Cape Town, South Africa

Brandon Davis, alias Zander Reid as he preferred to call himself, looked at baby Ziana helplessly, as she howled in her cot. Ever since Bianca had abandoned her and disappeared from their lives, he was having a difficult time coping up with her. Totally inexperienced with infants, he depended upon his housekeeper, Mila for everything, but with Mila down with fever, he was completely clueless. 

Although not related to Ziana by blood, in the last few days, he had connected to the helpless baby just like a father would. Sometimes he fumed at the situation they were in, as despite having parents, both of hers abandoned Ziana at such a tender age. While Carter was clueless about her existence, Bianca was too selfish to be called a mom. Ever since she had left Zander with a note to explain her inadequacies, she hadn’t even called to take an update on her. 

He picked up Ziana in his arms and held her against his chest, rocking her slowly. Genelia’s tips on baby care flashed across his mind and his heart constricted with longing while his eyes welled up with tears. 

Are you worried about what to do when your infant has trouble sleeping? Do whatever it takes without worrying about bad habits. Nurse or rock your baby to sleep or maybe let your new-born fall asleep on your chest or in the car seat.

Genelia’s sweet voice echoed in his head, and the tears just poured out of his eyes and trickled down his cheeks at the memory. It was the biggest misfortune of his life that, although he loved her so much, he couldn’t have her in his life. After reading Bianca’s note about Genelia’s phone call, he had gone berserk trying to find her, but Bianca had deleted her number and he had no way of retrieving it. Wiping his eyes, he noted how Ziana had quietened down and placed her on her stroller, pushing it towards the kitchen. 

“Now daddy will make your milk, Zizi. Can you stay in this for a while?” he gazed into her doe-shaped, beautiful, warm brown eyes tenderly, knowing how much she hated being in the stroller. She whimpered, but her beautiful baby eyes seemed to understand everything he said. Zander planted a kiss on her soft forehead and sang a sweet nursery rhyme as he prepared her milk. He knew it was because of Ziana that he was still sane, else he would have taken to his bottle long back. With Carlos and Donovan gone back to their homeland after Ross Moretti’s death, Zander had lost touch with them. There was a time when he literally lived at Carlos’s place, but that option wasn’t available to him anymore. Carlos seemed to have moved on and started afresh and hardly accepted anyone’s calls. 

With Enzo being as elusive as an eel, he started getting the feeling that he was avoiding him on purpose. Although he couldn’t pinpoint the reason, Enzo’s motive to keep Genelia away from him didn’t sit well with Zander. He was suspicious that something was up, else why would she not return to him knowing that Ross Moretti was dead and gone? Surely she couldn’t believe Bianca all over again after everything they shared? 

He fed Ziana and lay her down on his bed, placing some toys around her to play with. His mobile phone buzzed with an incoming call from Cameron. Last time he had met Cameron, he had found some hope that after all, maybe he could retrieve Genelia’s phone number using some software Bob possessed. Curious to know what update Cameron had to give him, he accepted the call. 

“There’s good news, bro. Bob has retrieved the number from your mobile. I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he informed Zander, whose heart started racing with excitement and hope. He couldn’t wait to find out the number and call her. He thanked Cameron and disconnected the call, waiting patiently for him. 

“We’ll be going to get mommy, Zizi. I’m sure she’ll love you more than your actual mother ever did,” he whispered, stroking Ziana’s cheek. Ziana gurgled with happiness, kicking her legs and placing them on his chest. Zander picked her up and held her to his chest, his heart filling up with thoughts of Genelia. With only a month left for her delivery, she needed him most now.

The doorbell rang, and he carried Ziana in his arms and went to open the door, knowing that it was Cameron with his mobile phone and Genelia’s number. He opened the door and a grinning Cameron rushed inside, full of excitement. 

“You should treat me, dude! I pestered Bob till he retrieved the number for me and I could save it on your mobile. Here, look.” Cameron handed Zander his mobile, and he smiled at him with relief. 

