ADRIAN'S POV
"BELLA!" Eva screams and lunges for her daughter.
Marcus steps back, holding Bella tighter. The little girl cries harder, struggling in his arms.
"Let her go!" I roar, moving toward my uncle.
But Marcus pulls out a gun. Points it at Bella's head.
Everyone freezes.
"One more step and I pull the trigger," Marcus says calmly. "Everyone back up. Now."
Eva makes a sound like a dying animal. "Please. Please don't hurt her. She's just a baby."
"She's a Thorne." Marcus's eyes are wild. "Which makes her valuable. Which makes her my insurance policy."
"Insurance for what?" I keep my voice steady even though I want to rip him apart. "What do you want?"
"What I've always wanted. Control of Thorne Global. Money. Power. Respect." Marcus laughs bitterly. "Everything your father got just because he was born first. Everything that should have been mine."
"So you kidnapped a four-year-old?" My hands shake with rage. "You terrorized Eva? Sent threats? All for what? Revenge?"
"Not revenge. Strategy." Marcus moves toward the door, gun still pointed at Bella. "See, when Eva came back, I saw an opportunity. She hates you. She's destroying the company. Perfect. Let her take you down. Then I swoop in, buy up the pieces, and finally get what I deserve."
"But then you found out about Bella," Victoria says quietly. She's watching this unfold with an unreadable expression.
"Exactly." Marcus grins. "A Thorne heir nobody knew about. Adrian's daughter. Even better than I planned. Because now I can use her to control both of you."
"You're insane," Eva whispers. "She's your niece!"
"She's a tool. A very useful tool." Marcus reaches the door. "Here's what's going to happen. Adrian, you're going to sign over your controlling shares of Thorne Global to me. All of them. Today."
"Fine. Whatever you want. Just let Bella go."
"I'm not finished." Marcus's smile is cruel. "Eva, you're going to transfer all your acquired assets back to Thorne Global. For free. Everything you bought, everything you stole—it all comes back."
"Done," Eva says immediately. "It's yours. All of it. Just give me my daughter."
"And finally..." Marcus looks between us. "You both leave New York. Tonight. Separately. Never see each other again. Never contact Bella again."
"What?" I stare at him. "You're keeping Bella?"
"Someone has to raise the Thorne heir properly. Can't have her corrupted by either of you." Marcus shrugs. "I'll tell her you both died. Tragic accident. Very sad."
"You sick—" I start forward.
Marcus cocks the gun. "Try it. See what happens."
Bella whimpers. Tears stream down her little face. She's terrified, and I can't do anything to help her.
My daughter. Four years old. Crying in the arms of a monster.
And I'm completely powerless.
"You won't get away with this," Victoria says suddenly. "Marcus, put the gun down. This has gone too far."
"Too far?" Marcus laughs. "This is nothing compared to what you did, Victoria. You framed Eva. Had her arrested while pregnant. Destroyed her family's company. Don't act righteous now."
"I did what I thought was best for Adrian—"
"You did what was best for yourself! Just like I'm doing!" Marcus backs toward the door. "Now, everyone stays here. Give me a thirty-minute head start. If anyone follows, if anyone calls the police, if anyone tries anything—Bella dies. Understand?"
"Wait!" Eva's voice breaks. "Please. Just... just let me say goodbye to her. Please. I'm begging you."
Marcus hesitates. "Fine. Thirty seconds. But stay where you are. Don't come closer."
Eva takes a shaky breath. Looks at Bella with so much love it physically hurts to watch.
"Baby," Eva says softly. "It's going to be okay. Mama promises. You're going to be brave like the princesses in your stories, remember? The ones who face dragons?"
Bella nods, crying.
"I love you more than anything in the world. More than the moon and stars and all the chocolate in Paris. You remember that, okay?"
"Maman—" Bella reaches for her mother.
"Time's up." Marcus moves to the door. "Remember. Thirty minutes. Anyone moves, she dies."
He leaves. The door slams shut.
We all stand frozen for three seconds.
Then Eva collapses. I catch her, holding her while she shakes apart.
"He has my baby," she sobs. "He has my baby and I just let him walk out."
"We'll get her back," I promise. "I swear on my life, we'll get her back."
But how? Marcus has a gun. Has Bella. Has a thirty-minute head start.
Victoria walks to her desk. Pulls out a phone. "I'm calling the police."
"He said no police!" Eva screams.
"He's bluffing. Marcus is many things, but he won't hurt a child. He needs Bella alive to control you both."
"You don't know that!"
"Actually, I do." Victoria dials. "Because I know my brother-in-law. He's a coward. Always has been. He won't pull that trigger."
