Ryan rubbed his forehead with his hand. It took time before he could comprehend what Mia actually told him.

      Mia was shaking, thinking of what Ryan was going to do. She looked up at him with a wet face. "Ryan..."

    Ryan gently pushed her aside and stood up from the chair. Mia stood up quickly.

     "Ryan. Please.... Say something." She pleaded.

    Ryan took few steps away from her. "What do you want me to say?" He turned to her with a blank expression.

       "Baby I'm sorry. I... I... I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how." Mia explained to him. "When mom told me all those lies that I got pregnant for a married man, I was devastated and at that time, I thought the only option was to give her away. Ryan believe me, I wanted to keep her before the accident." Mia tried explaining.

     Ryan sighed deeply... "I didn't ask before because I thought something had happened. I didn't want to remind you of the painful past. So, where is she? Where's my daughter?"

      "I don't know." Mia wiped the tears on her cheeks.

      "What do you mean you don't know?" Ryan frowned. Yes, he was upset, very upset but he tried as much as possible to show it.

      "Baby I'm looking for her. She's the reason I hired a private investigator."

     "What?! You're saying you lost my daughter?" Ryan glared at her.

      "I'm trying to find her. I've been searching ever since I got my memories back." Mia told him.

      "Call up that investigator of yours, tell him he's fired. We're hiring a more competent person to find our daughter." Ryan said to her firmly.

    "But Ryan we—"

      "It's our daughter we're talking about, I want her found as soon as possible." Ryan said to her, sounding a bit cold.

     Mia nodded... "But Ryan, I want to be part of the search too."

     "No. You're pregnant, I don't want you stressing yourself. Leave it to me. All you have to do is bring in your mom, understand?" He said to her in his icy voice. 

      Mia sighed, she could tell he was mad at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

      "I know." He nodded, walking away.

    The room was awfully quiet than usual as Mia and Ryan slept with their backs for the first time. Mia couldn't sleep, the thought of Ryan being upset with her was making her restless. Mia turned to Ryan, reaching out for his arm.

      "Baby?" She patted his arm. "Baby are you asleep already?"

  Ryan opened his eyes... "Go to sleep, it's late." He said to her.

      "I just want to talk to you." She spoke softly.

     "We'll talk tomorrow."

   Mia sniffled... "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me." Mia said starting to shed tears.

   Ryan turned to her. "Shuuuu," he wiped her tears with his finger. "You crying is making me feel bad." Ryan pulled her closer to him, securing her in his arms.

      "I'm sorry, I should have told you everything." Mia said to him.

     "I'm not mad at you my love. I'm mad because I couldn't protect our daughter, if not for me, she would be here with us." He kissed the top of her head as Mia snuggled closer to his chest. "Stop apologizing, it wasn't your fault. What's important now is that we find her, and bring her home back safely. Okay?"

    Mia nodded... "I wouldn't know what I'll do without you."

     "German is coming over here tomorrow, can you tell your mom to come too?" Ryan asked her.

      "I'll tell her." Mia answered.

   "Stop crying now. I love you." Ryan said to her, stroking her hair.

     "Love you too."
✴✴✴✴✴✴

    Mia, Ryan, Karen and the investigator were all seated in the large living room.

     "So, can you find my daughter?" Mia asked German who was the investigator.

     He cleared his throat. "From what your mother said, your daughter was born in Italy. You don't remember the orphanage the sisters took her to?" German asked Karen.

      "All I know is the name of the hospital my daughter gave birth." Karen answered.

      "Was it owned by the sisters since you said it was a Catholic owned hospital?" He asked again.

    "I don't know." Karen shook her head.

    "You didn't get to name the child?" German directed his question at Mia.

    "No." She licked her lips. Truth was, as soon as the baby was born, Karen took her away. Mia had only a glance at the baby and that was it.

      German wrote down a few things and looked at Ryan. "Mr Webster, I won't lie to you, this is really going to be difficult—"

    "And that's why I'm paying you, so do your job." Ryan wasn't about to listening to stories, all he wanted was his daughter. "I'll be expecting some good news by the end of the week."

   German nodded... "Of course sir. I'll keep you updated."

      "Thank you." Mia managed to smile.

     "It was a pleasure meeting you." German stood up, going to meet Mia for a handshake.

     "You too." Mia shook his hand.

    "Okay Mr Webster, I'll take my leave now." He shook Ryan's hand. "Ma'am." He acknowledged Karen

      "I'll walk you out." Mia said, getting up.

    They both headed towards the door.

    Karen glanced at Ryan. "Do you think he'll be able to find her?"

     "I trust German." Ryan said to her.  "He'll find her."

     After seeing German out, Mia walked back into the living room.

  Karen stood up. "Dear, I should take my leave too." She said.

      "Okay mom." Mia hugged Karen.

     "I'm going back to Italy tomorrow." Karen told her.

    Mia frowned, looking at her mom. "So soon? But—"

      "I have to." She smiled, patting Mia's cheek. "I have contacts that could help find my granddaughter, it's the least I can do for all the trouble I have caused."

