Sarah backed against the bedroom door, her heart pounding as Mr. Wang’s smile grew more nacing. The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs was getting closer.
"Please," she whispered, looking at her father one last ti. "Dad, don’t let them do this."
Elliot turned his face away, unable to et her eyes. "I’m sorry, Sarah. I had no choice."
"There’s always a choice!" Sarah shouted, but her words were cut off as three large n entered the room.
Mr. Wang nodded at them. "Take her to the car."
Sarah tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. The n were blocking the door, and the bedroom window was too high to jump from. She swung her purse at the nearest man, but he caught her wrist easily.
"Let go!" Sarah scread, struggling against their grip. "You can’t do this! My husband will find !"
"Your husband doesn’t even know you’re missing," Mr. Wang said calmly. "And by the ti he figures it out, you’ll be long gone."
Sarah fought with everything she had, kicking and clawing at the n holding her. But she was no match for their strength. One of them, a man with a scar across his cheek, grabbed her face roughly.
"Stop fighting, or this will get much worse for you," he warned.
"Go to hell!" Sarah spat.
The scarred man’s hand flew across her face in a sharp slap that made her ears ring. The force of it sent stars dancing across her vision.
"I warned you," he said coldly.
Sarah’s knees buckled from the shock and pain. The room started spinning around her, and she could taste blood in her mouth. Her vision blurred as the n lifted her up.
"Dad..." she whispered weakly, looking one last ti at her father. But Elliot had already turned away.
The last thing Sarah saw before everything went black was Mr. Wang checking his watch and nodding with satisfaction.
.
.
.
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Mason stepped out of the conference room after three hours of intense negotiations. The rger he had been working on for months was finally complete, and Liu Enterprise had just acquired another major competitor. But instead of feeling satisfied, Mason felt restless.
Sothing was wrong. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was an uncomfortable feeling in his chest that he couldn’t shake.
"Mr. Liu," Derek approached him with a stack of docunts. "The contracts are ready for your signature."
"Later," Mason said, loosening his tie slightly. "Where’s Jas?"
"He should be waiting downstairs, sir."
Mason walked to the elevator, his expression as unreadable as always. But inside, his mind was working overti. Sarah should have called by now. She always let him know when she was ready to be picked up.
When the elevator doors opened on the ground floor, Mason imdiately spotted Jas standing near the reception desk. The driver straightened up when he saw Mason approaching.
"Why haven’t you gone to get Sarah yet?" Mason asked, his voice calm but carrying an edge that made Jas nervous.
"Sir, Mrs. Liu hasn’t called yet," Jas replied carefully. "I was waiting for you so I could take both of you ho together."
Mason’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Sarah was many things – impulsive, cheerful, sotis reckless – but she was never inconsiderate. She wouldn’t keep them waiting without a reason.
"Get the car," Mason said, his voice deadly quiet.
Jas could hear the dangerous undertone and imdiately nodded. "Yes, sir. Where are we going?"
"Zachary’s office."
The drive through the city felt longer than usual. Mason sat in the back seat, his face a mask of control, but his mind was racing through possibilities. Maybe Sarah had simply lost track of ti. Maybe her phone had died. Maybe she was just having too much fun planning her coback to think about calling.
But Mason’s instincts, honed by years of business warfare and dealing with threats, were telling him sothing else entirely.
When they arrived at Zachary’s building, Mason was out of the car before Jas had fully stopped. He took the elevator to Zachary’s floor, his footsteps echoing in the quiet hallway.
The door to Zachary’s office was open, and Mason could see the manager packing up his briefcase, getting ready to leave for the day.
"Mr. Liu!" Zachary looked surprised to see him. "I wasn’t expecting you. Is everything alright?"
"Where is Sarah?" Mason asked directly, stepping into the office.
Zachary frowned. "She left about two hours ago. Didn’t she call you?"
Mason’s blood ran cold, though his expression remained perfectly controlled. "She left to go where?"
"I... I’m not sure," Zachary said, setting down his briefcase. "She got a phone call from her father. He said he was sick, maybe dying. She took a taxi to go see him."
