Chapter 155

Lucas's POV

Serena was missing. My jaw clenched as I rose from my chair.

"Miles!" My voice cut through the stillness. The door opened immediately - he'd been waiting, sensing the urgency in my earlier movements.

"Sir?"

"Access the city's surveillance system. Focus on the route between the police station and StarRiver Group." I kept my voice steady. "I want every frame from the past four hours."

Miles nodded. "Should we notify the authorities?"

"No." The word came out sharper than intended. "Use our own people. Get me Burns." My grip on my watch tightened, the metal band digging into my palm.

The intercom buzzed. "Mr. Harrington, I have Burns on line one."

I pressed the button. "Status?"

"Still tracking Ian's movements." Burns's voice crackled through the speaker. "His phone's been off since 5 PM, but his car was last seen heading toward Brooklyn."

Ice crystallized in my veins. "Find him. No excuses."

"There's more." Burns hesitated. "We found security footage from StarRiver Group. Ian was there this afternoon, leaving through the back entrance."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. "Send everything to my phone. And Burns? When you find him, message me his location. Nothing else."

I ended the call, my reflection in the window growing harder.

Miles returned, tablet in hand. "Sir, the surveillance feeds are ready. And..." He paused, reading my expression. "The B protocol?"

"Initiate it." I turned from the window, my decision made. "Full spectrum."

"That could affect-"

"Execute the order, Miles." My tone left no room for discussion. He nodded and withdrew, leaving me alone with the growing darkness both outside and within.

I pulled up the footage on my computer, scanning through the streams of data. Each passing minute without answers felt like a physical weight, pressing against my chest.

My phone vibrated. A message from Burns: "Security confirmed Ian's car entering the warehouse district an hour ago."

Another piece of the puzzle, and with it, a surge of cold fury. If Ian thought he could play games with me, he'd forgotten who I was.

I pressed the intercom. "Get me Howard Harrington."

Calling my grandfather at this hour would set things in motion that couldn't be undone. But as I waited for the connection, I remembered Serena's face, the trust she'd slowly begun to show. The way Milo and Stella had bloomed under her care.

"Lucas?" My grandfather's voice, sharp despite the hour. "What's wrong?"

"I need access to the offshore accounts." My words were clipped, precise. "All of them."

A pause. "The personal ones?"

"Everything."

Another pause, longer this time. When he spoke again, I heard the predator that had built our empire. "Done. Should I ask why?"

"Ian Whitmore has crossed a line." The name tasted bitter on my tongue. "He needs to learn what that means."

"Understood." A soft chuckle. "It's about time you showed them our teeth."

I pulled up another screen, fingers flying across the keyboard. Financial data streamed past - Ian's investments, his family's holdings, every vulnerability I'd cataloged and never used. Until now.

"Miles," I called out, knowing he'd be waiting. "Contact our friends at Vanguard Media. It's time they earned their retainer."

"The full package?"

"Everything we have." I paused, a cold smile touching my lips. "Make sure Ian's father sees tomorrow's headlines first."

Serena's POV

The first sensation that registered was the throbbing in my head. Consciousness returned slowly, like wading through thick fog, bringing with it a nauseating dizziness that made even keeping my eyes open a challenge. I hadn't eaten much all day that had probably led to this low blood sugar episode.

As my vision cleared, confusion gave way to a sharp spike of fear. This wasn't my bedroom at the Sinclair mansion, nor was it any room I recognized. The space was sparsely furnished, with heavy curtains drawn across what I assumed was a window, blocking most of the natural light. My arms were stretched uncomfortably above my head, and when I tried to move them, the bite of restraints against my wrists confirmed my worst fears.

I forced myself to breathe slowly, fighting down the panic threatening to overwhelm me.

The door opened with a soft click, and Ian Whitmore stepped inside.

"Finally awake." His voice was gentle, almost tender, making it all the more disturbing. "I was starting to worry."

"Untie me, Ian." I kept my voice steady, despite the fear coursing through my veins. "You realize this is kidnapping? You'll go to prison for this."

He laughed, the sound lacking any real warmth. "Prison? Oh, Serena. Always so dramatic." He moved closer, perching on the edge of the bed. "This is just a private moment between lovers. Who would believe otherwise? After all, we have such a... history."

I turned my face away as he reached out to touch my cheek, disgust rolling through me. "We're not lovers, Ian. We never will be again. Whatever this is - whatever you think you're doing - it stops now."

"It stops when I say it stops." The gentleness vanished from his voice. "You've forgotten your place, Serena. Running around playing CEO, rejecting my partnership offer, humiliating me in front of the public." His fingers gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him. "I've been patient. So patient. Giving you time to come to your senses. But you just keep making the wrong choices."

"The only wrong choice I ever made was trusting you." I met his gaze steadily, channeling all my contempt into my words. "Looking back now, it makes me sick to think I ever loved you."

The change in his expression was instantaneous. His features twisted, that carefully maintained facade cracking to reveal the ugliness beneath. His grip on my chin tightened painfully.

"Love?" he snarled. "You don't know the first thing about love. All you understand is ambition and betrayal. I offered you everything - position, power, respect. And you threw it back in my face."

"You offered me chains disguised as jewelry," I shot back. "A cage made of golden bars is still a cage, Ian. I see that now, even if I was too blind to see it then."

His hand moved to my throat, not quite squeezing but resting there - a clear threat. "The old Serena would never have spoken to me like this. What happened to that sweet, obedient girl who knew her place?"

"She grew up." Despite the fear making my heart race, my voice remained steady. "She learned her worth. And she realized that men like you - who need to tie women up to keep them close - are nothing but cowards."

The slap came without warning, snapping my head to the side. The pain bloomed across my cheek, but I refused to make a sound. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Careful, darling." Ian's voice had gone soft again, which was somehow more frightening than his anger. "You're all alone here. No Lucas Harrington to come running to your rescue. No daddy's money to buy your way out. Just you and me, like it should have been all along."

"You're wrong, Ian." I turned back to face him, letting him see the steel in my eyes. "I'm not alone. And you're not going to win this time."

His laugh was ugly. "Always so confident. Let's see how long that lasts, shall we?"

Ian's hands suddenly tightened around my throat. A searing pain shot through my neck, and I was consumed by a feeling of suffocation.