Julian...?" Olivia’s voice is just a faint, hoarse whisper caught in her throat.
Thick blood drips from her temple, flowing down the corner of her eye, blurring her view. The man standing before her is tall amid the smoking debris of a helicopter wreckage. Though his face bears scars stretching from his temple to his jawline, it reflects the man who has haunted her for the past five years.
Julian Rington smirks slightly. His icy silver eyes lack any hint of humanity as he holds Ethan’s unconscious body.
"You look pretty messed up, Olivia," Julian’s heavy voice, trembling with a manic satisfaction, rumbles. "I imagined our reunion would be a little more romantic after five years."
"Give me my son back!" Olivia tries to rise, but a stabbing pain in her ribs forces her back down. Her fingers can only clutch at the grass and dried leaves beneath her.
"Your son?" Julian chuckles softly, a discordant sound echoing through the quiet Scottish pine forest. "He’s blood of my blood, Olivia. The result of that very sweet night in the hotel room. You think Alexander saved you? My unfortunate brother was just a pawn in my plan."
Two heavily built men dressed in black step out from the darkness of the woods, approaching Julian with assault rifles slung over their chests. One checks Daniel’s pulse, lying stiff beside the helicopter wreck.
"One’s still breathing, sir," reports the man with a flat voice.
"Leave him to rot here with the wolves," Julian commands coldly, not bothering to look away. He strokes Ethan’s head with his gloved fingers. "Secure this woman. Don’t let her die before we reach the chapel."
"You’re awake, my Room?"
That voice comes from the dark corner of the room. Julian steps out from the shadows, now dressed in an elegant black suit. In his hand, he holds a crystal glass filled with shimmering whiskey.
"Where’s Ethan?!" Olivia screams, pushing her body forward as the iron chains clink loudly around her wrists. "Where is my son, Julian?!"
"He’s safe upstairs, sleeping soundly," Julian replies casually, taking a slow sip. "The antidote the doctor injected into him this afternoon works very well. His body is adapting quickly. Anyway, the Rington bloodline is very strong."
"You’re crazy!" Tears stream down Olivia’s face, wetting the wound on her cheek. "You faked your own death five years ago! You let your family, your brother, be destroyed in this conspiracy!"
"Let them be destroyed?" Julian whispers, stepping closer until his scarred face is just a few inches from Olivia’s. "My mother, Eleanora — that demon woman — planned the helicopter crash five years ago! She wanted to get rid of me because I refused to marry Victoria Ashford!"
"That accident was meant to kill me," Julian’s voice trembles with hatred. "I crawled out of the burning helicopter in the Alps, my face mangled and ribs broken. And who took my place two days later? Alexander. My beloved brother, following Eleanora’s every command without question!"
"Alexander doesn’t know anything!" Olivia protests shakily. "He believes you’re dead! He mourns you!"
"He’s enjoying his position as CEO of Rington Group!" Julian snaps, smashing his glass against the stone wall until it shatters into pieces. "He took my title, my wealth, and is even trying to take your child from you!"
"Alexander saved Ethan when your mother injected poison!" Olivia shouts, staring at Julian with pure courage. "He risked everything — his position, his shares — just to make sure Ethan breathes tonight! What kind of monster are you to let your own flesh and blood be kidnapped and poisoned by your mother?!"
Julian bursts into loud laughter, his terrifying chuckle echoing off the stone walls of the basement.
"Do you think Eleanora planned that poisoning?" Julian asks with a wicked smile spreading across his lips.
Olivia’s heart stops for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"Eleanora wanted to control the custody of Ethan to pressure Alexander," Julian whispers, lowering his voice to deliver the deadliest truth right into Olivia’s ear. "But it was the slow-acting synthetic poison I ordered the doctor to inject into him three days ago."
Olivia’s eyes widen in shock. "You — you poisoned your own son?!"
"That’s the only way to lure Alexander out of his legal fortress!" Julian says firmly, with no remorse. "I needed Alexander to sign off on the asset transfer, break international law, so the board has a legitimate reason to oust him! And it worked perfectly. Right now, Alexander Rington is in police custody in London on charges of embezzlement and kidnapping of the heir!"
"You’re a devil, Julian!" Olivia screams hysterically, wrenching her chains with mad strength until her wrists are raw and bleeding. "You’re not human! You’re a devil!"
"I’m just reclaiming what’s mine," Julian replies coldly. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a thick document stamped with international civil authority. "Tomorrow morning, at that old chapel above, you and I will be legally married under British law."
"I’d rather die than marry you!" Olivia spits directly at Julian’s leather shoes.
"You have no choice, Olivia," Julian says softly. "With our marriage, Ethan’s status as your legitimate child will be sealed forever." He pauses, a chilling smile spreading across his face. "I’ll make sure Ethan follows his uncle into darkness."
Julian turns and heads toward the heavy steel door of the basement. "Rest well, future bride. Our wedding ceremony begins at sunrise."
Olivia leans her head against the cold stone wall, tears flowing silently down her face. In the darkness, she hugs herself, imagining Alexander’s face — the silver eyes that always looked at her with pure, slowly-understood tenderness.
The New Scotland Yard police headquarters stands firm under the relentless rain. Down in the lowest level, in a high-security isolation cell with concrete walls and no windows, Alexander Rington sits on a hard wooden bench.
His expensive suit is muddied and stained with dried blood. His hands are shackled with thick steel cuffs attached to a metal table.
