Chapter 7 - The Billionaire Vanished, And She Finally Learned Why
Victor had been taken.
Emma learned that ten minutes later.
His security team found the vehicle.
But not him.
Richard had kidnapped him.
Emma refused to leave the factory.
She insisted on seeing the footage.
In the recording, Victor was surrounded.
Then Richard appeared.
Older.
Elegant.
Calm.
Smiling.
Emma recognized him from old photographs.
He looked into the camera.
"Miss Carter."
Her blood chilled.
"You have something I need."
Emma stepped toward the screen.
"The evidence?"
Richard smiled.
"No."
He paused.
"You."
Emma understood.
She wasn't bait.
She was the final key.
Richard believed David had hidden access codes in her memory.
Something from childhood.
A phrase.
A date.
Something she'd forgotten.
Emma returned to the mansion.
She searched everything from her childhood.
Letters.
Photographs.
Books.
Then she found an old music box.
It had been given to her by David.
When she opened it, a series of notes played.
The melody stopped.
A panel opened.
Inside was a memory card.
She stared.
A message appeared.
"Emma, if Richard ever comes for you, remember the song I taught you."
She remembered.
The melody.
It wasn't music.
It was a code.
Victor's team decoded it.
A location appeared.
An old church outside the city.
Emma went there.
Inside, she found Victor tied to a chair.
Richard stood behind him.
"You came."
Emma stepped forward.
"Let him go."
Richard smiled.
"You are your father's daughter."
"He's not my father."
Richard laughed.
"No."
He motioned toward Victor.
"But I imagine you're hoping he becomes something more."
Victor glared at him.
"Touch her and you die."
Richard smiled.
"Still possessive."
Emma looked at Victor.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine."
Richard interrupted.
"Give me the memory card."
Emma held it up.
"Let him go first."
Richard nodded.
His men untied Victor.
Emma handed over the card.
Richard examined it.
Then frowned.
"It's encrypted."
Emma smiled.
"Exactly."
She had lied.
The real evidence was still with Victor's security team.
Suddenly the church doors burst open.
Federal agents flooded inside.
Richard's face changed.
Victor stood.
"I told you."
Richard looked at Emma.
"What did you do?"
She smiled.
"I learned from the best."
Richard was arrested.
Victor was finally free.
But the story was far from over.
Because the evidence proved Richard's crimes.
And it proved something else.
Emma's legal father had secretly cooperated with the FBI for years.
The bankruptcy had been part of a federal operation.
Her parents were alive.
They had been hiding under protection.
Emma finally saw her father again.
He cried when he saw her.
"I failed you."
Emma stared at him.
"You did."
He lowered his head.
"But I'm alive because of you."
She nodded.
"Then live differently."
She hugged her mother.
Not because everything was forgiven.
Because she no longer wanted to carry the weight.
Then she returned to Victor.
He was waiting outside.
She walked toward him.
"You lied to me."
"I did."
"You kidnapped me."
"I did."
"You ruined my life."
His face fell.
Emma smiled.
"And somehow..."
She stepped closer.
"You became the reason I found it again."
Victor touched her cheek.
"I love you."
May you like
Emma kissed him.
"I love you too."
