Chapter 639

Chapter 639

The standoff between Eleanor and Wendy showed no sign of either woman backing down.

Eleanor was determined to make Wendy reveal more of her cards.

As for Wendy, she bit her lip, refusing to budge. She wanted to push Eleanor out at the lowest possible cost.

The partnership she'd just proposed was already the maximum authority Wendy could wield.

Anything more, and her father would never agree.

For Eleanor, these terms were close to what she'd imagined—well within her acceptable range.

She was about to agree.

Then suddenly, she received a message from Anthony.

Anthony made regular trips back home to check on Asher's safety.

But this time, Anthony discovered that the place where he'd hidden Asher was completely empty. Asher had vanished!

Something had gone wrong!

Anthony's face went pale. Not daring to take any chances, he immediately called Eleanor.

When Eleanor answered, panic seized her heart. After asking him to confirm the details over and over in disbelief, she urged frantically, "Find him—now! I'm coming right away—"

Eleanor lost all composure. She instinctively stood to leave, completely forgetting she was in the middle of negotiations with Wendy.

The moment she rose, Wendy frowned and grabbed Eleanor's arm, refusing to let her leave like this.

She asked with displeasure, "You're not backing out, are you? What I've offered is already the best deal possible."

As she spoke, she studied Eleanor's expression.

Eleanor's face showed unprecedented panic—an expression Wendy had never seen before.

Something felt off.

Her instincts told her something very important had happened.

She became even more unwilling to let Eleanor leave, saying with a smile, "Ms. York, we haven't finished discussing our partnership. What could possibly have happened to make you leave in such a hurry?"

Eleanor snapped back to awareness.

Only then did she realize she'd nearly lost her composure and let Wendy notice something was wrong.

She looked down at her phone, then forced herself to sit back down and continue negotiating with Wendy. "Let's continue. I need to know the specific details of this partnership you're proposing."

Wendy was suddenly in no hurry.

Compared to getting Eleanor to agree to the divorce, she was now more curious about what had happened to Eleanor.

If she could leverage this situation properly, she might gain even more.

Her intuition was remarkably sharp. She decided to switch tactics.

Seeing Eleanor's urgency, she deliberately chose to drag things out, smiling as she said, "You can take your time thinking it over. The partnership details are all here—we can discuss everything thoroughly today."

Eleanor didn't have time to discuss anything thoroughly with her.

Asher was missing.

Eleanor couldn't sit still. Even forcing herself to maintain composure, she couldn't settle her mind.

Her tone with Wendy grew less pleasant as a result. "Right now is your chance to show good faith. After all, you're the one who wants to marry Lucas as quickly as possible. I'm in no rush to divorce him."

She'd practically stated outright that Wendy was desperate to legitimize herself as the other woman.

Wendy's expression darkened.

Anger flashed across her face instantly. In all her years, she'd never been subjected to such humiliation!

She simply planted herself in Eleanor's office, refusing to leave.

She was determined to continue stalling Eleanor. "Eleanor, my time isn't valuable, but my determination is real. If you want to work with me, you need to show your sincerity too!"

Eleanor came back to herself, silently cursing her earlier impulsiveness.

She'd let Wendy sense something was wrong.

She took a deep breath, let out a cold laugh, and returned to her usual composed demeanor. Standing, she said, "Be my guest."

With that, she called David in to handle Wendy, leaving Wendy completely stunned. She hadn't expected Eleanor to refuse to play by the rules.

She could only watch helplessly as Eleanor left.

After leaving her office, Eleanor's legs nearly gave out. Only then did she realize her fear and worry had nearly caused her to collapse.

She forced herself to breathe deeply, suppressing the overwhelming panic in her chest. With trembling hands, she quickly called Lucas.

She told him Asher was missing.

Lucas had just learned about the child's disappearance from Anthony as well.

He closed his eyes, also forcing himself to stay calm. Eleanor's condition couldn't handle any more stress right now—he had to shield her.

He reassured her, "Anthony's already sent people back to investigate what happened at the house. Don't worry. He'll be safe for now. We'll find Asher as soon as possible."

"I understand," Eleanor said gravely. "I'm calling Jonathan now."

She dialed the number she hadn't contacted in so long.

But the result sent a chill through her entire body.

Jonathan's phone wouldn't connect. Her messages received no response.

Eleanor's heart sank. The worst-case scenario seemed to have already occurred. "Something's happened..."

If both Asher and Jonathan had run into trouble, the most likely explanation was that whoever was behind this had discovered they'd switched the children.

To confirm her suspicion, Eleanor asked Lucas, "That government partnership we received when Asher was first taken—what's the status now?"

Eleanor's reminder made Lucas suddenly remember that detail.

He immediately had someone check.

When he saw the results, it was another devastating blow. "They've added more to the project."

Meaning the person behind this had given their company even more compensation.

Originally, that project had been the compensation they'd received after the mastermind took their child.

Now the child was gone, yet the compensation had increased—they were being compensated even more generously. The implications were heartbreaking.

It could only mean one thing: the person behind this had gotten what they wanted.

The more that person gained, the more compensation Eleanor and Lucas would receive...

Eleanor's legs weakened. Another wave of dizziness swept over her.

Lucas was deeply worried about Eleanor's condition. "Eleanor, stay calm—"

"I'm fine."

Eleanor cut Lucas off, taking a deep breath. "I'm perfectly calm right now. Since Asher's already been taken, panicking won't help. I need to find another way to break through this."

After experiencing overwhelming panic...

Eleanor had actually calmed down.

She told Lucas, "Accept those projects. Then use them as leverage to apply for additional benefits."

Since they'd taken Asher and provided compensation...

Until they found Asher, they needed to use this to gain more advantages for themselves.

As for Eleanor...

After hanging up, she didn't return to the company. Instead, she went to find Linda.

Linda was the one who'd inadvertently revealed that the Blake family might have connections to a certain high-ranking official.

And that official very likely knew something.

She couldn't afford to ignore any lead right now. After finding Linda, she got straight to the point. "I need to see Aiden."