Chapter 26 "Recused "
The mountain air was crisp and thin, carrying the scent of pine and wildflowers as Elena climbed higher with her group.
Every step felt like breaking chains she hadn’t realized were still there.
The trail wound through emerald meadows, sunlight pouring over her like warm honey, wind whipping her ponytail and tugging at her clothes.
She paused at an outcrop, arms spread wide, and laughed into the vast blue sky free, truly free, for the first time in her life.
No shadows trailing her.
No whispers of cages.
Just the earth beneath her boots, friends’ voices echoing behind her, and the endless horizon ahead.
She felt like a bird finally remembering how to fly, wings catching the updraft, heart soaring higher than the snow-capped peaks in the distance.
Meanwhile, in a glass-walled boardroom , Luca Romeo was unraveling.
The merger meeting dragged on charts flashing on screens, voices droning about millions but his world had narrowed to the phone in his hand.
Four hours.
Only four hours since he’d watched her disappear into the crowd at the trailhead.
It felt like four lifetimes.
He messaged every five minutes.
Called every ten.
You okay, baby?
Send a photo.
Is the trail steep?
Drink water.
I love you.
Elena replied at first short, loving, with heart emojis and quick selfies.
Then less.
Then not at all.
After, his phone rang.
Elena’s voice burst through, breathless and irritated from the climb.
“Mr. Lucas Romeo, are you crazy? You’re calling every ten minutes, messaging every five! I swear on Jesus, if you text or call one more time for the next four hours, I will pluck your hair out one by one when I get home!”
Luca opened his mouth
“But baby ”
Click.
Line dead.
The boardroom fell into stunned silence.
Twelve executives stared at their terrifying boss like he’d grown a second head.
Luca blinked, heat crawling up his neck.
Cleared his throat.
“Everything alright, boss?” one brave soul asked.
“Yeah,” Luca muttered, pocketing the phone with a scowl that could melt steel.
“You guys continue.”
He leaned back, arms crossed, mind three hundred kilometres away on a mountain trail with his wife who was currently furious with him and alive, and that was enough for now.
Meanwhile, on the trail…
Natasha lingered at the back of the group, fake smile plastered on, platinum hair gleaming under the relentless sun.
Her eyes never left Elena laughing at the front, free, radiant, surrounded by friends.
Viktor’s massive shadow stayed three steps behind Elena at all times, eyes scanning every face, every rock, every gust of wind that could hide a threat.
Natasha’s fingers curled around the small vial in her pocket clear liquid, fast-acting.
Just one chance.
One moment when the bodyguard looked away.
The trail narrowed ahead, winding along a steep, unguarded drop.
The group spread out, voices fading into the wind.
Natasha smiled slow, vicious.
The snake was patient.
The trek had been pure magic for Elena.
Every step along the winding path felt like peeling away another layer of the past.
The air was sharp with pine and earth, the sun warm on her face as she hiked with Sriya and the others, laughter spilling freely from her lips.
She paused often to take photos selfies with the dramatic backdrop of jagged peaks and emerald valleys, group shots with arms slung around shoulders, close-ups of wildflowers blooming defiantly in rocky crevices.
Each one she sent to Luca with little captions: Look how high we are! or Feeling like a free bird 🦋.
His replies came instantly hearts, My brave girl, So beautiful.
She could feel his pride through the screen, and it made her heart soar even higher.
By late afternoon, golden light slanted through the trees as the group reached the cozy mountain hotel nestled in the foothills.
The sky was turning rose and amber, shadows lengthening quickly in the valleys.
Cold crept in with the dusk.
Elena shivered, rubbing her arms.
“Oh no, I forgot my warmer jacket back at the overlook,” she said, frowning.
“And my selfie stick…”
Viktor stepped forward immediately, ever the shadow.
“I’ll retrieve them, mam. Stay here with the group.”
“Wait, I’ll come too!” Sriya piped up. “I left my lipstick. Can’t survive without it.”
The path back to the cliff overlook was short a gentle descent into the forest edge.
The trees grew thick here, branches twisting overhead like skeletal fingers, the light fading fast into an eerie gloom.
The drop wasn’t steep, but the forest floor fell away sharply into darkness, the underbrush dense and unforgiving.
Elena waved them off with a smile.
“I’ll wait right here. Hurry back!”
She stood alone on the overlook, wind tugging her ponytail, watching the sunset paint the sky in fire.
Her phone buzzed another text from Luca: Cold yet? Miss you.
She smiled, typing a quick reply.
Footsteps crunched on gravel behind her.
Natasha emerged from the treeline, smile sweet as honey, eyes cold as winter.
“Why are you standing here alone? Come on, let’s head to the further everyone is going. And… I’m really sorry about earlier. In college. I was horrible.”
Elena turned, polite but wary.
“Oh, I’m waiting for my friend and Viktor. You go ahead. And… it’s okay. Admitting a mistake is big.”
