The CEO's Painted Skin 173 Runaway Bride!

Ramon arrived at Thelma's doorsteps. The older woman was shocked, she wasn't expecting to see one of John's bodyguard but she gets over her shock quickly after he gave her the brown envelope that contains Catherine's salary.

"Ma'am, Catherine left the hotel in a hurry without receiving her salary. Sir John instructed me to get her salary from the hotel and give it to you. He would also like to know where is Catherine right now because he was extremely worried about her, can you please tell me, Ma'am?" asked Ramon in a polite way.

Thelma accepted the envelope. "Thank you," she murmured. The fact that her daughter didn't inform John of her whereabouts then Catherine doesn't want to be found. She has to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm so sorry but I can't tell you where is my daughter right now. But please tell John that she is in a good place and she got a new job. Please tell him that he doesn't have to worry about my daughter anymore," said Thelma.

Ramon doesn't want to give up, he will keep pressing Thelma for answers. "Did Catherine relocated to Malabon...?

"...to Caloocan City?"

"...to Makati City?"

"...to Pasay City?"

Ramon keeps firing questions, he was waiting for any changes on Thelma's facial expression that will give him a clue...

Thelma keeps her mouth shut, her face was blank like an empty canva.s.s!

"How about in Marikina, Navotas or Valenzuela City?" asked Ramon.

Still, Thelma's expression shows nothing...

Ramon was now having a shortage of name of cities to mention, "...how about, hmmm... Quezon City?" He saw that Thelma swallowed her saliva and dropped her eyes the moment he mentioned Quezon City.

"Can you please go now, I still have to continue cooking our lunch!" Thelma grumbled.

"Okay. I will go now Ma'am. Thank you for your time," muttered Ramon, he turned around and left the house, he went back to the vehicle to proceed to Makati City RTC Court to cancel John and Catherine's wedding, the Judge's secretary will be scratching her head for sure! As he gets inside the car, he glanced at the wedding dress and the jewelry box on the seat next to him, he shook his head, tsk! tsk! tsk! He wondered if he will ever see the two lovers get married in this lifetime.

One hour and fifteen minutes later...

Ramon finally arrived in the Infinity Jade Tower and handed the wedding dress and jewelry box that contains the wedding ring to a desolate looking John.

"Ramon, wait for George and Allan in the living room, they will be arriving soon. Text me if they already arrived," said John in a dejected voice. He turns on his heels and went inside his bedroom grasping the wedding dress in his trembling hands.

Once inside the comfort of his room, he gently placed the wedding gown in the bed and stared at it for a long time, then fresh tears start filling up his eyes, he sighed deeply. He caresses the wedding dress, remembering how beautiful his beloved Catherine looks in her wedding dress. He swipes at his phone and browses on the photo gallery, photos of smiling Catherine in her wedding dress appears in slideshow...his lips curled up in a bitter-sweet smile.

He shuts his eyes and lay down in the bed while hugging the wedding dress to his chest.

"Catherine! Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?" he keeps calling her name with his quivering lips, his lamentation was full of anguish, he was howling like a mad man. He started sobbing again, he let his tears run down his face to wash his sorrows and agonies inside. He shouldn't be bawling like a child because he is an adult man! But f.u.c.k he wants to cry! He will cry as long as he likes.

He's been crying a lot today, it's so heartbreaking to lose the woman he loves so much and the prospect of not seeing her again terrifies him to the core. The things he feared the most can happen any time now that she was no longer under his watch.

He got to find Catherine fast before anyone can have a chance to s.n.a.t.c.h her completely away from his grasp!

His phone beep, he received a message from Ramon, the boys are already inside his flat waiting for his presence in the living room. By the time he exited his bedroom and saw the faces of his bodyguards they already knew what went wrong. Ramon must have briefed them already of Catherine's disappearance.

"Guys, Catherine run away! The wedding was canceled again. As of now, I have no concrete idea where to find her," he stated.

The three bodyguards looked at each other, they all sighed.

"Boss, did you put a tracking app on her phone?" asked Ramon.

"Yes, but she no longer uses the phone I had given her. The tracking app won't work if the device is turn off. My theory is that she bought a new phone and was no longer using her old phone which has been downloaded with the tracking app. Before she stops using the old phone I was able to trace some of her messages, she mentioned of Bulacan and Quezon City, but we don't know for sure where is her exact location right now," explained John.

Ramon remembered Thelma's reaction when he mentioned Quezon City, Catherine must be working somewhere in that city. "Maybe she was now residing in Quezon City. When I ask Thelma about her daughter's whereabouts her facial expression showed a hint when I mentioned Quezon City. Well... I could be wrong," commented Ramon and shrugged his shoulder.

The other two bodyguards were silent still grasping the whole thing. They were not done yet with their investigation regarding Jerome's death and now they have to deal with the runaway bride.

"Quezon City is a densely populated city. It would be impossible to find Catherine's location without some guide," uttered John.

"How about we tailed her family or her cousin Grace, I'm sure, sooner or later one of them will contact each other," suggested Allan.

"Actually that is possible, but I don't like waiting for too long, I wanted to find her ASAP!" said John in an impatient voice.

"I will start looking for her in the mall, in the church, in the market and all over Quezon City with my motorcycle," suggested George.

"That's good, George! As for you Allan, I will a.s.sign you to keep observing Catherine's family and her cousin Grace, one of them might lead us to her," ordered John.

"Boss, how about Jerome's murder investigation?" asked George.

John has a grim look in his eyes. "Let's abandon it for now. What important for me is finding Catherine as soon as possible! Boys, you are all dismissed! Report to me anything that can help find her!"

"Yes Sir!" they answered in unison.

The three bodyguards exited the flat scratching their head.

John went back to his bedroom. He continues staring at Catherine's wedding dress the whole day wis.h.i.+ng all his might that the beautiful owner of the dress will suddenly materialize in his room in just a blink of an eye.

The day comes and goes in a flash and the darkness starts creeping up inside the room. John continues staring at the ceiling of his room completely devastated and profoundly consumed by the thoughts of his runaway bride.