Chapter 139 Chapter 139

Chapter 139 Chapter 139
Calder's POV

The moment Greer turned and ran from the stage, my world narrowed to a single point of focus. The grand hall erupted into chaos — gasps, shocked whispers, cameras flashing wildly, reporters surging forward like predators smelling blood. The projector continued displaying those private moments between us and the devastating pregnancy confirmation. I stood up from my table so fast my chair nearly toppled.

“Greer!” I called out, my voice cutting through the noise like a blade.

I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the microphones thrust toward me and the questions shouted from all directions. My security team moved quickly to clear a path. My only thought was finding her. Cassey was trying to follow, calling her name desperately, but the crowd was too thick. I moved faster, my heart pounding with a mixture of rage and raw fear.

The dark hallway she had disappeared into felt too quiet compared to the frenzy behind me. I ran down it, my shoes echoing sharply against the marble floor.

“Greer! Where are you?! Answer me!”

Silence.

Only the distant hum of the ball and my own heavy breathing.

The unease in my gut grew stronger. She wouldn’t have run this far without responding to either Cassey or me. I turned another corner, my instincts screaming that something was terribly wrong. The hallway was darker here, shadows stretching long across the walls.

Then I saw it, one of her heels was lying recklessly on the floor. My blood turned to ice.

I knelt quickly, picking it up. It still carried a faint trace of her scent. My hands clenched around the heels as fury and terror warred inside me.

“Greer…” I whispered, voice breaking.

I immediately called my head of security. “Lock down the entire building. Pull every camera feed. Find her now. I want every exit covered.”

As I continued searching the hallway, my mind raced with dark possibilities. Veda. Indira. They had orchestrated this public humiliation, the leaked intimate moments, the pregnancy reveal. And now they had taken her. The thought made my blood boil. I would tear this city apart if I had to.

I kept moving deeper into the shadows, calling her name, my heart aching with every unanswered second.

I searched the entire building desperately, every corridor, every service area, every back exit, the restrooms, even the staff rooms. Nothing. My security spread out, checking every possible route while I called her phone repeatedly. It went straight to voicemail. 

Panic clawed at my chest. I rushed outside, searching the streets surrounding the Grand Royal Hall. The cool night air did nothing to calm me. I drove to her office at the new flagship store. Empty. I went to my house. Nothing. I checked Cassey’s new house. Still no sign of her. With the help of the police, who arrived quickly after my urgent call, we reviewed every security camera in the building. 

The footage showed a figure grabbing her in the dark hallway, pressing something to her face, and carrying her unconscious body out through a side exit. She had been taken.

My hands clenched into fists so tight my knuckles turned white as I watched the video. Rage and fear burned through me like wildfire. I don't know but Veda and Indira had gone too far this time. The public humiliation, the leaked images, the pregnancy reveal, and now kidnapping, it was all part of their twisted plan. I would find her. No matter what it took. No matter who I had to destroy.

She was carrying our child and I would bring both of them home safely.



Cassey wouldn’t stop crying. She sat curled up on the couch in my living room, tears streaming down her face as she clutched her phone, refreshing news sites and social media feeds obsessively. The scandal had spread like wildfire across every platform. Within hours, the story dominated headlines and trending topics worldwide. “Greer and Calder’s Shocking Affair Exposed,” 

“Pregnant with Stepfather’s Child exposed at Royal Business Ball,” 

“Lumina Bloom CEO’s Disgraceful Fall.” 

People were calling her every vile name imaginable; homewrecker, gold-digger, disgrace, slut, whore. The comments were vicious, cruel, and relentless, tearing her apart in public.

I paced the room like a caged animal, my jaw clenched so tightly it ached. Every sob from Cassey only fed the burning rage inside me. Greer was gone. Taken. And the world was destroying her reputation while I could do nothing but search frantically. I had mobilized every resource, private investigators, police contacts, hackers, my entire security team. But so far, we had nothing.

The next morning, as I stood by the large window staring out at the city skyline, my phone rang with an unknown number. I answered immediately, hoping it was a lead on Greer’s location.

A mocking, familiar laugh greeted me on the other end.

“Well, well, Calder. How does it feel to have your dirty little secret blasted to the entire world? It must be humiliating for a man like you.”

Desmond. That crazy fuck I almost beat to a pulp the day he wanted to force himself on Greer. I should have killed him that night. 

My blood instantly boiled. “Where is she, you bastard?” I growled, my voice low and dangerous.

He laughed again, clearly enjoying every second of this. “Well, I don't have her but I am glad that karma really caught up to her. To the both of you. I hope whoever took her killed her, and deliver her head and the bastard in her belly on a silver platter. You really thought you could fuck your own stepdaughter and keep it hidden forever? Pathetic. I’m glad I supplied Veda and Indira with all those photos and videos. They were the ones who tampered with the projector system at the ball. Beautiful work, wasn’t it? The whole world saw what a perverted homewrecker your precious Greer is.”

I cursed violently, my free hand clenching into a fist. “I should have killed you when I had the chance, you sick fuck.”

Desmond only laughed harder, the sound grating and triumphant. “Too late now, isn’t it? Enjoy watching your little whore’s life burn to the ground. And that bastard child she’s carrying? It won’t change anything.”

He hung up.

I slammed my phone down on the table, breathing hard, my entire body shaking with fury. The truth was finally out in the open. Veda, Indira, and Desmond had planned this together, the public humiliation, the leaked intimate moments, the pregnancy reveal. They had orchestrated everything to destroy her.

But I would make them all pay dearly.

Greer was out there somewhere. Pregnant with my child. Scared and alone.

I would find her.

No matter what it took. No matter who I had to destroy in the process.