Chapter 41 The Rescue

Chapter 41 The Rescue


POV: Royce

The moment Jade called to tell me Elizabeth had ditched her security detail, my blood ran cold.

“What do you mean you lost her?”

“She said she was visiting her parents. When I circled back to check, they said she never arrived.” Jade’s voice was tight with professional frustration. “I’m tracking her phone now. Sir… she’s at Morrison Industries headquarters.”

Helen’s building.

Elizabeth had walked straight into the lion’s den.

“I’m on my way,” I snapped. “Get backup there now. And Jade—if anything happens to her—”

“I know, sir. I’m already moving.”

I grabbed Marcus from his surveillance van parked near Morrison Industries. He climbed into my car, his laptop balanced on his knees.

“Helen’s jamming the transmission,” he said grimly. “Elizabeth’s wire went dead twenty minutes ago. But Royce—she got her. I have the recording. Helen confessed to everything.”

“I don’t care about the confession if Elizabeth is dead,” I said, flooring the accelerator. “Why would she do something this reckless?”

“Because she’s trying to save everyone,” Marcus replied quietly. “You. Jessica. Her parents. She’s looking for the third option.”

The third option. The impossible way out that didn’t require sacrifice.

I prayed she’d found it. And that she’d survived long enough to tell me.

We arrived at Morrison Industries with Jade and three additional security personnel. The receptionist tried to stop us, but I didn’t slow.

“Call the police if you want,” I said coldly. “I’m going up.”

The elevator ride felt endless. Marcus tracked Elizabeth’s phone, his jaw tightening by the second.

“She’s still on this floor,” he said. “Signal hasn’t moved in eighteen minutes.”

Patricia, Helen’s assistant, was waiting when the doors opened. Her expression was perfectly neutral.

“Mr. Sterling, you can’t be here. This is private property.”

“Where’s Elizabeth Wakefield?”

“I don’t know who—”

I stepped closer, letting the mask drop. “I will tear this building apart floor by floor. I will expose every illegal thing Helen Morrison has ever done to every news outlet in the country. Or you can tell me where Elizabeth is. Right now.”

Her composure cracked.

“Ms. Morrison’s office,” she whispered. “But she left instructions that Miss Wakefield is not to be disturbed.”

I didn’t wait.

I ran down the hallway, Jade right behind me. Helen’s office door was locked.

“Open it.”

Jade pulled out a lock pick kit. Ten seconds later, the door clicked.

Elizabeth sat in a chair at the center of the room. Her hands were bound behind her back. Her jacket was torn. A dark bruise bloomed on her cheekbone.

But her eyes—her eyes were burning.

“Royce,” she breathed.

I crossed the room in three strides and dropped to my knees in front of her. “Are you hurt? What did they do to you?”

“I’m okay,” she said quickly. “Helen’s guards roughed me up, but I’m okay.” She nodded toward her wrists. “Can you untie me?”

Jade cut through the restraints. The second Elizabeth’s hands were free, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I thought I could end this.”

“You could have been killed,” I said, pulling back to examine her face. Fury burned through me. “Where’s Helen?”

“Gone. Five minutes ago. She said she had a board vote to prepare for.” Elizabeth’s eyes locked onto Marcus. “But I got it. Her confession. Marcus—did you—”

“I got everything,” Marcus said, lifting his laptop. “Her plan. Jessica’s attack. Sterling Corp. All of it.”

Hope flared—hot and blinding.

“That’s enough to destroy her,” I said. “Police. Media. Board. We end this.”

Elizabeth’s expression fell.

“There’s a problem.” She swallowed. “Helen mentions Jessica’s role in the original corporate espionage. If we release this, the prosecutor could add years to her sentence.”

The hope died instantly.

“So we can’t use it.”

“Not publicly,” she said softly.

She moved to Helen’s whiteboard. Fresh red marker screamed across it.

Sterling Corp board vote is tomorrow. I have the votes. You’ve lost.

Helen had won.

Even in defeat, she’d cornered us.

“There has to be another way,” I said, though my voice lacked conviction.

Marcus scrolled through files, jaw tight. “The confession is airtight. She’d go to prison for decades.”

“And Jessica would go with her,” Elizabeth said. “I won’t destroy my sister to save your company.”

I slammed my fist into the wall.

“We edit the recording,” I said. “Cut Jessica out.”

“That compromises the evidence chain,” Marcus replied. “Any lawyer would shred it.”

“Then we leak it.”

“Helen would claim it’s fabricated. She’d bury us in lawsuits.” Elizabeth shook her head. “And Jessica would still be exposed.”

Silence fell.

Then Marcus spoke.

“There is a third option.”

We turned toward him.

“You’re not going to like it,” he said, pulling up a file. “But it’s the only way to destroy Helen without implicating Jessica.”

“Who?” Elizabeth asked.

Marcus turned the laptop toward us.

A prison visitation request form.

Richard Hendricks.

“Absolutely not,” I said instantly. “He tried to kill us.”

“He also has proof,” Marcus replied. “Helen and Hendricks were partners. Financial records. Communications. Strategy documents. Everything. And she abandoned him when he got arrested.”

“Why would he help us?” Elizabeth asked.

“Because he wants revenge.” Marcus leaned forward. “He’s in prison while she’s free. If we offer sentence reduction, testimony, leverage—he’ll talk.”

I hated it. Every instinct screamed no.

But I looked at Elizabeth’s bruised face. Thought of Jessica fighting for her life.

Sometimes you had to make deals with monsters.

“Set up the meeting,” I said. “But I want protection agreements in writing. One wrong move and the deal’s dead.”

“Agreed,” Marcus said, already dialing.

Elizabeth squeezed my hand. “Are you sure?”

“No,” I said honestly. “But I’m sure about you. And your sister. And stopping Helen.”

“What if Hendricks betrays us?”

“Then we handle it. Together.”

Marcus looked up. “Prison visit is tomorrow. Nine AM.”

The same time as the board vote.

“Reschedule the vote,” I said. “I’ll deal with Hendricks first.”

Elizabeth rested her head on my shoulder.

“What if this doesn’t work?”

“Then we keep fighting.” I held her close. “We don’t give up.”

I glanced at Helen’s words on the whiteboard.

She thought she’d won.

She was wrong.