Page 47 of Billionaire’s Heartbreak

The image hit me before I could stop it.

Her face. Cold. Determined.

Then Chen, on the floor.

Blood everywhere. Too much blood.

I remembered standing there, frozen, unable to move or think. Useless.

“I don’t know if I have what it takes,” I said, the words heavier this time. It wasn’t doubt anymore. Just truth. I was tired of repeating it, and even more tired of him not hearing it.

“You do.”

Except Dannie didn’t know me. Not really. He didn’t know what that kidnapping had done to me or what it had taken from me. It hadn’t made me stronger. It had broken something inside me, leaving me hesitating, second-guessing myself, freezing whenever it mattered most.

The universe had a cruel way of balancing things. Two brothers had been taken. One came out stronger.The other became a coward, falling apart at the sight of blood.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Dannie said.

Before he could continue, the door opened and Lincoln stepped inside.

“Where’s June?”

“She went to get something,” Dannie said. His expression changed as he looked at Lincoln. “What’s wrong?”

Lincoln shut the door behind him and turned the lock.

“Laura.”

Dannie’s face hardened. “What about her?”

“She raided your suite.”

“What?” Dannie pushed himself higher against the pillows.

“Her people tore the place apart. They were looking for something—or someone.” Lincoln’s gaze moved between us. “Luckily, Lucy had already left Shanghai.”

My jaw tightened. “Anyone hurt?”

“No. Not this time.” Lincoln stepped closer.

“That means you need to leave now,” Dannie said. “Don’t waste any more time.”

The urgency in his voice cut through everything.

“We’re leaving now?”

June’s voice came from the doorway.

She stepped inside with a paper bag in her hands, looking almost painfully normal—too normal, too calm. Her eyes moved across the room: Lincoln, Dannie, me. She studied each of us, reading the silence, sensing that something had changed.

9

June

* * *

Hong Kong smelled different today.