“What are you going to do now?” I asked after taking a small sip from my cup.

“Oh, El… If you ask me that, honestly, I have no idea anymore. You know how hard I’ve tried to find Sylvia.”

I took another sip while Sarah slumped down on the sofa beside me. Fania had just excused herself, saying she needed to head downstairs to the staff room. Sarah had asked her to help find some important documents.

“El… where do you think Sylvia could’ve run off to?” Sarah sighed. “Even her own family has no idea where she is.”

I understood now why Sarah had been so stressed about all this. So much time had been wasted, yet there were still no results. Nothing. Just dead ends.

“Sarah… what if I told Sebastian about this? I could explain everything and ask for his help.” I asked cautiously, unsure of how she’d react.

Sarah went quiet. I didn’t dare push her further. Silence stretched between us for a moment.

“Would it be okay…” Her voice trembled a little.

“What do you mean?” I frowned, watching her.

She looked confused, her voice soft. “Would it really be okay for me to ask Sebastian for help? I mean… he’s your husband. What if he doesn’t like the idea of you still being friends with someone like me?”

My frown deepened. “Oh, come on, Sarah… Why would you even think something that bad?”

“I'm just worried. I don’t want to cause any problems between you and Sebastian, especially not because of Sylvia.”

After reassuring her over and over again that everything would be fine, she finally agreed to my idea. I called Sebastian and asked him to come to Wonderland and talk to Sarah in person.

As I had expected, Sebastian was actually excited about the plan.

The first ten minutes of our conversation were just small talk. But then the air shifted. Things got serious as Sebastian brought up the issue of Sylvia again.

“I’m willing to help find Sylvia. But I have one condition—you have to release El and help her end the contract with that client who keeps asking for her company. Deal?”

So Sebastian had his own condition. I really didn’t see that coming.

“Oh, about that... even without you asking, I’ve already been trying to help El. I’ve been negotiating with the client myself,” Sarah said with a small smile. “And regarding the contract—I haven’t bound her to anything for a while now.”

We all seemed satisfied with how the conversation turned out. Sebastian and Sarah both agreed to work together to find solutions for both problems.

**

“Thank you for understanding my situation and helping Sarah,” I said softly as we walked out of Sarah’s office together.

Sebastian quickly shook his head. “Don’t thank me. I can’t let you keep working for her like this. I’ll pay the penalty to break your contract if I have to. I promise, I’ll never leave you alone again.” He gently took my hand in his and held it tight. We walked side by side toward the parking lot.

We got into Sebastian’s car parked just outside Wonderland.

“For the record, El… I’ve never considered that man my father. He’s just some lecherous old big shot!” Sebastian said coldly. I was slightly startled by his words.

“Don’t look at me like that. Just because I’m his son doesn’t mean I want anything to do with his filthy habits!”

I burst out laughing at Sebastian’s pouty expression.

Inside the car, our conversation continued.

“Crazy. This is just insane. I mean, I know my father has a habit of chasing women, but why you? That just doesn’t make sense!”

“Calm down. We’re trying to find a way out of this, remember? Like it or not, he’s still your father. He’s powerful, and he’s reckless. We need to be smart about this…”

“You need to leave,” Sebastian said seriously. “For now, you have to get out of town. Let me deal with Madam and my father. Once this is over, you can come back. Then we’ll hold a proper wedding reception.”

“No way! Why should I be the one to leave?”

“Because like you said, he’s powerful and reckless. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, El,” he said, clearly worried.

“You’ve got this, Sebastian. I know you’ll find Sylvia and put an end to this mess. I might not be able to do much, but I’ll be supporting you with all my prayers. Just… please don’t ask me to leave. I still want to be close to Mom and Amelie.”

“I’m just asking you to leave temporarily, babe. Just until this blows over. I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay?”

I smiled at his words. His worry for me touched my heart so deeply. It only made me love him more and strengthened my belief that marrying him was the right decision.

Sebastian was the one who pulled me out of the darkness. Since the day I said yes to him, hope had been shining in my life.

“Alright, alright. I get it. But I’ve still got things to settle here. If I suddenly disappear, it could just cause more chaos.”

Sebastian glanced at me briefly. “Oh yeah? What kind of things?”

“Well, for starters… I want to give you a special gift. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten?”

Sebastian gave me a playful smile. “Sweet! In that case, I want to pick the gift myself.”

I laughed. “Hey! That’s cheating! It doesn’t work like that!” I playfully pinched his arm.

“Ow!” he yelped dramatically. “So mean!”

I laughed again and gave him another light pinch. “Drama king!”

When we got home, Mom and Amelie were waiting for us in the living room.

“Have you two eaten dinner yet?” Mom asked as we sat down.

Sebastian and I shook our heads in sync. “Not yet, Mom. We’ve been busy handling something and forgot to eat.”

“Well, you should both take a shower and change. I’ll ask the kitchen to prepare something for you,” Mom said before heading off to the kitchen.

Once she disappeared behind the door, Amelie leaned in, trying to stop me. “So… what exactly were you two working on, huh? Don’t leave me hanging!” she pouted.

I glanced at Sebastian, silently asking for backup.

***