Chapter 64 64

Chapter 64 64
Raymond Craig stormed into the gallery’s main hall like a hurricane ready to flatten anything in his path. Behind him, Joel and Nick moved in tactical formation, their weapons drawn and ready.

"Search every inch of this room! Don't let a single rat escape!" Raymond shouted. His face was deathly pale, his eyes bloodshot with uncontrollable rage.

"Sir, the taxi carrying Mrs. Clara was confirmed to have stopped in front of this building ten minutes ago," Joel reported while checking his tablet. "The Madam’s phone signal was last detected in this area before it was turned off."

Raymond didn't wait for further reports. He ran down the hallway, which was lined with marble statues. Every time he saw a shadow, he hoped it was his wife. Guilt pierced his heart more sharply than any bullet. I shouldn't have let her go alone. I should have known that bastard would use these tactics.

"Clara! Answer me!"

Only the echo of his own voice answered him. The gallery suddenly felt like a vast tomb. Raymond reached a room filled with contemporary paintings. He saw a dull envelope lying on the floor, next to a torn-looking letter.

Raymond picked it up with trembling hands. He scanned the contents, and his jaw tightened until the muscles in his neck bulged. "Fake data... a fake death certificate. He’s trying to poison Clara’s mind with Chloe’s lies."

"Mr. Craig, we found something behind this landscape painting," Nick called out from the end of the room.

Raymond rushed over. He saw Nick pointing to faint scuff marks on the marble floor that didn't match the surrounding dust pattern. Without a word, Raymond kicked the painting's frame with full force. The wall shuddered, and a small gap opened.

"Flashlight!" Raymond ordered.

The beam of the flashlight pierced the darkness of the secret passage. The smell of dampness and chemicals still lingered in the air. Raymond felt his chest tighten with fear. He knew that smell. Chloroform.

"Joel, call for backup to surround this entire block. I don't care if I have to tear this historic building down to find her!" Raymond stepped into the narrow passage without hesitation. "Nick, you’re with me. Joel, you lead the team from the outside."

"Don't let anyone leave this building without my supervision."

The passage led down to a vast basement room, deep beneath the gallery's foundation. The room looked like a sophisticated operations center, filled with monitors displaying every corner of the Craig mansion and photos of Clara from the past few months.

Julian Vane had truly become a shadow in their lives.

"Look at that, sir," Nick pointed to a steel door at the end of the room that was still tightly shut.

Raymond approached the door. He could hear a faint sound from behind it. The sound of very soft sobbing, and Julian’s voice speaking in a chillingly low tone.

"Your love contract is over, Clara. Raymond is a monster who will destroy you. I’m just doing what he should have felt ten years ago."

Raymond didn't think twice. He took a step back, and then, with the full weight of his body and his rage, he cocked his firearm to strike the steel door.

BANG! BANG!

Several loud shots rang out.

The door flew open, hitting the floor with a deafening thud.

"Let her go, you bastard!" Raymond roared.

The lights inside the room were blindingly bright. As his vision focused, Raymond’s heart seemed to stop.

In the center of the room, Clara sat tied to an old wooden chair. Her mouth was still covered with black tape. Her eyes, red from tears, stared at Raymond with a mixture of relief, fear, and heart-wrenching doubt.

Julian Vane stood directly behind her. His face was calm, almost emotionless, but his hand held a pistol with the muzzle pressed tightly against Clara’s temple.

"One more step, Raymond, and I’ll make sure you see your wife’s brains splattered on this floor," Julian said in a chillingly steady voice.

Raymond froze. His hand holding the weapon slowly lowered. "Don't do it, Julian. Your problem is with me. Let her go."

"My problem is indeed with you, but your pain is my goal," Julian chuckled, a sound that felt insane amidst the tension. "You killed Chloe with your arrogance. You stole her hope. Now, I will steal the light in your life. Fair, isn't it?"

"Chloe had mental health issues, Julian! You know that!" Raymond shouted, trying to distract Julian. "I rejected her because I didn't want to give her false hope. I never humiliated her; it was her own friends who did that! I was just trying to be honest, even if I was harsh at the time."

"Liar!" Julian pressed the muzzle of his pistol harder against Clara’s head, causing her to close her eyes as her body trembled violently. "You always had a choice to be humane, but you chose to destroy her. And now, Clara will pay the price for your sins."

Clara let out a whimper from behind her gag. Her tears continued to flow, soaking the fabric covering her mouth. She looked at Raymond, and for the first time, she saw the most powerful man she knew looking so fragile. Tears welled up in Raymond’s gray eyes—a sight she never imagined.

