REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight-Chapter 80: Just meet me there.

*****

Elara stared at her phone, wondering why Ziva was not here yet.

She had called her many times already. The last time they spoke, Ziva said she was done with what she was doing and would come to Voice before six PM.

Now it was almost seven.

Elara did not want to keep calling and disturb her, so she decided to wait. She walked to the mirror and sat down, staring at nothing in particular while her fingers tapped repeatedly on the table.

The concert would start at eight thirty, and there was only about one hour and thirty minutes left.

A knock suddenly came from the door.

Elara stood up at once, thinking it was finally Ziva.

She even prepared what to say, ready to complain about her being late when she was always the one talking about punctuality.

But when she opened the door, her expression paused. It wasn’t Ziva, but one of the staff members.

The woman told her that the driver Rye had arranged was already waiting for her at the parking lot.

Elara stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded.

It made sense. It must be the people sent by Rye. They had said they would come before eight. And this is almost seven.

She decided she would ask them to take her to Ziva’s house first so they could go there together.

She went back inside, picked up her small bag with a few things she needed, and walked out of her room.

As she stepped into the hallway, she saw that there were more people than usual. Many of the other singers greeted her as she passed by. She gave small nods and faint smiles, though inside, she felt a little uncomfortable.

When she got outside, she saw a black car parked at the garage.

She walked toward it, but before she reached it, a man stepped out from the front seat and opened the back door for her. Elara gave a small nod and got into the car.

Inside, apart from the driver, there were two other men dressed in black. One sat in the front beside the driver, and the other sat beside her in the back seat.

Thinking about Ziva again, Elara turned to them.

"My assistant, I want you to–"

She hadn’t finished her words before the man beside her spoke.

"Ah, your assistant, right?" he said while Elara nodded.

"She has already been sent to the venue by Rye for some arrangements," he added.

Elara looked at him for a moment, then turned her gaze forward. "Oh," she said quietly...

–

Ziva stared at the time on her watch with growing impatience. Then she pulled out her phone and dialed Elara’s number again, but the call did not go through.

She lowered the phone slowly and began tapping her foot against the ground, trying to stay calm.

Hadn’t Elara said she had already left and that she should just meet her at the venue?

Ziva let out a tired sigh.

She had already asked the coordinators, and they all said they had not seen her arrive. She even went to check the room prepared for her, but it was completely empty, not even a sign that she had been there.

She paused and frowned a little.

Could the car have broken down?

No, that didn’t make sense. Rye would never send a bad car for something like this.

She began pacing back and forth, her mind running through different possibilities. But none of them made sense.

She picked up her phone again and tried calling, but it was still the same. The call would not go through.

She sighed again, feeling more uneasy.

This was starting to feel wrong. Could the car really have broken down? That was the only explanation she could think of.

As she stepped outside through the side door to check if Elara might be arriving, someone bumped into her.

She looked up at once, annoyed, but then she paused when she saw who it was. It was Harris, Adrian’s assistant. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Ah, Miss Korr, my deepest apologies," Harris said quickly. "I was walking with my eyes open but clearly not using them."

Ziva rolled her eyes and shook her head, already used to his behavior, then she walked past him without saying much.

As she took a few steps, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

Wait, what was he even doing here? This was not Voice, and it was not related to the Vale company either.

She frowned a little but shook the thought away.

That was not important right now. Elara was.

She raised her phone again and checked the screen, hoping to see a new message, but there was nothing. Only the last one Elara had sent.

"I already left for the venue with the company car. Just meet me there."

Ziva stared at the message for a moment, then looked away with a quiet sigh.

But then something made her look back again. Her eyes stayed on the message as she read it slowly. After a few seconds, her brows began to draw together in confusion.

Before she could fully sort out her thoughts, someone called her name from behind.

"Miss Korr."

Ziva let out another breath and turned around, already knowing it was Harris. "What is it?" she asked calmly.

Harris kept quiet at first. Then he spoke up. "Have you seen Miss Veyne?"

Ziva almost scoffed but held it in.

If I knew where she was, would I be walking around like this?

"No," she replied calmly. "Have you seen her?"

But before she could get an answer, Harris had already turned and started walking back toward the side door.

Ziva frowned and quickly followed after him. "Do you know where she is?" she asked again, but Harris only shook his head and kept walking.

Ziva stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "I’m asking if you know where she is," she said again.

Harris finally stopped and looked at her, letting out a small sigh. "If I knew where she was, Miss Korr, I wouldn’t be asking you," he said.

Ziva went quiet for a moment.

Now that she thought about it properly, something might really be wrong.

Harris turned to leave again, but she quickly raised her hand.

"Wait," she said.