I slowly open my eyes to find myself lying on a sofa, with Nick sitting besides me, and asking if i am ok.

I try to sit up slowly and he helps me, but before i can respond to his questions, Ben walks into the room with Roman behind him, then Mom walks in too as well as some other people, one after the other, and i lie back down as they all start to gather around me, also asking if i am ok.

"You went and brought everyone?" Nick grumbles to Ben.

"Ofcourse not, they just followed when they saw me take Roman with me i guess" he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Alright, everyone back up, you are crowding her, give her some breathing space. " Roman says, making room for himself next to me.

"Hey there?? " He winks at me, checking my pulse and studying the way i am breathing and then placing his hand on my belly and feeling around it.

I try to see where Nick and Ben are in the room, remembering our previous 'situation', then make a sigh of relief, when i notice Ben standing next to Stephanie, his hand wrapped around her upper arm.

"Alright, as you can see. She is alright....now everybody get out......" He says, turning to the now crowded room.

"Now!" he adds, when no one makes the effort to leave.

"Alright, you heard the man. Everybody out...let the doctor do his job....." Nick says, pushing everyone out of the room.

They grumble and complain, but eventually leave.

"You too babe" Roman says to a lingering Sienna, and she huffs and walks out too.

He then turns to Mom who gives him a pointed look.

"I am her mother, i am not going anywhere" she utters, raising her chin up.

"How do you feel?" He asks in resignation, when he finally turns to face me again.

"...Mary? Ohh honey, what happened" Lora, who also happens to be a doctor, ask, as she walks into the room hurriedly.

Angelo's father has not been doing so well lately, and she was at the other side of the house, where it is quiet, taking care of him. They had said they would join the gathering much later.

"She blacked out some fifteen minutes ago" I hear Roman say to her, as she starts to check me aswell.

That's when i notice Both Nick and Ben left the room with everyone, taking Steph along with them and i feel anxious again.

I need to know what's going on.

"Mary, try to relax, you are starting to breathe fast again and your pulse is increasing" Roman says softly.

I rub my hand over my face and take a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Can you call Nick for a second" I ask.

"Look, right now you need to ...."

"Just......fucking call him, ok...just one. Minute. Then you can ask me whatever you want" i grumble.

I see someone leave and Comeback shortly with Nick.

One look at me, tells him what i want to know from him, and he squats down next to me and murmurs quietly.

"We are following up on that that and no i have all hands on deck right now working on it.....but i am not going to come at you every five minutes with new information because i need you to concentrate on you right now...because for all we know, this could be nothing, so let's not get you all worked up ok....? "

"But...."

"No buts. Don't think about anything but staying healthy and safe....I will check on you later, before then, try to relax and do whatever they tell you to do....alright?" He says.

"Okay"

He squeezes my hand and walks out again, leaving everyone around me completely confused as to what we are talking about, but Roman recovers fast and asks how i am feeling again.

I explain to both how i felt just before i passed out and also about this morning's discomfort.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Mom asks.

"You wouldn't have believed me" I say, and it's the truth.

I didn't say it because i didn't expect anyone to believe me, and honestly, i couldn't blame them, seeing as i have previously used every excuse to try and cancel today's event and everyone would have probably thought i was just trying to make another excuse, besides, i wasn't feeling too bad, so i thought i could handle it and just get through the day.

After a few minutes of both Lora and Roman fussing over me, they decide i need to go to the hospital where they can confirm if everything is ok.

At this moment, i make a distinct decision to shut off all thoughts of everything else, so i can concentrate on keeping the twins safe and healthy.

*

Almost everyone follows to the hospital despite being asked not to, and as it turns out, we did well to come when we did, because my blood pressure, like it has been most of my pregnancy is alarmingly low, and even worse is that the heart beat of the twins is low too, so they have opted to keep me here for a while so that they can monitor everything.

Lying alone in the quiet hospital room, I think how ironic it is that this is sort of how i actually wanted to spend my birthday, not in a hospital ofcourse, but alone in a quiet place.

