The Heiress's Comeback-Chapter 142: [Volume 1] - - What happened.

Without a moment to waste, Helga hurriedly grabbed her phone, her hands trembling as she dialed Aron’s number. "Aron, please, you have to come! Esme... she’s not herself!" Her voice was frantic, the fear spilling over as she relayed the dire situation.

As she spoke, Helga’s gaze never left Esme, watching her friend spiral deeper into a darkness that felt all-consuming. She was determined to pull Esme back from the brink, no matter what it took. "Stay with me, Esme! Help is on the way!" she pleaded, her heart heavy with dread and the weight of their shared history.

...

Aron’s hand hovered over the phone for a moment, his brows furrowing in deep thought. Helga’s voice—so desperate, so unlike her usual calm demeanor—echoed in his ears. Something serious had happened, but she hadn’t even given him a chance to ask. His heart quickened, tension building in his chest.

"What could have possibly made her tremble like that?" he muttered to himself, his mind racing. A wave of suspicion washed over him. He tried to piece it together, but the unease gnawing at him refused to subside.

Aron’s pulse quickened the moment Esme’s face flashed in his mind. Her image, like a shadow creeping out from the darkest corner of his thoughts, brought with it the weight of old fears.

He could piece it together now from Helga’s strained voice—something must have gone terribly wrong, something connected to Esme. His hands trembled as he rushed to the wardrobe, yanking open the doors, revealing a small, unassuming box hidden beneath his clothes.

But as he turned back, his eyes caught on the small figure on the bed—his child, playing with a toy, a wide innocent smile on their face.

Aron’s heart clenched, torn between the urgent need to act and the unbearable thought of leaving his child behind. He couldn’t take them to the office—if this was about Esme, if it was truly as dangerous as his gut told him, it could put them both at risk.

In a split-second decision, Aron scooped the child into his arms, his breath shallow with the weight of what he had to do. He pushed open the door to the room with force, bursting into Ray’s room just as Ray was mid-change.

"What the heck?" Ray started, startled, his shirt halfway over his head.

But before Ray could even finish his sentence, Aron thrust the child into his arms, the urgency in his actions cutting off any further protest.

"Take care of him!" Aron barked, not even waiting for an answer. "I’ll be back soon." He rushed out, leaving Ray standing there, dumbfounded and half-dressed, the child laughing gleefully in his arms as if this was all just another game.

Ray blinked, still processing the whirlwind of events that had just unfolded. He stared down at the child, then at the door Aron had stormed through, his voice caught in his throat.

He wasn’t sure whether to be amused, confused, or concerned, but the child’s laughter echoed through the now silent room, as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

As Aron burst out of the house, his pace unrelenting, he collided with Jay, sending him tumbling to the ground. Aron didn’t even pause or glance back—his mind was entirely consumed with the urgency of getting to Helga. Jay, sprawled on the ground, blinked in confusion, watching Aron dash off without a word of apology, a determined look carved into his face.

Just as Aron reached his car, Kai appeared, about to say something—but before he could even open his mouth, Aron had already yanked open the door of the sleek black car, jumped inside, and sped off with a screech of tires. The roar of the engine faded quickly as he disappeared down the street.

Kai turned to look at Jay, still lying on the ground, his mouth half-open in surprise. Jay met Kai’s gaze with a bewildered, blank expression, the two of them silent as the scene unfolded. Neither of them had any clue what had just happened or why Aron had taken off in such a hurry, but the tense atmosphere left them both on edge.

Aron’s car sped down the empty streets, his mind racing just as fast as the vehicle. He couldn’t shake the gnawing sense of dread tightening around his chest. Every second felt like an eternity. Esme—whatever happened to her—it had to be something dire. His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he turned a sharp corner, his knuckles white, eyes locked on the road but his thoughts spiraling.

His phone buzzed on the passenger seat beside him. For a split second, he hesitated, glancing at the screen. Helga’s name flashed across it. He fumbled to grab it while keeping one hand steady on the wheel. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Helga?" he answered breathlessly, his voice tense.

There was a pause, and then Helga’s voice came through, shaky but trying to hold steady. "Aron... Esme... She’s not even talking to me anymore."

Aron’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"She’s just... muttering," Helga continued, her voice breaking slightly. "Like before, Aron. You know what that means. It’s like she’s slipped back... like she’s not even here with me. I tried everything to get her to respond, but it’s like I’m talking to a ghost."

Aron’s chest constricted, the memory of Esme’s earlier episodes flooding back. He remembered the way she’d withdrawn into herself, retreating into that strange, frightening state of mind where nothing and no one could reach her. Just muttering incoherent words, trapped in her own world. And now, after everything they’d been through, it was happening again.

"She was fine a few days ago," Aron whispered, his mind racing. "Helga, are you with her right now?"

"I’m right beside her," Helga said, her voice now barely above a whisper. "She’s just sitting here, staring at the floor, muttering to herself... I don’t know what to do."

Aron’s heart thudded in his chest. He had seen this before—how Esme had slipped into that darkness—and how hard it had been to pull her back. But this time... this time, it felt different. Worse.