Mission: From Divorcee to Millionaire

Selena got the situation loud and clear. Sifting through heaps of surveillance

footage would take a ton of manpower and resources-finding anything overnight was pretty much a pipe dream.

But setting logic aside, how could she, as a mom, let logic call the shots at a time like this? She was consumed by the fear that her nightmare might come true.

"Ava, it's still early. Why don't you try getting some shut-eye? Who knows, maybe by the time you wake up, Mr. Carter will have some news," Ava suggested, spotting Selena's ghostly pallor. She was worried about Selena's well-being and did her best to soothe her. "Mr. Carter's got this; he'll definitely bring Mateo back safe and sound."

Selena closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Alright."

"Let me help you back to bed," Ava offered, guiding Selena back to her room and settling her onto the bed. Ava quickly cleaned up the shards of glass and placed a warm cup of water on the bedside table.

"I'll be downstairs. Call me if you need anything."

Selena shook her head. "You've been up all night. Go catch some Z's. I'll be okay."noveldrama

Ava nodded. "Alright, I get it."

Once Ava left, Selena leaned against the headboard, trying to calm her racing thoughts and piece together the puzzle.

Margot had vanished after being blacklisted years ago. She'd been off the radar for ages. If she wanted revenge, why wait until now? Besides, Margot was more bark than bite, not really one to carry out serious threats.

The people who had a bone to pick with her and could pull something like this off were more likely to be Joy and Abraham. But...

Everett had looked into it yesterday—Joy was still in the slammer, and Abraham was under the microscope. Stirring up trouble now would only backfire on them.

Abraham wasn't dumb enough to pull a stunt like this, and as for Joy, Abraham would never let her make things messier.

That left Yasmine as the wildcard.

But... wasn't Yasmine the one who drowned in the river a few years back?

At that time, because of Everett's issues, Selena hadn't kept tabs on the situation. She later heard that when they fished Yasmine out of the sea, she was so bloated and unrecognizable.

With no family to claim the body, she was buried in a hurry, following the usual protocol.

Selena hadn't followed up on any of that afterward.

If it was Yasmine... it all clicked.

But it was also bone-chilling.

If this was Yasmine's revenge plan all along, then Mateo could be in real danger.

She didn't dare target Selena and Everett directly because they were adults who could fight back, and they had bodyguards making it tough to get to them.

So she went after the kid instead.

Mateo, being out and about for school, was more exposed. Haley, on the other hand, was safe because she stayed home.

Lost in a swirl of thoughts, Selena's phone buzzed with a notification.

She picked it up and saw a message from an unknown number, along with a photo.

In it, Mateo was tied up, hanging from the ceiling, his little body shaking with fear.

Selena's eyes widened in horror, tears welling up as she clamped a hand over her mouth.

Then, another message popped up from the same number.

[Get downstairs now. There's a car waiting to take you to your son

Don't call the cops. Come all net

or

you'll find your son's body instead.]