Everyone watched Victoria raise her hand against a helpless elderly woman, but only one waitress dared to stop her—and seconds later, Chicago’s most powerful billionaire walked straight toward them. / Chapter 26 / 191

Chapter 26 - The Debt of Honor

"Oh, God..." Emma whispered, horror washing over her. "Mrs. Higgins. Why her? Why would he target an innocent woman who has nothing to do with this?"

Dominic’s face was grim as stone. "Because Arthur is a sadist, Miss Carter. He reviewed every security log from the night this entire war began. He knows that the only reason Vincent ever noticed you was because you risked your life to protect this woman. Arthur sees her as the catalyst that brought you into Vincent's orbit."

Emma’s hands trembled, but her jaw set into a hard line. "What does Arthur want?"

"He sent a single instruction along with the video," Dominic said. "He wants you. Alone. At the Old Pullman Foundry by three o'clock. If anyone from Moretti security approaches the perimeter, or if Vincent tries to storm the facility, Arthur will execute Mrs. Higgins on a live broadcast to every media outlet in the state."

"I have to go," Emma said without hesitation, taking a step toward the door.

Dominic immediately blocked her path, holding up a hand. "Miss Carter, absolutely not. Vincent would tear this city apart with his bare hands before he let you walk into a slaughterhouse. We are assembling an extraction team right now. Our snipers can—"

"Your snipers couldn't stop Julian from letting Arthur into Vincent's home!" Emma snapped, her eyes blazing with fierce resolve. "If Arthur sees a single tactical vehicle, Mrs. Higgins dies! She is an eighty-year-old woman who did nothing wrong! I won't let her blood be spilled because of a feud between billionaires!"

"Emma."

Vincent’s deep voice echoed from the doorway. He had entered silently, his tall silhouette framed against the corridor light. The fury radiating from him was palpable, filling the room with an almost suffocating pressure.

Dominic immediately bowed his head. "Boss. She received the transmission."

Vincent walked forward, stopping just inches from Emma. He looked down at her, his eyes dark with an agonizing mix of terror and devotion. "You are not going, Emma. I will not permit it."

"You don't own me, Vincent," Emma said, holding his gaze unflinchingly. "You gave me protection, you gave Liam a future, and for that, I will be grateful until the day I die. But Mrs. Higgins was kind to me when I was nobody. When Victoria Sterling threatened to ruin my life, Mrs. Higgins tried to pull me away to save me. I will not sit in a penthouse while an innocent grandmother is murdered for my choices."

Vincent grabbed her shoulders, his grip tight yet desperate. "Arthur doesn't want Mrs. Higgins, Emma! He wants you! He knows that if he breaks you, he breaks me! He has rigged that entire factory to be a death trap! If you walk through those doors, you won't come out alive!"

"Then help me come out alive," Emma whispered fiercely, placing her hand over his. "You're Vincent Moretti. You anticipate every move on the board. Don't tell me you can't outsmart Arthur when we know his exact trap."

Vincent stared into her eyes, searching for any tremor of hesitation, any flicker of fear that he could exploit to keep her safe. But all he found was pure, unyielding steel.

Slowly, the tension in Vincent’s shoulders shifted. The billionaire took a deep breath, and when he spoke, the calculating general within him took over.

"Dominic," Vincent commanded without breaking eye contact with Emma. "Prepare the sub-dermal transmitter and the ceramic-blade concealed harness. Call our off-grid unit at Blackwood Logistics."