His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 518

Right now, he stood in a solid black button-down, the top two buttons undone, a half-smoked cigarette pinched between his long fingers.

He waited in front of a rundown stilt house, his jaw clenched impossibly tight.

A short distance away, Soren's men were hauling a woman in a red dress toward him.

Archer stubbed out his cigarette, his eyes glued to the woman.

From the back, she was tall and had long, wavy hair, bearing a striking resemblance to Gemma.

But the moment the men shoved her around to face him, the tiny spark of hope in Archer's eyes completely died out.

Her face was vaguely similar to Gemma's, maybe thirty percent of a match, but her eyes were wide with sheer terror. She cowered pathetically, displaying none of the proud heiress's signature fire.

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I am deeply sorry." Soren, sporting a loud Hawaiian shirt, stepped forward and brought his hands together apologetically. "My men searched all over Bangkok and the surrounding islands. She was the closest match we could find."

Archer said nothing, the veins on the back of his hand bulging dangerously.

Frowning, Soren elaborated. "The wreckage caused by that hurricane was utterly catastrophic. Massive freight ships capsized. The area where Ms. Harrington jumped is completely surrounded by hidden reefs. Truthfully... it's highly likely she never made it out of that water."

Archer shut his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing sharply.

His entire plan hinged on finding the real Gemma and delivering her to Dominic, trading the real article for Virginia.

Now, that avenue was completely dead in the water.

Gemma truly was dead.

Without the woman he had obsessed over, there was absolutely no way Dominic would ever let Virginia go...

"Prep the jet." Archer rolled the prayer beads around his wrist, his raspy voice dropping to a low, lethal register. "We're going back to Chicago."

"You actually plan on violently extracting her out of Chicago by sea? You know Dominic's reach here better than I do! If he sets his sights on you, any 'accidents' out in international waters will ensure they never even find your bodies!"

Archer took a seat and downed the glass of cold-brew coffee on the table in one go.

"The exchange strategy is a bust. Gemma is more than likely dead." His voice was utterly dark. "I am absolutely not leaving Virginia with a psychotic lunatic."

"Then you need to think about the consequences! You're not just Archer, you're the head of Vanderbilt Group! If something happens to you, Capital City will descend into total chaos!"

"Vanderbilt Group has a bulletproof proxy protocol in place," Archer cut him off. His gaze dropped to the nautical map of Chicago's waters spread across the table, his expression unreadable. "But my wife can only be saved by me."

Julian was instantly rendered speechless, letting out a long, defeated sigh through the screen.

Archer slammed the laptop shut and turned to Zachary. "How is K's end coming along?"

Zachary's expression immediately hardened. "K has three high-powered speedboats staged at the Westside Docks, ready for extraction at any moment. Once we clear international waters, our crew will take over. However..."