The cell door creaks open. Two police officers stand beside the door, and a tall man dressed in black steps inside.
"You’re late, Daniel," Alexander’s low, hoarse voice carries, but it’s still full of resolve.
"I had to crawl out of the Scottish woods with two broken ribs, Alex," Daniel replies, offering a faint, bitter smile. "Our helicopter was sabotaged. Julian took Olivia and Ethan."
Alexander’s piercing silver eyes flash with deadly intensity. His jaw tightens until his knuckles turn white.
"I know," Alexander whispers. "Julian used the police internal communication channels to make sure I rot here while he executes his plans."
"The board has appointed Julian as the interim heir," Daniel says, opening an envelope on the table. "Your mother, Eleanora, is detained at her estate on conspiracy charges, but she refuses to talk. The entire Rington Group empire is crumbling within hours."
"I don’t care about Rington Group," Alexander cuts him off sharply. "Where is Olivia and Ethan?"
"They’re at St. Jude’s Castle in the northern border region," Daniel says. "An old fortress belonging to your grandfather, which has been off the property records for the past ten years. Julian plans to force Olivia into marriage at dawn to legitimize his claim over Ethan."
"How many people can you gather?" Alexander asks, reopening his eyes.
"A team of independent security from Switzerland is on standby at the border," Daniel answers. "But we have a big problem, Alex. You’re in a high-security cell with federal police escort. There’s no legal way for you to get out."
"Who says I’ll get out legally?" Alexander responds quietly.
Suddenly, he slams his hands against the table with tremendous force. The loud bang startles the two officers outside. Before they can draw their guns, Alexander uses the chain of his shackles to choke the first officer rushing in, twisting him until he’s unconscious instantly.
The second officer panics, trying to raise his weapon, but Daniel leaps forward, smashing a wooden chair into his back until he falls to the floor, unconscious.
Alexander searches the fallen officer, grabbing the key and a high-caliber air rifle. In seconds, the shackles fall and clink onto the concrete floor.
He adjusts his wrinkled coat, then coldly surveys the two helpless officers.
"Prepare the amphibious jet at the southern port, Daniel," Alexander orders, checking the bullets in his weapon. "We leave for Scotland tonight."
Dawn breaks over the rocky hills of St. Jude’s Castle. Cold golden-red light filters through the stained-glass windows of the old chapel.
The heavy steel door of the basement swings open hard. Two guards drag Olivia up the winding stone stairs.
Olivia, forced to wear a dull, heavy lace wedding dress, looks pale and exhausted, but her brown eyes remain burning with unrelenting hatred.
At the dusty, old altar, Julian waits in a black tuxedo. An old priest, trembling with fear, stands beside the altar, clutching his Bible with trembling hands.
In the corner of the altar, Ethan sits on a wooden chair, his ankles chained with fine links. The boy’s face is confused and distressed, his big eyes glistening with tears as he looks at his mother being dragged toward him.
"Mommy!" Ethan calls softly, voice strained with tears.
"Ethan!" Olivia tries to run toward her son, but two guards hold her roughly by the arms.
"Calm down, Olivia," Julian steps toward the altar, smiling sweetly but with poison behind it. "Once we’ve exchanged these sacred vows, we’ll be a proper family in the eyes of the law."
"You’ll never be my husband!" Olivia screams through her breathing, eyes blazing with defiance.
Julian ignores her outburst. He turns toward the trembling old priest. "Begin the ceremony now."
The priest swallows a bitter lump, opens his Bible, and begins reading the wedding vows with a trembling voice beneath the threat of guns surrounding the chapel.
"I do," Julian quickly replies, without hesitation.
The priest looks at Olivia with deep sympathy. "Do you, Olivia Carter, agree to take this man as your lawful husband?"
Olivia glares at Julian with pure hatred. She glances at Ethan crying softly in the corner of the altar. Her tongue is numb, her chest tight with despair crushing her soul.
"Answer, Olivia," Julian whispers, pulling a small remote with a red indicator light from his coat, connected to an automatic trigger device on Ethan’s ankle chain. "Or your child will never leave this altar alive."
Tears fall from Olivia’s eyes, soaking her wedding dress. She closes her eyes tightly, feeling the total destruction consuming her remaining hope.
"I," Olivia finally speaks, voice barely a whisper. "I do."
"Good," Julian says, satisfied. "Now, put this ring on."
The guards are stunned, raising their weapons toward the thick smoke billowing up.
Suddenly, amid the cloud of dust and debris, a tall figure steps in confidently. Alexander Rington stands at the broken doorway, holding an automatic weapon in his right hand. His wet black coat reflects the rain, and his silver eyes burn with pure destruction that ignites the entire chapel.
"This wedding is canceled, Julian," Alexander’s voice booms like thunder, tearing through the silence.
"Alexander?!" Julian shouts in disbelief, eyes wide. "How did you get out of that cell?!"
"Remember one thing about me, brother," Alexander replies coldly, raising his weapon. "I never play by your rules."
Olivia uses the chaos to break free from the distracted guards and runs swiftly to Ethan’s chained corner.
"Ethan!" Olivia shouts, clutching her son tightly, trying to free him from his bonds.
Julian, seeing his plan fall apart, loses his mind in rage. He pulls out a pistol from inside his tuxedo, aiming it straight at Olivia’s back as she embraces Ethan.
"If I can’t have you, no one will!" Julian screams hysterically.
"Olivia, watch out!" Alexander yells from afar.