daddy about this? Always complaining about me!” Isabelle said, who was carrying a tray along.

“Daddy, you only told me that cookies are for eating. So I ate it.”

Robert looked at both the females in the room, who were looking at him to choose one of them amidst the two.
He gulped a lump and thought, “I hate these ‘choose me’ type of situations. If I choose my daughter, no sex for a month. If I chose my wife, I will end up breaking my princess’ heart.”

He looked at the duo and answered diplomatically, “Cookies are made for eating. But one should not overeat it.”
Both the females looked at him and huffed, only to leave him sulking there.

“Hey! I thought you were mad at each other.” But both of them ignored his words.

He picked up the cookie and said, “You stupid cookie. Because of you, I will have no sex for a month and my princess is mad at me. I’m gonna finish you today.” Robert joked and ate the full packet, moaning.

******
Robert had been swimming with the business sharks for the last five years. He was one of the best businessmen, not only in the niche but in the whole nation. It was just another Monday morning to him. He arrived at his workplace. He walked into the office building. The receptionist jerked up and greeted him with a good morning with a nervous smile. Robert was a strict, stoic, and completely professional boss. He maintained a distance with each and every employee.

Robert wished the receptionist back with a very neutral expression and continued to walk towards his office in the building. The walk to the office was through the employee's cubicles. Everyone wished him good morning and so did he. But not once did the man stop.

He kept on walking and opened the office door. He walked inside, sat on the chair, and started reviewing the files kept on the right side of his table by the secretary. He was not only professional but very systematic.
Robert was a positive and jovial man, personally.

However, he knew that only the disciplined survive in the business rat race. It had been almost half an hour and his phone pinged. He had a habit of switching the phone on and observing the notification badge. If it were some social media or private stuff, he would completely avoid it. But this time it was a Gmail badge. He had two Gmail ids. A professional and another personal. His secretary had not walked in with any information, so it was the personal one, he assumed.

However, something within him made him click on the badge. It was from an unknown id. The Gmail had a file attached. A video. He clicked on the play icon and what he saw shook him to the core. It was his wife. His wife laid on his bed, asleep or probably unconscious, and a masked man was touching her like she was the most alluring and precious woman in the world.

Robert’s world crashed in front of his eyes. His phone fell from his hand. His eyes were wide. It pinged, again. His phone had pinged. He looked down and picked the rectangular object with a heavy heart. His breathing had intensified. The screen was tattered but he did not care. His wife was a bigger concern. The ping was from a notification. A notification indicating a second email, from the same anonymous entity. 

He opened the email. The subject of the email tore him down further and chilled him to the core. The subject read, “MINE!” This time, there were multiple attachments. He clicked on the first attachment, it was his wife’s picture, laughing.

The second picture was again a picture showing his wife buying fruits from the vendor. Before he could open the third one, his phone rang. It was a call from a private number. He picked it up.

The caller sounded happy. He said, “I'm gonna claim my woman. You can get any other toy to play with. She is mine. I’ll prove it to you with another video of hers, screaming under me.” And he laughed.

Robert shouted at the top of his voice, “NO! She is mine. She can never be yours! She can never be anyone else’s.”

The secretary dares not to enter. He thought that it was probably boss’ another mood swing and let it go. Robert’s phone started ringing again. This time it was his guard. His guard said, “Sir” he paused and gulped audibly.

He continued then, “madam is missing. Gabrielle's baby was crying and searching for her everywhere. We searched together but she was not found. I did not see her leaving.” He took another pause. He continued again, “Roger checked in the washroom as well. Madam was not found, Sir.”

Robert shouted at the top of his voice and threw the phone in frustration. He cried but something clicked and he picked up his phone. He ran out of his office. His secretary sprang from his seat and ran behind his boss. Before he could reach his boss, his boss was out of the office in the lift. He knew then, that today’s meeting was to be handled by him.

Robert was in the parking lot and drove out at a fast pace. He had broken all the traffic rules today. He did not care. He called his mother-in-law and requested her to take care of Gabrielle. He did not even wait for the old woman’s reply. The phone rang again.

Before he could even take a look at the caller id, his car slammed into another car and the car toppled on the road like a toy.

*****
It had been a week since Robert’s accident. He was in a coma for a week. Robert was in a semi-conscious state and the first thing he said was, “Isabelle!” His eyes opened.

He checked his surroundings and tried to get up. His weak body had failed him. He tried but he could not. The nurse jogged up to him and said, “Sir please calm down. You need to rest.”

This statement infuriated Robert and he said, “Rest? My wife is missing and you are asking me to calm down? To take rest?”

He was really furious and tried to get up from the bed and fell on the floor. The male nurse held him and put him on the bed. The nurse walked with an injection. Robert was struggling constantly. The male nurses held him and the other nurse sedated, putting him in a deep slumber.

It was hours later when he was conscious again. He woke up and got the news that his wife was still missing. He broke down. His mother-in-law informed him that they had lodged police complaints, but they had found nothing. Soon he heard his little princess, “Daddy!” Robert wiped the tears off his face.

He did not want his daughter to see him that way. He was her only support system now. His tears would just weaken her more.

The young girl ran to her father and hugged him. The little girl too had tears in her eyes. She looked at her father, who did not fail to notice his daughter’s dark circled eyes and tear-stained face. His heart pained to his daughter in a heartbroken state. The young girl was devastated post her mother’s abduction and father’s accident.

At a point, Gabrielle felt that she was going to live alone. She had replayed all the memories, good and bad, she had created with her parents. The mere thought of her parent’s departure from the world made her sob and choke on her own saliva. The girl would constantly dream a nightmare and that had killed her sleep. Seeing her father with open eyes had made her shed tears. She had thought she lost her hero.

