"Speak one more time, or I’ll twist your neck right now!" Alexander growls, his grip on the lawyer’s collar tightening as it freezes even harder.
The man in the black suit coughs, eyes bulging with panic as he stares into Alexander’s silver eyes, sharp as a dagger. The piece of Geneva lab paper, just printed, falls to the cold marble floor in scattered pieces.
"Julian...?" Olivia whispers, her voice hoarse and barely audible.
Alexander releases his grip roughly, causing the lawyer to tumble to the floor, clutching his reddening neck. Alexander slowly turns, gazing at Olivia with a shattered expression—mixed with disbelief, shock, and deep wounds.
"Five years ago..." Alexander steps closer to Olivia, his voice low and trembling. "That night in the hotel room you entered..."
"The room number three-oh-four," Olivia interrupts, tears streaming uncontrollably. "The man with me that night wore a silver anchor pendant identical to yours!"
"Julian is my biological brother," Alexander whispers, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "He held that pendant before the helicopter crash that took his life five years ago. That night, I handed him my room key because he was too drunk after the shareholders’ meeting."
"So all this time," Olivia laughs bitterly amid her tears, "Ethan isn’t your son. He’s your nephew? You sacrificed your entire company shares for a man who’s already dead?"
Alexander doesn’t answer. He looks at Ethan lying weakly on the bed—a little boy with brown eyes and a jawline very similar to his late brother. The pain twisting in his chest intensifies, tearing down the walls of his defenses built all this time.
The door is suddenly pushed open hard. Daniel rushes in, panting, holding a phone still connected to an international line.
"Alex, we’re in serious danger!" Daniel exclaims without regard for the chaos in the room. "This DNA test report from Geneva was leaked by someone inside Rington Bio-Tech just ten minutes ago!"
Alexander quickly turns, narrowing his eyes with threat. "By whom?"
"Your mother," Daniel replies simply, his face pale. "Eleanora knew from the start that Ethan is Julian’s child. She purposely let you sign the custody and marriage papers with Victoria to lure you out of the CEO position!"
"What do you mean?" Olivia asks, wiping her tears and standing upright.
"Under the clause of the late Alexander’s will," Daniel explains quickly as he swipes on his tablet, "if Julian has a legitimate male heir, all rights of the Rington Group inheritance go to that child, not to Alexander."
"Mother wants to control all the major shares through custody of Ethan," Alexander says, his voice filled with pure vengeance. "She used Victoria to get rid of Olivia, then used Ethan’s status to oust me from Rington Group!"
"Now," Daniel’s voice trembles, "the board of directors is holding an emergency meeting to remove you as CEO over accusations of abuse of power and asset manipulation!"
The siren of police cars and ministerial vehicles suddenly blares from outside the hospital, casting red and blue flashing lights on the glass windows of the ICU room.
The family lawyer, who was sprawled on the floor earlier, now stands up with a smug smile returning to his face. He adjusts his collar and looks at Alexander with a victorious smirk.
"Your time is up, Mr. Rington," he says coldly. "Federal police and board representatives are downstairs to pick up this child. Based on international inheritance law and the custody agreement signed by Miss Carter just an hour ago, Ethan Carter is officially declared part of Eleanora Rington’s estate."
"Step one foot closer to the child’s bed, and you’ll die right here," Alexander threatens, his body tensing like a beast ready to pounce.
"Go ahead, Mr. Rington," the lawyer taunts, pointing toward the door. "There are dozens of armed police outside. If you resist, you’ll not only lose your position but also face kidnapping charges for the rightful heir of Rington Group."
Olivia stares at Alexander with hopelessness. "Alex, what do we do? We can’t let them take Ethan!"
Alexander clenches his fists tightly. For the first time in his life as London’s most powerful man, he feels utterly cornered. On one side, the law has been manipulated by his mother; on the other, the safety of his late brother’s child has just been compromised.
"Daniel," Alexander calls softly, his voice suddenly calm—terrifyingly so.
"Yes, Alex?"
