The CEO's Rejected Wife And Secret Heir novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: United Front

Aria POV

Everyone started looking around, searching for cameras, but I knew it was useless. Marcus had been planning this for months. Years, maybe. He’d had time to plant surveillance everywhere.

"We can’t send the FBI away," Agent Sarah said firmly. "Ms. Monroe, Mr. Blackwood, I understand you’re desperate, but we cannot let a kidnapper dictate"

"Get out." The words left my mouth before I could think. "All of you. Get out."

"Ms. Monroe"

"I said get out!" I stood, and something in my face must have been terrifying because the agent actually stepped back. "My son just begged me on camera to come get him. He’s scared and alone and thinks I abandoned him. So whatever Marcus wants, whatever sick game he’s playing, I’m doing it. And if that means telling you to leave, then you’re leaving."

"Aria, think about this," Olivia pleaded. "Marcus is unstable. You can’t trust anything he says."

"I don’t trust him but I don’t have a choice."

Damien was nodding, his jaw set. "She’s right, everyone out. Now."

Agent Sarah looked between us, clearly wanting to argue. But something in our expressions—maybe the desperation, maybe the fury—made her relent.

"Fine," she said coldly. "But we’re setting up in the apartment across the hall. And if things go wrong, we’re coming in whether you want us to or not."

"Understood."

She gestured to her team, and they began packing up. Laptops, recording equipment, evidence bags. Within five minutes, the penthouse was empty except for Damien, Olivia, and me.

"I’m not leaving," Olivia said before I could tell her to. "So don’t bother."

I was too tired to argue, too broken to fight. We sat in silence, watching the clock count down.

Twenty-nine minutes until the livestream.

Twenty-nine minutes until we found out what Marcus really wanted.

Twenty-nine minutes until the entire world watched us beg for our son’s life.

Damien’s phone rang, shattering the silence. He looked at the screen and his face went even paler.

"It’s Marcus," he said. "He’s calling me directly."

"Answer it," I said. "Put it on speaker."

He did.

Marcus’s voice filled the room, smooth and pleasant, like he was calling to chat about the weather.

"Hello, brother. I trust you received my messages?"

"What do you want?" Damien’s voice shook with barely contained rage.

"What do I want?" Marcus laughed. "I want what was always mine. But we’ll get to that. First, I want you to understand something. Both of you."

He paused, letting the silence stretch.

"This isn’t about money. It isn’t about the company. It’s about making you feel exactly what I’ve felt for the past thirty years. Powerless, abandoned and unwanted."

"Marcus, please" I started, but he cut me off.

"Twenty-eight minutes, Aria. I suggest you prepare yourselves. What comes next... well. Let’s just say the world is going to learn exactly what kind of people you really are."

The line went dead.

I looked at Damien, saw my own terror reflected in his eyes.

"What is he going to do?" I whispered.

Damien shook his head slowly. "I don’t know. But whatever it is..."

He reached for my hand and let him take it."We face it together."

The clock ticked down.

Twenty-seven minutes.

Twenty-six.

Twenty-five.

Twenty-three minutes.

The laptop sat on my coffee table like a bomb waiting to explode. The streaming link was already loaded, the screen black with a countdown timer in the center.

00:23:47

00:23:46

00:23:45

I couldn’t look away from it.

"You should eat something." Olivia pushed a plate toward me—crackers and cheese she’d found in my kitchen. "You haven’t eaten in almost twelve hours."

"I can’t." The thought of food made my stomach turn. "I can’t eat while Noah"

My voice broke because I couldn’t finish the sentence.Damien paced by the windows, his phone in his hand, still making calls despite Marcus’s warning. His other hand was wrapped in gauze from where he’d punched the wall, small spots of red seeping through.

"I don’t care about the stock price, Harrison," he said into the phone, his voice clipped. "Liquidate whatever you need to. I want fifty million in cash ready to transfer within the hour. Unmarked accounts, untraceable." A pause. "Because I said so, now do it."

He hung up and immediately dialed another number.

"Who are you calling?" I asked.

"Everyone." He didn’t look at me. "Private security firms. Former special forces. People who can find Marcus if the FBI can’t."

"Marcus said no heroes."

"I don’t care what Marcus said." His voice was savage. "He has my son, our son. I’m not sitting here waiting for him to make demands. I’m preparing for every possible scenario."

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