CHAPTER SIX
The World She Left Behind
Bellmere never truly slept.
Even before the sun had completely risen, the city was already alive.
Cars filled the wide streets, their headlights cutting through the morning mist. Buses rumbled past rows of glass buildings while cafés opened their doors to the early crowd. Somewhere in the distance, the faint sound of a church bell mixed with the constant hum of traffic.
People hurried along the pavements with coffee cups in their hands, already absorbed in the business of another ordinary day.
Bellmere had always been a strange mixture of old and new.
Centuries-old buildings stood beside modern skyscrapers. Expensive boutiques occupied streets that had existed long before most of the people walking through them were born. Quiet residential neighbourhoods gave way to crowded commercial districts, and somewhere between all of it, millions of people simply lived their lives.
To them, it was an ordinary morning.
But for three people in Bellmere, nothing about the morning felt ordinary.
Because somewhere in that enormous city, a girl named Bella Krut had been missing for seven days.
And nobody knew where she was.
---
Mira
Mira stared at the same email for nearly five minutes without reading a single word.
Her assistant stood across from her desk, waiting.
"Are you going to answer them?"
Mira blinked.
"Hm?"
"The email."
She looked at the screen.
"Oh."
She stared at it again.
"No."
Her assistant sighed.
"Mira."
"I'm busy."
"You've been staring at the same email for twenty minutes."
Mira glanced at the clock.
"Twenty?"
"Twenty-three."
Mira slowly looked up.
"You're becoming very annoying."
"I learned from you."
That almost got a smile out of her.
Almost.
Instead, Mira reached for her phone.
The screen lit up.
Still nothing.
Her thumb hovered over Bella's name.
She pressed call.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
Mira ended the call and dropped the phone onto her desk.
"She's going to kill me."
Her assistant raised an eyebrow.
"You're worried about her."
"I'm annoyed."
"That's not what your face says."
Mira gave her a flat look.
"My face doesn't say anything."
"Your face is practically screaming."
Mira ignored her.
She opened their message thread.
The last few days were filled with messages from her.
Mira: Where are you?
Mira: Bella, answer your phone.
Mira: I'm serious.
Mira: If you're angry with me, just say so.
Mira: Please.
She stared at the last message for a long moment.
That one had been sent two nights ago.
She hadn't sent another since.
Not because she wasn't worried.
Because she was scared of what she might type next.
Mira leaned back in her chair.
She had known Bella since they were children.
They had grown up together, survived school together, gotten into trouble together and, on more than one occasion, lied for each other.
Bella was the kind of person who could disappear from a conversation halfway through and return hours later as though nothing had happened.
But seven days?
No.
This wasn't Bella needing space.
Something was wrong.
Mira picked up her phone again.
Her finger hovered over the call button.
Then she stopped.
Instead, she opened her contacts.
One name sat beneath Bella's.
Lyla.
Mira pressed call.
---
Lyla
The camera flashed.
"Beautiful. Hold it."
Lyla remained perfectly still.
Another flash.
"Perfect."
She had been standing beneath studio lights for nearly three hours.
Her face showed none of the exhaustion she felt.
That was part of the job.
Smile when you're tired.
Pose when your feet hurt.
Look effortless when nothing about the day feels effortless.
The moment the photographer called for a break, Lyla walked straight toward her phone.
Twenty-three missed calls.
All from Mira.
Her stomach dropped.
She called back immediately.
Mira answered before the first ring had completely finished.
"Finally."
Lyla frowned.
"Why have you called me twenty-three times?"
"Because you weren't answering."
"I'm working, Mira."
"So am I."
"Then why are you calling me during work?"
Mira went silent.
Lyla's expression changed.
"What's wrong?"
"Have you spoken to Bella?"
The noise of the studio suddenly seemed much quieter.
"No."
"When was the last time you spoke to her?"
Lyla thought about it.
"About a week ago."
"Exactly."
Lyla's heart sank.
"She's still not answering?"
"No."
"Did you check her apartment?"
"Of course I did."
"And?"
"Her car is there."
Lyla looked down at the floor.
"Her phone?"
"Still active."
"What?"
Mira exhaled.
"Calls go through. Messages deliver. But she hasn't responded to anything."
Lyla was quiet.
She knew Bella.
Not as long as Mira did, but long enough.
Bella could ignore messages.
She could forget to call.
She could disappear for an afternoon.
But she would never leave the people closest to her wondering whether she was alive.
Not for seven days.
Lyla looked toward the studio mirror.
Her reflection stared back at her.
Perfect hair.
Perfect makeup.
Perfect outfit.
She looked like someone who had absolutely nothing to worry about.
"I'm coming home."
Mira paused.
"What?"
"I'm coming back to Bellmere."
"You have work."
"I know."
"You have three campaigns this week."
"I know."
"And you're supposed to be in Paris next."
"I know, Mira."
There was a pause.
Then Mira asked quietly,
"You're really coming?"
Lyla picked up her bag.
"My best friend has been missing for seven days."
She looked at her reflection one last time.
"I'm not staying on the other side of the world pretending that's normal."
---
Ethan
Across Bellmere, the morning sun poured through the windows of a quiet office.
Ethan Krut stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the city.
His office was almost painfully neat.
There was nothing unnecessary on his desk.
No scattered papers.
No photographs.
No decorations.
Everything had a place.
And right now, the only thing out of place was the phone in his hand.
His assistant stood behind him.
"We checked the hospitals again."
Ethan didn't turn.
"And?"
"Nothing."
"The police?"
"They haven't found anything either."
"Her car?"