But clearly, my wishes are not meant to be, because right at this moment, the door opens as Mom, Lana, Jade, Ally, Sienna, Rachel, Luke, Andre, Lexy, Bella and Ivan walk in, with the two young ones holding a birthday cake in their hands while everyone sings happy birthday to me.

I did not fail to notice that Nick and Ben are not here, but i quickly brush the thought out of my mind.

"You guys, you didn't have too" i mumble, sitting up.

"It's because we didn't get to sing you happy birthday yet" Ivan utters, coming onto the bed and carelessly tries to sit next to me.

"Careful there champ" Andre utters, lifting him off the bed and into his arms.

"So are the twins going to be born today?" He asks.

"No love, that would be too early" I say.

My delivery date is expected to earlier than the normal due date, but i certainly hope that it's not now at thirty four weeks.

"Alright guys, let's keep it quick. We agreed that five minutes." Roman says, now clad in full doctor gear.

".....but can you blow out your candles first" Ivan shouts excitedly.

"That's a lot of candles, will you come and help me" I ask and he lights up like a candle himself, nodding his head rapidly.

"Can i help too?" Bella asks.

"Sure...how many candles are these anyway, i am not this old?" I ask, noticing that they are two rows of candles on the cake.

"We added Angelo's candles as well" someone says and i nod.

"Ok go" I say to the kids and we blow the candles out together, as everyone claps and cheers for us.

"Here" Ivan says, bringing a cream covered finger to my lips, to everyone's amusement.

After a few minutes, Roman comes forward again.

"Alright everyone, can we leave now..... You can check on her later." He says.

I watch everyone go, one after the other, each giving me gentle hug, a kiss or pat on my shoulder before walking out.

I smile at their affection.

Over the last couple of months, i have been so focused on what i have lost, that i failed to see and really appreciate what i gained and still have.

For the longest time, i was on my own...now i have more loved ones than i can count...with two more on the way.... It's not perfect, but it's more than enough to be thankful for. I should act a bit more grateful because i am.

I really am.

*

Kyan and Ceaser, the only people I am involving at this stage arrive shortly after Mary leaves for the hospital, and lucky for us, almost everyone leaves the house too to accompany her, which is great because it gives us space to figure this thing out without alarming everyone unnecessarily.

This could be nothing, but i don't know this time, i have a gut feeling that this is it.

For months, we have had every one's phones tapped and followed, including a whole bunch of random clients and people that Angelo worked with that we suspected could gain from his dissapearance, but nothing lead to anything tangible.

"Hey Nick" both men mumble as they walk in.

Right now we tried to get Stephanie to explain abit more about her video chat, but she does nothing more than cry and say sorry, much to Ben's fustration, so i had to get him out of the room.

"So what do you have so far?" I ask, as Kyan sets up their working space with computers and other gadgets.

"Well, we tried to track the number to a specific location, but it's encrypted, and we hit a firewall, so that's a dead end. So we started reviewing some of her phone calls and movements over the last couple of months, and there is generally no difference to before Angelo dissapeared ... she basically talks to the same people she had always spoken to before, her family, friends." Ceaser explains.

"Give me something useful.." I snap.

"Well, we discovered something.... interesting, until recently, she was having an affair with Maxwell Denning.....they talked often and met just as often too, untill exactly six months ago...No communication, no meetings" He adds.

" Who was the last person she talked to?" I Ceaser.

"Khai?" He i turn asks Kyan for the information.

" Uhhmm, her nanny, Amber." Khai says after a second.

" Before that?"

"Her mother"

"Before that!" I snap.

"Claire Denning"

"Play the conversations she had with all the three.

After listening, we discover that she talked to her nanny to check up on the kids because she was out at a brunch date earlier. She talked to her mother before that to complain about her marriage and how things were not getting better with Ben. And she talked to Claire before that to set up the brunch date that she was at this morning.

