Chapter 5 - The Night Nikico Disappeared
Marco moved before the investigators could.
At 2:17 a.m., the house alarm went off.
Adeline woke instantly.
She ran toward Nikico's room.
The bed was empty.
The wheelchair was gone.
Her heart stopped.
“Bruno!”
Security flooded the hallway.
The rear door was open.
A tire track marked the wet grass.
Nikico had been taken.
Adeline felt fear rise through her chest.
Then she noticed something on the floor.
A broken piece of metal.
A wheelchair brake.
She picked it up.
Her mind raced.
Whoever had taken him knew exactly how the equipment worked.
That meant someone familiar with his care.
Someone who knew his routines.
Someone who knew he would be unable to escape quickly.
Adeline turned toward Bruno.
“Where is the old rehabilitation van?”
His face changed.
“Garage three.”
They found it empty.
Inside the van were restraints.
Medication.
Blankets.
A second wheelchair.
Adeline's stomach turned.
“This was planned.”
Bruno called every contact he had.
Nothing.
Then Adeline remembered something.
Nikico had once told her that when he was afraid, he repeated numbers.
She had assumed it was a nervous habit.
Now she understood.
During physical therapy, he always counted backward from 20.
Not because he needed to.
Because the numbers anchored him.
She asked Bruno to bring up the location history of Nikico's phone.
One ping appeared.
A warehouse near the river.
They went.
The building was dark.
Bruno's security team entered first.
Then Adeline heard a cry.
“Nikico!”
He was tied to a chair.
His wrists were bleeding.
Marco stood behind him with a pistol.
Adeline froze.
Marco smiled.
“You should have stayed in your kitchen.”
Nikico looked at her.
“Don't come closer.”
Marco raised the weapon.
“You have no idea what he is.”
Adeline took another step.
“He is my patient.”
Marco laughed.
“He was supposed to be my partner.”
Nikico spat blood.
“You were stealing from me.”
“I was protecting the family.”
“You tried to kill me.”
Marco's expression shifted.
“You survived. That was the problem.”
Then Camille appeared behind the guards.
She had come with the investigators.
Marco stared at her.
“You.”
Camille spoke through tears.
“I told them everything.”
Marco raised the weapon.
Everything happened at once.
Bruno lunged.
An investigator shouted.
The gun fired.
Nikico jerked sideways.
Adeline screamed.
But the bullet struck the metal chair frame.
Security tackled Marco.
The warehouse erupted into chaos.
Adeline reached Nikico.
“Are you hurt?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
She checked him anyway.
His breathing was rapid.
His hands were cold.
Then he whispered, “I knew you would come.”
Adeline's eyes filled.
“How?”
“You always come.”
Those four words broke something inside her.
Not because they were romantic.
Because they were trust.
They had been built from hundreds of ordinary moments.
A glass of water.
A blanket.
A medication chart.
A stubborn argument.
A therapy session.
A refusal to let him disappear inside his own fear.
Marco was taken into custody.
The investigation grew rapidly.
The financial crimes were larger than anyone expected.
Several shell companies.
False accounts.
Bribes.
Forgery.
Fraud.
And evidence tying multiple people to the original accident.
Camille cooperated.
Her testimony became a central part of the prosecution.
The wedding was canceled.
The company was placed under independent oversight.
Nikico's legal team reconstructed every decision made during his recovery.
Some documents had been forged.
Some signatures had been obtained while he was impaired.
Adeline's medication records became critical evidence.
So did her notebook.
Every time.
Every tablet.
Every observation.
She had written everything.
No drama.
No accusations.
Just facts.
When the investigators asked why she kept a private notebook, she gave the same answer she had given years earlier.
“Because I wanted the truth to survive even if I didn't.”
The lead investigator looked at her.
“You understand that saved him.”
Adeline looked toward the hospital window.
Nikico was inside.
Preparing for another surgery.
This time, he had chosen it himself.
No one had made the decision for him.
No one had signed anything while he was confused.
He had chosen to undergo an experimental procedure that might improve his mobility.
May you like
The odds were uncertain.
But for once, uncertainty belonged to him.