"Take Olivia and Ethan out of this building through the helipad escape route on the roof," he orders without taking his eyes off the lawyer.
Olivia gasps. "And what about you, Alex?!"
"I’ll hold them here," Alexander replies, turning to look at Olivia with the last warmth in his eyes. "Take the helicopter to my secret mansion in the Scottish Highlands. No one knows that place but Daniel."
"I’m not leaving you!" Olivia insists, shaking her head and grabbing Alexander’s coat sleeve. "If we have to fight, we fight together!"
"You have to go, Olivia!" Alexander snaps, voice trembling with suppressed tears. "Ethan needs you! If they catch you, Eleanora will separate you from Ethan forever! Go now!"
"Come on, Miss Carter! We don’t have much time!" Daniel rushes, pushing open the back door of the ICU.
Olivia looks at Alexander one last time. "Take care of yourself, Alex."
"Go, Olivia!" Alexander shouts, charging at the lawyer trying to stop them, shoving him onto the glass table until it shatters into pieces.
Olivia turns and runs at full speed, following Daniel up the emergency staircase toward the rooftop in the pouring rain.
The glass door of the helipad bursts open. The wind howls fiercely, chilling Olivia through her soaked clothes. A black helicopter with rapidly spinning blades is ready on the landing pad.
Daniel runs, bending down to carry Ethan, pushing Olivia to get into the cabin first.
"Hurry up, Miss Carter!" Daniel shouts amid the roaring helicopter engine.
Olivia climbs in, clutching Ethan’s trembling body close. Daniel jumps into the pilot’s seat, and the helicopter slowly lifts off, leaving the rooftop of St. Thomas Hospital.
Through the helicopter window, Olivia looks down. She sees dozens of police cars and black vehicles surrounding the hospital, while at the helipad, armed guards burst through the emergency stairwell they just used.
Olivia presses her hand against the glass, tears falling hard. "Alex."
The helicopter speeds northward, leaving behind the bloodstained chaos of London.
"We’re entering Scottish highlands airspace," Daniel says, turning to face Olivia. "My secret mansion is about ten miles ahead, behind these hills."
"Do you think Alex will be okay, Daniel?" Olivia asks in a hoarse voice.
The helicopter pilot swears loudly in a foreign language, trying to turn the controls which suddenly lock stiff.
"What’s wrong?!" Olivia yells, holding Ethan more tightly.
"Our navigation system is hacked remotely!" the pilot screams, pressing reset buttons frantically without success. "Main engine just died!"
The helicopter blades slow drastically. The heavy metal craft loses lift and begins to spin uncontrollably in the air, plummeting toward the dark pine forest below the Scottish valley.
"Hold on tight! We’re going down!" Daniel yells hysterically.
Olivia spins around, wrapping her arms around Ethan to protect his head and body as the helicopter crashes into the tall trees with a forceful impact that tears through the metal.
Minutes later, amidst dark smoke billowing from the wreckage, Olivia’s bloodied fingers move slowly across the damp ground. She coughs, struggling to regain consciousness.
"Ethan..." Olivia whispers faintly, her blurry eyes searching for her son who slipped from her arms during the crash.
A few meters away, Ethan lies stiff on a bed of dry leaves. The boy is unresponsive, but a faint breath still flows from his nose.
Olivia crawls slowly, her body in excruciating pain, reaching for Ethan’s tiny hand.
But before she can pull Ethan into her embrace, the sound of steady footsteps crunching on dry twigs approaches the crash site.
A pair of expensive black leather shoes stop beside Ethan’s limp body. A tall man in a thick fur coat stands with his back to the light of a flashlight, holding a silver skull-topped staff.
The man bends down slowly, picks up Ethan’s unconscious body easily with one hand.
"Who are you...?" Olivia stammers, bloodied and desperate, trying to reach for her son. "Don’t you dare touch my child!"
"You’ve misunderstood from the start, Olivia," the man’s voice rumbles heavily, with a wicked echo that freezes blood. "Julian Rington didn’t die five years ago, and I’ve returned to take what’s rightfully mine."