"But check this, brunch was at the waterfront restaurant. They sat at a table right next to the water falls, very convenient if you want to make sure no one is listening in to your conversation."

I sigh and turn to Stephanie.

"I doubt Ben knows about your affair, because he would have filed for divorced a long time ago, But having one with your best friends brother, a man he is very well acquainted with won't go down very well for you. I won't lie to you and tell you he won't find out, because he will, however, if this is about Angelo and you know where he is, or where to find him and you choose to keep that information from us, a divorce will be the least of your problems. Give me something Steph, and you might make things alot easier for yourself.

She stays quiet for a long time, contemplating.

"I see Kyan approach us impatiently, and i hold my hand up to stop him from interfering.

"I swear i didn't mean any harm, i swear." She says.

"Stephanie, who where you showing that video to?"

"It was Claire. She wanted to see how far Marianne's pregnancy had gotten and...."

"You received a phone call minutes before you called to video chat, that is not Claire's phone number. Who was that?" Kyan says.

"I told Claire about Marianne's party when met her earlier for breakfast, and she said she wanted to see what she looked like now...so i told her i would call her later when i was at the party, but i forgot...then Max called to remind me that Claire was waiting."

"Max? Does he have Angelo?" Nick asks.

"I....i think so..."

The words had barely left her mouth than she was back handed on the face, causing her to fall off the chair.

I didn't do it.

I thought Kyan did, because it was standing next to me.

I look up to see Ben. I didn't even realise he had come back into the room.

"What the fuck man?"

"I will her kill you" he snares.

Kyan steps in his way, pushing him back.

"You fucking whore! If you and your lover have done something to him, i will finish you". He growls, over Kyan's shoulder.

Ceaser grabs her by her upper arm and pulls her to her feet.

"Where is he? Is alive?" He asks.

But her crying has doubled and she can barely let any words out.

"Stephanie, where is he?" I ask.

Ben is still sluring profanities at her and being generally loud.

"Will you fucking shut up!! This is not the time for this right now! You either get the hell out of the room, or pull yourself together. Can you fucking do that?" I grumble at him.

That shuts him up immediately and Kyan finally separates from him.

Stephanie has her hand clutched to her face. The slap was bad, because her whole face just turned extremely red, and her eye is starting to swell a bit.

"Bring her some ice" I mumble.

"Are you kidding me?" Kyan utters, thinking that i am talking to him.

"This is your fucking house, bring her some ice....Now!" I murmur calmly at Ben who takes one look at Stephanie and then storms out of the room angrily.

I take a deep breath and face her again.

"Do you know where they are keeping him?"

She is not crying now. Just holding her face.

"No" she barely whispers and i nod.

"Ok...let's isolate the whole family and zero in on their movements the last week and especially today." I say to the guys.

Twenty minutes pass.

"Both Claire and Max had alibis when Angelo dissapeared..infact the whole family did.

Max has been seen in a lot of places, clubs, restaurants, racing track etc. infact, he has been more visible than he usually was before Angelo dissapeared, almost as if he deliberately wants to be seen out in public....." Ceaser murmurs.

".....Claire?"

" She hasn't been out much lately, expect lunch or dinner with friends and visiting her parents.

"Stephanie? Where did Claire go after your brunch date?" I ask her after Ben returns with her ice and sits on the opposite side of the room.

She looks up at me, her right side of the face, significantly swollen.

"Home, i think." And I take a minute to think about it.

"It's possible that they could have him there, at their home. It's the last place they would expect anyone to suspect, but going to the Denning residence forcefully and finding nothing would be a problem," I mumble thoughtfully.

"What do you think?" I turn to look at Kyan and Ceaser.

"It definitely has to be somewhere we least expect it." Kyan agrees.

"Think about this, Max has been out and about alot, making sure he is seen in public, seems to me like he is trying to create an alibi. Claire on the other hand, has been keeping a low profile lately, staying alone at her house and......"

"Her house?"

"Yeah, she lives alone...she moved out and doesn't stay with her family anymore." Ceaser says, matter of factly.

