Chapter 30 You Are Not Allowed to Die
The rain outside was relentless.
It hammered against the city as if the sky had split open, pouring water in sheets that seemed endless, with no hint of dawn on the horizon.
Inside the study, smoke hung thick in the air.
The cigar between Alexander's fingers had burned down to a delicate column of ash, trembling on the verge of collapse. He didn't notice. His eyes were fixed on the storm beyond the glass, his expression carved with an agitation he couldn't shake.
The men he had sent out had been gone for nearly an hour. Still no word.
The old maze forest lay far from the city, and in weather like this, driving and searching would be hell.
Alexander rubbed at his brow, trying to push back the unease clawing at him. But memories of Caroline kept flashing through his mind, unbidden, sharp as broken glass.
In her condition, an hour in that place was enough for anything to happen...
No. She was too stubborn to die.
She had survived the chaos at the docks five years ago. She had survived the fire. She would survive this.
He tried to believe it, but the fear growing in his chest was harder to ignore.
Just as he reached for his phone to call again, it rang.
It was the head of the search team.
Alexander snatched it up. "Report."
Wind and rain roared in the background, the man's voice tense with panic. "Mr. Hamilton! We haven't found Mrs. Hamilton, but near a low ravine we found something... unusual. The ravine's deep, full of mud water, and the rain's pouring in faster. We found blood, sir. A lot of it. It runs along the edge down to the bottom. And... there are fresh claw marks and drag trails. Right beside the blood."
"Where is she?!" Alexander's voice snapped like a whip.
"No... no sign of her!" the man stammered. "The water's too murky to see. We're probing with tools, but the rain's killing visibility. And... judging by the claw marks and drag trails, she may have been pulled into a deeper burrow. No one can get in there, sir. The weather—"
"Shut up!" Alexander cut in, voice sharp as steel. "Find her. Widen the search. Rip that place apart if you must. Alive or—"
The last word caught in his throat. He couldn't force it out.
He inhaled hard, then said, "Send more men. Seal off the area. Bring the dogs. If she loses even a single hair, you'll all pay for it with your lives."
"Yes, sir! Right away!" The man's voice shook.
Alexander ended the call, still clutching the phone.
She couldn't be hurt. She was too cunning, too hard to kill. She would find a way out.
Maybe she had already escaped.
But then why hadn't anyone reported her safe? And what about the blood?
His fist slammed into the desk, rattling the wood.
Why was this happening?!
He had only meant to punish her, to make her suffer. Not to let her die.
At least... not like this. Not so filthy. Not so silent.
She hadn't paid her debt. She hadn't redeemed herself for Edith's death. How could she die now? What right did she have to die?!
And yet... what if she already had?
The thought chilled him to the bone.
If she had been torn apart by some animal, left to rot in that cold, foul forest... then what had the last five years of hate been for? What had Edith's death been for?
No. She couldn't die. He wouldn't allow it.
Alexander grabbed his jacket from the chair and strode out.
"Car. West side of the old maze forest," he barked at the nearest guard.
"Sir, the rain—" the butler began.
"Move!" Alexander shoved past him toward the elevator.
He had to see for himself.
Even if she was dead, she would not vanish without a trace.
The car tore through the storm.
Alexander sat rigid, silent, his mind flashing images—her bones scattered in the dirt, her eyes dead before she was taken, Edith's smile before the tragedy.
He was losing his grip.
Finally, the car reached the forest's edge.
The rain had eased slightly, but the sky was still black as pitch.
Floodlights lit the scene. Guards had sealed off nearly the entire maze. The tension was palpable.
Alexander didn't wait for the car to stop. He stepped into the rain, the cold soaking him instantly, his expensive suit plastered to his skin. He didn't care.
The search leader ran to him, pale. "Sir! You shouldn't—"
"Where is Caroline?!" Alexander cut him off.
"Still... no sign," the man admitted. "We've expanded the search, released the dogs, but the rain's washed the scent away. And deeper in the brush, we found more drag marks... and torn fabric. Looks like it was ripped from clothing."
He held out a small scrap of pale cloth, caked with mud.
Alexander's gaze locked on it. His face changed.
That color... it was the dress she had been wearing when she was taken.
His breath caught. He swayed.
"Sir!" the man reached to steady him.
"Don't," Alexander snapped, shaking him off.
His gaze burned into the dark forest. "I told you to clear the predators... Why are they still here?!"
The man flinched. "We did, sir. The outer paths and main routes were secured. But the forest's too big, abandoned for years. Some must have hidden deep inside. I failed. Punish me."
Alexander gave a low, humorless laugh.
"If she dies, all of you go with her. Will that be enough?"
Every guard went pale, their breathing shallow.
Alexander didn't look at them again. He staggered forward a few steps toward the entrance.
Then he stopped, raised his head, and roared into the black woods, "Find her! At any cost! Tear this place apart if you have to!"
"She hasn't paid what she owes! She can't die! I won't let her die! Do you hear me?! I forbid it!"
The guards stared, stunned. They had never seen him like this—not even at Edith's funeral.
And if they had, it shouldn't have been for Caroline.
No one dared question. They scattered to search.
Alexander leaned back against a tree, exhausted.
His lips moved without thought. "You can't die, Caroline. You haven't paid your debt. You're not allowed... not allowed..."