Chapter 25 Chapter 25: The Estate at Midnight.
Chloe's POV.
The next night, I stood in the bedroom holding the burner phone with the video still playing in my mind. The gloved hand over Mia's face kept replaying even though I had closed the screen minutes ago. Margaret's text burned in my memory. Come alone to the estate tomorrow night at midnight, or the little girl stops breathing.
Four days had turned into hours and I was out of time. Liam was asleep on the couch after we had sex an hour ago. His face looked peaceful without that hard edge he carried during the day. I wanted to wake him and tell him everything, but Margaret's message had been clear.
If I brought anyone, Mia would die before I reached the gates.
I moved quietly to the closet and pulled out black jeans and a black hoodie. No jewelry and nothing that would make noise. I dressed in the dark bathroom with my hands shaking so badly I could barely zip the jeans.
I remembered Liam opening his safe three weeks ago when he thought I was in the shower. I had watched through the crack in the door as he spun the combination. The safe was behind the painting of his grandfather in the study. My heart hammered as I lifted the painting and dialed the combination. Inside was cash, documents, a Glock 19 and a pocket knife in a leather holster.
I had never held a gun before, so I took the pocket knife and added it to the one I already have, but I took it because going to the estate without protection felt like walking into my own grave. I wrote a note on paper from the nightstand. If I'm not back by dawn, everything is on the USB in Mia's teddy bear. Trust no one and I left it on Liam's pillow.
The clock read 12:47 when I slipped out using the service stairs. Marcus always parked his errand car in the same spot. I found it and cut the battery cables with my pocket knife so he could not follow me.
The cab I flagged three blocks away smelled like old coffee and smoke. The driver asked where I was going and I gave him the address of the estate gates. The drive took forty minutes. When we pulled up to the tall iron gates, they were already open, like Margaret had been watching. I paid in cash and told him not to wait.
Two men in dark clothes stood beside a black golf cart. One pulled out a thick blindfold. "Arms out," he said. He patted me down and found the one knife immediately. The other man tied the blindfold tight and guided me into the cart. We made so many turns I lost count. The air got colder and I could smell damp stone.
The blindfold came off and I blinked against the light. We were in a wine cellar with stone walls and rows of dark bottles. Margaret stood at the far end in a black silk dress and pearls. Brian stood next to her in a dark suit. Kim sat in a wooden chair and my breath caught.
She was pregnant for real and there's no fake bump because she wore a crop top and trousers. Her stomach was round and obvious with her white crop top. It might be at least five months along.
"Chloe," Margaret said with a small smile. "So good of you to come."
"Where's my sister?" My voice came out steadier than I expected.
Margaret held up her phone. The video feed showed Mia asleep in a bed beside my mom's hospital bed.
A woman in scrubs stood next to the bed holding a pillow. "One word from me and that pillow goes over her face and your mom can't help because she's on a sleeping drip now," Margaret said pleasantly. "Sign over all your shares and proof and leave the country, or your sister stops breathing."
Kim laughed softly. "You should have stayed a waitress in that lounge. This world was never meant for people like you."
Brian stepped forward with a folded paper. "Liam's grandfather's real will. Margaret forged these two weeks ago. If Liam refuses to marry Kim before the Maldives gala, I will become trustee of the entire estate. Every dollar and every share."
"The baby is yours," I said. Brian smiled. "Kim and I have been together for two years. The child is mine, but we made Liam think it was his and also forced him into marriage so that I can control the heir clause money. Fifty billion dollars."
Margaret walked closer. "Your father's patent will be returned. Your mother will have lifetime care. Ten million dollars wired to your name. All you have to do is just sign and walk away tonight."
Before I could answer, the door burst open. Lucy was pushed into the cellar with her hands tied behind her back.
I was surprised; I rushed to her immediately, asking if she was ok. "Are you okay, Ma?" But to my surprise, Brian dropped a bomb.
"Lucy helped us," Brian said. He grabbed her arm. "She sold the vials for five billion and a board seat. She helped Margaret fake the dementia diagnosis."
Brian played a recording on his phone. Lucy's voice filled the cellar. "I switched the vials myself. The first test was Brian's real DNA. I lied to Chloe and told her it was Liam. I wanted her to doubt him so Kim could step in."
"The entire story was a lie," Brian said. "Classic double bluff." Margaret grabbed Lucy's hair and pulled her head back. "Your choice, Chloe. Sign, or watch everyone you love disappear." The door opened again and Liam walked in.
He looked calm, but his eyes were cold. Marcus followed with two men in police uniforms. "I found your note a few minutes after you left," Liam said quietly. "I also found the tracker in the red dress that was delivered to you yesterday and followed it here."
Margaret's hand tightened in Lucy's hair. On the phone, the nurse moved the pillow closer to Mia's face, while Brian pulled a knife and held it against Lucy's throat. The room went still immediately.
Liam reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black device. "I've been wearing a wire for three weeks. Every conversation and every confession. The police outside have everything on tape. Margaret forging the will, Brian admitting he's the father and Lucy confessing to switching the vials."
"Sign the papers, or I slit her throat," Brian said. The knife pressed harder and blood appeared on Lucy's neck.
I remembered the sex from hours ago when Liam had pinned my wrists and whispered, "You're mine forever," while I came, biting his shoulder. Tears had run down my face because I thought it was goodbye.
Kim stood and walked toward Liam. "He always came back to me until you showed up. Every night we spent together before your contract."
On the phone, the nurse lifted the pillow higher. Margaret smiled. "Last chance, Chloe."
I saw Margaret's black pump on the floor with its sharp pencil heel. I grabbed the shoe and lunged at Brian. I pressed the heel against his throat hard. "Call off the nurse right now, or I'll push this through your windpipe."
My hands shook, but my voice stayed steady. Brian's eyes went wide. "Call her off," he choked out to Margaret.
Margaret stared at me and then lifted her phone. "Stand down." On the screen, the nurse lowered the pillow and walked out.
The cops rushed forward and grabbed Brian, while Marcus took Margaret's phone and pulled Lucy away. More police came down and started putting everyone in handcuffs. Margaret, Brian, Lucy and Kim.
Liam walked toward me and reached out. I stepped back with the shoe still in my grip and a piece of cloth from Brian's sleeve in my other hand. "I'm done being anyone's fiancée," I said.
I turned and walked past him and went down the stairs. Cold night air hit my face. Police cars filled the driveway with lights flashing. I kept walking toward the gates.
Behind me, I heard Liam calling my name, but I did not stop. The Maldives plane will leave in nine hours and for the first time since I signed that contract, I was the one deciding whether I got on it or disappeared forever.