Chapter 111: Abandoned and Alone
Liam’s POV
The missing documents haunted my every waking moment. I’d barely eaten, barely slept, pacing the marble floors of my mansion like a caged animal.
The realization that someone had infiltrated my most private sanctuary, my safe, my secrets...gnawed at me with relentless persistence. Who had taken them? How had they known the combination? The questions circled endlessly in my mind, each one more damning than the last.
I stood at my bedroom window, watching the morning sun cast long shadows across my mansion. The irony wasn’t lost on me—I owned all of this, yet I felt more trapped than ever.
The missing documents were a ticking time bomb. Company deeds, This mansion’s deed, offshore accounts, proof of financial impropriety...all in the hands of someone who clearly meant to destroy me.
For three weeks, I’d been calling Sophie’s number obsessively. Three weeks of going straight to voicemail, of listening to that same generic automated message until I’d memorized every inflection. Where the hell was she?
I decided to try again, phone pressed to my ear as her voicemail played for what must have been the hundredth time. "This is Sophie. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you." The beep echoed in the silence, mocking me.
"Sophie, it’s me again," I said, my voice hoarse from strain. "I need to know what’s happening. Did you talk to Diane? Did she suspect anything? Call me back, damn it!"
I ended the call and immediately hit redial. Straight to voicemail again.
The plan had been simple—Sophie would approach Diane with false remorse, gain her trust, and feed me information about her next moves. It was brilliant and simple. Sophie knew Diane better than anyone, knew exactly which emotional buttons to push. But now, left on the hollow of radio silence.
Mr. Ashton?" A deep voice interrupted my brooding. I turned to see Anthony, the bodyguard I’d hired after my encounter with Diane.