Quennel stood up, swirling the red wine in his ss as he looked down at Lionel.


    "If you''re going to call the police, do it now. I have work to attend to in my study. If you don''t trust me, you''re wee to follow, butpany files are confidential. Since you''re no longer part of thepany, just make sure you don''t peek. Otherwise, I''ll be the one calling the police on you for corporate espionage."


    With that, Quennel turned and walked towards his study, leaving Lionel sitting alone.


    Lionel considered his options for a long time. His first instinct was to leave, but as he stood up, a thought struck him.


    If Quennel didn''t kidnap Sandra and didn''t leak the information, then who did?


    He was sure he hadn''t made any other enemies in Sova. If someone else had kidnapped Sandra, it would have been for money. But after all this time and all the information that had been revealed, there had been no mention of a ransom. The most logical conclusion was still that Quennel was behind it.


    But that was the problem. If Quennel was the kidnapper, how was he meeting with Sandra?


    His men had been tailing Quennel for days and hadn''t seen him go anywhere suspicious. Could it be that Sandra was being held somewhere inside the Rosenberg estate? That would mean Quennel could reach her through a secret passage every day aftering home, record her voice, and send it to him.


    The thought sent a chill down his spine. It seemed increasingly usible.


    Lionel walked out into the hallway, determined to search the house.


    He was unfamiliar with the estate. After being brought back into the family, he had never lived there for an extended period, so he had no idea of itsyout.


    But wealthy families often had basements or secret rooms. It was possible this


    house had one too, and Quennel was taking advantage of his ignorance to act so brazenly.


    In the study.


    Quennel sat on the sofa, watching


    the security monitor as Lionel


    wandered through the house,


    asionally looking around c


    knocking on walls as if searching for something.


    Seeing his ridiculous disy, Quennel couldn''t help but chuckle. Go on, search, he


    thought. If you can find her in this house, I''ll admit you''re skilled.


    After all, Sandra wasn''t in the house. But it was impressive that Lionel had thought


    of it. Still, if he didn''t drop a few more hints, Lionel would never find her.


    Quennel turned away from the


    monitor and started on hispany work. With Lionel gone, arge


    portion of the business now


    belonged to him, and he had inherited all of his predecessor responsibilities.


    He had to work hard now to consolidate everything Lionel had left behind and make it his own. That was the only way to secure his position in the Rosenberg family for the long run. Even if Lione eventually returned to his former role, his power would be long gone. He would have nothing left topete with.


    He should never havee back to the Rosenberg family in the first ce.


    It was all because his grandmother had nothing better to do than go searching for him. Otherwise, he would have been living a peaceful life long ago.


    But... it didn''t matter. Despite a few bumps in the road, things were finally back on track.