Chapter 47 Cornered
After packing up her bags at the hotel and hailing a taxi, Elena now stood in the middle of the Savannah airport, barely holding her tears of frustration.
The stolen photo album was tucked deep into her oversized tote bag and her phone had not stopped vibrating for the last forty minutes.
Julian’s name flashed on the screen over and over again but she ignored him.
She ignored every single call until the screen suddenly lit up with a name she couldn't ignore.
The caller ID was Mandy.
Elena picked up on the third ring. "Hello, Mandy," she said, trying not to sound as shaken as she actually was. .
"Elena! Oh thank goodness," Mandy’s voice exploded through the speaker. "I thought you were being kidnapped or something! It’s a new city, for goodness' sake. Your husband has been blowing up my phone for the last hour. He sounds like he’s about to lose his mind!"
Elena leaned against a pillar near the check-in counter, watching the crowds of travelers. "What does he want, Mandy?"
"What do you mean, what does he want?" Mandy sounded incredulous. "He’s your husband! He has every reason to be worried about you. He said you guys went for some kind of romantic vacation weekend and now he can't find you anywhere. He said you vanished from a spa!"
"That's because I don't want to be found," Elena replied, her voice cold. "Have you eve. thought about that?"
"Hey, hey, start from the beginning," Mandy said. "What is going on? What happened? I heard you guys went to some Savannah place and now he’s looking everywhere for you. Elena, I think he’s about to call the police. He sounded really worked up on the phone."
Elena let out a short, bitter laugh. "He can call anyone he thinks he can call. You know Julian. He thinks he owns the whole fucking world. I wouldn't be shocked if he called the army and the entire military to hop on a plane and find me. But it won't matter. I’m going back to Chicago."
"This doesn't sound like a normal couple's fight, Lena. What's going on?”
“He's a lying bastard!" Elena blurted before she could stop herself.
"Why? What did you find out?" Mandy asked, but Elena was already moving.
"I’m not in the mood to answer questions, Mandy. I’m at the airport getting my luggage checked in. I’m done with this."
She ended the call before Mandy could protest.
She felt like she was moving in a dream as she rolled her suitcase down the aisle, her eyes fixed on the gate for the next flight to Chicago.
She didn't use their private jet, and she didn't care. She just wanted to be away from the man who'd done nothing but lie to her from day one.
Just as she reached the boarding area, her phone rang again. This time, it was two calls coming in at once. Her brother Alex and her father, Marcus Vance.
She groaned in frustration. She didn't know which one to pick, but the sheer persistence of the ringing made her head throb.
Her father’s call ended, and Alex’s immediately took its place. She swiped to answer.
"What is it, Alex?" she snapped. "We both know you don't check up on me."
"Relax, little sister," Alex’s voice was smug and irritating. "I just wanted to check if you were okay. I heard you went missing. Word travels fast when Julian Thorne starts making calls."
"Who cares?" Elena shot back. "Do you even care if I’m missing? The last time we had a fight, you swore that I wasn't your sister anymore. What changed?"
"Nothing changed," Alex said, his tone turning bored. "Father made me call you. You know I don't give a shit about you or your drama."
"Good," Elena said, her eyes burning with angry tears. "Then don't you ever call me again until you’re ready to fix your shitty life."
"Get off my phone, bitch," Alex spat, and the line went dead.
Elena stood there in the middle of the terminal, the heat of the tears finally spilling over.
Her family didn't care. They only cared about the press and their stupid family reputation. They cared that their "perfect" financial company merger was falling apart. She felt trapped inside a matchbox about to go on fire.
Her father’s name flashed on the screen again and she picked up hopefully, her voice trembling. "Hello, Dad."
"Listen to me, young lady," Marcus Vance’s voice was like ice. "You have been erratic in the past, but you have to know what is at stake here. You are embarrassing this family."
Elena was stunned at his outburst.
"Dad, you haven't even heard my side of the story!" Elena cried, oblivious to the people staring at her in the terminal.
"Your side of the story is irrelevant," Marcus said. "I know you and I know you’re being dramatic. Turn around, go back to the hotel, and finish your vacation with your husband."
"Daddy, he’s a chronic liar!" Elena screamed into the phone. "He’s also supposed to be a dead man! I just found out things about him that I never knew existed. He has a hospital in his basement, Dad! I don't know the man I married. I think I’m in danger!"
There was a long silence on the other end and for a second, Elena thought Marcus would listen to her. Adopted father or not, he had once cared for her like his own child.
But the words he said next left her totally crushed.
“I think you’re losing your mind, young woman," Marcus said. "Go back to your husband. When you come back to Chicago, I will pay you both a visit to iron things out. But right now, you are staying put."
"I'm not going back to him!" Elena sobbed. "I'm at the airport and I'm leaving."
"You will go back to your husband," Marcus warned, "or you cease to be my daughter. If you walk away from this marriage, you are dead to this family. Do you understand me?"
He ended the call before she could reply.
Elena stood at the entrance to the jet bridge, feeling dizzy. The world felt like it was tilting on its axis.
Her father was ready to disown her to keep a secret she didn't even fully understand yet.
"Ma'am? Are you alright?"
One of the air hostesses was touching her on the shoulder. "Are you getting on board? The flight is ready, and everyone is waiting for you to scan your pass."
Elena wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded. She walked down the jet bridge, her legs feeling like lead.
She found her seat in the cabin and sat down, staring out the small window at the tarmac. She felt hollow. She was going back to a sham of a marriage because she had nowhere else to go.
The cabin crew began their safety demonstrations. The engines started to whine and Elena buckled her seatbelt, ready for the plane to move.
But the plane didn't move.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the captain’s voice came over the intercom, sounding confused. "We have a slight delay. We’ve been instructed by ground control to hold our position. We should be moving shortly."
Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. The passengers around Elena began to grumble.
Suddenly, the intercom crackled again. "Attention passengers, we have a security situation. We have been informed there is a missing person on this flight. We are required to stay at the gate until the authorities have cleared the manifest."
Elena’s heart stopped. She began to shake. A missing person?
She gripped the armrests of her seat, her knuckles white.
She looked toward the front of the plane. The main cabin door, which had been sealed for takeoff, suddenly hissed and swung open.
The flight attendants stepped back, their faces pale.
First, a group of men in military uniform stepped onto the plane. They clearly weren't airport security and they were about a dozen.
And then, walking through the center of them, was Julian.