I glared up at him with nothing but malice in my eyes.
I had no idea what he would do to me, but I knew I had to keep whatever strength I had.
Charles wouldn’t spare me a second time. But I knew that I would fight, and if the fates allowed, I would take him down with me or die trying.
Chapter 37
Parker
Something was wrong.
My father and I were in a shareholders' meeting, and we were only on agenda item three out of twelve so far after being here for an hour already.
I had zero plans to go into the office today, but my assistant, Clara, called frantically about a meeting I had to attend. My father had sprung it on her, and now her job depended on my attendance. Janae and Aja were planning to arrive late, so they followed behind me from the cafe.
For weeks, he had been saying that I needed to get more familiar with the board and the shareholders. I vehemently disagreed. There was no point in schmoozing these people because I wasn’t staying here. After the blow-up with my father, I felt it even more strongly that I could never stay here and work under him. Especially not for a job I didn’t particularly like. I’d come and go as I pleased without submitting to his conditions.
There wouldn’t be any formal resignation letter. He knew I was done being his puppet. I was here as a last favor for Clara and nothing more. He deliberately endangered Evelyn despite my warnings, on top of the shady deals he was making forGentry, the lies, and the manipulation. There was no going back for us.
I didn’t give a shit about this meeting.
When I looked out of the glass-paneled conference room, I saw Aja and Janae rushing towards the door. Their faces told me that something was wrong. I just didn’t know how bad.
Aja stormed through the door with Janae closely behind her.
“Parker, something is wrong. We need to go.”
My father huffed loudly, jumping to his feet.
“Aja, we are in the middle of a meeting right now!”
I could tell it was taking everything in him not to make a scene. We had been tense around each other since I arrived, and now all his children were stirring up trouble.
“Parker, check your phone right now. We have to go,” Janae said, completely ignoring our father.
Checking my pockets, I found them empty. I was in my office in record time with the twins traveling close behind. Grabbing my phone off my desk, I saw eight missed calls from William and a few from Aja and Janae.
I was filled with a sense of foreboding. I didn’t have to call William back to know that something was wrong with Evelyn. I dialed her number and was immediately sent to voicemail.
I tried again and again but failed.
“William said he took Evelyn to the Marquis. Someone attacked him. When he came to, she was gone,” Janae said with a tremble in her voice.
“What do you mean,gone, Janae?” I said evenly.
They exchanged a look before Aja spoke up.
“Her office was empty, with her bag and phone still there.”
Janae continued, “William said he tried to look at the camera footage, but it had been tampered with. They were offline for over an hour for routine maintenance.”
My fist flew into the filing cabinet, causing my sisters to shriek.
A silence blanketed the office as the staff paused their tasks, shocked by my outburst as well.
I didn’t care about the optics. Everything in me wanted to destroy this place.
“Take a deep breath, Parker,” Aja said.
