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Chapter 6 Mark of Ownership

His mark had been beautifully engraved there. Unlike the average person who marks with a peck or something else, it was his habit to engrave a name on someone's body to mark it as his own.

His left hand, which was holding Callista's body, turned to the nightstand. He took out some tissues and gently wiped his favorite knife. Meanwhile, Callista, who had been drained of all her strength, leaned back against the headboard.

After taking care of his favorite knife, Kenward again took some tissues. Those piercing eyes dimmed so that anyone could see that Kenward was wiping the tissues on Callista's bloodstains with all his heart.

"She is mine," Kenward thought with pride. Finally, after all this time, he had gotten this girl, even if it meant following a series of plans he had made. A very well-thought-out plan.

A whimper escaped her as the tissue touched her wound. More tears flowed from her beautiful eyelids.

One of his corner lips lifted. Kenward leaned in close to kiss both of Callista's eyelids. He took her into his arms and led her to lie down with him on the bed.

Callista was increasingly confused by this man named Kenward. Why didn't he kill her? Why was he helping to clean her wounds? Why?

"Who is he? He's playing me," Callista thought to herself.

"Close your eyes!" said Kenward, which sounded like a command without refusal.

Suddenly Callista closed her eyes. She didn't want to meet a more tragic fate if she resisted. However, because she was so exhausted and somehow this man's embrace felt comfortable, sleepiness slowly overtook her.

In between her eyes that were about to close, Kenward said a sentence that was imprinted on her brain.

"Kenward, always remember my name. Because starting today, you are mine."

"This crazy man named Kenward," Callista repeated to herself.

It didn't take long for Callista to reach dreamland. The crying, which had not stopped, was now replaced by a soft snoring. The sharp pain disappeared and was replaced by comfort.

Seeing this, Kenward closed his eyes as well. He tightened his grip on the weak, helpless body. Somehow, the prey in his arms gave him comfort.


The vibration felt in her pants pocket made the girl who was enjoying a hot chocolate stop what she was doing.

She placed the beautiful marble glass she was holding on the table. While reaching into her pants pocket, she landed on the edge of the bed. She frowned when she saw the caller's name.

"Auntie Neki suddenly called me? What's wrong?" Rheana muttered. She held the flat object close to her ear.

"Hello, auntie, what's up?"

"Hello, Miss Rheana. Sorry to disturb Miss Rheana's time. Aunt Neki just wanted to ask, is Miss Illis at Miss Rheana's house?"

Rheana straightened up at Aunt Neki's question.

"Illis should have been home earlier, Auntie. She came home from school before me."

Anxiety instantly came over her. She knew Callista very well, Callista would not have gone out during her trauma relapse. Callista was the type of person who would stay alone in her room if she experienced that. She preferred to calm herself in silence.

"So now Auntie Neki still doesn't know where Illis is?"

An exhale was heard from the other end of the line. "No, miss. That's why Aunt Neki is worried about Miss Illis, afraid something might happen since it's late at night."

The girl fell silent. For a few moments, her mind was filled with debate, her gaze staring blankly ahead. But a moment later, she regained her consciousness.

She looked at her cell phone screen, where the phone call between her and Aunt Neki was still ongoing. Knowing that an unpleasant situation had occurred after school, she decided to hide it from Aunt Neki. She did not want to make Aunt Neki even more worried about Callista's condition.

Rheana quickly took off her pajamas. Her hand reached out to slide the closet door.

"Don't worry, auntie. Rheana will look for Illis soon. If there are any updates on Illis, please let Rheana know, Auntie," Rheana said while adjusting the zipper of her pants.

Aunt Neki nodded, though it was not visible to the other person. "Yes, Miss Rheana. Forgive me for troubling you, I'm really worried right now."

Rheana chuckled. Her slender fingers reached for her black jacket, and she quickly stepped out of the room.

"No, it doesn't bother me at all, auntie. Illis is also very important to me."

Not wanting to prolong the conversation, Rheana ended it. "Then, I'm hanging up now, auntie."

"Yes, miss. Thank you very much."

