She's My Sleeping Pill

Chapter 962: THE CONSPIRACY

The vibrate of his phone pulled Stefan back to a reality he had momentarily escaped. As he read the message from Lucia, a cold realization settled in his gut: in the chaotic whirlwind of Luiz's rescue, they had overlooked a critical piece of the puzzle.

The family had originally scheduled this urgent meeting with Dr. Rivera to dissect the psychological nuances of the abductor's demands. However, once Luiz was safely back in their arms, the relief had been so blinding that the appointment had been shoved to the back of their minds. In their haste to reach the hospital, they had completely abandoned the estate.

Now, miles away from the sanctuary of their home, Stefan could only imagine the scene: the renowned doctor, a man whose time was as precious as his insights, sitting in the heavy silence of their sprawling living room—waiting alone in a house that had forgotten he was coming.

Stefan surged to his feet, his phone already pressed to his ear as he dialed the doctor's private line. When the call connected, his voice was heavy with genuine contrition.

"Dr. Rivera, please accept my sincerest apologies for missing our appointment. I am well aware of how demanding your schedule is, but the sheer relief of having Luiz back in our arms completely eclipsed everything else. Our focus was entirely on him."

He took a sharp breath, his tone shifting from apology to strategic clarity. "Now that he is safely under our protection, the leverage is gone; we no longer have any intention of fulfilling the abductor's demands. However," Stefan's voice dropped an octave, laced with a cold, protective warning, "I strongly urge you to heighten your personal security. It is clear now that someone harbors a deep, targeted grudge against you, and with their primary plan foiled, they may become unpredictable."

Dr. Rivera sat anchored to the sofa, his fingers interlaced so tightly his knuckles were white. His mind was a frantic loop of calculation and dread, tracing every possible path his girlfriend could have taken. The heavy silence of the Dumrique estate only amplified his anxiety until the sudden vibration of his phone shattered the stillness.

As he listened to Stefan's hurried explanation, the doctor's blood ran cold. The confirmation that Luiz was safe should have brought peace, but instead, it crystallized his darkest fear. If the abductor's leverage was gone, the rules of the game had changed—and Belle knew it. His suspicion surged into a sickening certainty: Belle hadn't just disappeared; she had likely gone rogue to confront these dangerous individuals on her own terms. The realization settled in his chest like lead—while one victim had been returned, a new, far more personal crisis was unfolding in the shadows.

"I'm relieved beyond words to hear Luiz is safe, and I appreciate the warning, Stefan. It won't be taken lightly," Dr. Rivera responded, his voice tight with a newfound urgency. "Since there is a more pressing matter requiring my immediate attention, I'll take my leave now. Don't hesitate to reach out if any other needs arise."

He ended the call before the silence could stretch, his mind already racing through a tactical checklist. He needed to move fast—every second he spent sitting in this quiet living room was a second Belle was out there unprotected.

"I need Jill's help," he muttered to the empty room, the name of a lifeline in the gathering storm. With a sharp, purposeful stride, he exited the residence, his focus entirely shifted toward fortifying his own world and finding the woman who had vanished into the shadows.

***

Around 2:00 AM, roughly two hours after he had been wheeled out of the emergency room, Luiz felt the heavy fog of anesthesia begin to lift. His eyelids fluttered open, leaden and slow, as he found himself staring at the glow of a large television screen mounted on the opposite wall.

Initially, the world was a wash of distorted light and muffled sounds, his vision swimming in a hazy blur. However, second by second, the sharp edges of the room began to knit together. The sterile scent of antiseptic and the rhythmic hum of the monitors finally registered in his mind. As the clarity returned, the cold realization settled in—he was safe, he was in a hospital, but the nightmare still followed him.

"Yen!" he gasped, a sudden surge of adrenaline forcing him to struggle against the sheets. He tried to shove himself upward, his hands shaking as he fought to get off the bed, but his muscles were like lead, betraying his frantic intent. "I need to talk to them," he added, his eyes wide and pleading.

"Yen and Stefan headed home about ten minutes ago," Jonas said firmly, stepping in to catch his son's shoulders. He applied a gentle but unyielding pressure, guiding Luiz back onto the pillows. "Easy, son. I can call them back right now if you want."

"Yes," Luiz blurted out, the word escaping before he could think. But almost instantly, the urgency in his expression shifted into a grim, protective realization. "No... no. Let them go. The children are safer with them."

"What do you mean by that?" Kyle asked his brother with worry and signaled one of the bodyguards to call for the doctor.

"The kidnapper botched the assignment. He was supposed to take the youngest child, not the youngest brother—it was Zeki they were after from the start," he blurted out, his breath coming in sharp, frantic hitches.

"But then, everything changed. Other people moved in... they executed Mr. Sy right in front of me. They weren't just after money anymore; they wanted to use me as live bait to reel in Dr. Rivera. But even then," he swallowed hard, his eyes darting around the room as the pieces of the conspiracy clicked into place, "the doctor wasn't the endgame either. He was just a pawn to get to someone named Joaquin... I... I don't know what's going on anymore."

"But you said about misunderstanding the instructions, in other words, there's someone else behind Mr. Sy," Kyle responded as the information slowly kicked in.