Chapter 238 238

Chapter 238 238


Olivia continued inside, her eyes lingering on the heavy front doors Blair had just rushed through.

Her phone vibrated sharply in her hand, startling her out of her thoughts. She glanced down at the screen, ready to dismiss it, but the contact name made her pulse instantly spike.
She brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
A heavy beat of silence stretched over the line before a frantic, unsteady breath cut through the receiver.
“Ma’am…”
Olivia’s brow furrowed, a cold knot tightening in her gut. “What is it?”
“We have a problem,” the voice stammered, barely holding together.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your mother is gone.”
Olivia stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the foyer, the blood draining straight from her face. “What?”
“She’s gone, ma’am. We just swept the entire property—every room, the grounds, everywhere. She’s not here.”
“What the hell do you mean she’s gone?!” Olivia hissed, her knuckles turning stark white around the phone. “You had one job! You were supposed to be watching her twenty-four hours a day!”
“We were!” the man stammered, terrified. “I don't know how, but somehow... she got out.”
Olivia’s jaw set into a hard, rigid line, her breathing shallow and fast. “How could she possibly get out?”
“We don't know,” he rasped. Then his voice dropped into a trembling, grim whisper. “And ma’am... this is completely out of our control now.”
Olivia went entirely numb.
Her eyes slowly drifted back toward the front entrance where Blair had just sprinted out, and then up the grand staircase toward the east wing where Lucas was waiting.
Her teeth gritted so hard her jaw ached.
“No... no, this can't be happening,” she breathed to the empty hall.

Olivia stood frozen for only a few seconds before snapping her phone back up to her ear.
“Find her.”
The man on the line hesitated, his voice trembling. “Ma’am—”
“I said find my mother.”
“She could be anywhere by now.”
“Then search everywhere,” Olivia commanded, her voice dropping into a sharp, icy thread. “Pull the security cameras around the property. Check every road leading out. Find out if she called a cab, took a car, or had a plan. Check the ERs, bus terminals, train stations—I don't care where you have to look.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And don't just sit on your hands waiting for me.”
“Ma’am?”
“I want her located before I even get there. Do whatever you have to do.”
She hung up without another word, her fingers digging so hard into her phone the glass nearly cracked under her grip.
Her mother couldn't have made it far. It was impossible. But if she had already gotten in touch with Blair—
Olivia caught herself, her breath coming in shallow, jagged gasps. She didn't even know where Blair was running off to.
She tapped the screen, raising the phone to make another frantic call, when a voice cut through the quiet foyer.
“Olivia?”
Olivia whipped around, quickly snapping her phone down to her side.
Patricia was walking toward her from the main corridor, looking drained.
Olivia forced her rigid posture to yield, smoothing her face into a picture of gentle concern. “For me?”
“Yes,” Patricia sighed, rubbing her temples. “I need your help with a few things upstairs.”
Olivia’s jaw set hard, a pulse thrumming in her throat. “Right now?”
“Yes, right now.” Patricia reached out, taking her by the elbow. “Come on.”
Olivia cast a desperate glance toward the front door. Every instinct screamed at her to turn around, get in her car, and hunt her mother down herself. But pulling away now would ruin everything. It would give Patricia a reason to start asking questions she couldn't afford to answer.
“Of course,” Olivia murmured, slipping her phone into her purse.
As Patricia led her toward the grand staircase, Olivia shot one last glance over her shoulder at the heavy, closed entrance doors.

Her stomach twisted into a tight knot. Her mother was out there somewhere, and every second she spent playing the dutiful daughter-in-law was a second closer to disaster.

“Olivia?” Patricia’s voice pulled her back.
Olivia snapped her gaze forward. “Yes?”
“I need you to help me with Lucas,” Patricia sighed, rubbing her forehead. “He’s upstairs, and he’s refusing to stay in bed. The man was shot less than twenty-four hours ago, and he’s already acting like nothing happened.”
Olivia forced a soft, reassuring smile. “I can talk to him.”
“Good. Because he listens to you.”
The words left a bitter taste in Olivia's mouth. If Patricia only knew the truth.
They reached the top of the landing just as Olivia’s purse vibrated against her hip. Her heart pounded against her ribs. She kept her hands at her side, refusing to pull the phone out with Patricia walking right beside her.
Another sharp buzz followed immediately after.
Patricia flicked a glance toward her bag. “Everything alright?”
“Yes,” Olivia replied seamlessly, without missing a beat. “Just a work notification.”
Patricia nodded, continuing down the quiet corridor of the east wing. Olivia fell into step behind her, every nerve in her body screaming at her to look at the screen. Her men could have tracked her down—or worse, Blair might already be with her.
Patricia paused outside the heavy oak door of Lucas’s room. “Go on in first. I’ll go fetch his pain medication from the kitchen.”
Olivia stared at the brass door handle. For a fraction of a second, she hesitated. “Alright.”
As soon as Patricia turned her back and vanished down the hallway, Olivia slipped into the room, letting the heavy door click shut behind her.
Taking a quick breath, she reached into her purse and yanked out the phone.
A single unread message lit up the display:
WE FOUND SOMETHING.
Olivia’s chest went cold. Her thumb swiped across the screen to open the full text.
YOUR MOTHER WAS SEEN GETTING INTO A CAR. WE'RE TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHERE IT WENT.
Olivia stared at the screen, her thumb hovering over the glass for a fraction of a second before she typed back at lightning speed.
Where?
The response popped up almost instantly.
We’re working on it. The car was picked up on a traffic camera leaving the area. We’re trying to get the plate.
Olivia’s nostrils flared, her face contorting into a cold, lethal scowl.
Trying?