Chapter 5 - The Empty Mansion
Panic, raw and blinding, seized Benjamin’s chest. He burst through the front doors of his mansion, shouting her name.
"Chloe! Chloe!"
Only silence answered him. He ran to the pantry. Her cardboard bed was gone. Her little backpack was gone. The stuffed rabbit was gone. On the kitchen counter, resting beside the plate of half-eaten pancakes, was a piece of notebook paper.
Benjamin picked it up with shaking hands. The handwriting was messy, written in crayon.
Dear Mr. Ben, I saw the news on your big TV. I know I am causing you trouble. Aunt Rebecca’s boyfriend is a bad man, and he will hurt you if I stay. You were very nice to me. The pancakes were the best. I took my cardboard so you wouldn't have to throw it away. Love, Chloe.
She had run away to protect him. This tiny, broken child, who had nothing in the world, was trying to protect a billionaire from losing his reputation.
“No, no, no,” Benjamin muttered. He sprinted to his security room and pulled up the external cameras. He saw her small figure slipping through the wrought-iron gates nearly an hour ago, walking into the bustling, unforgiving city.
Benjamin mobilized his entire company. He didn't care about the billion-dollar merger. He didn't care about his stock prices. He redirected Crawford Systems’ entire satellite network, deployed dozens of private drones, and sent every employee in his building an email with her picture, offering a million-dollar reward to anyone who found her.
For six agonizing hours, he drove through the city streets, screaming her name into alleys, checking under bridges, and looking into every cardboard box he saw. The sun began to set, casting long, cold shadows over the concrete. The temperature was dropping fast.
Finally, his radio crackled. It was his security chief. “Sir. We found her. She’s at the municipal park, near the old duck pond.”
Benjamin slammed on the gas, running three red lights to get there.
He found her sitting under a large oak tree, the wind whipping her thin pink dress. She had set up her cardboard bed on the damp grass and was holding her rabbit tightly, shivering violently.
“Chloe!” Benjamin cried, falling to his knees in the mud right beside her.
She looked up, her lips blue from the cold. “Mr. Ben? You shouldn't be here. The bad men will see you.”
“I don't care about the bad men,” Benjamin choked out, tears finally breaking free, streaming down his face. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her small, freezing body against his chest. “I don't care about the company, or the money, or the news. I only care about you.”
“But I’m a problem,” she whispered into his shoulder. “Everyone says I cost too much.”
“You are priceless,” Benjamin sobbed, holding her tighter. “You are the best thing that has happened to me since my wife died. Please, Chloe. Come home. Let me be your home.”
Before she could answer, the blinding spotlight of a police cruiser swept over them. Three squad cars pulled up onto the grass, followed by a black SUV.
Agent Higgins stepped out of the SUV, flanked by armed officers.
May you like
“Benjamin Crawford,” she announced over a bullhorn. “Step away from the child. By emergency order of the family court, Chloe Patterson is now a ward of the state.”
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