Chapter 7
Max's POV
We took the elevator to the top floor. I had tracked Mom's location through her phone. Two burly men were guarding the door.
"Remember," I whispered to Lily, "act like Kathy. Be serious, and get them to leave."
Lily nodded, straightened her posture, and put on a cold expression that looked completely out of place on her usually cheerful face.
I hid around the corner, watching as Lily approached the suite.
"Miss Blackwood?" one of the guards said, looking confused. "How did you get back here?"
Lily slightly raised her chin, just like we had seen Kathy do. "I finished early," Lily said coldly.
I was impressed. Lily's performance deserved an Oscar.
"Ethan needs help," Lily continued. "I'll wait here for Father. You go help him."
The guards hesitated.
"Are you refusing to follow my orders?" Lily asked coldly.
The guards exchanged glances, then nodded. "Of course, Miss Blackwood. We'll inform your father that you've returned."
The moment they left, I rushed to the door, and Lily and I pushed it open.
"Mom!" I shouted as we burst into the suite.
She was sitting in the corner, red marks on her wrists. She looked up, her eyes widening in shock.
"Max? Lily? What are you doing here?"
I ran to her side, wrapping my arms around her neck. "We came to rescue you! Mom, are you okay? Did that man hurt you?"
"Oh, Max," Mom's voice choked, and she hugged me tightly. "You shouldn't have come here. It's dangerous!"
"I'm not afraid of him," I backed away a step, examining her wrists. "He hurt you! That bastard!"
"We need to leave now," Mom said urgently, getting to her feet. "How did you get past the guards?"
Lily grinned proudly. "I pretended to be Kathy!"
"You saw Kathy?"
"In the restaurant," I confirmed.
Mom's eyes filled with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. "We need to leave before they come back."
"Wait," I moved to the office chair by the desk.
"Max, what are you doing?"
I pulled a small tube from my pocket—super glue I had brought from home. I worked quickly, squeezing a large amount onto the expensive leather seat.
"Max!" she gasped. "Stop that right now!"
"Nobody hurts my mom and gets away with it," I said firmly, continuing my work.
"That's not how we handle things," she said, but I could see a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth despite her words.
"We need to go," Lily urged from the doorway. "They might come back!"
We slipped out of the suite and headed toward the emergency stairs.
Back at home, Mom began packing suitcases.
"Mom, are we going on vacation?" Lily's eyes lit up with excitement, innocent and unaware.
"Yes, sweetheart. We're going to stay at Daisy's farm for a while. She just called and said the strawberries in her patch are all ripe now. Wanna go pick some strawberries?"
Lily nodded enthusiastically, her pigtails bouncing. "Cool！Can I bring my stuffed animal?"
"Of course. Max, go with your sister and pack some things, okay?" Mom looked at me.
I knew Mom was trying to hide from that man. I nodded and led my sister back to our room.
I opened my laptop and started searching for more information about the man. I quickly found him on a corporate website. He was the CEO of Blackwood Group, commanding a vast business empire.
Curious Lily peered over my shoulder at the monitor. "Wow, that man's eyes look like yours, Max."
Indeed, and Lily looked a lot like Kathy. Could he be our father?
The thought kept swirling in my mind until a voice interrupted.
"Max, Lily, are you ready?" Mom called out. "We need to leave soon!"
"Coming, Mom!" I responded, closing my laptop. I'd think about this later.
Richard's POV
"Why are you here?" I looked at Morgan.
"Where is Elena?" she demanded.
"This is a family matter. It doesn't concern you."
"You don't deserve to be her husband," she said angrily.
"Lock her up. Release her after we get back," I told the guards, not interested in continuing the conversation.
Suddenly my phone rang.
"Alpha," Ethan's voice came through my phone, "we have a situation."
"What now?" I asked irritably.
"It's about Elena. She's... gone."
"What do you mean 'gone'?" I stopped walking, angry. "Weren't there two guards at the door?"
"They said Kathy told them to leave..."
I hung up before he could finish, heading straight for the penthouse suite.
I stormed through the hotel corridor, my anger rising with each step. Morgan was already in my custody, so who helped Elena escape?
When I reached the suite, I found it empty, just as Ethan had said. Elena's scent hung in the air, mixed with others that were both familiar and strange.
Ethan arrived moments later. "The security cameras were hacked," he reported. "We only have footage of Kathy approaching the door, but she was with me at that time."
"Find out how this happened," I ordered. "And bring Morgan here."
Soon, Morgan was brought in.
"Was this your accomplice's doing?" I stared at her expression.
She frowned, clearly also unaware of who had taken Elena.
"I don't know."
"Does she have any other friends here?" I persisted.
She still refused to talk. Fine, stronger methods would be needed.
"Lock her up," I told the guards beside me.
After everyone had left, Ethan said to me, "Alpha, doing this might create conflict with the local pack."
"They're no threat to me," I growled. "Find out what you can, by any means necessary."
I started to get up, but immediately felt something wrong. My expensive suit pants were firmly stuck to the leather chair.
Ethan's eyes widened; clearly he hadn't expected this either. Then I saw his expression as he tried to suppress a laugh.
"Damn it, get out!" I roared. "Go find her now!"
As Ethan rushed out of the room, I gripped the armrests tightly. Would she really do something this childish?