      "Oh mom." Mia hugged Karen again. "I'm going to miss you."

  "I'll miss you more honey." Karen said. She was happy that they were finally okay.

    Mia sighed... "Tell Godfather I miss him okay?" Mia pulled away from Karen.

      "I will." Karen pecked Mia's cheek. "Bye." Karen eyed Ryan who quickly took his eyes away. "Take care of her." She said to him.

     Ryan nodded. He was still finding it hard to open his heart and mind to Karen, not after everything she had done.

    "Bye mamà." Mia said finally, watching her mom walk away. As soon as Karen left, Mia turned to Ryan. "Ryan, I wanna go to Italy too." Mia said to him.

     Ryan stood up, rolling his eyes at her. "Italy? For what?"

    "I can't just sit here and do nothing while my daughter is out there, somewhere!" She threw her hands in the air.

      "Your mom is looking for her, a private investigator is looking for her, I'm looking for her, I'm also gonna tell Alex and David about it, they are both gonna look for her. But you... You're gonna stay put and let us do our job. You going to Italy is not an option baby." Ryan turned down whatever idea she had.

      "Baby I can't help but worry. I'm worried, what if something bad happened to her. We don't know if she's okay or fine wherever she is. I want her here, with us." Mia told him.

   "I understand, I also want that. But universe, you're pregnant too. The doctor says you shouldn't stress yourself out, it's bad for the baby, it's bad for you." He walked over to her, placing his hand on her arm. "I don't want anything to happen to you please, let me handle finding our daughter. Okay?" Ryan said to her.

  Mia hugged him breaking into tears. He tried his best to calm her down as he was used to her sentiments.
✴✴✴✴

    "I can't believe you didn't tell me this one thing." Andrew eyed her.

     "Andrew remember I just got my memories back." Mia said to him. "I wasn't sure how to tell anybody."

     "You're looking for her now, right?" Danny asked her.

     "Of course! She's my baby, I have to look for her." Mia sighed. "At first, Ryan was so upset when he found out but now he's doing everything he can to find her."

    "Excuse me? He has no right to be angry. It's his fault anyway." Andrew said to her.

     "Let's not blame anyone Andrew. I just want to find her, that's all." Mia said to him. She glanced at her watch. "Guys, we'll see you later. I need to go to Mi-tech right now."

     "Okay girlfriend, we'll see later then." Danny smiled at her.

     "Bye bye." Andrew grinned. "Take care okay?"

     "I will. Danny please say hi to Tyson for me." Mia said while getting up.

      "Will do." Danny nodded.

        "I'm leaving." Mia pecked her two friends before leaving the restaurant.

     She got into the car Ryan had gotten for her, as she drove off to Mi-tech. She got to the building, heading for Ryan's office. When she got to the private elevator, it was having a little problem so she decided to take the stairs.

    Mia got a call from someone while she climbed the stairs.

     "Hello?" It was a private number. There was no response. "Hello?" Mia could barely hear anything. Her hand reached for the door.

     "Y... Stay... Do..." The line kept on breaking.

    Mia turned around, backing the door. "I'm really sorry I can't —"

    One second she was standing the next, she was pushed down the stairs.  Mia tumbled down the stairs violently, crashing into the wall, blacking out immediately with blood seeping through her head.
...................................................................

     Mia fluttered her eyes slowly still feeling a little dizzy from her fall.

     "Hey." Ryan's voice softly came through her ears.

    Mia turned to him... "Wh-what happened?" She glanced around and noticed that she was in a hospital.

   Ryan was worried sick about her. When he heard about the accident, he panicked. "Relax baby. You'll be fine." Ryan kissed her forehead, lacing his fingers with hers. "You fell from the stairs." He said calmly.

   "Was it that bad?" Mia asked him.

    "Thankfully no. It's just a mild hit to the head." He said, pointing at the plaster by the side of her head. "What happened baby, you scared me to death. I was so afraid that it was worse when I was alerted that you had fallen."

     Mia frowned.... "Fallen? Ryan I didn't fall, I think I was pushed."

    It came as a shock to him. "Why would you say that?" He asked.

     "I felt hands push me." Mia said to him.

     "Okay. Don't worry. My security team is looking into it." Ryan kissed her forehead again. "Whoever did this is going to pay I promise you." He said to her. He was surely going to get whoever pushed Mia, and the person was going to regret ever touching Mia.

     The female doctor entered the room. "Oh, you're awake." She smiled at Mia.

     "Doctor." Mia managed to smile back.

      "Do you feel any pain? Anywhere? At all?" She asked Mia.

     "Not really, but I do have this slight sharp pain right here." Mia placed her hand at the side of her belly.

     The doctor nodded... "Is that all? No headaches?"

     "The headaches are mild." Mia answered.

      The doctor nodded again... "I'll give you a little pain killer for that. Well, due to the fall, we had to do a thorough x-ray on you to make sure your baby wasn't hurt."

