Chapter 4

Kira's actions were lightning fast.

The very next morning, she called.

"Your family's situation is worse than I imagined."

My heart sank.

"Victoria is a master of finance. She played your brother's game very well."

"What do you mean?"

"She feared you'd use company money, so she laid her trap early."

"The very day the kidnapping happened, under the pretense of mitigating market risks, she funneled all the company's liquid assets into an offshore long-term real estate trust fund."

My mind buzzed.

"What does that mean?"

"It means the company has no cash flow left."

"That money is locked in for three years."

"If you want to withdraw it early, you'll lose at least eighty percent of the principal, and the process is extremely complicated; it'll take at least ten days, if not longer."

Kira's tone was serious.

"To prevent you from touching the money, she placed a self-destruct lock on the company's finances."

"She locked herself in too."

I understood.

Victoria thought it was my nephew who was kidnapped. She assumed I would use company funds at any cost to save him.

So she made the first move, bleeding the company dry.

But she miscalculated one thing.

One thing that would destroy her.

I hung up the phone and drove straight to the company headquarters.

This time, I wasn't stopped.

Victoria seemed to have anticipated my arrival; the front desk simply gave me a temporary visitor's pass.

I pushed open the door to the CEO's office on the top floor.

Victoria and Marcus stood together, laughing happily as they pointed at blueprints for a children's play area.

Seeing me enter, Marcus immediately sobered.

Victoria slowly put down the blueprints and leaned back in her executive chair.

"Had a change of heart? Come to sign that authorization?"

Her tone carried a hint of condescension.

I ignored her, walking directly to her.

"I'm here to talk about the ransom."

Victoria looked as if she'd heard the funniest joke.

"Alex, are you still dreaming?"

"I've made it very clear. The company won't pay a single dime."

"Your nephew's life isn't worth ten million."

She repeated the cold words, her eyes full of contempt.

Marcus, beside her, nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Alex, Ms. Victoria is also thinking about the company's long-term development. Don't let your emotions get the better of you."

I watched them, finding it utterly ironic.

"I agree with you."

I said calmly.

Victoria paused, clearly not expecting that.

"A child's life is indeed not worth ten million."

I paused, my gaze sweeping over Marcus's tense face.

"Especially when that child's family doesn't have that much money."

Victoria's smile froze.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying, the kidnappers didn't take my nephew."

I pulled out my phone, opening the encrypted video the kidnappers had sent me.

In the video, Marcus's son was tied to a pillar, his mouth gagged.

The kidnapper, wearing a mask, spoke:

"Our patience is running thin. If we don't see the money by tomorrow at noon, you'll be collecting a corpse!"

Victoria stared at the screen, the color draining from her face.

"No… this can't be… this is definitely fake!"

She shrieked, completely losing her usual composure.

"Fake?"

I sneered.

"Then why don't you call the school right now and ask?"

Victoria fumbled with her phone, her fingers trembling as she found the school teacher's number.

The teacher's polite but confused voice came through the phone.

"Ms. Victoria? Hello. Leo was picked up by his uncle yesterday."

"Impossible!"

Victoria's voice was hoarse.

"Then who was absent yesterday?"

"Oh, you mean Caleb. His father called in, reporting him sick for three days."

The call ended.

The office fell into a dead silence.

Victoria's phone slipped from her hand, falling onto the carpet.

Her face was as white as a sheet.

She finally understood.

The child kidnapped, from start to finish, was never my nephew.

It was her and Marcus's secret son.

Victoria lunged at the computer like a madwoman.

"Money! Quick! Transfer the money!"

She screamed at Marcus, frantically operating the online banking herself.

Marcus nodded, equally panicked, and pulled out the company's security token to authorize the transfer.

"But Victoria, the company account is empty."

Victoria didn't hear him. She entered the amount and clicked 'transfer'.

A red warning box popped up on the screen.

[Insufficient available balance. Transaction failed.]

She collapsed into her chair, her eyes vacant.

She knew. To stop me from using company money, she had personally locked all the funds.

She had personally cut off her own son's lifeline.

She violently lifted her head, glaring at me, her eyes filled with venom and desperation.

"Alex… you…"

I walked to her, enjoying her agony.

"So quick to transfer the money. You're really desperate. It seems he truly is your son!"

"I never thought you'd go to such extremes to prevent me from saving my nephew."

"Locking down all the company's cash."

"Now, it's your own son on the line."

I mimicked her earlier tone, enunciating each word.

"Didn't you say a child's life isn't worth ten million?"

Victoria's lips were bitten raw and bleeding, her body trembling violently.

Despair—I was seeing it on this woman's face for the first time.

She suddenly knelt before me.

"Alex, I beg you! You… you must have a way, right?"