The father-daughter duo was sharing a few tears of sorrow when Marina, Isabelle’s mother, entered the room. Robert moved away from his daughter, seeing his mother-in-law enter. He looked up at her in his eyes and felt like he had failed her, failed that woman as her daughter’s husband.
He was supposed to safeguard his wife, a woman who was this woman’s only daughter. But he had failed. Failed as a husband, failed as a father, failed as a son-in-law. 

Robert tried to get up from the bed. He failed, again. He fell on the bed and this made Marina rush towards him. He hugged her and said, “Mom. Mom, Isabelle…” He took a pause and tried to look in the lady’s eyes, but as such, he failed.

He kept his head down and continued, “Mom, I failed you. I failed you all. She was my wife. I was supposed to safeguard her. But, I failed Mom.”
Marina was a strong woman. Not physical, but emotionally. Yet, seeing her family so shook and sad, made her eyes water. She hugged him and cried, so did Robert. She did not reply to his self-accusations. She knew it was just a sudden, irrational accusation due to the complexity of the situation. The doctor walked in with a nurse. He told Robert that he had to be in the hospital for two more days, under his observation and then he would get discharged.

It was his third day after he had woken up from a coma. He was discharged and all of them had come back home. Police were still empty-handed. They had not found a single clue about Isabelle’s abduction. It was as if they were wiped off the planet. Despite the use of all the available resources, the police had failed. He kept up with the police.

Every morning, he would call them up ask about the progress of the case. A ‘no’ and ‘nothing’ would break him little by little, every day.

Robert was depressed due to the fact that his wife was no more around and somehow, he had failed her. There would many thoughts running on his mind. The police had, basically, given up. They had lost all the hope to find her. Robert, too, was losing hope. A thought had once struck his mind, that Isabelle was, probably, gone. He had cried himself to bed. He had woken up in the morning with hope in his heart though. A little hope, that his wife was not dead.

Gabrielle was depressed and stressed. It was awful for him to see his daughter that way. She had paled beyond imagination and had lost an excessive amount of weight. And sadly, the changes were just not limited to this. The girl hardly spoke to anyone. She always cried her heart out and missed her mother. Marina’s heart would turn heavy seeing the misery of the two. She was numb as well. But she knew that her daughter was alive. It was her motherly instincts.

Time went on and Isabelle had been missing for about a year now. Robert and Gabrielle were still numb. It was like they never coped up with the loss of Isabelle. They hoped, that one day she would be found, alive.

It was a moonlit night. Robert had come back from his work. He had dinner and tucked Gabrielle in bed. She had improved, physically. However, the mental state of the trio remained the same. They hardly spoke to each other.

Life was going in the same way and to them, the year had passed in a blur. They would pretend to be strong for each other but reality was the exact opposite. They would shed millions of tears for her in solitude. Robert had tucked Gabrielle in bed and he went on to his own room for a hollow, unsound sleep that had been accompanying him at night. He laid on the bed and stretched out his left hand to caress her side of the bed. 
He did not cry though. It was like his tear gland was too tired to secrete tears. He had run out of tears now.

He just stared at that side and turned to stare at the ceiling. He was busy with his staring chore when his phone buzzed. It was an unknown number. Hence, he rejected the call. The phone buzzed again. He rejected the call. The phone buzzed, again. It was the third time and his anger knew no limits. He picked up the call and almost yelled at the caller.

“Do you even know what time it is? Can’t you wait till the-”

“Robert?” the caller cried, cutting Robert off. The voice continued,

“Robert, oh god, is this you?”

Robert’s voice had stuck in his throat. His heart was beating faster. He could not believe his ears. He felt his brain was playing tricks and the woman on the other side was not his wife.

The woman cried again and said, “Robert, please say something. Don’t you remember me, Robert? Robert!” and the sobbing continued.

This time, Robert spoke up, “Isabelle? Is this you Isabelle?”

“Yes, Robert. But we are in danger. Please save us. He will kill us. Please come as soon as you can. Please.”

“Tell me where you are Isabelle. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Isabelle told him about her whereabouts. He penned down the details and called the police. The police had turned Robert’s request to tag along down. It could be fatal to his life. But on his constant nagging, the police had agreed.

Soon, the reached there and the cops had surrounded the area. The firing was started by the opponent and Robert was pushed behind the police. And the police started firing.

The struggle by the cops was real and the culprit was dead. Isabelle soon walked out of the building. Her eyes were searching for Robert amongst the crowd of cops. Her eyes met his and she ran towards him. She hugged him hard and they cried in each other’s embrace.

A cop soon ruined the couples moment. He cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me, sir, ma’am.” Robert glared at him and before he could rebuke the cop, his wife said, “My baby! Thank you, officer. For saving her.”

Robert looked at the infant in the inspector’s hand and failed to comprehend the situation. Before he could ask Isabelle, he knew what his wife meant by ‘us’ on the phone call.

Isabelle took the baby from the inspector and kissed her forehead. She turned and faced Robert. She said in a calm voice, “Robert, this is our daughter, Camilla.” and his world had trampled down.

They soon arrived in front of the house. Isabelle carried a sleeping Camilla back home. Gabrielle was all cheerful and ran to her mother.

“Mummy!” She stopped at her mummy’s foot and asked her innocently, “who is this baby, mummy?” Isabelle chuckled at her and replied, “she is your younger sister, Camilla.”

Marina’s head snapped from them to Robert in search of answers. Robert instead was just glaring at the floor, with his hands folded in fists. Robert and Marina both had numerous questions and doubts that could only be answered and solved by Isabelle.

But looking at Gabrielle’s newfound happiness, they decided to postpone the talk and questions by a day. But before asking any questions, Robert had decided that the baby was not his.

******
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