Chapter 8 - The Woman Jack Trusted Most Kidnapped My Mother—and Asked Me to Trade My Life for Hers
We found Victoria at an abandoned warehouse outside Boston.
She had taken my mother.
But she wasn't alone.
Mercer was there.
And Victoria was crying.
“This isn't what it looks like.”
My mother sat in a chair.
She wasn't injured.
Just frightened.
Jack stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I release her, Mercer kills my brother.”
Mercer smiled.
Jack looked at him.
“You're controlling her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because fear is efficient.”
I hated that sentence.
It sounded like the world I had spent months trying to escape.
Mercer explained his plan.
He wanted the account.
The records.
The Whitmore companies.
And the one thing Jack refused to surrender.
Me.
“You're the leverage,” Mercer said.
I stepped forward.
“I'll give you the account.”
Jack turned.
“No.”
Mercer laughed.
“You see?”
He looked at me.
“He'd sacrifice millions before sacrificing you.”
I looked at Jack.
He shook his head.
“Don't.”
I handed Mercer the drive.
He smiled.
Then he checked it.
“Empty.”
I had expected that.
The real account was encrypted.
Only I could open it.
Mercer grabbed my arm.
Jack moved instantly.
A gun pointed at him.
“Stop.”
Mercer smiled.
“Open it.”
I looked at Victoria.
“Where is your brother?”
She began crying.
“Second floor.”
I understood.
She wasn't our enemy.
She was another hostage.
I whispered:
“Jack.”
He nodded.
No words needed.
He trusted me.
I opened the file.
Mercer leaned closer.
The second he looked away, I kicked the gun from the guard's hand.
Jack moved.
Thomas attacked from the side.
Victoria pulled my mother free.
Within seconds, the warehouse erupted in chaos.
Mercer escaped.
We saved everyone.
But the account was still encrypted.
And Mercer now knew that.
That night, Jack sat beside me.
“You could have been killed.”
“So could you.”
“That isn't funny.”
“I know.”
He took my hand.
“I need you to stop risking yourself.”
“I need you to stop risking yourself.”
He smiled faintly.
“Impossible.”
We laughed.
Then he said:
“Marry me.”
I stared.
“What?”
“No business arrangements.”
“No family pressure.”
“No hidden reason.”
He took out a ring.
“Just me.”
My heart broke open.
“Yes.”
He looked stunned.
“That's it?”
“Yes.”
“You're sure?”
“I've never been more sure of anything.”
He kissed me.
For the first time, there was no fear behind it.
Only hope.
We planned a small wedding.
Nothing extravagant.
My mother wanted flowers.
Jack wanted silence.
I wanted a ridiculous cake.
Thomas insisted on giving a speech.
Everything felt normal.
Until Mercer attacked Northbridge.
A fire broke out on the thirty-second floor.
Employees evacuated.
The media arrived.
Jack walked through the building checking everyone.
I saw him in the smoke.
I screamed.
“Jack!”
He turned.
A beam collapsed.
I ran toward him.
He pushed me away.
The beam struck his shoulder.
He fell.
My scream echoed through the hallway.
He was alive.
Barely.
I stayed beside him at the hospital.
Hours later, he opened his eyes.
“You're crying.”
“Obviously.”
He smiled weakly.
“I hate seeing you cry.”
“I hate seeing you almost die.”
“Fair.”
I leaned over him.
“You're not allowed to leave me.”
“Then you'll have to keep me.”
I kissed him.
Outside the hospital, federal agents arrested Mercer.
But before he was taken away, he sent one message.
The attack wasn't the end.
It was the beginning.
May you like
Because the account contained names far more powerful than his.
And some of those people were still free.