"When was that? When did she move?"

He checks his information.

"About five months ago."

"That's where he is. With Claire.Where is she staying?" I say with finality.

"uhmm, in Brent....brentford...." He mumbles, realising just how close that is to where we are now.

"Brentford. The house in Brentford is where their whole family used to leave many years ago" I say rhetorically.

" I believe so" someone says.

I laugh, in realization.

"Son of a bitch!" I mumble.

"That's where he is. Shit! it's perfect. It's right down the street from here, no one would suspect it, and if the house is anything like this one, it has a panic room. That's where he is!"

*

"Let's get everyone there" I utter.

" What's the plan? Just Showing up there forcefully, would be trespassing" Ceaser says.

" Then let's trespass. Just get everyone there. Cut off power supply for the whole area, i don't know, just make up a fucking excuse to be there. in the mean time, Ceaser, get the guys and let's make our move now. Max knows the call was cut off, let's not give him enough time to do something even more stupid."

*

Time feels like it's moving slower than usual, and i can barely stand still.

Did Ben figure it out?

What if Steph gave him a convincing reason for what she was doing? That would certainly put him at ease, then i will be back to square one.

"What if he pushes Steph too far, and they decide to do something to Marianne in retariation?

The thoughts keep running over and over again through my mind, and for the first time i think i will go crazy.

If only Ben can involve Nick, he will know what to do. But the odds of that happening are low, Ben can barely stand Nick.

There is no hope for me either way right now.

*

The little light dissapeared along time ago. It's night time, late into the night. Everything is quiet like it usually is. And that little glimmer of hope i had for rescue long gone.

I sit watching the door, and almost as if at my will, i hear sounds of it opening.

I expect to see Claire or Max, probably coming back to gloat again, but standing there, on the other side of the metal frame is neither.

"Well, I'll be damned" he murmurs.

"I never thought i would ever be this happy to see that ugly face of yours" he adds.

I am too emotional to respond. So i close my eyes and rub my face, letting my head hang low for a second from emotion.

I hear sounds of metal and keys giggling, and footsteps drawing nearer to me.

I finally look up to see my brother, as Nick comes to stand besides him.

"Took you long enough?" I grumble, finally standing up.

"You look like shit" Nick utters, a wide grin on his face.

"I feel like shit" I respond, then look at Ben, who steps closer, hugging me, then Nick joins in the hug.

"You don't smell as bad as i expected" Ben mumbles

"Fuck off!"

"Where's Max?" I ask.

"He wasn't here when we arrived. Neither was Claire. But we battled security to get in here, and the police were called on us for trespassing, so by the sound of those sirens, that should be them now."

I nod.

"Marianne?" I ask.

"Ohh, She ok..but she was taken to the hospital earlier" Ben says.

All the blood drains out of my face.

"What happened?"

Nick explains what happened prior to the hospital visit.

"Find out how she is now" I say.

He nods and makes a call, and comes back to us a few minutes later.

"Shit, they are going to deliver the twins tonight...something about their heartbeats being too low." He says.

"Call Eva, let her hand the police and the press...I don't want this blowing up in the media just yet....As for everything else, we can discuss that later, but i need to get to the hospital and be there when my kids are born." I utter.

"Ok"

*

The ride to the hospital is full of questions and explainations on both sides.

I don't want anyone else knowing i am around until i find Max.

Arriving at the hospital, it's a bit hard getting passed so many people without being seen, especially with my family and friends hanging around Marianne's room.

I am glad to see that Marianne is being attended to at a Hospital Roman works at. I don't know what brought about the change, but i am grateful for it anyway.

We walk into a room named 'Radiology' on the same floor and don't have too wait long, because Roman walks in, with Nick on his tail, literally pushing him into the room.

"What the hell Nick? This better be important, i need to prep for surgery and .....holy shit!!!!!!!!" He mutters, staring at me.

"Angelo??" He utters, looking passed Nick and at me, his eyes literally bulging out of their sockets.