Chapter 102 The Hunt

Chapter 102 The Hunt

He thought it was nothing more than a cat-and-mouse stunt, a harmless show of power.

What he didn't know was that every data transmission leaves a trace.

I pulled up the virus program I had used that night for reverse tracking. No need to punch through that damned firewall again. All I needed was to locate the abandoned satellite channel he had used as his echo chamber.

Lines of code streamed down the screen like a waterfall.

My pulse hammered in my chest.

Faster... just a little faster.

Lisa stepped closer, her face pale. "Sophia, we found something. Allen, two weeks ago, used his private clearance to secretly access a database."

"What database?" My eyes stayed locked on the screen.

"Sealed for years—an old case file on the Davis Family."

My hands froze.

At that exact moment, my tracking program caught a faint signal buried deep in the data flow. So faint it could have vanished with a breath.

Its destination—on the outskirts of Asteria City. A location abandoned for more than thirty years. Once, it had belonged to the Davis Family. Their secret underground medical center.

I looked up at Arthur. "Found it."

My voice trembled, a mix of fury and dread.

"I found where they're keeping my mother."

The name. The place. It pointed straight to the Davis Family's underground medical center. A place I had believed lost to history, buried so deep even I had almost forgotten it.

My father's secret had become my mother's prison.

"Sophia?"

Arthur's voice pulled me out of the memory—rust, disinfectant, cold steel.

I lifted my head, meeting his eyes across the table draped in white linen.

The restaurant's warm chandeliers, the soft classical music, the flashing lights outside... all of it felt far away, unreal.

My world had narrowed to one coordinate. A blood-stained path to hell.

He didn't ask where. He didn't ask how.

He simply walked around the table, stopped in front of me, and closed my laptop with a decisive snap.

The sound was a command.

"Lisa, take your things. Leave through the back door. Colin will drive you to the estate. Don't go anywhere else."

"But, Sophia..." Lisa's voice was tight with worry.

"Go!" I barked.

I didn't need an assistant—I needed a gun.

Lisa flinched, grabbed her bag, and disappeared into the kitchen corridor with Colin at her side.

Now it was just him and me.

"Tell me. What do you need?"

"Men. Weapons. And the original architectural plans for that place."

My mind was moving fast.

"My father built it. I'm the only one who knows the security systems and layout. But after thirty years, I can't be sure it hasn't been changed."

"The plans are in my family's estate archives," he said immediately. "My father took over part of the Davis Family's legacy. The documents you need should be there."

Something sharp twisted in my chest.

"And the men?"

I forced myself not to think about the past.

"I need a precision team. Not street thugs. Soldiers who've seen real combat and know how to work together."

"I have them." His voice didn't waver.

"My father's private guard. They follow only my orders. They're at the estate now, waiting."

I stared at him.

Hours ago, I'd had a gun to his forehead, convinced he was a patricidal monster.

Now I was about to use his guns, his men, to save my mother.

Fate has a cruel sense of humor.

"Let's go." I picked up my laptop. No more words.

Arthur listened closely, cutting in only when it mattered. "Backup access doors—lock type? Thirty-year-old hardware might have been replaced."

"Old mechanical locks. My father used custom cores for secrecy. I know how to crack them. I'll send you the method. Also, there's a private study on the second basement level. That's where she's most likely kept. The walls there are reinforced. Regular weapons can't break through. You'll have to go in from the freight elevator shaft above, cut through the floor."

"Freight elevator shaft location?"

"Far end of the specimen storage room on the first floor. You'll need to bypass the electronic lock first." I gave the coordinates without hesitation. "I'll hack it remotely during the press conference, clear your path."

"Good." Arthur's tone was clipped. "You stay safe on stage. If anything goes wrong, end it immediately. Leave through the back. Colin will meet you."

"I can handle it." I closed my laptop and stood, smoothing my dress.

"The goal is to rescue her and force the shadow into the open. The press conference is bait. I won't let it go off-script."

"Operation starts thirty minutes after the conference begins. I'll send the signal."

Arthur stood too, pulling on his black coat.

"I'll arrange the team. See you at the venue."

"Alright."