Chapter 11

Damon knew Eleanor all too well.If he simply left the ordinary way, she would turn around and use her power and connections to drag him right back.Only if everyone believed he was dead would she never be able to find him again.It was his only way out.So he had deliberately laid his phone and coat neatly by the railing, making it look final and devastating.He wanted everyone to believe he had gone into the water and that his body would never be found.The water in late September was cold.The moment he jumped, Damon felt no fear. Only release.He let the current carry him quietly downstream to a small fishing boat waiting in the shadows. He had arranged it well in advance for his escape.He hauled himself aboard and took a blanket from the boatman, wrapping it around himself.When he looked back, the city lights glittered in the distance.Everything he had ever loved and hated was back there, and he was done with all of it."The marina, please," Damon told the boatman,

Chapter 12

The hotel manager asked again whether to cancel the reception.Eleanor handed him her black card."Don't cancel it. And nothing here gets taken down."With that, she turned and left the hotel.She drove aimlessly through the streets, calling the police nearly every five minutes.But the answer was the same every time: they were trying to locate witnesses and would contact her as soon as they had anything.Eleanor's patience ran out.She decided to use her own resources to find Damon.She called Natalie. "Send people to check every camera along the water near West Channel Bridge and every boat that passed through."I want him found. Alive or dead."She gripped her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white.A faint, foolish hope still lingered in her heart. Maybe he was only hiding. Maybe he hadn't really taken that final step.Night fell.She hadn't eaten all day, and her stomach ached dully.She pulled over and slumped over the steering wheel, a hand pressed to her stoma

Chapter 13

When Eleanor finished, Diane's face had gone dark."Eleanor, how could you do something like this? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"Eleanor hung her head."Mom, the most important thing right now is finding Damon. Once we find him, you can hit me or yell at me all you want."Diane could only swallow her anger. "Still no news?"Eleanor shook her head."Mom, back when the Westbrooks went bankrupt, weren't you dead set against me marrying Damon? Now that something's happened to him, you seem even more anxious than I am."Diane sighed."Damon's a good boy. I opposed the marriage because I was thinking about Carrington Group's future. But him, I've always liked."After all, she had watched Damon grow up. She cared for him almost as much as her own child.Diane waved a hand."I'll let the rotten things you've done slide for now. Let's find him first. And that Marcus person—don't have anything more to do with him. I don't want his mess dragging down you or Carrington Grou

Chapter 14

Sloane's hands tightened on the steering wheel as her ears suddenly started burning."Somebody's talking trash about me."Damon immediately came to mind.It had to be him, badmouthing her behind her back. She'd caught him at it more than once back in school.She'd done him a huge favor, and he still couldn't resist insulting her.Still, she secretly liked the way he scolded people with a straight face.If it hadn't been for Eleanor, she and Damon might have had a kid running around by now.Forget it. That was all in the past.No, wait!Eleanor was the one who was in the past. Sloane wasn't.The thought put her in a great mood, and she hummed as she kept driving.With the information Damon had given her about Eleanor and Marcus's role in the kidnapping, she had already taken the first step.Marcus had been taken into custody. Eleanor hadn't been implicated yet.Every property Carrington Group had swallowed back then, Sloane was going to make Eleanor cough up.And that wasn

Chapter 15

The boats Eleanor had sent out came back empty-handed.Furious, Eleanor drove straight to Ashford Properties.She stormed inside. "Sloane! Sloane, get out here!"Security stepped in to stop her. "Ma'am, you can't go in without an appointment.""Get out of my way!"Eleanor kicked the guard aside and took the elevator straight up to the CEO's office on the 22nd floor.She kicked the office door open and shouted, "Sloane! What are you hiding for, you coward?"Sloane's assistant ran in right behind her, red-faced and apologizing."I'm so sorry, Ms. Ashford. I couldn't stop her."Sloane waved her out.The moment the door closed, Eleanor lunged forward and seized Sloane by the collar."Sloane, where's Damon?"Sloane didn't look the least bit flustered. A lazy smile tugged at her lips."What gives you the right to ask me?""Someone saw you put him on a boat."Eleanor tightened her grip on Sloane's collar. "Where did you send him?""I couldn't stand watching him get tormented l

Chapter 16

Eleanor froze."Me?"Damon gave a cold snort. "You planned my kidnapping and made me Marcus's research subject. Don't you think you deserve to be punished?"Eleanor's mind went blank."Damon, let me explain!""I don't want an explanation! If you think you were wrong, turn yourself in."Eleanor opened her mouth to say more when Ruth suddenly came over, leaning on her cane.As if grabbing a lifeline, Eleanor hurried to meet her."Mrs. Westbrook, it's me, Eleanor."Thwack—Without warning, Ruth raised her cane and brought it down hard across Eleanor's back."I don't know any Eleanor. Stop coming around after my Damon. He's got college applications to worry about."Eleanor let out a muffled grunt of pain.Standing off to the side, Damon couldn't help laughing.Lately, Ruth's condition had more or less stabilized, but her memory had stopped at the time when Damon was in high school."Eleanor, when you do something wrong, you own up to it. Have you forgotten something that sim