Chapter 24 Countdown to the Island.
Chloe’s POV
I lay in bed with Liam’s arm heavy across my waist and his face pressed into my hair while the burner under my pillow showed Olivia’s message in cold white letters. Brian had booked three tickets on our exact flight and at the same hotel. Four days until the Maldives and every second felt like a countdown I could not stop.
I waited until Liam’s breathing stayed slow and even before I slid the phone out and reread the details. Same private island resort, same villa block and same departure gate. I stared at the connecting door to the townhouse and pictured Brian on the other side, deciding how to make me disappear.
I eased out of bed without waking Liam and walked barefoot to the kitchen. The marble was cold under my feet. I poured a glass of water and stood at the window watching the city lights until the sky turned gray.
At three in the morning, I slipped back to the monitoring room and checked the townhouse feed. Kim was asleep alone with the new bump strapped on and the room dark. No Brian tonight.
I texted Olivia on the burner. Need a full passenger manifest for our flight plus hotel booking list... Fast, please.
She replied in twenty minutes. Brian, Kim and Seraphina are all on the same flight and staying at the same private island resort under the Astor reservation.
I sat on the floor with my back against the wall, trying to breathe. I debated waking Liam right then but decided I needed one more piece of leverage first. Dad’s confession letter, Voss's recording, and the vials report would provide me with everything I needed to confront Margaret directly.
Morning came too soon. Liam woke early and kissed me softly on the mouth before he got out of bed. “Three days now,” he said and smiled against my lips. “Gala prep starts today. The stylist comes at ten with your clothes. We leave for the Maldives tomorrow evening.”
He kissed me again, longer this time, hands sliding under my shirt and over my skin like he wanted to memorize me. Then he showered and left for the office after telling Marcus to stay at the door.
I used the time alone to copy everything to a new encrypted drive and hid it inside Mia’s old teddy bear that had arrived from the hospital yesterday.
At ten, the stylist arrived with three garment bags.
She hung them across the living room and unzipped each one slowly. The first gown was silver and heavy. The second was emerald and long. The third was blood-red silk with a slit that went all the way to the hip.
“Mr. Astor said the red one,” the stylist told me with a smile. “He said it was perfect for the Maldives theme.”
I ran my fingers over the fabric and felt something hard sewn into the hem. A tiny tracker. Margaret wanted to know exactly where I went.
I smiled at the stylist and said I needed to try them all.
While she waited in the hallway, I took the red dress into the bedroom and cut the tracker out with nail scissors. I left it blinking in the lining and sewed a decoy tracker into a courier envelope addressed to a coffee shop in Brooklyn.
I wore the red dress for the stylist and turned in front of the mirror. The slit showed my entire leg when I walked and the neckline dipped low between my breasts. I looked dangerous and that was exactly what I needed.
Hidden in the garment bag was a note from Margaret in her handwriting. Wear the red one. Private pre-gala dinner tomorrow night at the estate. You or Mia spent her last night in the county ward. It seems Margaret is in town now.
The stylist packed everything and left at eleven-thirty. I changed back into jeans and waited.
Brian showed up at one-fifteen with a tux bag over his shoulder and a grin that made my stomach turn. He let himself in with Liam’s spare key, as he belonged here.
“Liam asked me to be best man at the wedding after the gala,” he said and dropped the bag on the couch. “Thought we should celebrate.”
He handed me a velvet box. Inside was a diamond bracelet engraved To the future Mrs. Astor – B&L forever.
I closed the box and set it on the counter without touching the bracelet. “Liam didn’t mention a wedding.”
Brian poured two glasses of the Macallan he had brought last time. “He will. Once the baby is born and the heir clause is locked, everything falls into place.”
He took a sip and watched me over the rim. “The second paternity draw is tomorrow morning. Neutral clinic, I picked myself. This time the results will be perfect.”
I smiled like I believed him and hit record on the burner in my pocket. “I’m sure they will be.”
He leaned closer. “You should be nicer to me, Chloe. I’m going to be family soon.”
He left ten minutes later and I stood in the quiet apartment with the bracelet burning a hole in my pocket.
Olivia texted. The clinic is owned by Brian’s shell company. The second sample will be switched again. I now had recorded proof Brian was orchestrating both tests.
Liam came back home at three, carrying takeout bags and a bottle of wine. He kissed me on my lips softly and slowly, like he was trying to erase the morning.
“We leave tomorrow evening,” he said and set the food on the counter. “After the gala, trust me, everything will change. I promise.”
I nodded and let him pull me into his lap on the couch. He kissed my neck and my mouth until I forgot how to breathe for a little while.
Voss called the burner at six. “Last chance. Meet me tonight at the rooftop bar of the Standard. Bring nothing. I have a jet waiting. Your family boards with you. Liam never sees you again.” I went against every instinct.
I met Voss at the rooftop bar. He sat in the back corner wearing a baseball cap pulled low. He slid a folder across the table.
“Fifteen percent of Astor shares returned to you, patent restored, fifty million in cash and new identities for Mom, Mia and Dad.” He kept his voice low. “All you need to do is testify that the engagement was fake. Chleo is just one court appearance.” He promised me twenty percent if I help crash Liam’s reputation before the gala.”
Liam tracked me because he had bugged my phone. He burst onto the rooftop with Marcus, dragged me away in front of Voss, kissed me possessively in front of everyone and told Voss, “Touch her again and you’re dead.”
In the car ride home, Liam finally confessed that the redhead was Seraphina’s cousin and was filmed deliberately by Brian, maybe to blackmail him into the app deal. I realized Brian had been running the long game for years.
Liam came home after the Voss incident, raging with jealousy. He pinned me against the penthouse window overlooking the city, lifted my dress and pushed my panties aside. He kissed my neck hard and bit down, leaving new marks.
“You’re mine,” he whispered and pushed inside me with one thrust. I gasped at the sudden stretch. His hands gripped my hips and he moved fast and angry, each thrust slamming me against the glass.
“No one takes you,” he said and bit my shoulder. I wrapped my legs around him and met every thrust even though tears ran down my face. He reached between us and rubbed my clit until I came hard, while crying silently into his neck.
He followed right after, groaning my name and staying inside me while the city lights blurred below us.
Mia called from the hospital at eight at night. “A nice man brought me ice cream and said Big Sister is going on vacation soon.” I panicked.
Just then, I got some information that there would be a board's emergency vote and it is scheduled to be held the day before the gala. Junior member Brian, who had been in his pocket, was pushing to delay Liam’s inheritance until “stable marriage is proven.”
The next day, I secretly met Dad at the safehouse. Marcus drove because he thought it was Liam’s order. Dad gave me the original patent blueprints with Astor Sr.’s forged signature. I now had everything to destroy Margaret legally.
The night before departure, I was alone in the room because Liam fell asleep after sex in the parlor.
The burner buzzed with a video message from an unknown number. It was a live feed of Mia asleep in the hospital, but a gloved hand placed a pillow over her face.
There was text underneath the picture. Come to the estate tomorrow night and you must come alone. Or she never wakes up. – M
I looked at the connecting door. Brian’s light was on next door. I grabbed the red dress with the tracker still blinking in the hem and whispered, “I’m coming, you bitch.” The Maldives wasn’t the trap yet. The estate was there and I was walking straight into it.