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THE CEO THOUGHT HE DESTROYED HER A DECADE AGO—UNTIL FOUR MATCHING EYES ON A RAINY STREET REVEALED A BILLION-DOLLAR SECRET THAT WOULD SHATTER HIS EMPIRE! / Chapter 5 / 8

Chapter 5 - The Vanishing Trail & Dark Betrayal

Driving through the stormy night in a blacked-out, bulletproof SUV, Michael sped toward the one place no one would think to look for him: his father’s original, abandoned estate in upstate New York.

In the backseat, the four girls were trembling, wrapped in warm blankets, eating hot soup Evan had prepared. Chloe looked at Michael through the rearview mirror.

"Is Mommy alive?" she asked softly.

Michael gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. "I will bring her back to you, Chloe. I give you my word as your father."

When they arrived at the decaying Victorian mansion, Michael bypassed the main house and headed straight for the underground cellar. Deep within the stone walls sat his father’s old, heavy steel safe—a vault that hadn't been opened in a decade.

Using his father’s birthday and the date Elena was banished, the heavy steel door clicked open.

Inside lay stacks of hard drives, sealed medical files, and a handwritten ledger. Michael pulled out the top file marked PROJECT GENESIS. As he scanned the pages, his jaw dropped in horror.

Elena hadn't just been an architect. She was the sole surviving daughter of Arthur Vance—the original founder of Vance Pharmaceuticals before Victoria’s family stole the company through murder and fraud!

Elena wasn't a nobody. She was the rightful heiress to a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical empire! Eleanor and Victoria had conspired ten years ago not just to ruin Michael’s romance, but to steal Elena’s vast inheritance and cover up the murder of Michael’s father!

"Michael..." Evan rushed into the vault room, holding a glowing laptop screen. "We traced the GPS ping from Victoria's private medical transport. Elena isn't dead."

Michael snapped his head up. "Where is she?"

"They’ve got her locked in the private psychiatric wing of Saint Jude’s Asylum on Roosevelt Island," Evan revealed grimly. "They’re prepping her for a forced lobotomy at midnight to permanently erase her memory!"

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I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against the linoleum floor.

I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against...

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the freezing slate beneath my spine. The blinding white vortex of snow kicked up by the downdraft burned my eyes, but I forced my lids open, locking my gaze onto the amber visor of the rescue specialist dropping out of the sky.

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the...

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking against the pristine hospital linoleum. He reached for the tray table, his fingers brushing the edge of the papers. His voice was low, coated in a practiced, corporate calm that made my stomach churn worse than the spiked blood pressure.

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking agai...

Michael looked at his watch. It was 10:45 PM.

He had seventy-five minutes to save the woman he loved.

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