Janice’s house smelled nice. It smelled like roasted garlic, herbed potatoes, and the faint sweetness of buttered rolls fresh from the oven. The dining table was set like a family dinner. The plates were already stacked, serving dishes were open, and glasses were filled. There was laughter coming from the kitchen, and the windows were open just enough to let in the cool breeze of early evening.It would’ve been a perfect domestic picture if not for the evil plan that was underneath the happy meals. Donald dug into his roasted chicken with the kind of excitement that made Janice smirk with satisfaction. Marren was already on his second serving of the potatoes, and Janice was having her third glass of wine. They were all at ease like this was nothing more than another casual night in.“You’ve outdone yourself, Jan,” Donald said with his mouth full, as he waved his fork at her. “Seriously. If you plotted half as well as you cook—”“She’d still be a bloody genius,” Marren cut in. He wipe

Annabel was sitting alone in the corner of a quiet book shop in southern Spain. It was midday and the sun warmed the windows. There was a novel she had barely even opened on her lap. The coffee she bought had also gone cold. She was restless. She had just seen the articles about her from home, because it had somehow found its way to her. She had left because she needed space, not that she had planned to vanish. She just wanted to stop feeling like a chess piece in someone else’s game. But even here, with the strangers all around, peace seemed to remain just out of reach.Her phone vibrated on the table again. It was the same old friend she had not heard from in ages who had sent her the first link to one of the blogs who had texted her again with yet another link to another blog about her. Annabel blinked once, then tapped the link attached to the message and the browser opened. Annabel's mouth went open in another round of shock again as she read the headline which said:“Vanished

The sky was cloudy when Freya stepped out of the Uber. She adjusted the strap of her bag and crossed the quiet street. Janice’s house stood at the edge of the street. From the outside, it looked peaceful and normal, but Freya knew better. She took a deep breath at the gate before she rang the door bell.It took a minute before door flew open to reveal Janice who was dressed in a navy blue blouse and short slacks. She was barefoot and had a glass of something pink in hand. She could not hide her surprise when she saw Freya. “Freya?” she called out. Freya gave a sheepish smile. “Hi, Aunt Jan.”Janice blinked. “I… wasn’t expecting—what brings you here?”Freya shrugged a little. “I was in the area. And I don’t know… I guess I wanted to talk.”Janice stared for a moment, then stepped aside and opened the door wider. “Well, come in. You’re lucky I haven’t replaced you with a less flaky niece.”Freya smiled weakly and stepped in.The inside of Janice’s house smelled like citrus and faint p

It had been two days since Freya left for Janice’s house. In those two days, Annabel had not left the apartment once. The windows remained closed, the house was dim, and every outside sound made her body tense immediately. She wasn’t paranoid but she didn’t intend to be seen before she was ready.It was mid-morning now and the apartment was still as usual. The only noise around was the occasional notification from her burner phone which she kept close to her at all times. She hadn’t heard anything suspicious from Freya yet. And that was a good thing, but it also meant the burden of progress was on her now. And today, she had decided where to begin. She contemplated calling Roman, but decided against it. It would be better if she found a way to silently help him, then they could reconcile. Actions spoke louder than words, so that way, he would know she still loved him.She opened her laptop and returned to the folder she had built the night before, which contained screenshots of the bl

The rain started sometime after midnight. Annabel was curled in the armchair, looking at her open laptop on the table. Her hair was tied back messily, and she wore one of Freya’s oversized hoodies.The document she had been building piece by piece for the past two hours was on the screen. It was a digital case file which she labeled plainly as “Internal Tracking — CONFIDENTIAL.”Inside the document were screenshots of the blog posts, financial transaction logs from Janice’s shell account, and now the photo of the crumpled receipt Freya had found, snapped and sent to her earlier that day.Her evidence wasn’t complete yet but it was becoming something.She had just copied a line from one of the earlier blog entries — “considering the silence from the Annabel Maxim…” — when her burner phone lit up with a notification sound.It was Freya with a new text. Freya: "Hey. Small update. Aunt Jan was texting someone this evening while I was clearing the dishes. She left her phone face up on the