Natasha stepped closer, smile widening.
“But I’m not sorry for this.”
Her hands shot out hard, fast.
PUSH.
Elena’s eyes widened in shock.
The world tilted violently.
Air rushed past her ears.
Her scream tore through the valley raw, terrified, cut short as she tumbled over the edge.
“Happy death, Mrs. Elena Romeo,” Natasha hissed, voice dripping venom, watching the body disappear into the dark forest below.
The scream reached Sriya and Viktor halfway down the path.
They ran.
Reached the overlook breathless, hearts pounding.
Only Elena’s water bottle lay on the ground, rolling slowly toward the drop.
Her phone, cracked screen still lit with Luca’s last message.
Nothing else.
“OMG do something, Viktor!” Sriya collapsed to her knees, sobbing hysterically.
“Elena fell she’s gone ”
Students gathered, voices rising in panic, phones out, shouts for help echoing into the dusk.
Viktor’s face went deathly pale.
He dialed with shaking hands.
Luca picked up instantly.
Viktor’s voice shattered, breathless.
“Boss… Mam fell. From the cliff trail. High drop. We’re searching… but she’s… she’s missing.
“WHAT?” Luca’s roar shattered the line, pure agony and fury.
The call cut.
Luca stood, chair crashing backward.
“Get the chopper. NOW.”
His voice was death.
The empire mobilized choppers, teams, guns.
Natasha, hidden in the thick bushes below the trail, smiled.
Phone in hand.
Message sent to Tommaso: It’s done. She’s gone.
The snake had struck.
But queens don’t die easy.
The forest had turned into a living nightmare.
Night swallowed the mountains whole, the sky a velvet black pierced only by cold stars.
Flashlights cut through the darkness like knives, beams sweeping over twisted roots and jagged rocks.
Luca’s men twenty of them, armed and silent spread out in a desperate grid, voices barking coordinates into radios.
Dogs bayed in the distance, frantic.
Luca was at the center of it all, a storm in human form.
His coat was gone, shirt sleeves rolled, face streaked with dirt and sweat.
He moved like a man possessed, pushing through thorns that tore his skin, eyes wild with terror he refused to name.
“I’ll kill everyone,” he snarled into the night, voice raw. “If anything happens to my wife if one hair on her head ”
His phone stayed glued to his ear, redialing Elena’s number every thirty seconds.
Ring.
Ring.
Voicemail.
Again.
Again.
The chopper circled overhead, spotlight sweeping the canopy, but the forest was too thick, too cruel.
Then ringing.
Elena’s name flashed on the screen.
Luca answered on the first tone.
“Elena ”
“Lucas-Luca, save me…”
Her voice was small, broken, trembling with tears and terror.
Luca’s heart stopped, then thundered back to life.
“Baby, calm down. Don’t panic. I’m here. I’m coming.”
He was already running toward the chopper, waving it down.
“Where are you? Tell me anything landmarks, sounds ”
“I don’t know,” she sobbed. “It’s dark… all around. Trees everywhere. I’m scared, Luca. My leg hurts so much… please save me…”
He climbed the ladder as the chopper hovered, men clearing space.
“Baby, listen to me. Your bag look for your bag. There’s a torch inside. Turn it on. Flash it. I’m in the air I’ll see the light.”
Silence.
Rustling.
A pained whimper that tore his soul.
“I I see the bag… it’s a little far…”
More rustling.
A sharp cry of pain.
“I got it… turning on…”
A faint flash pierced the darkness below—tiny, desperate, but there.
Luca’s eyes locked on it.
“There!” he roared to the pilot. “Land there now!”
“Baby, calm down,” he said into the phone, voice shaking despite his effort. “I see you. I’m coming.”
“Luca… it’s so scary,” she whispered, voice breaking. “It’s dark everywhere… animals roaring… please come fast…”
“I’m here,” he promised, chopper descending.
“I’ve reached, baby.”
The ladder dropped.
Luca slid down first, boots hitting earth, flashlight in one hand, gun in the other.
“Spread out!” he barked to his men.
“Find her!”
He ran toward the light faint, flickering, but hers.
“Elena!”
A weak voice, closer now.
“Luca…”
He crashed through the underbrush, thorns tearing his clothes, and saw her.
Curled against a tree trunk, leg twisted at a wrong angle, face pale and streaked with dirt and tears.
The torch trembled in her hand, beam shaking.
He dropped to his knees, gathering her into his arms like she was made of glass.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered, voice cracking, burying his face in her hair.
“I’ve got you, butterfly. You’re safe.”
She clung to him, sobbing into his chest.
“I was so scared…”
“Never again,” he vowed, lifting her carefully, signaling the men.
“Never again.”
The chopper lights flooded the clearing.
Rescue had come.
"Who did this baby Lucas asked ."
To be continued....