In a Different Life

Disclaimer: I own nothing! The characters belong to their respective owner which is Disney.

Author's Note: Finally! The update! Thank you to those who REVIEWED, FAVOURITED, and FOLLOWED this story.

Sitting in his car, Adam tapped his fingers in frustration as he glanced outside the window. The downpour had not stopped, and it does not look like it would any time soon. He received the coordinates of the girl by tracking her phone. Thankfully, they were able to locate it in a matter of minutes and he rushed out of his office at once.

"Sir, we are almost there," the driver stated. The blond nodded his head in understanding, turning his gaze back to the window, watching the droplets of water race one another.

The car approached to a halt and he was broken out of daze. He looked at the establishment through the window, Cal's it read. Adam stepped out his car, his driver propping an umbrella ready at his leisure and as he sauntered towards the entrance, he noticed that he was in the lesser part of the town.

The driver opened the door, a bell ringing in response. He glanced around and found that there was a group of people hovered over a booth which piqued his curiosity. Walking slowly towards them, he noticed two waitresses hovering above a brunette who seemed to be in a daze.

"Here, take this. It will help with your fever," a blonde said reassuringly as she passed the pill towards the girl.

"You sure shocked us when you suddenly fell in front of the store," the darker woman remarked with a pat on her back. "Order anything you want, it's on the house."

"Yes, you need to regain your strength. You're still young, you should take more care of yourself," the blonde replied with a soft smile. The brunette thanked the two for their kindness but passed on the food. She insisted that she had no appetite all ever since the disappearance of her father. The two waitresses glanced at one another before nodding in understanding.

"If you insist but if you ever need anything, we're only a call away, okay? My name is Tiana and this one right here is Cinderella,"

"In the meantime, have some hot chocolate, it'll warm you up in this cold weather," Cinderella urged as she offered her a piping cup of hot chocolate. The sweet smell of cocoa wafting towards her.

"Thank you so much for your help, I hadn't noticed I was sick until I passed out," Belle replied as she nursed the cup of chocolate in her hand. It made sense however, she had been feeling the symptoms the past few days but ignored it.

"It must be the stress," a deep baritone voice resonated from behind the two. "I can only imagine the toll it would take to find your father missing,"

"You-!" Belle abruptly stood up, spilling the contents of the cup on the table. Tiana and Cinderella noticed her reaction and decided to protect her. Shielding her away with their bodies, the two waitresses stepped in front of the man. They had the opportunity to meet him before at the mall but the protective instincts of the two kicked in.

"Adam, what a coincidence to see you here, what brings you to this establishment?" Tiana inquired, her hands on her hips. "I hope you're not here to cause any trouble."

The man chuckled which sent shivers down their spines. He glanced at the two before him and remembered where he had seen them before. Naveen's girlfriend and… the poor friend that tagged along with them. He was interested in the blonde before, what with her pretty face and smile but that had already passed.

"Ladies, I'm sure we got off the wrong foot but trust me when I say I have business to discuss with Miss Belaire."

"It's fine guys, I think he might have an answer as to where my dad went," Belle defended him, and the two waitresses glanced at her and Adam before nodding their heads. She sent a small smile, thanking them silently for their concern and protection.

He waited for the two women to leave before walking towards her booth and as the two young women passed by, they gave him a curious look before walking back towards the kitchen. Adam slid into the seat across from the brunette and clasped his hands together.

"So,"

"So," Belle countered. "Where's my father," she spoke, visible frustration dripping from her voice. She tried to stay calm and clear as possible, but thoughts ran through her head of the most unimaginable things.

"We have no news regarding your father. He reported to the HR five days ago, a day after he went back from the Exposition," he said calmly, carefully reading the woman in front of him. She stared at him with a blank look on her face then the anger that once receded had come back.

"What do you mean five days ago?! He hasn't been home since the exposition!" She replied, her voice raising from the sheer amount of frustration that she felt.

"We have it on the records and the CCTV camera footage that he was seen entering and exiting the building five days ago," he said, his voice threatening to bark at the sheer absurdity at what she was implying. If he had to get a copy of the CCTV footage to prove his point, he would. He took out a neatly folded letter from his jacket. "He also gave us this, it seemed that he had intended to resign,"

Belle snatched the letter from his hands and gave a thorough run through. She couldn't believe it, no they must have faked this letter. There's no way her dad would give up or resign, creating inventions was his life. It has always been that way since she was a child. Unless… "You're lying,"

"What was that?" The brunet inquired.

"You're lying, my dad didn't resign. He was forced to resign! You guys took everything from him." She threw the paper on the table, its contents soiled by the forgotten beverage. "He knew he would be fired if he didn't come up with a useful invention… and it's all because of that expo."

"Now wait a minute, your father knew what the company wanted. It's not our fault that he wasn't up to par," he rebuffed.

"He was! Every invention he made, a version of it would be sold as your product. You guys cheated off him," She replied, her voice threatening to break. Tears were welling up in the corner of her eyes, but she stayed strong. She looked at him square in the face, eyes red but hardened with determination. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Bete. I'm afraid I have to go,"

"Now wait just a minute, we didn't cheat off your father. It was all an original creation by one of our own!" He replied as he watched her take her leave. As she neared him, he grabbed her wrist urging her to stop and listen.

