Chapter 237

LEONIE’S POV

I was pacing up and down the length of my massive living room, the heels of my shoes clicking loudly against the polished hardwood floor.

The heavy silence in the house was driving me crazy. It was already past noon, and the bright morning sun was streaming through the high windows, but I felt absolutely frozen from the inside out.

The children's charity festival at the botanical gardens should have been over by now. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold my glass of white wine, the liquid sloshing dangerously close to the rim.

Every single second that passed felt like a death sentence. I had risked everything on this play. I had emptied my personal savings, drained my offshore accounts, and hired those desperate men to execute a flawless plan.

If it worked, Aria would be too broken by her daughter's disappearance to care about her new business investment, and I would finally have the leverage I needed to survive.

Suddenly, the burner phone hidden deep in my dress pocket buzzed sharply against my hip. I ripped it out with a gasp, my fingers scrambling over the screen to press it to my ear before it could even ring a second time.

"Tell me it's done," I demanded, my voice dropping to a sharp, desperate whisper as I leaned against the mahogany desk for support. "Is she gone? Do we have her?"

"The plan failed," Anna’s voice came through the line. The words hit me like a physical blow. I stopped breathing, my heart dropping straight into my stomach.

What made it worse was her tone—she sounded completely calm, totally detached, which only made my blood run cold. "What?!" I hissed, slamming my wine glass down onto the mahogany table.

The glass shattered slightly at the base, and a wave of pale liquid spilled across the expensive wood, but I didn't care about the mess. "How could they fail? I gave you the exact timing. I gave you everything you needed!"

"Calm down, Miss Leonie," Anna said, her voice dropping to a low, chilling whisper that sent a shiver down my spine. "Listen to me very carefully. Brandon's men were already there at the gardens. They were hiding in the crowd in plain clothes. They stopped my men before we could even get the girl into the back of the van. The guards were too fast."

"Oh my god," I whimpered, a cold sweat breaking out across the back of my neck. "Oh my god, Brandon is going to find out. He’s going to track them back to me—"

"Nobody suspects me," Anna interrupted sharply, her steady voice cutting through my mounting panic. "Aria and Brandon think I am a hero because I tried to fight off the kidnappers to protect the girl. I have a few scrapes, and they are completely blinded by gratitude right now. I am deeper in their trust now than I was yesterday morning. We will have another shot at this. Just stay quiet, act normal, and let the dust settle."

Before I could demand more answers, the line went dead. She had hung up the call. I lowered the phone, letting out a shaky, ragged breath as my mind raced with pure, unadulterated terror.

If Brandon ever connected those hired thugs to my name, he would literally tear me apart with his bare hands. I was completely cornered, a trapped animal with nowhere left to run.

Right then, the heavy front door of the house swung open with a loud, violent slam. Julian walked into the living room, and he looked like a complete, pathetic mess.

His hair was wild and uncombed, his expensive clothes were wrinkled and stained, and the heavy, sour smell of scotch hit my nose immediately from across the room.

He was clearly intoxicated, stumbling slightly over the edge of the rug as he closed the door behind him. He caught me staring, and a nasty, mocking smirk spread across his face. He looked at me with pure disgust.

"What are you looking at?" I snapped, my fear quickly twisting into sharp irritation. I didn't have the energy to deal with his nonsense right now.

"You," Julian laughed, a bitter, ugly sound that echoed off the high ceiling. He walked over to the built-in bar, his hands unsteady as he grabbed a crystal decanter and poured himself another heavy glass of liquor, spilling a few drops on the counter.

"You think you're so smart, Leonie. You think you run this house. But you're finished. I’m letting you know right now that you will be leaving this property very soon."

I stared at him, my eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "What are you talking about, Julian? You're drunk. Go sleep it off."

"My lawyers are preparing the divorce papers as we speak," Julian sneered, taking a deep, messy gulp from his glass before slamming it down.

He lifted a shaking hand and pointed a finger directly at my face, his eyes glassy, red, and completely wild. "You should prepare yourself, Leonie. You’re going to get absolutely nothing from me in the settlement. Not a single dollar. I'm going to get Aria back, she's going to run right back to me, and you’ll be left out in the street with all your pathetic debt."

He let out another loud, mocking laugh, completely ignoring the furious expression on my face.

Without waiting for a response, he spun around, grabbed his car keys off the counter, and stumbled back out the front door, leaving the house just as quickly as he had arrived.

A second later, the loud roar of his car engine echoed down the driveway as he sped away.

Watching his car vanish past the security gates, a dark, vicious rage took over my entire mind, burning away the last remnants of my fear.

He was going to divorce me? He was going to throw me out on the street with nothing while he chased after his ex-girlfriend? After everything I had sacrificed to keep our names afloat?

No. I wouldn't let that happen. If my life was going to burn down to the ground, I would make absolutely sure that Aria’s life burned down first. She was the root of all my problems.

I pulled the burner phone back out of my pocket with shaking fingers and dialed Anna's number immediately, not caring about her warning to stay quiet.

The phone rang twice before she answered, her tone immediately tight and annoyed. "Miss Leonie, I told you to stay quiet and let the dust settle. It is dangerous to call right now."

"I don't care anymore!" I snarled into the receiver, the rage blinding me completely as I gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white. "We are not waiting for another perfect opportunity, Anna. We don't have the luxury of time. I want this done now. Do you hear me? Now!"

"What are you saying?" Anna whispered, her voice dropping low.

"You are inside that house," I said, a cruel, cold calm washing over me as I stared out into the empty, sunlit room.

"They trust you more than ever now. Find a way to get Amelia away from the guards, or just find a way to harm the girl directly right under their noses. I don't care what it takes anymore, and I don't care how risky it is. Just break Aria. Destroy her from the inside out."

There was a brief, heavy silence on the line as Anna processed the sheer desperation in my voice. When she finally spoke, her tone had shifted into something calculating and dark.

"If we go down this route, it means we play dirty, Leonie," Anna whispered, her voice chillingly steady. "It means taking a massive risk right under Brandon's nose. If I do this, you need to ensure that my escape route and my final payment are completely locked down. No mistakes."

I clutched the phone tighter against my ear, the burning rage in my chest hardening into absolute certainty. I had already crossed the line; there was no turning back now.

"I will handle it," I promised, my voice cracking with dangerous conviction. "Whatever you need, it's yours. Just make sure she suffers."

"Then we have a deal," Anna replied softly. "I will find the right moment." The line went dead. I slowly lowered the phone, a twisted, satisfied smile finally spreading across my face as I looked out at the quiet room.

Julian could bring his lawyers, and Brandon could double his guards, but they were already too late. The trap was set right inside their own home.