Chapter 2

Margaret gripped my hand with all the strength she had left and shook her head weakly at me, telling me not to sign.

I looked at the two elderly people whose lives were hanging by a thread, then met the love and resolve in their eyes. It felt as if my heart was being torn to pieces.

Ultimately, my hand shook as I picked up the pen and signed my name on the agreement.

The moment I was done, a drone indeed flew over, carrying a small metal canister labeled, "Emergency Inhaler."

A flicker of hope flared in my chest, and I reached out to grab it.

However, Natalie snatched the sniper rifle from Theodore's hands, her smile sickeningly sweet and venomous.

"Theo, if you're going to break someone, you have to hit them where it hurts. That's what makes it fun."

She smiled as she pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the inhaler in midair, blasting it apart. Pepper spray exploded through the basket, sharp and choking, filling the air in an instant.

I covered my mouth and nose, but tears kept streaming down my face.

Meanwhile, Margaret coughed violently, and the little color she had left drained from her face.

Theodore's unrestrained laughter poured from the loudspeaker. "Natalie, you're terrible. But why would I ever save them? I just wanted to see Juliette choking on pepper spray until she's groveling and begging for mercy."

My heart dropped.

From the beginning, he had never meant to spare any of us. The agreement was a lie, and so was his promise.

The swarm of drones began its final attack.

Several specially modified drones had cold, gleaming mechanical arms protruding from them as they began cutting through the cables that connected the basket to the hot air balloon.

The sound of metal grinding against metal grated on my ears.

The first cable broke with a piercing snap, and the basket lurched.

And when the second cable gave way, the basket began to tilt precariously.

Desperate to protect Margaret and me, Richard lunged toward the mechanical arms with a roaring scream, "Stop this, you animals!"

The basket tipped sharply.

Richard lost his balance, and his body was thrown outward.

"Dad!" I caught his wrist in a desperate grip.

At that exact moment, the watch on his wrist caught the sun, flashing with a blinding glare. It was a custom Patek Philippe father-and-son watch.

There were only two in the entire world.

The watch was called Starlight, and I had seen the other one on Theodore's wrist.

Beside him, his assistant gasped. "Mr. Theodore, that's Mr. Shaw's Starlight. You said yourself, to see that watch is to see the man!"

Silence fell on the other end of the phone.

A final spark of hope flared in my chest. Was he finally going to realize these were his own parents?

Natalie immediately raised her voice in protest. "It's just a knockoff, Theo! Did you forget? You spoke to your dad on the satellite phone this morning. They said the view over the Aurelian Sea was gorgeous, and they even told you to take good care of their future daughter-in-law!"

Those words erased any doubt in Theodore's mind.

My hope disintegrated.

When he spoke again, his tone was icy. "Cut the main cable."

"No!" I screamed.

The mechanical arms began cutting through the final few main cables.

I held on to Richard's hand with everything I had, and my shoulder joint popped out of its socket from the strain. The agonizing pain nearly made me black out, but I refused to let go.

Richard looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Juliette, let go. Don't lose your life trying to save us."

"I'm not letting go!"

I clenched my teeth as tears blurred my vision.

The final cable was down to only a few strands of steel wire, and those were severed within seconds.

The basket began to plummet. Wind roared past my ears as we dropped from 300 feet in the air.

Theodore's crazed laughter drifted faintly in the wind. "You brought this onto yourself, Juliette!"

Natalie's saccharine voice followed. "Theo, they're about to be crushed to pieces."

I closed my eyes.

Just then, Richard used the last of his strength to shove Margaret and me toward the corner of the basket.