Chapter 4

When I woke again, I was bound in an abandoned warehouse.

The rough nylon ropes chafed my wrists, burning with pain.

My heart tightened, and I tried to struggle free.

A man with a scar across his face walked over and kicked the metal shelf beside me.

"Don't bother. If Julian is smart, he'll send over the original copy of that medical notebook your dad left behind, and we'll let you go."

That notebook was Julian's lifeblood-it contained all my father's lifelong work. He always kept it locked in a bank safe; no one was allowed to touch it.

My heart ached, but I felt no expectation that Julian would come.

Too many expectations had been shattered; I no longer dared to hope.

After an unknown period, the screech of tires echoed from outside.

Scarface grinned. "Dr. Grant is quite fast. Where's the stuff?"

Julian stepped out of the car, his brows furrowed.

He was about to signal his assistant to hand over the file,

Suddenly, his phone rang, a sharp, insistent sound.

He impatiently reached to hang up, but then his gaze softened as he saw the caller ID, and he answered.

The nurse's excited voice came through the phone. "Dr. Grant! Miss Tiffany's water broke prematurely, she's hemorrhaging badly, and she keeps calling your name!"

Julian froze.

He turned to look at me, his lips moving. "Audrey..."

A bodyguard rushed forward to intervene. "Mr. Grant! Mrs. Grant's life is genuinely in danger here! Miss Tiffany has doctors at the hospital..."

"Shut up!"

Julian's face was grim. "I'm leaving this to you. Make sure you protect my wife."

He looked at me, his eyes complex. "Audrey, you've always been able to get through things... you know, Tiffany can't do without me now..."

"But Mr. Grant..."

Before the bodyguard could finish, Julian had already turned and climbed back into the car.

The car sped away.

My heart was completely numb.

Was my life truly that worthless to him?

One bodyguard. One bound woman.

What chance did we have against desperate men like these?

Scarface eagerly tore open the envelope.

After flipping through a few pages, his face darkened.

"Damn it! You dare try to fool me with forgeries?!"

He snatched up a steel pipe from beside him, his glare burning into me.

"Your man played dirty. Don't blame me for what comes next!"

I thought perhaps, after a year so close to death, that when the end truly came, I'd feel nothing but calm.

When your heart dies completely, even fear disappears.

The pipe cut through the air with a whine.

I closed my eyes.

Bang.

The warehouse door burst open.

Blinding headlights cut through the dark, a dozen black SUVs sealing every exit.

A voice I knew too well cut through the silence.

"Let's see who dares lay a hand on her today."