Chapter 259

LEONIE'S POV

The silence in the penthouse was suffocating. Every second that ticked by on the marble grandfather clock felt like a tight loop pulling around my neck.

Time was running out, and I could feel the ground slipping away beneath us.

I paced back and forth across the floor, my heels clicking sharply against the polished tile, my fingers clutching my phone so hard my knuckles were white.

Julian had disappeared hours ago, unraveling at the seams, and the silence from Vance Enterprises was far too loud.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed, the screen flashing with a contact name that made my chest tighten. Mrs. Vance. I took a sharp breath, smoothing down my silk dress, forcing my panicked heartbeat to settle before pressing the phone to my ear.

"Mother," I answered, putting on the softest, most poised voice I could muster. "Is everything alright?"

"Leonie, darling..." Her voice was shaking—a rare, terrifying sound from a woman who usually oozed cold, aristocratic perfection.

"It’s... it’s a disaster. I don't know what Julian has done, but his father just came home this evening. The board is in a frenzy, our primary holdings are frozen, and there are rumors that Victor Sterling is gutting us from the inside out."

A cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck, but I kept my tone completely sweet, steady, and reassuring. "Please, breathe, Mother. You know how volatile the market can be. Julian and his father are brilliant men, they will handle this. It’s just a temporary setback. Everything is going to be completely fine, I assure you."

"Do you really think so?" she whispered, sounding so broken it almost made me smile behind the screen.

"I know so," I said gently. "Just rest and let the men handle the business floor. I'm keeping an eye on things here."

"Thank you, sweetheart. You are truly the anchor this family needs right now."

"Always, Mother." The moment the call ended, the sweet, comforting smile melted off my face, replaced by a cold, calculating sneer. Idiots. The whole family is sinking, and Julian is dragging me down with him.

I didn't waste another second. I pulled up my encrypted contacts and hit speed dial. The line rang twice before a nervous, rushed voice picked up. "Leonie?"

"Anna," I snapped, dropping all pretense. "It's time to try again. We can't wait any longer."

"What? No, Leonie, listen to me, it's too risky right now," Anna stammered, her voice shaking through the speaker. "Tomorrow is the annual school activity day, and I thought I could use it, but it won't work. Anthony is dropping Amelia off himself. Brandon doubled her security team after what happened yesterday. Anthony won't let her out of his sight."

I squeezed my eyes shut, my mind racing through the variables, picking apart the security protocols until a sharp, brilliant realization struck me. A cruel, perfect smile slowly spread across my lips.

"No, Anna," I murmured, my voice chillingly calm as the new plan took shape in my head. "That actually works completely in our favor."

"How?" Anna gasped. "Anthony is a trained killer. You can't touch her while he's standing there."

"We don't touch her while he's standing there," I instructed, my mind locking into place. "Let Anthony drive her. Let him do his whole paranoid routine, scan the perimeter, and walk her straight through the front gates. He'll drop his guard the second she's safely inside the school grounds with the other children and teachers, thinking the building is secure."

I leaned against the glass window, watching the city lights flicker below.

"That is when you move, Anna. Once Anthony turns around and leaves the property, you go inside that school. You use your staff pass, take Amelia during the morning activity transition, and walk her out through the side entrance where my people will be waiting."

"Leonie... if Brandon finds out—"

"If we don't do this tomorrow, we lose everything anyway," I hissed, cutting her off. "Get the girl tomorrow morning. Once I have Amelia, Brandon will come to his knees, and Aria won't have a single card left to play.”

"How am I supposed to just walk her out?" Anna asked, her voice tight with panic on the other end of the line. "There are cameras everywhere, Leonie. The teachers know me, but they aren't going to just hand over a child during a school event without a reason."

I rubbed my temples, fighting the surge of frustration threatening to boil over. "Use your brain, Anna. You have to be vigilant. You go to the school right after Anthony drops her off, find her class teacher, and make an excuse, tell them Aria sent you because of a sudden family emergency, or that she needs to be taken to a private doctor's appointment. They know you're close to the family. They won't second-guess you."

I paused, letting the cold severity of my words sink in. "Just get her out of that building and into the back of the black sedan waiting on the corner. Do you understand me?"

A long silence hung over the line before Anna let out a shaky sigh. "Okay... okay, I can do that. I'll make sure everything goes smoothly. I won't let you down."

"You better not, because if you fail—" Before I could finish my threat, a deep, commanding voice suddenly echoed through Anna’s receiver in the background, a voice that instantly turned the blood in my veins to liquid ice.

"Sarah, who are you talking to?" My heart plummeted straight into my stomach. It was Brandon. The heavy, suffocating weight of his voice coming through Anna's end of the line made my lungs lock up.

He was at Aria's house. Over the speaker, I heard a sharp gasp, followed by the muffled rustle of fabric as Anna frantically pulled the phone away from her ear.

"N-Mr. Brandon!" Anna’s voice squeaked, practically trembling off the screen. "I... I was just... talking to my sister. She was asking about the schedule for tomorrow's activity day—"

"Give me the phone," Brandon's low, cold voice cut through her lie like a razor. The line went completely dead. I stood frozen in the middle of the dark penthouse, staring at my phone as the screen went black.

A cold sweat broke out across my forehead, my breath coming in short, terrified hitches. He was there. And if he took that phone, if he looked at her call log, he would know it was me.

My hands shook violently as I immediately deleted the burner contact and threw the phone onto the plush sofa, my mind racing in absolute, blind terror.