All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE: Chapter 191 - Chapter 200

"Gone," Ethan repeated. "Right around the time he sealed the file.""That's not a coincidence," Nathan said. "That's a man who found something valuable enough to disappear over.""What could possibly be valuable about a seventy-year-old adoption record?" Emma asked."Leverage," Corinne said, still on speaker. "The same currency this family's history has always traded in. If Voss found Audrey's granddaughter first, he might be sitting on exactly the kind of secret this family's paid dearly for before."Richard rubbed his eyes. "I don't understand what's left to leverage. Everything else has already been disclosed.""Unless it isn't scandal," Maya offered. "If Audrey's daughter had a legitimate claim to the original trust, her descendant might too.""Money," Emma said, the shape of it settling, plain and unglamorous. "After everything else, this could just be money."Ethan let out a short, humorless laugh. "Somehow that's almost a relief. I've gotten so used to bracing for something wor

"That's a threat," Ethan said, reading it again."That's exactly what it is," Emma said, hands unsteady despite her best effort to keep them still. "He knows we're going to her. He's trying to scare us off before we try."Nathan arrived within twenty minutes of Emma's call, pulling every trace of Voss's movements he could find. "If he's actively threatening you, that changes the posture of this whole search.""We're not backing away," Ethan said. "Whatever he's after, frightening us into silence isn't happening again.""Good," Nathan said. "Because backing away has never once made this family safer. It's only ever bought the other side more time.""Any luck tracing the number?" Emma asked."Burner phone," Nathan said. "Purchased with cash, three towns over. Whoever this is, they've done this kind of thing before.""We go to Anjali today," Emma said. "Not tomorrow. Before he decides threats aren't enough."Nolan arrived shortly after, having already arranged discreet protection for Anj

Anjali moved instinctively toward the kitchen table, toward Priya's homework, though her daughter was safely at school two hours yet."Stay away from the windows," Nathan said, already moving toward the door himself.Ethan positioned himself between the door and the two women. "Nolan's people are close. We don't engage him directly. We let them handle it."Nathan cracked the door and watched the hallway through the gap. Emma's heart pounded in the pause."Can you see him?" Emma whispered."Not yet," Nathan said. "Give it a second."Anjali's grip on the table edge had gone white-knuckled. "This is insane. This is completely insane.""It won't feel that way for much longer," Ethan said quietly. "I promise you that part passes.""There," Nathan said quietly. "Officers just intercepted him at the end of the hall."Emma edged close enough to see for herself, an older man, smaller than she'd braced for, his composure cracking the moment the officers identified themselves."I haven't done an

"If Renshaw's clean, and Voss didn't act alone," Ethan said, pacing the unfinished exhibit hall, "someone else is still out there, and they're the one who wanted Anjali found first."Nathan nodded, laptop open again. "Cross-referencing Voss's financial records for any outside deposits. If someone paid him to locate Audrey's granddaughter, there'll be a trail.""There's always a trail eventually," Renshaw said, still lingering near the door, unwilling to leave until he'd done something useful. "I'll pull whatever archive records might overlap. If it touches this family's history at all, there's a chance it's already sitting in one of Maya's boxes.""Start with anything from the last eight months," Nathan said. "That's our window now."Renshaw nodded and was gone before anyone could thank him for volunteering.Emma sat on the edge of a half-installed display case, exhaustion catching up with her all at once. "I keep thinking we've closed one of these doors and there's always another wai

Nolan read the message twice before speaking. "I'd recommend a public meeting. Somewhere with witnesses. Somewhere Nathan can monitor every entrance beforehand.""Not the house," Ethan said immediately. "Not with the twins there.""Agreed," Nolan said. "Somewhere neutral, but still yours. You want the advantage of familiar ground without bringing him anywhere near your family."Emma curled into the corner of the couch, exhaustion pulling at her under the fresh alarm humming through the room. "I keep thinking about Victor's own request, all those months ago. How careful we were. How frightened. I don't want to repeat every mistake we made learning to handle him.""We won't," Ethan said. "We know a lot more now than we did then.""Do we?" Emma asked. "Because right now it feels like we're standing at the exact same starting line, just with a different name attached to the danger.""Maybe," Ethan admitted. "But we're not the same people who stood there the first time. That has to count f