Chapter 6 THE MAN IN THE RAIN
When I woke up, the world was quiet again.
Too quiet.
The air smelled of damp earth and rust, and the faint sound of dripping water echoed from somewhere above. My head throbbed, and when I tried to move, a sharp pain ran down my neck.
I wasn’t outside anymore.
Cold light flickered from a bulb swinging overhead. The floor beneath me was concrete, wet and stained. I blinked through the haze until shapes took form, a chair, a table, and a man leaning against the far wall, watching me.
Billy Ernest.
His coat was gone now, his sleeves rolled up. He looked nothing like the man I used to see in business magazines or at George’s formal events. The man in front of me was calm, deliberate, the kind of calm that meant danger.
“You’re awake,” he said softly. His voice was smooth, but every word made my skin crawl. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it.”
My throat was too dry to answer.
He pushed off the wall and walked toward me, his shoes clicking against the concrete. “You’re tougher than I thought. Most people don’t crawl out of a car crash and still manage to run through the woods.”
I stared at him, refusing to speak.
He smiled, as if silence amused him.
“You know, your husband used to make the same face when he was trying to read me.”
He crouched in front of me, his eyes level with mine. “George always thought I played fair. That’s what made him weak.”
“He’s not weak,” I said before I could stop myself.
Billy’s smile widened. “So the Ice King still means something to you, even after he left you to rot?”
He tilted his head slightly. “Tell me, Mrs. Robert, did you really think he divorced you to move on? Or was it because he knew this day would come?”
My stomach twisted. He was testing me, trying to make me talk, to make me doubt. I looked away.
He sighed and stood, walking toward the door. “You’ll find out soon enough. But don’t worry, I have no reason to hurt you. You’re just leverage.”
Leverage. The word burned.
He paused at the door, looking back. “Your husband will come for you, and when he does, he’ll lose everything he’s built. Every deal. Every ounce of power. And when he’s on his knees…”
Billy’s eyes glinted under the weak light. “…you’ll be right here to watch.”
Then he left, locking the metal door behind him.
For a long time, I just sat there, my breath shaking in the cold. The ropes around my wrists were tighter now, and every time I moved, they scraped against my skin.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said. George divorced me to protect me. I knew that now. And if Billy was planning to destroy him, then I couldn’t just sit and wait to be saved.
I had to do something.
Meanwhile, miles away, George Robert’s car sliced through the dark highway, rainwater streaming off the hood. The storm had finally started to fade, leaving only fog and the occasional flash of lightning.
His driver glanced at him through the mirror. “Sir, we’ve lost the GPS ping again.”
“Keep driving,” George said, eyes fixed on the road. His jaw was clenched, his shirt soaked where he’d wiped his face with his hand. He hadn’t stopped calling the burner number that had sent him the photo, no response. But he could feel it in his gut. Lea was alive.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the broken necklace, the one he’d found on the villa floor. The chain had left faint red marks on his palm where he’d been gripping it too tightly.
“She’s still out there,” he murmured. “I know she is.”
The driver hesitated. “Sir, with all due respect… what if this is a setup?”
George looked up, his expression hard. “Then I’ll walk into it.”
Back in the warehouse, the sound of a phone vibrating broke the silence. Billy’s voice echoed faintly from outside the door.
“Yes, he’s coming,” he said. “And yes, she’s alive, for now.”
I froze. My mind raced. If he knew George was on his way, then I didn’t have much time. I scanned the room again, the broken bulb, the old pipes, the pile of crates near the corner.
One of them had a sharp metal edge sticking out.
I dragged myself toward it, biting down the pain, and started rubbing the rope against it. Every second felt like an hour, the sound of the fibers scraping mixing with the pounding of my heartbeat.
By the time the rope snapped, my wrists were raw and bleeding again, but I didn’t stop. I reached for the metal pole leaning by the wall, heavy, cold, and gripped it like a weapon.
The lock on the door clicked.
I took a step back, raising the pole just as the door swung open.
Billy walked in, looking almost bored. “I thought you’d be asleep by now.”
I didn’t answer. My pulse screamed in my ears.
He noticed the rope at my feet, his eyes flicking down, then up again. A smirk formed on his lips. “You remind me of him, you know. Always fighting when you’ve already lost.”
He took a step closer.
“So this is how it ends for you?” I said, my voice low. “Hiding behind hired men?”
That made him laugh, an easy, chilling laugh that didn’t belong in a place like this. “I don’t hide, Mrs. Robert. I wait.”
Before I could move, he reached out and grabbed the pole mid-swing, twisting it out of my grip. The metal clanged to the floor. He pushed me back against the wall, not hard, just enough to make a point.
“George will be here soon,” he said, his voice almost tender. “And when he arrives, I’ll let you see what it means to lose everything.”
Then he stepped away, leaving me trembling, breathless, furious.
Outside, a black car slowed to a stop near the warehouse gates.
George stepped out before the driver could speak. The air smelled of smoke and rain-soaked concrete. His eyes scanned the distance, landing on the faint light flickering through a broken window.
He didn’t wait for backup. He didn’t care about strategy or safety anymore.
All that mattered was getting her back.
He started walking toward the building, silent, deliberate, every step echoing with the weight of everything he’d already lost, and everything he was about to risk.
Lea sat in the cold room, staring at the locked door. Somewhere outside, an engine idled. Her heart beat faster. Somehow, she knew.
He was here.
And for the first time since that night in the courtroom, she let herself hope.