Chapter 2 - THE VIPER'S NEST
Julian’s silence was more terrifying than any rage.
Without a word, he grabbed Camila by the elbow—with enough force to make her gasp—and dragged her toward the private VIP elevators, ignoring her furious protests.
"Get your hands off me, Julian! Are you insane? You humiliated me in front of the entire board of directors!" Camila shrieked as the elevator doors slid shut, cutting them off from the lobby.
"Shut up, Camila," Julian said quietly. His voice was completely devoid of emotion, a terrifying calm before a hurricane.
He pulled out his phone, bypassing his normal assistant, and dialed a direct, encrypted number.
"Bane," Julian said when the line connected.
"Boss? Thought you were on holiday," a gravelly voice responded on the other end.
"Scrap my dinner plans. I want every single security feed from the Grand Alcazar Hotel from the last eight months pulled, backed up, and decrypted within the hour. Focus specifically on the private residential wings, the back-of-house staff quarters, and any transactions linked to Marcus Vance."
Camila froze, her anger instantly replaced by confusion and a flicker of panic. "Marcus? What does your lawyer have to do with this? Julian, you're scaring me. What is going on?"
"You wanted to know why my wife was scrubbing floors at a resort I technically hold a majority stake in?" Julian turned his head slowly, his eyes locking onto Camila with a gaze so predatory she instinctively stepped back against the glass wall of the ascending elevator. "Because someone inside my inner circle engineered her disappearance. And you... you showed up in my life exactly four months ago, wearing designer emeralds, pushing yourself into my bed with uncanny precision. Let’s see how long it takes my forensic team to find your financial ties to Marcus Vance."
Camila’s face drained of all color. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
Meanwhile, down in the subterranean labyrinth of the Grand Alcazar’s employee lockers, Elena was leaning against a steel locker, hyperventilating.
The heavy door creaked open, and Victor Vance stepped into the cramped, poorly lit room, locking the door behind him with a sharp click.
"You almost blew it out there, little bird," Victor sneered, stepping closer and reaching out to trace a finger along Elena’s pale cheek.
Elena flinched violently, slapping his hand away. "Don't touch me! I did what you asked. I stayed invisible. I didn't tell him anything!"
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"Good," Victor chuckled darkly, his eyes gleaming with sadistic amusement. "Because if you had opened that pretty mouth of yours, your dear husband wouldn't just lose his mind—he’d lose his precious unborn heir. And remember... Marcus is still holding the leash on your brother’s medical debt. One wrong move, and the life support gets unplugged tonight."
Elena bit her lip so hard it drew a bead of crimson blood. She was trapped in a nightmare, serving her worst enemies while carrying the child of the only man who could save her—a man who currently thought she had betrayed him.