But what if she's wrong? What if Marcus panics? What if Bella moves wrong and the gun goes off accidentally?
My phone buzzes. Text from James: Police and FBI already on the way. I heard everything through your phone. We've got roadblocks set up on every highway. He's not getting far.
How—? Then I remember. The call I made to James earlier. I never hung up. The line's been open this whole time.
"James heard everything," I tell Eva. "Police are already coming."
Relief and terror flash across her face. "What if Marcus hears the sirens? What if he—"
An explosion rocks the building.
We all stumble. The windows rattle. Car alarms start blaring outside.
I run to the window. In the driveway, a black SUV is engulfed in flames.
"No," I whisper. "No, no, no."
Eva appears beside me. Sees the burning car. Starts screaming.
"BELLA! BELLA!"
She runs for the door. I grab her. She fights me like a wild animal.
"Let me go! My baby's in there! BELLA!"
Security guards rush in. Police sirens wail in the distance. Everyone's shouting.
But all I can hear is Eva's screams.
All I can see is that burning car.
My daughter. My four-year-old daughter who I just met. Who I'll never get to know. Who I failed before I even got a chance to try.
Victoria stares out the window, her face pale. "Marcus always was dramatic. But I never thought he'd..."
She doesn't finish.
Firefighters arrive. Spray foam on the flames. The fire dies down slowly.
Eva has stopped screaming. She's just... silent now. Staring at the wreckage with empty eyes.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "Eva, I'm so sorry. This is my fault. My family. My—"
"She's alive."
We all turn. James stands in the doorway. His face is grim but there's something like hope in his eyes.
"What?" Eva's voice is barely audible.
"The car that exploded. I just got confirmation from the bomb squad. There's no body inside. No car seat. No child." James looks at me. "Marcus set a decoy. He's not in that car."
Eva's knees buckle. I hold her up.
"Then where is he?" I demand.
"We don't know yet. But Adrian..." James pulls out his phone. Shows us security footage. "We found this from the garage camera. Look."
The video shows Marcus carrying Bella out a side door. But he's not alone.
Walking beside him is someone I never expected.
Dominic Ashford. Eva's boyfriend. The British man who's been by her side since she returned.
And he's not being forced. He's helping Marcus carry bags. Talking to him. Smiling.
Eva stares at the screen. "No. That's impossible. Dominic wouldn't—"
"There's more," James says quietly. "We traced the threatening messages. The photos of Bella. The calls." He pauses. "They all came from Dominic's real phone. He's been working with Marcus from the beginning."
The room spins. Eva's face is white as death.
"Dominic has Bella," she whispers. "The man I trusted. The man I thought was helping me. He has my daughter."
My phone buzzes. Message from an unknown number. But I recognize the British number code.
The message includes a video.
I press play with shaking hands.
Dominic appears on screen. He's in a car. Bella's asleep in a car seat beside him. Safe. Unharmed.
"Hello, Eva. Adrian." Dominic's British accent is smooth as ever. "I imagine you're quite shocked. Allow me to explain. Marcus and I have been planning this for three years. Since before you even came back to New York, Eva. We've been waiting. Watching. And now we have what we want. Money. Power. And most importantly..." He touches Bella's sleeping head gently. "Insurance."
The video cuts to a new scene. Marcus driving. Dominic in the passenger seat.
"You have twenty-four hours to wire one hundred million dollars each to the accounts we'll send you," Marcus says. "Plus all of Adrian's shares. Plus all of Eva's acquired companies. Everything."
"And if we do that?" I ask the screen uselessly.
As if hearing me, Dominic smiles. "Then you get Bella back. Maybe. If we feel generous. Or maybe we keep her anyway. Raise her as our own. A Thorne heir under our control. We haven't decided yet."
The video ends.
Eva makes a sound I'll never forget. Pure, animal rage mixed with heartbreak.
Then she looks at me with eyes full of fire and ice.
"I'm going to kill them both," she says. "I don't care what it takes. I don't care what I have to do. I'm going to get my daughter back and I'm going to destroy every single person who helped take her."
"We," I correct. "WE are going to get our daughter back. Together."
For the first time since this nightmare started, Eva doesn't push me away.
She nods once. "Together."
My phone buzzes again. Another message. But this one's different. From a number I don't recognize. The message makes my blood run cold:
Your uncle and Dominic aren't the only players in this game. There's someone else. Someone who's been pulling strings from the beginning. Someone in this very room. Trust no one, Adrian. Not even your mother. -A Friend
I look around. At Victoria standing by the window. At James near t
he door. At Eva beside me.
One of them is lying. One of them knows more than they're saying.
But which one?