The Ties That Binds のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

“Savannah, don’t move.”Jackson’s voice cut through the dim corridor like a blade, low and commanding. Savannah froze mid-step, her hand hovering over the carved doorknob of Harrison Sterling’s private archive room. She’d come here alone, heart pounding, desperate to uncover the truth behind the documents Delilah had leaked the ones that could destroy both Jackson’s company and their contract marriage.But she wasn’t alone.She turned slowly. Jackson stood at the far end of the hallway, his tie undone, his hair disheveled, his chest rising and falling as if he’d sprinted through the mansion. His eyes usually controlled and cool were blazing with something between anger and terror.Savannah straightened. “I wasn’t going to open it. I just ”“You were,” he said, closing the distance between them in long, urgent strides. “And if you had, everything would’ve collapsed tonight.”Her throat tightened. “Jackson, your father is hiding something. Those forged leases? Those dates? If he explain

“You shouldn’t be here.”The words cut through the tension-thick air even before Savannah fully stepped into the dimly lit foyer. Jackson’s voice echoed from the shadows, deep, strained, and nothing like the man she had seen hold steady in boardrooms, in crises, in the crosshairs of his father’s cruelty. This voice was frayed, raw. Unraveling.Savannah froze, her fingers tightening around the rail where she stood. “Jackson?” she whispered.He stepped out from the half-light, his face drawn tight, jaw clenched so hard she could see the muscle ticking. His tie was loosened, his shirt rumpled, and for the first time since she’d known him, Jackson Sterling looked haunted.She moved closer. “What happened?”He didn’t look at her at first. His eyes stayed fixed on some invisible point beyond her shoulder as if staring at the shape of a decision he didn’t want to make.Finally: “Grayson found another breach.”Savannah’s pulse stumbled. “Another?”Jackson lifted a file from the hall table and

“Where were you?”Jackson’s voice cracked through the dimly lit penthouse like a blade. Sharp. Controlled. Yet vibrating with something dangerously close to panic. Savannah didn’t turn immediately. She stood near the glass wall, her fingertips grazing the cold surface, watching the city lights flicker beneath her like a restless heartbeat.“Answer me,” he growled.Savannah exhaled slowly. “I stepped out for air.”“At midnight?” He moved into her space, heat radiating from him. “With everything that’s happening? You think I’m going to believe you just needed air?”Savannah finally faced him, her eyes dark, glossy, storm-filled. “I needed space, Jackson. From you. From all of this.”His jaw ticked. “Savannah ”“No.” She held up a trembling hand. “You don’t get to question me when you’re the one keeping secrets.”Jackson flinched, just barely, but enough for her to catch it. A reminder that truth, when spoken aloud, finds its mark.Savannah stepped past him, her voice low, brittle around

“Jackson… the door.”Savannah’s voice trembled, barely audible over the rising hum of the servers. Jackson was already there, pulling at the reinforced steel handle, muscles straining, jaw locked in fury.It didn’t budge.Cole checked the panel beside it, fingers flying across the keypad. “It’s no use. Harrison activated Level-4 lockdown. Nothing opens without his override.”Savannah’s heart slammed against her ribs. “So what do we do?”Cole swallowed. “We don’t panic. We find another access point.”Jackson turned, eyes blazing. “Which one?”Cole hesitated. “Sub-level three. But it’s ”A sharp alarm blared overhead.Then another.The tower lighting shifted from blue to a pulsing crimson.Jackson’s voice hardened. “What is that?”Cole’s expression changed fear, pure and unfiltered. “That’s… a purge sequence.”Savannah’s pulse stopped. “A what?”Cole backed away from the console. “It wipes the servers. All records, all logs… and anything in the rooms below Level 5 gets shut down. Perman

“Jackson, look at me.”Savannah’s whisper barely carried over the thrum of the server alarms, but he heard it. He always heard her. Even in darkness. Even with the threat choking the air around them.Jackson straightened slowly, jaw clenched as red warning lights pulsed across his face in harsh, rhythmic flashes. Cole hovered near the console, typing rapidly, sweat gathering at his temples.“Harrison sealed the entire level,” Cole muttered. “Security protocol Omega. No one gets out without biometric override from either the Chairman ”“ or the heir,” Jackson finished bitterly. “Which means him. And he’s already off-site.”Savannah paced backward until she hit one of the towering server racks. Her palms felt clammy against the cold metal. “He locked us in here on purpose. He wants the system to update without interruption.”Cole didn’t look away from the screen. “Savannah… he didn’t lock us in so we couldn’t stop the upload.”He turned, eyes bleak.“He locked us in so you two wouldn’t b