Mason felt sothing dark and dangerous unfurl in his chest. "Her father called her?"
"Yes. Elliot Chen. She didn’t want to go at first, but he was coughing, sounded really sick. She felt like she had to." Zachary was starting to look worried. "Mr. Liu, is sothing wrong?"
Mason pulled out his phone and dialed Sarah’s number. It went straight to voicemail. He tried again. Sa result.
"What exactly did her father say?" Mason asked, his voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.
Zachary sat down heavily in his chair. "He said he was dying. That he needed to see her before it was too late."
Mason’s mind was working at lightning speed. Elliot Chen was a stupid man, married to a gambling addict who hated Sarah with everything she held dear.
The timing was too convenient – right when Sarah was starting to rebuild her career, right when she was becoming valuable again.
"Did she say anything else?" Mason asked.
"She tried to call you, but Derek said you were in a eting. She tried Jas too, but couldn’t reach him." Zachary stood up, clearly agitated now. "Mr. Liu, you’re scaring . What’s going on?"
Mason ignored the question and made another call. "Derek, I need you to trace Sarah’s phone. Now."
"Sir? Is everything—"
"Now, Derek."
Mason hung up and turned back to Zachary.
"Mr. Liu, should I call the police?"
"No." Mason’s voice was like ice. "Not yet."
Mason’s phone rang. It was Derek.
"Sir, Mrs. Liu’s phone is turned off. The last location was near the Chen Family’s Manor about an hour ago, then nothing."
Mason felt a deadly calm settle over him. This was the feeling he got right before he destroyed his business enemies. The feeling he got when soone made the mistake of threatening what belonged to him.
"Derek, I need you to do several things imdiately," Mason said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "First, I want everything on Elliots Chen – his associates, his financial records. Everything."
"Yes, sir."
"Second, I want our security team mobilized. All of them."
"How many n, sir?"
"All of them, Derek. Every single one. Raid this city. Contact the governnt for soldiers if you have to."
There was a pause on the other end. Derek had worked for Mason for a long ti, and he had never heard this tone in his boss’s voice before.
"Third," Mason continued, "I want Lucas Wei to contact every private investigator in the city. Money is no object."
"Understood, sir. Anything else?"
Mason looked out the window at the city lights beginning to twinkle in the growing darkness. Sowhere out there, soone had taken his wife. Soone had made the fatal mistake of thinking they could threaten a Liu and get away with it.
"Yes," Mason said, his voice carrying a promise of retribution. "I want you to call Nicolette."
Derek’s intake of breath was audible. Nicolette was Mason’s most dangerous contact, a woman who operated in the shadows, who could find anyone, anywhere. She was expensive, ruthless, and completely loyal to Mason.
"Sir, are you sure—"
"Call her. Tell her Mason Liu needs a favor. Tell her soone took my wife."
Mason hung up and turned to Zachary, who was staring at him with wide eyes.
"Mr. Liu," Zachary said carefully, "who do you think has Sarah?"
Mason’s expression was colder than winter. "I don’t know yet. But I’m going to find out."
He walked toward the door, then paused. "Zachary, if anyone calls asking about Sarah, you know nothing. If any reporters try to contact you, you know nothing. If the police ask questions, you know nothing. Do you understand?"
Zachary nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."
"Good." Mason’s eyes were like black ice. "Because when I find whoever took her, I don’t want any witnesses to what happens next."
Mason left Zachary’s office and walked back to the car where Jas was waiting. As he got into the back seat, Jas could see in the rearview mirror that his boss’s face had transford into sothing terrifying.
"Where to, sir?" Jas asked nervously.
"The Chen Family’s Manor," Mason said. "And Jas?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Drive fast."
As the car pulled into traffic, Mason made one more call. This ti to a number that very few people in the country even knew existed.
"Nicolette," Mason spoke calmly. "It’s Mason Liu. Soone took my wife."
There was a long pause. "How many do you want dead?"
Mason looked out at the city passing by, his reflection in the window showing a man who had just declared war.
"The military might be involved, but I want all of them who took my wife dead," he said quietly. "All of them."
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