“Thanks, bro.” Cameron took Ziana from him and started talking to her while Zander checked the number. 

“Why don’t you call her now? It’s just 5:30 in the evening and I’m sure she will accept your call.” Zander nodded and walked away from him towards the balcony to call Genelia. However, even after three calls, he couldn’t connect through to her, as she did not accept his calls. Puzzled, Zander returned to Cameron and stared at the number, wondering why Genelia wasn’t accepting his calls. Was she upset with him? 

“What happened?” asked Cameron, seeing the upset look on his face. Zander gave him a dazed look and a deep sigh escaped his lips as he slumped onto the sofa next to his friend. 

“She isn’t taking my calls. What should I do?” Cameron frowned and took the mobile phone from his hands. 

“Let me try in case she takes my call,” offered Cameron, and tried as hard as Zander. He was about to give up when someone accepted the call at last. 

“Hello? Who’s this?” said a woman’s heavily accented voice that wasn’t at all Genelia’s. Confused and at a loss for words, Cameron handed the phone over to Zander. 

“Hello? Genelia?” he said, hesitantly, his voice choked with raw emotions. There was silence on the other end and then a throat cleared nervously. 

“No, I’m Mrs. Mariah Perez speaking. Genelia left two weeks ago. May I know who I’m speaking to?” asked the woman in her heavily accented voice. Zander’s heart sank with disappointment at hearing the news about Genelia. Left? Where could she have left? 

“I’m Genelia’s husband, Zander Reid. Please, can you tell me where my wife left? I’m calling from Cape Town, South Africa,” said a worried Zander, already at his wit’s end for hitting a dead end. He had expected to connect to his Genelia at last, but it seemed destiny had other plans in store for him. 

A gasp escaped the woman’s mouth, and she sounded agitated. “Didn’t she go home to you? Then where did she go? She asked me for some money to buy flight tickets to Cape Town and left her mobile here before leaving. I couldn’t contact her to know if she reached or not.” 

Zander released a staggering sigh, and a feeling of dread filled his heart. Was Genelia in some kind of trouble with Enzo? After all, Enzo Moretti couldn’t be a saint, being Rafael and Ross’s brother. He couldn’t trust anyone. 

“No, Mrs. Perez, she hasn’t returned home, and I’m very concerned about her, as she is undergoing a critical pregnancy when some criminals abducted her. We have dealt with the situation and now she is no longer under a threat as the culprit is dead. She didn’t have her phone with her and I had to undergo a lot of pain to retrieve this number,” he rambled on nervously, feeling clueless and lost. 

“This is Enzo’s number, actually. He gave her his phone to use when she escaped from Enzo’s cousin and took shelter here at my house,” informed Mrs. Perez. 

“Where is your house?” he asked, wondering if she had taken shelter nearby. 

“Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. My daughter is engaged to Enzo’s best friend. In fact, both Enzo and his friend are here in Coatzacoalcos if you want to talk to any of them. I’ll ask Enzo to call you when he arrives.” Zander had no wish to talk to Enzo. If Genelia had left their house without a forwarding address, there had to be some reason behind it. 

“That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Perez. I’ll call you back when I find my wife. Thank you for everything you’ve done for her.” Zander disconnected the call and slumped onto the sofa with disappointment. 

“She’s left from the place where she was taking shelter. No one knows where she went.” Cameron contemplated upon what he just told him and then his face brightened up as an idea struck him. 

“Why don’t you track her bank account? If she is alone, with no bare essentials, she would definitely need money to survive,” he suggested, and Zander jumped up with hope. Of course, Cameron was right. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? 

“You’re right.” He called the bank and requested them for the information. Since he was a trusted customer for the last six years and operated her account many times on her behalf when she was unwell, they readily furnished him with her last transaction details. 

Zander grinned at Cameron for the first time in months. “London, here I come,” he said, his heart thumping loudly in his chest with excitement.