"Maybe you should recheck your sources," she replied, tugging her hand free from his grasp and rushed out of the diner. Cinderella, who is the middle of serving a customer saw the exchange and give him a sad look before walking back to the counter. Belle ran back towards the direction of her home with the hopes of seeing her father there. If he came back from the expo a few days ago, that meant he was somewhere in the city.

"Fuck," he said as he ran his hands through his hair. How dare she imply that they have been stealing the blueprints of his inventions. Those were made by their other inventor. Unless… No, no! He couldn't be wrong. His dad oversaw the process, obviously it would be correct. Right? He slammed his hands on the table, the other customers glancing his way. "Fuck!"

"Excuse me!" Tiana responded aghast, she glanced around. "This is a family restaurant!"

He had to get to the bottom of this and fast. He will not be made a fool of by a teenager and her crazed old man. If she turned out to be right then so be it; he owes her an apology but if he ended up being the one of the right end of the stick then… she would have to apologize to him. The thought of that brought a smile to his face. Adam rushed out of the restaurant as a man with a mission. He only hoped that he would not be proven wrong.

It had been days since her outburst at the restaurant, she could still remember every little detail. The pouring rain and how the sound of water numbed her senses, the two waitresses who helped and nursed her while she was unconscious, and that man…. He was a few years older than her, that much she could tell but he walked around with an air of superiority, where everyone cowered before him. She could remember how his eyes twinkled with amusement at seeing her explode and how they quickly turned dark and cold when she began to question him.

Gods, how she despised that man. Although, looking back, Belle wondered if she were in the wrong. Yes, she came off strong as she accused him of being the reason why his father resigned. She wasn't even sure if that was the half of it but a part of her told her that it was the case. Running her hand through her hair as she bit on the end of pen, she stared at the blank page right in front of her. The homework that she had been putting off finally came back to haunt her as she stared at stark white paper. It was evident that nothing came to mind as her thoughts are being plagued by the disappearance of her father and for some unknown reason, the face of one Adam Bete.

Groaning in frustration, she dropped her head on the table she was occupying at her local library. The librarian gave her a pointed look before drowning herself back in her own book. Belle tapped her pen against her forehead as she tried to come up with a good hook for the prologue of her story. After a few minutes, she crumpled the paper and sighed.

"This is hopeless,"

"Oh hey, Belle. Fancy running into you here," a voice called out from behind. "Mind if I take a seat?"

Belle turned to the familiar voice, a smile on her face.

"Of course, go ahead," she gestured to the chair in front of her. "No work today, Mulan?"

"Nope, it's my day off. I don't have anything to do at home, so I figured I would work on my homework here," Mulan replied as she carefully pulled the chair as to not make a sound. She dropped her book bag on the table and rummaged for her notebook.

"Same here, I've been stuck on this thing for a while now," the brunette sighed as took out another paper.

"Is that for the creative writing class?" the asian woman peered over as Belle nodded her head. "I haven't started on mine either. I've been watching a lot of romantic movies but nothing really gives me the inspiration."

"Exactly!" Belled agreed on a hushed tone. "Maybe finding the right movie or book will do the trick."

"Maybe, but that will take a lot of time and this is due in a few weeks,"

"Well, let's hope it'll strike us like lightning."

Mulan nodded her head in agreement and the pair continued on with comfortable silence. Exchanging a few words here and there. For a moment, Belle felt happier than she had been in a few weeks. It definitely is fun to be with friends. It took away the stress that was clouding over her for a few hours and it was the break that she never knew she needed.

"Wait, so you're telling me that your dad just mysteriously disappeared?" Mulan asked as she put her notebook away inside her bag. "Have you reported it to the police?"

"I did, they said they were going to contact me as soon as possible but I haven't heard from them since," Belle replied, fixing her own book bag as well.

"This is grave indeed… Listen, I'm sure your dad will come back. Maybe he needed to take some R and R after leaving his job. After all, he worked there for years."

"That's what I've been telling myself. I can't help but worry. He hasn't replied to any of my texts or calls," the brunette looked down as they walked outside. The sky was painted blue with hints of purple and red as the sun descended. Its form slowly disappearing from the horizon.

"I know. Hey, here's a thought. Why don't we go look for your dad together? There's this event Pocahontas and her family are hosting on Saturday, we could ask everyone from school to help us during the weekend," the raven haired woman turned to her friend. Her hands clasping the straps of her own book bag.

"I couldn't possibly impose," Belle turned away from Mulan and started to descend the stairs.

"You wouldn't be imposing, it's a long weekend and I'm sure everyone wouldn't mind," Mulan raced after her. She placed her hands on the Brunette's shoulders. "If your dad isn't home by then, you can meet us."

"Thank you for the offer, Mulan. I really appreciate it," Belle gave her a soft smile to which was returned by the asian woman.

"Of course, it's the least I can do," the raven haired teen punched her in the arm in a friendly way, telling her not to beat herself up too bad. "I'll see you around okay? I'll text you the address!"

"See you then!" Belle nodded as she waved her hand and watched as Mulan started to run towards the other direction. Sighing, Belle couldn't help but pray that her dad would be home by then.

Belle started to walk towards her house, hoping that her father would be there to greet her as she walked in as he usually did, days ago.

A/N: I am honestly sorry for not updating in November as I had planned. I got the first part done but then my brain decided not to function. Why is it that some other authors get better in time and yet I do the exact opposite lmao. Hope you still liked this story :)

Yes, this chapter is mostly Belle centric but I plan to delve into the other characters on the next one. Stay tuned folks!