"Julian, listen to me," Raymond’s voice softened, sounding almost like a plea. "I was a bastard in the past. I made many mistakes. But Clara... she knows nothing. She is the purest woman I have ever met. She forgave every one of my sins; she gave me a reason to be human again. If you kill her, you aren't just killing me—you’re killing the only good thing left in this world."

Julian fell silent for a moment. There was a slight tremor in the hand holding the pistol.

"You love her?" Julian asked shortly.

"More than my own life," Raymond answered without hesitation.

Julian looked at Clara, then back at Raymond. "Good. Because that sense of loss is exactly what I need to feel complete again."

Julian’s finger began to squeeze the trigger.

"Wait!" Raymond shouted. "You want revenge? Take my life! Kill me in front of her eyes! Let me be the one to feel that pain, but let her live to raise our child. She is a Miller; she has a future. Don't destroy that."

Julian seemed hesitant. That opening was seized by Joel, who had been silently crawling through the ventilation shaft above the room. Joel couldn't shoot because Julian was positioned too closely to Clara. However, Nick, who was at the doorway, threw a flashbang that exploded with a deafening sound and blinding white light.

BOOM!

"AAAGH!" Julian screamed, his eyes reflexively shutting and his grip on the pistol loosening slightly.

In that crucial split second, Raymond moved like lightning. He didn't care that his own vision was slightly impaired. He lunged forward, slamming into Julian’s body and throwing him away from Clara.

The pistol in Julian’s hand went off, the bullet hitting the ceiling.

"Die!" Raymond rained blow after blow onto Julian’s face with explosive rage. Every punch was retribution for every tear Clara had shed today.

Julian tried to fight back, but he was no match for the fury of a man who had almost lost his world. Nick immediately stepped in and helped Raymond subdue Julian, roughly handcuffing the man.

Raymond didn't pay attention to Julian anymore. He immediately turned and ran toward Clara. With trembling hands, he ripped the tape from his wife’s mouth and cut the ropes binding her hands.

"Clara... Oh God, Clara..." Raymond pulled his wife into his arms, holding her so tightly as if he wanted to reunite the soul that had been so shaken.

Clara sobbed loudly against Raymond’s chest. The fear that had been choking her now turned into overwhelming relief. "Ray... I was so scared... he said... he said you..."

"Shh, don't listen to him, darling. He’s lying. He just wanted to destroy us," Raymond whispered, kissing the top of Clara’s head repeatedly. "I’m here. You’re safe now. I will never let you go again."

Clara hugged Raymond’s neck tightly, inhaling the scent of her husband’s masculine and calming cologne. Amidst the ruins of the art gallery, now filled with police and bodyguards, the two of them felt as if they were in a world of their own.

Julian Vane was dragged out by the London police. His face was battered, but he still managed to look toward Raymond with a bitter smile. "This isn't over, Craig. The shadows of your past will always hunt you."

Raymond didn't look back. He was focused only on the woman in his arms.

"Let’s go home, Clara," Raymond said softly. He lifted his wife’s still-limp body into his arms. "We’re leaving this cursed place. Alexander and Norah are waiting for you."

Clara nodded weakly, resting her head on Raymond’s shoulder. As they stepped out of the gallery into the fading afternoon sunlight, Clara knew that while this storm might have passed, their love had just survived its greatest test.

In the car taking them back to The Savoy, Raymond didn't let go of Clara’s hand. He looked at his wife with complete devotion.

"I’m sorry that the secrets of my past almost harmed you, Clara. I promise, from this second on, there will be no more secrets between us. I will tell you everything about Chloe, about who I really was before I found you," Raymond said with a very sincere tone.

Clara looked into Raymond’s gray eyes and saw the honesty there. The doubt that Julian had planted began to fade, replaced by a deeper trust.

"I’ve already forgiven you, Ray. We all have dark pasts," Clara whispered. She reached for Raymond’s hand and placed it against her cheek. "What matters is who you are now. You are the man who saved me, the father of my children, and the man I love with all my soul."

Raymond smiled—a truly warm and peaceful smile. He pulled Clara into his arms once more as the car sped through the busy streets of London. They had won this battle, and in the future that awaited them, they knew that no contract bound them, but rather an eternal love that would protect them forever.

That night, under a London sky beginning to fill with stars, the Craig family finally found true peace. Julian Vane had been secured, and Chloe’s secret had been revealed. All that remained was a promise to protect one another, wherever they were, beyond all the wealth and power they possessed.