All Chapters of SORRY MR. CROWNELL YOU'RE TOO LATE : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

LilyThe SUV jolted over a pothole, and my head knocked painfully against the window. My wrists were bound in front of me with a zip tie Ryan had produced from his jacket pocket like he'd planned this for weeks.Maybe he had. Who knew? When it came to him, I never knew what to expect but this time around, I realized he was never going to leave me until he got the sick satisfaction he was gunning for."You're making a mistake," I said, forcing steadiness into my voice despite the way my heart hammered against my ribs. "My husband will have every police officer in this city looking for me within the hour."Ryan chuckled from the driver's seat, glancing at me through the rearview mirror with an expression that made my skin crawl. "Your husband…right. The one who thinks you're some scheming gold-digger who trapped him into marriage? I did my research, Lily. He's not exactly rushing to your rescue."The words landed like a physical blow, mostly because some traitorous part of me feared h

Chaise "Not working alone." Ralph's warning replayed itself in my mind on an endless loop, though it wasn't Ralph who'd said it to me… it was the tight, urgent text he'd managed to send before his phone went dark. Three words, nothing more. He's not alone.I stood in my study, Rachelle's file spread open across the desk beside the security footage Ralph had unearthed, my mind splitting itself into a dozen directions at once. Ten million dollars and three hours and what’s worse, a baby I hadn't even known existed until Ryan's careless threat had slipped out over the phone.Careful, I'd hate for something to happen to that baby.My hands curled into fists atop the desk, knuckles white with restrained fury. She was pregnant, she'd been carrying my child this entire time, through every cruel word, every accusation and every night I'd left her alone in that mansion convinced she was manipulating me and I hadn't known. I hadn't even bothered to find out."Sir." Tyron's voice cut through my

LilyThey dragged me away from the beam, my wrists raw from hours of struggling against the rope, and forced me down into a metal folding chair positioned directly across from where Chaise lay slumped against the concrete, blood matting the back of his hair. He was in so much pain, that much I could tell and I hated to think that this was all my fault and that I shouldn’t have gotten involved with someone like Ryan in the first place."Let him go," I said, my voice hoarse from screaming his name moments earlier. "Whatever this is, whatever you want, take it out on me. He has nothing to do with it, please just hurt him… I'm begging."Chaise's father… Marcus Crownell, a man I'd shared exactly four dinners within three years of marriage, a man who'd always regarded me with the same cool indifference he gave the household staff…turned toward me with an expression I'd never once seen him wear. Something almost curious."You really don't know, do you?" he said, tilting his head slightly. "I

ChaiseThe color drained from my father's face so completely that for one wild second, I almost pitied him….almost."Turn that off," he snapped, lunging toward Rachelle with a speed that betrayed how much the confession actually terrified him but Rachelle stumbled backward, keeping both the gun and the phone raised, putting distance between them."Four minutes and thirty seconds," she said, voice steadier now, something almost triumphant creeping into her tone despite the chaos surrounding us. "I'd say half the country's probably seen it by now.""You stupid girl," Marcus snarled, all pretense of calm control finally shattering. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?""I know exactly what I've done." Rachelle's chin lifted, defiant despite the tremor still visible in her hands. "I've made sure you can't disappear this the way you disappeared your wife."The words hung in the warehouse air like a struck match, and for a moment, nobody moved. I pushed myself upright despite the

Chaise"Not alone," I repeated, the words scraping raw against my throat. "Who's with him?"Tyron's grip tightened on the radio, his knuckles whitening. "They're not talking over an open channel and said we need to see it ourselves.""Where?""North end of the depot at the old loading dock."We moved without another word, our boots crunching over gravel and broken glass, the flashlight beams bouncing wildly ahead of us as we cut through the darkness. My skull throbbed with every stride, blood drying stiff along my collar, but none of it mattered anymore and especially not with Tyron's expression carved into something I'd never seen on him before.The loading dock came into view with floodlights from the federal response team casting long shadows across a scene that made my stomach twist violently the moment I registered it. This was not the typical event we were used to but when it came to this, I realized it was best we went through it together, as a unit and come out of it even stro