Chapter 198
Graham leaned against the fireplace, his jaw clenched tightly.
Maggie’s words echoed the fears already circling in his mind. Isla had
lived within the protective walls of Thornfield Manor all her life, her
world no larger than the rolling fields and familiar faces of Willow
Creek. She didn’t understand the harshness of the outside world, its
dangers, its cruelty. She had no knowledge of navigating life beyond
this small, insular town where everyone knew her and, for the most
part, watched out for her.
If she had truly left town–ventured into the unknown–his chest
tightened at the thought. Isla, with her soft–spoken nature and
unworldly innocence, wouldn’t stand a chance against people who
didn’t care about her or her history. She could be lost, alone, or
worse. The possibilities clawed at his mind, dark and relentless.
By evening, a shadow deeper and heavier than even the grief after Robert Lancaster’s death had fallen over the manor. The atmosphere was thick with dread and uncertainty, the kind of fear that came from not knowing, from imagining the worst. Each passing hour without word from Isla felt like a weight bearing down on Graham’s chest. Guilt gnawed at him relentlessly now. His father had entrusted Isla’s care to him, explicitly reminding him that she wasn’t just part of the estate he’d inherited, but a part of his family, his responsibility.
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“Take care of her for me, son,” his father had said in those final,
fragile days.
Graham remembered the little girl Isla had been when he was a
teenager, chasing him around the gardens in her dungarees and
pigtails, laughing as he handed her toffees. Over the years, she had
grown quieter, more reserved, but she was still that same girl to him.
She had been like a shadow, always present but never intruding. And
now she was gone, slipping away into the unknown when he hadn’t
been paying attention. “Isla,” he muttered under his breath, his voice
heavy with regret. “Where did you go?”
As night fell, Graham finally gave the order for Edwin to call the
police. Within ten minutes, a pair of officers arrived at the manor,
their somber expressions mirroring the household’s mood.
They began with the basics, taking down Isla’s description and the
timeline of events. “You say she was last seen at dinner last night?”
the lead officer asked, his pen scratching across a notepad.
“Yes,” Graham said, his voice clipped. “This morning, she was gone.”
“Does she have any other family, anyone she might have gone to stay
with?” the officer asked.
Graham frowned, thinking. “There’s an aunt in Missouri,” he said
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finally, though his tone was uncertain. “But to my knowledge, Isla has never met her. It seems unlikely she would go there.”
“Still,” the officer replied, “it’s worth confirming. Do you have a way
to contact her?”
“I’ll find her number,” Graham said. He made a mental note to check his father’s papers for the information.
The officer nodded, flipping a page in his notepad. “Aside from Mr. Lancaster’s passing, has there been any other conflict or event that might have made Ms. Isla decide to leave? Any arguments or
disagreements?”
Graham shook his head firmly. “Nothing happened,” he said. But even
as he spoke, a shadow of doubt crept into his mind. Was there
something he had missed?
“Noted,” the officer replied, his tone neutral as he jotted down Graham’s response. “What about relationships? Did she have a boyfriend or close friend she might have gone to stay with?”
Maggie interjected this time, her voice shaking. “No boyfriend. And her friends in town haven’t seen her either. Master Graham and Edwin spoke to them earlier.”
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“I’ll need their names, just in case,” the officer said. “It’s possible she
reached out to one of them without them realizing the significance.”
Graham nodded. “You’ll have them,” he said.
The officer straightened, closing his notepad for a moment. “Mr.
Lancaster,” he began, “you’re a prominent figure. If someone has
taken your stepsister, there’s a chance they might be planning to
contact you for a ransom. I’d advise you to keep your phone on and
with you at all times.”
Graham stiffened at the suggestion, the possibility of abduction
sharpening the tension in his chest. He nodded slowly. “Understood.”
As the officers prepared to leave, promising to mobilize a search,
Graham sank into one of the parlor chairs. His phone was clutched
tightly in his hand, as though sheer force of will could make it ring
with good news. The house was still in chaos, staff moving about
whispering prayers and expressing fears. And yet, in the midst of it
all, Graham felt utterly alone. Waiting in uncertainty was its own kind
of torment, one that he wasn’t sure he could bear much longer.