"Still at her apartment."
"Bank accounts?"
"No unusual activity."
Ethan finally turned around.
"And her phone?"
His assistant hesitated.
"Still active."
Ethan's expression hardened.
"Explain."
"It receives messages. Calls go through. But there hasn't been any response."
Ethan looked down at his phone.
Bella's name was still sitting at the top of his call history.
Seven days.
He had called so many times that he had stopped counting.
Bella could be stubborn.
She could be careless.
She could be unbelievably irritating.
But she wasn't cruel.
She wouldn't knowingly leave them worried for an entire week.
She would have sent something.
Anything.
Even one of her ridiculous messages.
I'm alive. Stop acting like my funeral is tomorrow.
The corner of his mouth almost lifted.
Almost.
Then the expression disappeared.
"Have you spoken to Mira?"
"Yes."
"And Lyla?"
"She's flying back."
Ethan nodded.
"Good."
His assistant hesitated.
"Should we report her officially?"
Ethan went still.
He had been avoiding that decision.
Not because he believed Bella was fine.
Because making it official meant admitting that they had no idea where she was.
He looked out at Bellmere again.
"Yes."
His assistant nodded.
"I'll handle it."
"Ethan."
He stopped.
"Find her."
---
That evening
By the time Lyla returned to Bellmere, the three of them were sitting together in Mira's office.
Lyla looked exhausted.
Mira had barely touched the coffee in front of her.
Ethan sat opposite them, his phone lying face-down on the table.
For a while, nobody spoke.
The silence was different from the comfortable silence they would normally share.
This one felt heavy.
Mira finally broke it.
"We need to stop pretending this is normal."
Lyla looked at her.
"I know."
"Seven days."
"I know."
Mira looked at Ethan.
"What do you know that we don't?"
Ethan leaned back.
"Not much."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the truth."
He picked up his phone.
"Her car is still at home. No hospital has her registered. Her accounts haven't been touched. Her phone is receiving calls and messages, but whoever has it isn't responding."
Lyla frowned.
"Whoever?"
Ethan looked at her.
"We don't know that Bella has the phone."
The room went silent.
Mira's face changed.
"Don't say things like that."
"I'm telling you what we know."
"And what exactly are we supposed to do with that?"
"Find her."
Lyla looked between them.
"Could she have left voluntarily?"
Mira shook her head immediately.
"No."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
"How?"
Mira stared at her.
"Because Bella would never leave without saying something."
She paused.
"Not to us."
That silenced Lyla.
Mira looked down at her phone.
Bella's picture filled the screen.
It was an awful picture.
Bella was laughing so hard that she had nearly dropped her drink, while Mira had caught the entire thing on camera.
She had threatened to delete it.
Bella had threatened to steal her phone.
Neither of them had done anything.
Now Mira found herself staring at that ridiculous picture longer than she should have.
Lyla noticed.
"She looks happy."
Mira smiled faintly.
"She was."
Ethan stood.
"We're going."
Mira looked up.
"Where?"
"Everywhere."
He picked up his coat.
"We've checked the obvious places."
His eyes moved between them.
"Now we start looking where nobody thought to look."
Lyla stood.
"I'm coming."
Mira grabbed her bag.
"Obviously."
Ethan nodded.
"Then let's go."
They walked out together.
For the first time in seven days, they weren't waiting for Bella to come back.
They were going to find her.
---
Somewhere else
Bella sat on the edge of the enormous bed, staring at her phone.
Mira.
Lyla.
Ethan.
Message after message.
Missed call after missed call.
She opened Mira's conversation first.
Her heart tightened.
Mira: Bella, please answer me.
She scrolled.
Mira: Where are you?
Mira: I'm serious. Please just call me.
Then Lyla's.
Lyla: Where are you?
Lyla: I'm serious. Please call me.
And finally, Ethan's.
Ethan: Bella, call me as soon as you see this.
Bella stared at the screen for a long moment.
They were worried.
She had never seen so many messages from them.
Whatever they thought had happened to her, they were clearly scared.
And suddenly, being trapped in this strange place felt even worse.
She wanted to tell them she was okay.
She wanted to tell them where she was.
The problem was…
She didn't know.
Bella lowered the phone.
She couldn't explain where she was.
She couldn't explain who had brought her here.
She didn't even know whether the man who had saved her was the same person who owned this place.
And somehow, the strangest part wasn't that she was here.
It was the way everyone in this house treated her as though she belonged here.
Her fingers slipped into her pocket.
The silver pendant was still there.
She pulled it out and stared at it.
The tiny piece of jewellery caught the light.
There was something about it.
Something she couldn't place.
Bella frowned.
"Why do I feel like I've seen you before?"
She shook her head.
"Forget it."
She slipped the pendant back into her pocket.
Right now, she had bigger things to worry about.
She needed to go home.
Whatever it took.
Bella stood and walked toward the door.
Her hand had barely reached the handle when her phone vibrated.
She froze.
Slowly, she looked down at the screen.
Incoming call.
Ethan.
Her heart jumped.
For the first time since waking up in the mansion, she felt a flicker of relief.
She quickly answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Bella frowned.
"Ethan?"
Nothing.
She pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced at the screen.
The call was still connected.
"Ethan?"
A faint breath came through the speaker.
Bella's fingers tightened around the phone.
Then a voice spoke.
Low.
Cold.
Unfamiliar.
"Who told you to answer that phone?"
Bella's blood ran cold.
The call ended.
She stared at the screen.
Her hand slowly dropped to her side.
And somewhere behind her...
the door clicked shut.