COULD YOU DANCE WITH ME? MY EX IS WATCHING

The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.

Lily is gone.

Julian didn't ask questions. He didn't hesitate. The calculating billionaire vanished entirely, replaced by a father gripped by primal, terrifying instinct. He bolted past Maria, his shoulder clipping the doorframe in his haste, and sprinted down the hallway.

Sarah was right behind him, kicking off her heels so she could run on the hardwood floors.

The Aspen night was brutally cold. As they burst through the heavy terrace doors, the wind hit them like a physical blow, biting through Sarah’s thin dress. She didn't care. Adrenaline surged through her veins, hot and desperate.

“Lily!” Julian roared into the darkness, his voice tearing at the seams. “Lily!”

Beyond the manicured lawns of the estate lay the woods, and beyond that, the lake. It was early winter; the ice was notoriously thin, deceptive in the moonlight.

Sarah grabbed a heavy wool blanket off a patio chair and threw it around her shoulders, her eyes scanning the tree line.

“Julian, look!” Sarah pointed toward the fresh, undisturbed snow near the edge of the pines. There were footprints. Two sets. One small, erratic. The other heavy, calculated, following closely behind.

Marcus.

Sickening dread pooled in Sarah’s stomach. Marcus was cruel, but kidnapping a child? Was he really that desperate for the ledger?

Julian saw the tracks. He took off at a dead sprint, plunging into the ankle-deep snow. Sarah followed, her breath pluming in the freezing air, the frozen ground tearing at her nylon-covered feet.

They tore through the pines, branches whipping against their faces. The sound of the wind howling through the trees sounded like a mourning choir.

Then, they broke through the tree line.

The lake lay before them, a vast expanse of dark, shimmering ice illuminated by the harsh moonlight.

In the center of the lake stood Marcus. He had one hand clamped tightly around Lily’s upper arm. In his other hand, he held the thick, leather-bound ledger.

Lily was crying, her small shoulders shaking in her yellow raincoat, her feet slipping on the slick ice.

“Let her go!” Julian bellowed, his voice echoing off the mountains. He took a step onto the ice, but it groaned ominously beneath his weight.

Marcus turned, a frantic, unhinged smile on his face. He looked nothing like the polished man from the gala. He looked like a cornered animal.

“Stay exactly where you are, Julian!” Marcus shouted, his voice cracking. “Or we all go for a swim.”

“Marcus, please,” Sarah begged, stepping up beside Julian. The cold was unbearable, but the sight of Lily crying shattered her heart. “She’s just a little girl. This is between us. Let her go.”

“It’s not between us anymore, Sarah!” Marcus yelled, waving the ledger. “He ruined me! Apex found out I didn't actually have the Vanguard assets secured. They fired me. The board turned on me. I have nothing! This ledger is my only leverage to get my life back!”

“I will give you whatever you want,” Julian said, his voice deadly calm, though his hands were shaking with suppressed violence. “Money. The assets. Safe passage. Name your price. Just hand me my daughter.”

“I don’t want your money!” Marcus screamed. “I want you to admit it! Tell her, Julian! Tell Sarah why you really bought Vanguard!”

Sarah frowned, looking from Marcus to Julian.

Julian’s jaw tightened. He didn't take his eyes off Lily.

“Tell her about the accident!” Marcus taunted, his grip on Lily tightening. The little girl whimpered. “Tell her who was driving the car that hit your wife three years ago!”

The wind seemed to stop. The silence on the lake was deafening.

Sarah turned to Julian, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Julian slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were filled with an agony so profound it took Sarah’s breath away.

“It was your father, Sarah,” Julian whispered, his voice cracking. “Arthur Hayes. He was the drunk driver who killed Elena.”

The world tilted. Sarah stumbled back, the wool blanket slipping from her shoulders. “No. No, my father died of a heart attack three years ago.”

“He had a heart attack behind the wheel,” Julian said, the tears finally falling down his face. “He crossed the center line. He hit Elena’s car. He died instantly. She died hours later in my arms.”

Sarah couldn't breathe. The silver pen on Julian's desk. The family locket. He hadn't bought her company because of her talent. He hadn't approached her at the gala by chance.

He had hunted her down to destroy the daughter of the man who had ruined his life.

“You see?” Marcus laughed, a manic, hysterical sound. “He’s been playing you! He’s going to frame you for the embezzlement and throw you in a cage as revenge!”

Marcus took a step backward, pulling Lily with him.

CRACK.

The sound was like a gunshot.

A massive spiderweb of fractures shot across the ice beneath Marcus’s feet.

Marcus froze, his eyes widening in terror. He looked down.

“Daddy!” Lily screamed.