Chapter 175
Ellie's POV
Jackson leaned over, eyes widening. "That's not just rich. That's..."
"Wealthy-with-a-capital-W," I finished. "The kind of family that has compounds, not houses. And look"—I scrolled through the comments—"someone tagged him as 'little prince Carter.' He deleted the tag, but I can see it in the archived version."
His phone buzzed. He grabbed it, scanned the message, then looked up at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Tyler just sent me Ryan's emergency contact info from his student file. Primary contact: William Carter. Secondary: Eleanor Carter. Both with Aspen addresses."
"Father and mother?" I guessed.
"Or grandfather and grandmother. Or—hell, I don't know." Jackson ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident. "But 'William Carter'... why does that name sound familiar?"
I was already typing it into my search engine. The results made me inhale sharply.
"Jackson. William Carter is—was—the CEO and founder of Carter Industries. Mining, real estate, tech investments. Net worth estimated at over two billion dollars." I kept scrolling, my pulse quickening. "And according to this business forum from two days ago... there are rumors he's seriously ill. Heart problems. Some people speculating he's already—"
My phone rang. Jackson's rang simultaneously. We both grabbed them—his was Miles, mine was Lily asking if she should call Ryan's family directly.
"Take Miles," I told Jackson. "I'll handle Lily."
I stepped toward the window to answer Lily, feeding her reassuring half-truths about following leads, while listening with one ear to Jackson's side of the conversation. His voice stayed level, but I watched his knuckles go white around the phone.
When I hung up with Lily, Jackson was still listening to Miles, his expression growing grimmer by the second. Finally: "Thanks, Uncle. Yeah, I understand. Keep me posted if you hear anything else."
He lowered the phone slowly.
"What?" I demanded.
Jackson's eyes met mine, and I saw genuine worry there. "Ryan Carter is the direct heir to the Carter fortune. His father—William's oldest son—died in a boating accident when Ryan was fourteen. Since then, William's been raising him personally." He paused. "And Miles just confirmed: William Carter died three days ago. Monday morning, officially from heart failure. But here's the thing—the family's been sitting on the announcement. No obituary, no press release, nothing public yet."
The room suddenly felt colder. "Three days ago. That's—"
"The day before Ryan disappeared," Jackson finished. "Miles thinks Ryan was called home for the funeral. As the direct heir, he'd have to be there. But the question is—"
"Why hide William's death?" I whispered. "Why keep it quiet?"
Jackson's jaw clenched. "According to Miles, William only had one son—Ryan's father—who died in that boating accident. Ryan's the only direct heir, the last of the Carter bloodline in his generation. Three generations down to a single heir." He paused, his expression darkening. "Ryan's grandmother Eleanor is still alive. She's been involved in business decisions since William's health declined. Miles thinks... it might be her call to keep William's death quiet. To buy Ryan time. To protect him from whoever might see a twenty-year-old heir as an easy target."
Inheritance. Billions of dollars. A twenty-year-old college student caught in the middle of a family power struggle.
"Oh my God," I breathed. "Ryan's not just missing. He might be—"
"We don't know that," Jackson cut in, but his voice lacked conviction. "Miles said not to jump to conclusions. Rich families handle deaths privately all the time. Maybe they're just keeping it quiet until after the funeral. Maybe—"
Jackson closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, his expression was resolute. "Miles gave us two instructions. First, keep monitoring for any Carter family news. He'll do the same through his business contacts. Second—" His gaze sharpened on me. "We need to protect Lily."
"Protect her from what?"
"If Ryan's disappearance becomes public, if the media catches wind of a billionaire heir potentially caught in a family dispute, they'll come sniffing around. Lily's his girlfriend. She'll be a target for reporters, maybe even for people trying to use her as leverage." Jackson's hand found mine, squeezed gently. "We can't tell her the truth—it's Ryan's secret to keep or reveal. But we can make sure she's safe."
I wanted to argue, to insist that Lily deserved to know why her boyfriend vanished. But deep down, I understood. If someone had revealed my wolf identity without my consent, even with good intentions...
"You're right," I said quietly. "We can't betray Ryan's trust. Even if—especially if—he's in danger, we can't make it worse by exposing his private life."
Jackson pulled me into his arms, and I buried my face in his shoulder. Outside, the last rays of sunset painted the sky in shades of amber and gold.
Somewhere out there, Ryan Carter was navigating a world we couldn't protect him from—a world of inherited billions, family rivalries, and secrets that had nothing to do with supernatural bonds and everything to do with the very human hunger for power.
"We tell Lily we're still investigating," I murmured against Jackson's chest. "We watch the news. We wait for Ryan to reach out. And we hope like hell he's smart enough to survive whatever his family's throwing at him."
"And if he's not?" Jackson's voice was barely audible.
I pulled back to look at him. "Then we do whatever it takes to help him. Because that's what you do for friends—you protect them, even when you can't tell them the whole truth. Even when it kills you to keep the secret."
Especially then.