Bitterness gleamed beneath Leah's glare. "Sure. It was just a coincidence that Hudson would disappear without a trace. She must have brainwashed him into eloping with her, and we might not be able to find them," She uttered, her voice cracking with hidden fear.
Leah couldn't shake the thought of how sad Hudson had been since Selina became an outcast, as if she and Clarissa weren't enough for him to forget about her.
Clarissa sighed wearily at her mother's words. "Mother, you shouldn't say that about Selina. Maybe Father's phone died, or he has some other appointment that no one knows about."
"There is no appointment Hudson would attend without my knowledge, your grandfather's, or that of his secretary. Stop defending her; you know nothing about her," Leah reprimanded in a soft tone, trying not to unleash her frustration on Clarissa.
"I'm not defending Selina. I don't believe she'd be capable of manipulating him. Father is not a child, and he would never abandon his family and responsibilities," Clarissa insisted.
Leah twisted her face in disbelief at Clarissa's words, making her heart ache. She pushed those thoughts aside and turned her back to her daughter.
"I won't spare Selina if I find out she has ill intentions toward our family," Leah declared.
Feeling her mother's anxiety growing worse, Clarissa moved across the glass table to approach her. She didn't want to argue and escalate the situation with her grandfather and mother.
Standing beside Leah, she wrapped a hand around her arm. "Don't worry, Mother. Father will be fine, and he will come back to us," she reassured her.
Elder Gilbert's expression darkened as he gripped his walking stick tightly, the tense words still lingering in his thoughts. If Leah were to be right, then he wouldn't sit by and watch his family fall apart.
"Has it not been twenty-four hours yet?" Elder Gilbert asked quietly. "Contact the police and report Hudson missing. I won't wait any longer."
"I'll head to the police station immediately to report it," Clarissa said. She quickly rushed to her room upstairs to search for her keys.
After finding them, she returned downstairs and left the house.
***
Zane had just arrived at his luxurious suite, perched high above the city, where afternoon sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting golden streaks across the polished marble floor. He stood before the vast window, gazing out at the sprawling cityscape below, his figure partially lit by the sharp light.
Damien was already inside, standing near the center of the room after having rushed over from completing his operation in the woods. His voice was calm but purposeful, relaying the details of their current objective as Zane listened.
"We've initiated the liquidation of the public equities," Damien said, holding up his tablet. "Most of Hudson's liquid investments were in public stocks—tech conglomerates, defence firms, and some biotech. Clean, high-volume assets."
Zane turned his head slightly to Damien. "How much are we looking at?"
"Two hundred million have been cashed so far. Another eighty are pending once the U.S. market closes. Everything is being routed through the nominee account we established last quarter," Damien replied.
Zane adjusted his glasses slightly. "I want it cleared before the end of today. Children's Hope gets every last cent. Quietly."
Damien nodded, his expression neutral. "Understood. The nominee account masks your identity legally. The donation will appear to be coming from a neutral philanthropic trust, with no link to you, not even in the charity's private records."
Zane's eyes sharpened. "Good. The only name that matters is the charity's."
Damien, understanding the weight of his boss's words, complied. "Then I'll proceed. The transaction will be complete by the time the event begins tomorrow."
As Damien turned to leave and follow through with his boss's initial plans, he glanced back once more. "I assume you won't be attending the event?"
Zane's expression remained impassive. "No need."
Damien nodded, sensing the finality in Zane's voice. He understood he had to carry this out anonymously, just as his boss had initially planned, without drawing public attention.
"I believe the next objective is going smoothly, like I wanted?" Zane inquired.
"Yes, Boss. With what you've orchestrated and promised them, they wouldn't think twice about returning." Damien answered, his voice laced with confidence.
"You may go." Zane dismissed Damien.
Damien offered a slight bow and turned away, exiting the living room.
When Zane heard the door click shut behind him, he exhaled sharply, his shoulders gradually slumping as if the piercing weight of long-harbored grudges had eased slightly, with the completion of the first objective. For fifteen years, he had lived a cold, painful, and abandoned life, unable to move past the deep-seated hatred that fueled his every step toward revenge.
With Damien's help, an expert in tracking and unearthing identities, Zane had located Hudson. Now, with Hudson buried, his daughter being sold to a cruel man, and everything he loved was on the brink of perishing.
Also, that ugly swan must be suffering in that harsh, terrifying environment, probably begging for mercy. It might be entertaining to drop by and watch from time to time, wouldn't it? That would serve a little well to ease the abyss of fury and grief gnawing mercilessly at his soul.
"Mother, Father, Grandmother...I promise, I will stay devoted to this revenge until the very end. I'll make them pay miserably. No one can stop me." Zane vowedsilently, his jaw tightening.
Suddenly, Zane's ears perked up at the sound of the door creaking open which pulled him from his thoughts. He turned around with his curious eyes falling on Damien, walking in urgently, looking tensed.
"What is it?" Zane asked, knowing Damien only looked this unsettled when something serious had happened.
Damien drew closer before speaking. "The scarred man called. He wants to speak to you." He stretched out a burner phone, the call already on hold.
Zane narrowed his brow, a flicker of disappointment settling across his face. "I believe our business with him was over. I told you to get rid of that burner."
Damien lowered his gaze. "He said Hudson's daughter isn't with him."
Zane pulled his hand from his pocket and took the phone, bringing it to his ear. "How is the girl not with you? What did you do with her?" he demanded, confusion tightening his voice.
The scarred man chuckled on the other end. "I didn't do anything to her," he replied. "Someone figured out what I like most and traded the girl for my favorite things after you left. He was handsome and seemed pretty upset that I tried to snatch his lover."
"Who was it?"
"I don't know," the scarred man said nonchalantly. "I'm not interested in that ugly girl. I'd prefer we get back to business again. Something much more profitable for both of us: get me more pretty girls, and I'll pay handsomely."
"I'm not interested" Zane said, then hung up abruptly.
The room went still, the silence thick with rising tension.
"That estate was one of your private properties, hidden from public record. Who do you think found out she'd be sold and arrived in time?" Damien asked, his tone edged with concern
Zane was silent for a moment. Between him and Damien, no one else knew about the revenge plans. Damien wouldn't betray him, not with so much at stake. Which meant someone else had been prying.
Someone who had been clinging around him in Spain for the past month before his return, and even now. That person… was Noah.
Zane maintained an expressionless face, recalling the last night when Noah had mentioned Selina being his girlfriend and how he had been hovering around him when he wasn't supposed to.
It seemed Noah had snuck into his revenge plans without his knowing. He had crossed the line again.
"What should we do now, Boss? If Selina's been rescued, she might report what happened to her family or the authorities."
"I won't let that happen," Zane said firmly, voice low. "Nor will I let her escape so easily."
Damien's facial expression hardened, waiting for a command. "Should I capture her?"
"Handle that first," he commanded. "Then bring her to me."
"Roger that," Damien replied, then left the room again.
Zane pulled out his phone and dialed Noah's number. It rang with no answer. He called again, still nothing.
With rage simmering beneath his calm surface, he opened the inbox and typed a short message before hitting send.
How could Noah do this behind me, when he was supposed to stick with the plan? If he's not on my side, the least he could've done was pretend he knew nothing.
Zane's grip tightened around the phone, his fingers curling with restrained fury, as if he could crush it and grind his anger into the shards.