Chapter 44
Emily Windsor's POV
It was as if I'd heard the world's biggest joke.
Did he think I'd risked everything, nearly thrown away my life, for cold numbers and assets?
"Lawrence, have you lost your mind?" My voice was ice. "You think I care about any of that? Or do you actually believe that after threatening Jade's future, I'd turn around and beg Luke to go easy on you?"
"I have no choice!" His composure was shattered. His voice spiked, echoing off the cathedral walls. "Luke is trying to destroy the Lowe Family! He's not teaching us a lesson—he's going for total annihilation! Emily, I admit I'm a bastard. I'm scum. But all I want is to save my family! Your friend—just say the word, and I swear every piece of evidence disappears. She walks away clean."
He'd laid Jade's future bare on one side of the scale. On the other: Luke's revenge and my justice.
He was betting I couldn't choose.
My fists clenched so tight my nails bit into my palms.
I hated him. But more than that, I hated how powerless I felt in this moment.
Just as guilt threatened to crush me entirely, the cathedral's heavy wooden doors slammed open from the outside.
"My future isn't yours to gamble with, you piece of shit!"
A clear, furious voice shattered the standoff. Jade stood backlit in the doorway, her face blazing with unmasked rage and determination.
I stared at her, mind blank. How was she here?
"Jade, how did you..."
She didn't even look at me. She strode past, step by deliberate step, straight toward Lawrence. Those eyes that always sparkled with warmth now glinted like ice-forged blades.
Lawrence froze. He clearly hadn't expected her.
He recovered quickly, his face twisting into a sickly, controlling smile. "Well, well. Perfect timing. Emily, looks like your friend cares more about her own career than you thought."
"My career is mine to handle." Jade stopped directly in front of him. Her voice wasn't loud, but every word cut clean. "Lawrence, you think you've got some ace in the hole? Yes, I used a controlled substance to get close to those drugged workers. But it's not a secret."
Lawrence's smile froze.
"Before the operation, I submitted a full written plan to the federal task force—including all potential risks and the unconventional methods I'd need to employ." Jade's gaze pinned him in place with crushing pressure. "My actions were authorized and supervised by federal agents conducting an undercover investigation. All related medical records and approvals are on file with the task force. That so-called evidence you're holding? It's just an attachment from the report I already turned in."
She paused, a cold smile tugging at her lips. "So tell me—who exactly are you planning to threaten with this? The bar association? The media? I'd love to see whether they run a story about a legal assistant who risked her safety for justice... or about how the Lowe Family tried to obstruct a federal investigation with bottom-feeder blackmail tactics."
Lawrence's face drained to ash. He stared at Jade in disbelief. His final card—the leverage he thought would keep me in a chokehold—had been casually dismantled. Worse, it had transformed into a blade now aimed squarely at him.
"Impossible!" He stumbled back, muttering. His last shred of dignity crumbled away.
"Nothing's impossible." Jade's voice was arctic. "Don't project your own depravity onto everyone else."
"Bitch!" Humiliation twisted Lawrence into something feral. He lunged, yanking a black handgun from his jacket, his face contorted with madness as he aimed it at Jade. "You think you've won? I'll send you both to meet your Maker right now!"
My heart lurched. Instinct took over—I yanked Jade behind me.
In that razor-thin moment, a piercing, urgent wail of sirens tore through the silence surrounding the cathedral.
The sound grew louder, closer—as if dozens of squad cars were converging from every direction.
Lawrence's gun hand trembled violently. His face went white.
He whipped toward the entrance, panic flooding his eyes as the shrieking sirens closed in.
"You got lucky!" He spat on the floor, shot us one last venomous glare, then bolted—fleeing through a side door and vanishing into the overgrown weeds beyond.
Only after his shadow disappeared completely did my locked muscles give out. My legs buckled. I nearly collapsed.
Jade caught me. At that exact moment, the deafening siren wail cut off abruptly.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and stopped the flashing siren app on the screen.
I looked at her, somewhere between tears and laughter. "You..."
"Learned it from you." She winked, still pale but eyes blazing. "In critical moments, never let them see you sweat."
I couldn't hold back anymore. I pulled her into a crushing hug. "Thank you, Jade."
And I'm sorry.
Lawrence's failed gambit left the Lowe Family in ruins.
Two days later, in Luke's office, the Lowe patriarch himself—Lawrence's father—came in person.
I sat beside Luke in my capacity as his attorney.
This man, who'd dominated the business world for decades, had every silver hair perfectly combed. His face wore a shrewd, exhausted smile as he slid a thick asset transfer agreement across Luke's desk.
"Mr. Reed, Lawrence was out of line. He disrespected you and Miss Windsor. That's on us." His posture was deferential. "This represents all of the Lowe Family's renewable energy holdings, plus several of our European port operations. It's a gesture of goodwill. We only ask that you show mercy and leave the Lowe Family a path forward."
It was a staggering offer—half their empire, sacrificed for a sliver of breathing room.
Luke didn't even glance at the documents. He simply lifted his coffee, expression unmoved.
Seeing Luke's indifference, Old Man Lowe's smile dimmed. His gaze flicked to my impassive face. Then his tone shifted, edged with something darker.
"Mr. Reed, I know you have the power to erase the Lowe Family. It's only a matter of time." He spoke slowly, each word deliberate. "But any sprawling family has fractures. There are always mad dogs kept on chains—obedient, as long as the leash holds. But if the master himself is in freefall, and those chains snap? No one can predict what a loose pack of rabid animals will do."
He lifted his teacup, blowing gently across the surface, eyes deep and calculating. "They don't care about business etiquette. They don't understand restraint. The fish may die, but the net won't necessarily break—though I promise you, blood will splatter everywhere. You're a man of considerable assets, Mr. Reed. Surely you'd rather not invite a pack of rabid dogs to your doorstep... just to drain one dirty pond."
His words were a poison-tipped needle, piercing the already taut atmosphere between Luke and me.
After Mr. Lowe left, I turned to Luke. His jawline was rigid, eyes an unfathomable abyss—no trace of wavering after that thinly veiled threat.