REVENGE, DIAPER and SNACKS - Chapter 64: Chapter 64

But happiness never stays long. It always walks out the back door just when you're starting to think it's finally unpacked and planning to stay.
And sure enough—the bastard Alec returned like a roach you thought you squashed but somehow crawled back with vengeance in his antennae.
I didn’t even know how he was still alive. The man had nothing. His wallet was emptier than my soul on tax season, his men were betraying him left and right, and word on the street said he’d even tried to sell a fake Picasso to an Albanian arms dealer and nearly got his nose broken in the process.
But no. Alec wasn’t dead. He was just getting desperate. And stupid.
It started on a Thursday morning. A stupid, sunny, annoyingly perfect Thursday. I was at the gym, aggressively pretending I had muscles to appease. I was in the middle of lifting what felt like a dying elephant disguised as a kettlebell when my phone rang.
Mylene.
Her voice came through, shaking, breathless, barely even a whisper:
“He was at the school, Cathy. Alec. He was asking around about… Maya and Aliya.”
I froze.
Everything in my brain stopped moving. My blood turned cold. My grip on the kettlebell slackened, and it dropped to the floor with a loud, accusing thud.
I didn’t even say goodbye.
I just ran. Out of the gym, through the doors, past some guy yelling about me not re-racking my weights. I sprinted to the parking lot, jumped into my SUV, and slammed on the gas so hard I think the tires cried out in pain. I don’t remember the traffic, I don’t remember the honking—I just remember flying.
When I arrived at the school gate, I saw Mylene crying. Actually crying. Not drunk-crying, not movie-crying—real fear and heartbreak. Her cheeks were streaked. Her hands were trembling. She pointed to the empty space where the security guard was talking on the phone and mouthing “I’m sorry.”
And I knew.
My babies were gone.
Maya and Aliya—my sweet, giggling, smart-mouthed girls. My little warriors. My reasons for not burning the world to ash.
Kidnapped.
By him.
By Alec.
I think something inside me snapped. I was no longer Catherine. I wasn’t even Leon. I was something else entirely. Something that wore human skin but thought like a mother who’d been pushed too far.
I turned to Mylene, my mouth opening to scream, curse, cry—but she just climbed into the SUV and said:
“The kids can stay at my apartment. I’m going with you.”
She was panicking. Desperate. She wanted to help. But I couldn’t focus. My entire being was set on murder. I nearly forgot they were in the back seat.
We dropped her kids off like a scene from a spy movie—fast, breathless, tight hugs and whispers of "be brave." Mylene gave her kids the kind of look you give before heading into war.
Then we headed to the police station.
I filed the report. I gave every detail. The officers were sympathetic. They promised they’d do everything. But I’d been Leon Darrow long enough to know better.
The police wouldn’t find them.
I would.
So while Mylene cried and answered questions, I slipped away and drove straight to the school again.
I found the CCTV room. I bribed the guard with my 24k gold bracelet and a promise of silence.
And there he was.
Alec. In full view. Wearing a cap. Talking to a staff member. Looking around. Then walking with two girls in hoodies.
My girls.
They were smiling. He probably lied. Said I was waiting. Said there was a surprise.
I wanted to tear the screen in half.
I immediately called Joe.
“He took them,” I hissed into the line. “Find him. Now. I don’t care what it takes.”
Joe didn’t ask questions. He never did. He just said, “Yes, boss,” and I heard his mechanical keyboard clicking like it was out for blood.
We started tracing signals, contacts, back alley cameras—everything.
Hours passed. My nails were bitten down. Mylene kept pacing, whispering to the gods and every saint she knew.
Still… no news.
Every minute felt like a year. Every hour like a knife twisted in my gut. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sit. I stood in front of the map we drew on the whiteboard in Joe’s office, tracking potential locations.
I swore to myself. If I found Alec—no power on this Earth would stop me from ending him.
But then… my phone rang. And I held my breath.
The call came. My heart leapt.
But it wasn’t Alec.
It was Jhing Jhing, her voice cracking like glass shattering through the phone. Panicked. Screaming.
“Cath—Catherine! It’s Ivy and MJ—they’re gone! I— I left them with the new maid for thirty minutes—I just— I went to buy pancit at the corner! And now they’re GONE!”
My hand tightened around Jaya, who clung to me like a sleepy little koala, unaware that the world had just cracked open again.
“No, no, no, no, no—” I whispered, holding Jaya tighter, my breath caught between a sob and a scream.