?Chapter 1352:


    Nothing about this felt right.


    Options had all but vanished for Sadie in this perilous moment. Should she go with them, or be dragged back, snared once more in Emerson’s web?


    With survival on the line, she didn’t waste another second. The only move left was to cooperate, holding onto the slimmest hope for escape. After slipping the dagger out of sight, she forced her expression into an icy mask ofposure.


    Silent as a shadow, she allowed the new bodyguards to usher her into their vehicle, disappearing swiftly into the darkness beyond.


    Unbeknownst to her, Noah’s men watched from a dimly lit car parked nearby, their eyes glued to every development.


    Reacting without hesitation, the head bodyguard grabbed his phone and called Noah. “Mr. Wall, it’s urgent. Ms. Hudson has just been taken by another group. They im Afara sent them.”


    At that very moment, chaos erupted inside Emerson’s sprawling estate. Leopard barreled into the study, frustration and fear etched across his features.


    “Bad news, Emerson. Your daughter has been taken away.”


    A sudden halt came over Emerson’s hands, which had been polishing a gleaming sword.


    Cold rage simmered in his eyes as he raised his gaze, a dark threat hanging in the air. “Fools!”


    Before anyone could move, he flung the sword with a surge of fury, its de biting deep into the heavy wood of his desk and leaving it vibrating with the impact.


    It wasn’t just because Sadie was his daughter.


    More importantly, she had something Emerson had schemed for most of his life to get.


    Letting Afara get hold of it was unthinkable.


    Deadly resolve shed across Emerson’s face. In a voice sharp as steel, he addressed Leopard, who stood stricken with dread.


    “Spread the word. Turn over every stone. Bring her back—no matter what it takes!”


    The ck SUV raced through the night before screeching to a stop at West Port, where the air hung heavy with the briny scent of ocean spray.


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    Beneath the cloak of darkness, the dock stretched out in haunting silence, broken only by waves hammering against jagged rocks and the distant, pulsing beam of a lighthouse.


    Two men d in ck hauled Sadie from the vehicle with rough efficiency.


    They dragged her into a derelict warehouse where the air reeked of corroded metal and rotting fish, making Sadie’s stomach lurch violently.


    A weathered table and two mismatched chairs upied the warehouse’s center like forgotten relics.


    A man wearing an extravagant silk shirt lounged with one leg draped over the other, absently flicking a metal lighter that produced sharp, rhythmic clicks.


    At the sound of approaching footsteps, he raised his head, his devastatingly handsome features marked byzy assessment.


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