Rheana stared at her phone screen which had turned dark. Frowns were visible on her forehead.

"Why did Illis disappear, and how did it happen?" Rheana was silent for a moment before resuming her steps.

"I must inform the others and begin the search together."


At the sound of the elevator doors opening, a girl in black jeans and a matching T-shirt straightened her eyes. She stepped on her legs that looked longer because of the culottes she was now wearing.

Her pitch-black pupils swept across the vehicles in the garage. After finding her favorite car among the many cars, Rheana hurriedly walked over.

Squeezing her cell phone between her shoulder and ear, her right hand moved to open the car door.

"Yes. I repeatedly explained. I don't know Illis' whereabouts. If I had known, I would have approached Illis earlier."

Although she did not directly see the other person's expression, Rheana could tell that Chennie was worried at the moment.

"Don't worry too much, we don't know Illis' current state. Maybe he just wanted a new atmosphere, that's why he went out alone. Don't think badly, we'll look for her together."

"Well, what you said is right. We should let the others know via video call too. The more people who help find Illis, the better."

"Okay."

The sound of the car engine starting was accompanied by the sound of the phone being turned off. With her right hand resting on the steering wheel, her left hand was busy fiddling with the cell phone screen to contact them simultaneously via video call.

She turned the steering wheel until the car was completely out of the mansion grounds. Her calm state with her heart racing was immediately shattered when she heard someone scolding her.

"What's with the video call? Don't you know how to unwind after school? You're annoying me, Rheana."

Chennie on the other side chuckled in annoyance, yet the rioter had already started her tirade.

"Already, don't nag so much. Rheana and I have something important to tell you two."

"What is it?" the voice of Barithon Aric tried to break up the argument between Chennie and Brian. Unlike the others who showed their faces to the cellphone camera, Aric showed the swimming pool in front of him. It looks like this man is swimming.

Rheana glanced at her cellphone which she had placed on the cellphone stand.

"You guys don't have any negative thinking when you hear what I said." Rheana paused her words for a moment. "So, Auntie Neki called me earlier. Somehow, Auntie Neki questioned Illis's whereabouts, which I didn't even know. It's already late at night, but Illis hasn't returned to her mansion yet."

As soon as he heard that, Aric got out of the pool. He grabbed the towel on the chair to dry his hair.

"Considering the incident after school that could have traumatized Illis, I'm afraid that something will happen to her. But don't worry, I kept the incident after school a secret from Auntie Neki. I didn't want to aggravate Auntie Neki's worries," Rheana continued.

Aric's camera flickered, indicating that the owner was moving around the room. Brian, who heard it, also hurriedly moved to the toilet to wash his face and change his clothes. Hence, Brian's camera was facing the wall. Meanwhile, Chennie was already in the car, just like Rheana.

"For some reason, my mind drifted to a cyclist who almost hit Ilis. In my view, that cyclist seemed to be intentionally harming Illis. I'm afraid there's someone who has ill intentions towards Illis," worried Brian whose cell phone camera moved back to the sky of the walk-in closet.

There was an instant silence. Either because Brian's words sounded logical, or because bad thoughts had indeed overtaken them. The reason was, that Callista had never disappeared from the mansion. And suddenly Callista disappeared in the middle of an unpleasant situation.

"Shutt! Get rid of your prejudice, Brian. Don't just talk. Illis must be fine. Although she looks fragile from the outside, she's stronger and more resilient than us," Chennie assured.

Rheana let out a long breath. Brian's words had made her heart gymnastics.

"What Chennie said is right. Instead of thinking about what's wrong, you guys should get ready and get into your respective cars. Quickly come to our usual rally point. We'll search together for Illis' whereabouts."

Aric and Brian simultaneously nodded their heads. "Okay."

"I'll get there as soon as I can," Aric added.

The short video call had ended. Rheana immediately leaned her back against the head of the car seat. Even though it was still Callista's first day as a new student at her school, Callista had experienced many events today. It was unfortunate that Callista's first day of school at the same school as she was so messy.

Rheana shook her head to drive away the useless thoughts that again came to her head.

"I'd better focus on the road and get to the gathering point soon."

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