Chapter 280

---- Chapter 280 It turned out that once the police confirmed the boy wasn't related to Tony by blood, they shifted their full attention to tracking Giselle's whereabouts. But the kidnappers had already fled abroad, leaving no way to capture them. The only lead came from the thug Gideon had shot, the one the police managed to get into a hospital for emergency treatment. After two weeks in a coma, the badly injured man finally woke up. Under repeated questioning, the only detail he could provide was that Giselle had been sold to somewhere in the Soutara Province.

Who the buyer was or where exactly she'd been taken, he had no idea. With only that sliver of information , the authorities sent a task force to investigate, focusing heavily on the border triangle. But in the short term, there was nothing concrete to show for it. Gideon decided to take matters into his own hands, leading his own search through country after country in the Soutara. Around the same time, Donovan joined in, and the two men privately divided the territory between them.

Donovan took his team through Samora, Kamorra, and Lavoria within a month, while Gideon headed north, combing areas known for scams and trafficking, and most recently, Tonvara. ---- But hunting for a single person across the vast expanse of the peninsula was like looking for a needle in the ocean. These regions were a tangle of good and bad, with powerful criminal networks operating beyond even local control. For an ordinary citizen from home to try searching in such places was almost impossible.

After more than a month of traveling, hitting multiple locations, and even reaching out to friends in the underworld, Gideon still found nothing. The closest he had come was on the 20th of last month, when he visited a city in the same district where Giselle had been held, the very small town where Orin had once taken her to the hospital. "To be honest, I feel useless as hell," Gideon admitted, lowering his head in self-reproach. "I left you to face all that danger alone.

Even if you're standing here alive now, I'll never forgive myself." Giselle reached out, patting his back lightly in comfort. "It wasn't as bad as you think. You did what you could, and I'll remember it. Coming back from the edge like this has changed me. I'll protect myself from now on and never put myself in harm's way again. "So stop blaming yourself . The more you say it, the worse I feel." She could see how much weight he'd lost, how all his former arrogant charm had been worn down. It made her chest ache.

---- Gideon said nothing more, only pulled her into his arms again, needing to feel her there, solid and real, or else it all felt too unreal. Pressed against him, Giselle was quiet for a long moment before speaking , her voice heavier now. "The truth is, I was luckier than most. No one touched me. I wasn't violated. My work there was treating the injuries of the other girls or giving injections -medical work. From start to finish, I was just using Orin to survive." Hearing this, Gideon's expression barely changed. He simply looked up at her, eyes steady and intent.

"It means alot to me that you'd tell me that." "What's there to be moved about?" Giselle asked, puzzled.