Chapter 4

Nancy instantly panicked.

"Mr. Wright! Are you okay?"

She looked up at Ashley and anxiously said, "Ms. Freeman, Mr. Wright doesn't look so good. Should we contact the nearest airport and request an emergency landing?"

But Ashley just looked down at me with eyes full of disappointment. "I can't believe you're resorting to such a cheap, pathetic stunt just to stop Eddie from becoming the lead counsel, Victor."

At this point, the pain was so intense I couldn't even say a word. All I could do was curl into a tight, defensive ball.

She walked over and let out a cold laugh. "You've had gastric bleeding before. The blood wasn't this bright red back then. How convenient that you have a sudden flare-up the moment I put Eddie in charge of the merger. You've truly let me down, Victor."

Eddie stood up, and his voice carried the perfect amount of concern as he said, "Mr. Wright is throwing up blood, Ashley. Don't push him any further."

Luke buried his face in Ashley's chest and softly cried, "Mommy, I'm scared…"

Her expression turned even colder. "Enough with the act, Victor. You're scaring Luke!"

My face was deathly pale, and I couldn't say anything at all.

Meanwhile, Ashley turned and snapped orders at Nancy. "Drag Mr. Wright into the storage cabin to rest. I don't want him out frightening the kid."

Nancy hesitated, clearly torn. "But Ms. Freeman…"

Eddie walked toward me and gently smiled. "Don't worry. Let me help you."

He then hauled me up by my arm. To anyone else, it might look like he was helping me, but I could feel his fingers dig brutally into my stomach. I was nearly shaking from the pain, but I couldn't summon the strength to push him away.

Nancy had no choice but to take my other side. Together, they half-dragged me down the aisle into the storage cabin.

The pain in my stomach came in worse, more intense waves. It felt like someone was slike a dull knife was repeatedly twisted in me.

Once we were at the storage cabin, Eddie softly told Nancy, "I'll take it from here. You should check on Luke; he was badly frightened just now."

She briefly hesitated before turning around to leave.

The second the door clicked shut, the warmth disappeared from Eddie's face. He crouched in front of me and chuckled.

"Did you see that, Victor? Ashley's the one who gave the order to lock you away in here."

Fighting the pain, I looked up at him with great difficulty and watched as he slowly straightened his cuffs.

"Look at how pathetic you are right now. The once-proud heir of the Wright family, and you threw it all away for a woman. Now, she can't even stand the sight of you."

He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Honestly, it'd be better for everybody if you just happened to die in here. Ashley won't be tied down by you anymore. Luke could officially call her his mom and inherit that multi-billion-dollar empire you built for her."

I glared at him and forced the words through my throat. "In your dreams!"

He stood, hoisted me onto a chair, and forced my head down toward the floor. Upside down like that, the blood in my stomach rushed straight up into my throat.

Within seconds, a thick layer of bloody froth flooded my airway. My eyes widened in panic, and I could barely breathe, let alone cry for help.

Eddie finally smiled in satisfaction. "Don't waste your strength, Victor. No one out there is going to remember you're here."

With that, he turned and walked out, locking the storage cabin door behind him.

Sure enough, Ashley never once thought about me for the rest of her flight. She spent the time building blocks with Luke, feeding him fruit, and occasionally whispering to Eddie.

Luke's laughter drifted through the storage cabin door, which sounded incredibly clear and sharp to the ears.

Finally, the plane landed, and the cabin door opened. The three of them filed out, one after another. However, none of them bothered to ask where I was.

The moment Ashley stepped off the stairs and turned her phone back on, it exploded with a chaotic flood of text messages and missed calls.

"Ms. Freeman, every single one of our firm's bank accounts has been frozen!"

"Ms. Freeman, several of our biggest clients just terminated their partnership, all at once!"

"Ms. Freeman, the police are here. They have a warrant to investigate Mr. Collins' commercial fraud case from three years ago."

"Ms. Freeman…"

For the first time, Ashley's face broke into panic.