?Chapter 166:


    In the room next door, following Paige’s orders, the kidnappers had injected Vivien with a sedative. Now, shey motionless on the floor, unconscious andpletely unaware.


    Paige lounged on the sofa, casually sipping from a cup of coffee, her eyes locked on the surveince footage streaming from her own phone. The moment Cole’s tall, maic figure appeared on the screen, her heart skipped a beat. Her gaze softened, filled with longing and admiration. Every time sheid eyes on him, she found herself even more captivated by his charm.


    Although Paige had once imed herself as Cole’s fiancée, she had never earned even a flicker of his attention. She had never been allowed into his inner circle. Watching An, Merlin, and Manley now trailing behind Cole like trusted allies, she felt a wave of discontent rise within her. Ran seemed entirely unremarkable. Even though the Hudson family held a respected name in Ublento, they were nothingpared to the Evans, Shaw, Swain, and kely families. Cole stood at the pinnacle of Ublento’s elite, and his friends were far more remarkable than Ran. As the city’s most celebrated socialite, Paige believed she shouldn’t settle for the likes of Ran. With every passing thought, her frustration with her current situation only intensified.


    As her frustration grew, so did her resentment toward Elliana in the room next door. Had Elliana not disrupted her ns, she would have already be Cole’s wife, enjoying her rightful status among the elite. Whatever the oue today, one thing was certain—Elliana had to disappear. She would not stand by and watch Elliana im the life that was meant to be hers.


    Meanwhile, guided by the men in ck, Cole and his group entered a grand hall.


    The hall was furnished with extreme extravagance, featuring plush sofas and tables sourced from elite global luxury brands.


    Though the decor screamed opulence, the mood in the room was anything but rxed—tension hung in the air like a storm about to break.


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    The ceiling stretched up to the second floor, leaving the hall feeling wide and open.


    At ground level, every corner was guarded by men dressed in ck, each holding an assault rifle, and in the shadowed sections above, even more gunmen stood ready. Together, they formed ayered, inescapable trap. If things went south, Cole and his group would be torn apart in seconds by a rain of bullets.


    While anyone else might have been paralyzed by fear in such a situation, Cole remained entirelyposed. His gaze held an edge of arrogance, even a glimmer of dark amusement.


    Trailing closely behind him, Myles, Aron, and Hugh stood like seasoned warriors, every inch of them alert and battle-tested. Their presence alone sent a clear message—Cole was well-guarded.


    An, Merlin, and Manley, each a dominant force in his own right, appearedpletely unbothered. They moved with ease, like spectators at a high-stakes game rather than yers caught in danger. Manley, in particr, looked the most rxed, his hands casually tucked into his pockets, gum between his teeth, and his grinced with mischief.


    After scanning the entire space with a sharp nce, Cole made his way to the center and settled onto the grand sofa.


    Behind him, Myles, Aron, and Hugh naturally assumed their protective positions, standing like sentinels.


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