LOGINAmber POVEmory kept questioning him.Names.Accounts.Meetings.Properties.People Mr. White trusted.Oscar knew less than I wanted him to.But then Emory asked the right question."If your father needed somewhere in River City where nobody would connect him to the White family, where would he go?"Oscar hesitated.My pulse jumped."You know something.""I don't know where he is.""That's not what he asked."Oscar looked at me."My father owns properties under other names."Emory straightened."Give me the names.""There are several.""Start."Oscar listed two.Then stopped."Jacob Sin."I frowned."What?""Jacob Sin. S-I-N."Emory was already writing it down."That's one of the identities he used for properties in River City.""How many?""I don't know. Houses. Warehouses. Maybe commercial buildings."My heart started pounding."Would he take Jason to one of them?"Oscar looked at me."I don't know.""Oscar.""I don't!"He pulled against the restraints."But if he took Jason, he wo
Amber POVWe found Oscar.Not another airport sighting. Not a grainy camera image showing someone who looked vaguely like him disappearing into a crowd.His exact location.Nevermore.A private apartment registered to a company that, on the surface, had absolutely nothing to do with the White family.Marcus found the financial connection first. Pamela confirmed it through another channel, and Chronos gave us the final piece: Oscar had been using the apartment for several days.The moment the confirmation appeared on my screen, I called Emory."Tell me you're still in Nevermore.""I am.""I found Oscar."There was a pause."Send me the address."That was it.No questions.No lecture.No attempt to convince me that someone else should handle it.I sent him everything.Then I waited.Which, I had discovered, was one of the most torturous activities known to humanity.Especially when I was trapped in a hospital bed.My blood pressure had improved, but the doctors weren't willing to releas
Amber POVThere was one thought I couldn't get out of my head.The timing.Jason had disappeared immediately after the DNA testing was completed.Not before the appointment.Not on his way there.After.That was too much of a coincidence.I lay in the hospital bed staring at the information Pamela had pulled onto my laptop while the monitors beside me continued their steady rhythm. My blood pressure had finally come down enough that the doctors had stopped threatening me every ten minutes, but nobody was discussing discharging me yet.Daniel had appointed himself their unofficial enforcer.Jasmine was somewhere coordinating with security teams searching for Jason's car. Noah had barely moved from his position near the door, and Marcus had been speaking with Chronos contacts for the better part of an hour.Everyone was searching.But they were searching too broadly."Mr. White."Pamela looked up from her tablet. "What?""My first suspect isn't Alexander."Marcus ended his call and turn
Amber POVJason didn't answer his phone.The first time I called, I wasn't worried. Not really. Jason was supposed to be returning from the DNA testing appointment, and there were a dozen perfectly reasonable explanations for why he wouldn't answer immediately. He could still be speaking with the trustees. He could be driving. He could have stopped to speak with security.So I waited five minutes and called again.It rang.And rang.And went unanswered.I frowned at the screen.Jason always answered me.Maybe not on the first ring. Sometimes not even on the first call if he was in the middle of something important. But if I called twice, he answered. If he couldn't, someone from his security team did.I called a third time.Nothing."Okay."I sat straighter on the bed.There was still no reason to panic.I called his driver.No answer.Then his security detail.No answer.That was when the first thread of fear worked its way into my chest.I opened the security application on my phone
Amber POVThe morning Jason left for the DNA appointment, another story broke.This one changed everything again.The missing Vincent women were speaking.Not one.Several.Some were women Mr. Stait and Emory had rescued during previous operations. Others had been recovered after the international investigations expanded. Women the Vincent family had spent years describing as missing, unstable, estranged, dead, or simply irrelevant were suddenly appearing in front of investigators.And their stories matched.I watched one of the recorded statements from the living room.The woman on the screen looked exhausted. There were shadows beneath her eyes, and she kept twisting her fingers together while an investigator sat beside her."My father didn't lose me," she said.My stomach tightened."He sold me."I stopped breathing.She swallowed."Alexander Vincent's father sold us."The investigator asked her to explain.Her eyes filled with tears."He decided where we went. Which families recei
Amber POVAfter that, everything started to spiral.Apparently, publicly declaring war against a human-trafficking network while six months pregnant had consequences.Who knew?My grandfather called before we'd even made it back to the castle. He didn't bother with a greeting."What the hell were you thinking?""I was thinking that someone needed to say it.""Amber, you named three powerful families on live television.""Yes. I remember. I was there.""Do not get smart with me."I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear and looked at Jason. He was sitting beside me in the car, pretending not to listen while very obviously listening."Grandpa, I'm fine.""You declared war.""Against human trafficking.""That clarification is not making me feel better.""It should.""It doesn't."I sighed and rested my head against the seat."I wasn't going to stay quiet after hearing Rose and Iris."His silence told me he understood that, even if he didn't like it.Finally, Grandpa sighed."Increase
We moved quickly through the hallway. Adrian walked behind me, gun raised, covering the corridor while I forced Henry Watson forward. The mansion was quieter than expected. Too quiet. Which meant either the guards were regrouping… or Jason was already on his way. I glanced over my shoulder.
Jason POV Marcus nearly slammed the brakes. “She shot the camera!” I leaned back slowly. Marcus looked at me. “What the hell was that?” I ran a hand over my face. “She said hello husband before she shot it.” Marcus stared. “…Okay.” Silence filled the car. “…What does that mean exactly?”
Family drama. Honestly, I was getting tired of it. I shifted slightly in the chair, letting the ropes around my wrists rub just enough to make the guards think I was uncomfortable. In truth, they had tied them loosely—political kidnappers rarely knew how to do proper restraints. Across from me,
I didn’t cry. I didn’t shake. I didn’t look back, or mourned the life and the years i will never get back, lost forever. I just went home, time to pack and say goodbye to my old life. The penthouse doors opened with biometric recognition the moment I stepped inside. Floor-to-ceiling glass. Marb







