CHAPTER 7 — "Victoria Kidnapped the Only Witness... But the Message She Left Behind Terrified the Billionaire."
The first call came at 2:17 a.m.
Richard answered before the phone completed its second ring.
"Mr. Ashford!"
It was Samuel Brooks.
His voice was shaking.
"They took her!"
Richard shot upright.
"Who?"
"My granddaughter... Lily."
The twelve-year-old girl had been living with Samuel ever since her parents died in a car accident. She was the only family he had left.
By the time Richard's security team reached Samuel's farmhouse, every light was on.
The front door had been forced open.
Furniture was overturned.
Family photographs were scattered across the floor.
Samuel was on his knees, clutching a small pink backpack.
Inside was a folded note.
Richard unfolded it.
Three handwritten sentences.
"Stop looking for us."
"Destroy Sarah's tapes."
"Or the next funeral will be much closer."
Emily's blood ran cold.
"This isn't about money anymore."
Richard nodded.
"No."
"They're cleaning up witnesses."
Hours later, investigators traced the kidnappers' vehicle to an abandoned warehouse near the old shipping docks.
A tactical team stormed inside.
Empty.
Only a single projector remained in the center of the building.
It switched on automatically.
Victoria appeared on the screen.
Elegant.
Perfectly dressed.
Smiling.
"You've always been too emotional, Richard."
"You spent twenty-five years believing your father."
"Now you're spending the rest of your life believing your daughter."
She laughed softly.
"You still haven't asked the most important question."
Richard's jaw tightened.
"What question?"
The smile on the screen widened.
"Who benefits most from Sarah's death?"
The video abruptly ended.
The warehouse exploded into flames seconds later.
The investigators barely escaped.
Almost every piece of evidence was destroyed.
Except one.
A tiny silver pendant found beneath the rubble.
Emily recognized it instantly.
"It belongs to Lily."
May you like
She was alive.
But time was running out.
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