Lahat ng Kabanata ng Meet My Overprotective Brothers : Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

Cora sat in darkness. Complete darkness. The kind that made her lose track of time. Of days and nights. Of how long she had been here.The room was small. Maybe eight feet by eight feet. Concrete walls. Concrete floor. A single door with no handle on the inside. No windows. No light except when someone opened the door to bring food or water.She had tried screaming at first. Pounding on the door. Demanding to be let go. But no one responded. The door stayed closed. The darkness stayed complete.Eventually she stopped screaming. Saved her energy. Tried to think instead of panic.The place felt familiar somehow. Not the darkness or the concrete. But something about the space. The dimensions. The way sound echoed. Like she had been here before. A long time ago.But that was impossible. She had never been held captive before. Never been in a room like this. Her memories before the orphanage were fragments. Disconnected images that made no sense.Still. The feeling persisted. This place. S

Three blocks from where Cora was being held, Celine waited in her car. Engine off. Watching the street. Making sure no one had followed her.This was it. The final exchange. After this, she was done. Could disappear with her money and never look back.A black sedan pulled up. Parked beside Celine's car. Vanessa emerged wearing sunglasses despite the late hour. Always careful about being seen. Always protecting her identity.Celine got out. Met Vanessa between the two vehicles. No greeting. No small talk. Just business."Is it done?" Vanessa asked."The girl is secured," Celine confirmed. "In the location we discussed. No one knows where she is. Your people can access her whenever you are ready.""And your team?""Dispersed," Celine said. "Paid and gone. They do not know who hired them or why. Just that it was a job. Nothing they can trace back to you or your associate."Vanessa nodded. "Keys?"Celine pulled a set of keys from her jacket. Two keys on a plain ring. "Building entrance an

Cora watched Vanessa approach with the pillow. Her heart was racing but she refused to cower. Refused to give this woman the satisfaction of seeing her break."You think I am afraid of you?" Cora said. Her voice steadier than she felt. "You think threatening me with death is going to make me beg?""Most people beg," Vanessa replied. "When they realize they are about to die. When they understand there is no escape. They beg and plead and promise anything.""I am not most people," Cora said. "I survived an orphanage run by a sadist. I survived three years married to an abusive narcissist. I survived a car accident that killed my driver. I survived your pet doctor trying to poison me in my hospital bed. What makes you think I am afraid of you?"Vanessa stopped. Tilted her head. "Brave words for someone trapped in a locked room.""Not brave," Cora corrected. "Just realistic. You are going to kill me either way. Whether I beg or not. Whether I cry or stay silent. The outcome is the same. S

Ryan sat in the command center with Marcus and the technical team. They had been analyzing the ransom call for hours. Running it through every filter and algorithm they had. Looking for anything that might help them find Cora."Play it again," Ryan ordered. "The part where Cora speaks. I need to hear it again."The tech specialist queued up the recording. The distorted male voice asking if Ryan wanted proof. Then silence. Then Cora's voice."Ryan? I am alive. They have not hurt me badly. Just scared me. Kept me in the dark most of the time."Ryan listened intently. Something about it bothered him. Had bothered him since the call. But he could not place what."Again," Ryan said. "Just Cora's part."The specialist played it again. Cora's voice. Weak. Scared. Definitely her voice. But something was off."Wait," Ryan said. "Stop. Go back ten seconds and play it slower."The recording played at half speed. Cora's words stretched out. Distorted by the reduced playback rate.And Ryan heard i

The tracker was installed. A device so small it fit between the folded pages of Liam's letter without creating any visible bulge. Marcus had done the work himself. Careful. Precise. Making sure the envelope looked exactly as it had before.Then the letter was mailed. Sent through normal postal channels to the address Liam had provided. Vanessa's penthouse in the city.Now they waited. Watching the tracker signal on screens in the command center. Watching it move through the postal system. From detention center to processing facility to delivery route."How long until it arrives?" Ryan asked."Should be delivered this afternoon," Marcus replied. "Standard mail takes one to two days but this is going to an address in the city. Should arrive by four PM."The brothers took shifts watching the screen. Waiting for the tracker to reach its destination. Waiting for Vanessa to receive the letter and hopefully lead them somewhere useful.At three forty-five PM, the signal stopped moving. Remain