Chapter 5 - The Kidnapping
Clara ran down the sweeping staircase, her heart soaring and breaking all at once. She needed to find Ethan. She needed to tell him she remembered everything—how much she loved him, the life they built, and the horrifying truth about Vanessa.
But as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the massive front doors burst open.
Marcus, the head of security, rushed in, his usually stoic face pale with terror. “Sir! Mr. Caldwell!” he yelled, sprinting toward Ethan’s study.
Ethan emerged, instantly sensing the catastrophic shift in the air. “What is it?”
“It’s Noah,” Marcus gasped. “We found his nanny unconscious in the garden pavilion. She was drugged. Noah is gone. The perimeter cameras were hacked five minutes ago.”
Clara let out a primal, gut-wrenching scream. She collapsed against the banister, the newly returned memories of her son suddenly replaced by the agonizing reality that he had been ripped away from her again.
Ethan’s face went completely bloodless. He caught Clara in his arms, holding her up as his own world began to spin.
A burner phone sitting on the foyer table suddenly buzzed, its bright screen lighting up the gloomy hall. Ethan snatched it.
“Vanessa,” Ethan growled, his voice vibrating with a lethal, murderous rage.
“Hello, Ethan,” Vanessa’s voice purred through the speaker, though there was a frantic edge to it. “I warned you not to push me away. I have the boy. If you ever want to see your precious heir again, you will transfer two hundred million dollars to the offshore account I’m sending you, and you will sign the merger documents.”
“I will kill you with my bare hands,” Ethan swore, his knuckles turning white.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Vanessa tutted. “No police, Ethan. Or little Noah gets to find out what happened to his mommy two years ago. And tell the maid… if she wants to prove she’s a real mother, she can bring the signed documents to the old Pier 47 warehouse by herself. In one hour.”
The line went dead.
Clara pulled herself out of Ethan’s arms. The terrified, submissive housekeeper was gone. In her place stood Clara Caldwell, the fierce, unyielding matriarch of the family.
May you like
“Get the papers,” Clara said, her voice dropping to a deadly calm. “I’m going to get my son back.”
---