    "And?" Ryan stared at the doctor.

    "I have no other way to put it, but it's a miracle it survived." She told them honestly. "But it's no time for celebration yet because a fall like that again will make you miscarry." The doctor told them.

Mia's heart lurched, it felt like exploding. 

     "How is the baby?" Ryan asked trying to remain calm.

     "As it is, your pregnancy is risky. You can't afford to get stressed, if possible, try to stay in bed and relax as much as you can so you won't stress your uterus." The doctor advised her. "I'll recommend you don't do strenuous exercises or chores. I'll also prescribe some drugs you can use." She advised them.

     Ryan nodded... "Thank you doctor."

    "If any other thing comes up, I'll let you know." The doctor said, nodding before leaving the room.

      Mia sighed sadly... "I... I should have been more careful, maybe this would not have happened."

     "This is not your fault universe. Are you sure you didn't see the person's face?" Ryan asked her.

    "I didn't. The elevator wasn't working so I took the stairs. I then got a call from an unregistered number, I couldn't understand what he was saying. Then I backed the door to try and get reception, the next thing I knew was a force pushed me and I lost my balance. After that, nothing else." Mia explained.

      "Don't worry, when I find who did this to you, I'll make sure he pays. No one hurts you and gets away with it, much more my child." He said, kissing the top of her head.
✴✴✴✴✴

    After the incident, Ryan had doubled the security at the penthouse and had only one caretaker stay with them in case Mia needed help. He had gotten overprotective and wasn't taking any chances.

     "Ryan, it's almost two weeks now. German hasn't still sent a word?" Mia asked him as they sat on the dinning, eating.

    Alex and Ryan glanced at each other like they knew something.

   Ryan cleared his throat. "Ummm... No, not yet."

     "Have you given him a call?" Mia questioned him.

      "Yes. He's still working on it." Ryan said to her.

     "Can I have his number? I want to call him, I want him to speed things up." Mia said.

      "It's a process baby, you can't speed it up." Ryan told her.

     "I'm getting really impatient here. Having no news yet is getting me restless. Maybe if I talk to German he'll understand." Mia said to Ryan.

     "Mia let me handle it okay? Talking to German might only stress you out. Focus on the wedding, I'll handle German." He said to her.

    Mia sighed and turned to Alex. "How is Natalie? I haven't seen her in a while." Mia smiled at him.

     "After launching her new collection, she's been busy lately. But I'll tell her to come around." Alex said.

      "It's okay. I get all bored here and Ryan won't let me leave the penthouse. It's getting frustrating." She complained.

      "It's for your own good." Ryan chides her. "The doctor said you should always rest."

     "She also said I need fresh air. I'm pregnant not handicap."

    "Ryan's right. We don't want what happened before to happen again." Alex told her.

     They never caught the culprit. Alex had said that whoever had pushed Mia must be someone familiar with the place, because the person knew the angle where the security camera pointed. There was no trace of someone in the staircase except Mia it only showed hands with leather gloves.

     "We can't tell Mia anything right now. I can't have her having a nervous breakdown." Ryan told Alex as soon as they were alone. "I want German to be sure of his sources before I tell Mia."

      "Mia's going to have a hard time accepting it when she finds out —" Alex wasn't able to complete his sentence as Mia entered, interrupting him. 

     "When I find out what?" Mia asked while walking in.

     Ryan and Alex glanced at her... They were nervous.

     "Find out what?" She glanced at Alex and then turned to Ryan. "What are you both hiding from me?" She frowned at them but they remained silent. "Ryan?"

      "Nothing. We aren't hiding anything from you." Alex gave a fake smile.

    Mia went over to them... "It is obvious you're both lying to me. Why don't you just tell me?" She narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Does this have something to do with my daughter?" Mia questioned. "Ryan, di-did something happen to her?" Mia suddenly felt panic.

    "No." He shook his head. He rubbed her arms when he sensed her panic. "It's not about her." Ryan had no other choice but to lie.

     "Then what is it?" Mia wasn't satisfied. She knew in her heart something was wrong.

      "I-I got a new house." Ryan declared.

      Mia frowned... "What?"

     "Baby," Ryan grinned at her. "I got a new house for us." Mia seemed confused. "You see, I want us to start our family in a new place, where our kids would make all their memories. It's the house we would all grow and live in. We will start afresh." Ryan told her.

      Mia blinked, she was caught unawares. "Re-really?" She stuttered.

    "Yes." He kissed her lips. "I'm sure when you see it, you'll love it. It's an early wedding gift, from me to you." He told her.

  Mia smiled... "I'm sorry baby," she hugged him. "I haven't gotten you a wedding gift yet."

     "Oh no! There's no need for that, just show up on our wedding that's enough." He joked, chuckling.

    Mia laughed... "Thank you."

     Ryan sighed inwardly. It's a good thing he thought of something quickly. Now, all he had to do was buy a house as soon as possible. That wasn't a problem at all.

    Alex smiled at them. Ryan never ceases to amaze him.