Chapter 43: The Things We Protect

The room stayed silent long after the video ended.

No one moved.

No one breathed.

The image of the little girl lingered on the screen like a bruise.

"Mommy said he’s supposed to love me."

Lucian stared at the frozen frame.

Dark curls.

Wide eyes.

Small fingers gripping the silver crescent charm like it was the only stable thing in her world.

Something inside him twisted hard enough to hurt.

Not because the child was his.

She wasn’t.

He knew that now.

But because somewhere along the line, Vivienne had built a lie so large it trapped a child inside it.

And children—

Children paid for adult cruelty more than anyone.

Lucian’s jaw tightened.

"We leave now."

⸻

Thirty Minutes Later

The rain had softened by the time the convoy reached the private airfield.

Not stopped.

Just softened into a cold silver mist that wrapped around the runway lights and black vehicles like something out of a war film.

Lucian’s jet waited near the far end of the tarmac.

Massive.

Dark.

Ready.

Security moved around it with controlled urgency while Elias coordinated satellite routes and Nova Scotia weather reports through an earpiece.

Allison stepped out of the SUV and looked up at the plane.

Then slowly looked at Lucian.

"Your jet looks evil."

Theo snorted.

Lucian took Allison’s overnight bag from the security guard automatically.

"It’s a jet."

"No," Allison said. "It specifically looks like it files lawsuits."

Simone burst out laughing behind them.

"Why is that accurate?"

Lucian sighed softly. "Get on the plane, Allison."

"Bossy."

"You married me anyway."

Her heart did the annoying thing again.

Theo saw it immediately and looked deeply inconvenienced by his own observation skills.

Adrian exited the second SUV speaking quietly into his phone while Susanna followed behind him wrapped in a cream wool coat.

Unlike Adrian, Susanna actually looked worried.

Adrian looked homicidal.

Subtle difference.

He ended the call and turned toward Lucian.

"The Nova Scotia property is confirmed under a Laurent-Cassel holding company."

Lucian nodded once.

"Security?"

"Minimal external registration," Adrian answered. "Which means hidden internal security."

Theo rolled his shoulders once. "Good. I was getting bored."

Simone stared at him. "You are alarmingly calm about armed island infiltration."

Theo looked genuinely confused. "Should I not be?"

"Yes!"

"Interesting."

Allison walked toward the jet beside Simone while Lucian and Adrian continued discussing entry points and extraction routes.

Simone glanced sideways at Allison’s hand.

Then gasped dramatically for the fifteenth time.

"That ring is still offensive."

Allison looked down at it.

The diamond caught the runway lights violently.

"Honestly, I’m still processing the fact that I got married in a safe house library."

"You got married after punching a socialite and surviving a kidnapping."

"That too."

Simone linked her arm through Allison’s as they climbed the jet stairs.

"You okay?"

The question softened something in Allison immediately.

Simone noticed everything.

Always.

Allison exhaled slowly.

"I don’t know."

"That’s fair."

"She used a child."

Simone’s expression darkened.

"Yeah."

Allison looked back toward Lucian.

He stood near Adrian, posture rigid, face unreadable under the runway lights.

Powerful.

Controlled.

Furious.

And somehow still the man who had checked her wrists like it physically hurt him to see bruises there.

Her chest tightened unexpectedly.

Simone followed her gaze.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"You’re doing the look."

Allison blinked. "What look?"

"The ’I accidentally married someone I’m emotionally attached to’ look."

Allison immediately looked away.

"I hate you."

"No you don’t."

"...currently undecided."

Simone grinned.

Then her expression softened.

"For what it’s worth?" she said quietly. "I’ve never seen anyone look at you the way Lucian does."

Allison swallowed.

"That’s the problem."

"No," Simone corrected gently. "That’s the terrifyingly healthy part."

⸻

Adrian & Susanna

Inside the jet, Adrian finally sat down for the first time in hours.

That alone told Susanna how serious this had become.

Because Adrian Croft did not sit unless forced by strategy or his wife.

Susanna lowered herself beside him while security and staff moved around the cabin preparing for departure.

For a few seconds, neither spoke.

Then Susanna quietly asked—

"How angry are you?"

Adrian looked out the window toward Allison.

Their daughter stood near the aircraft stairs talking to Simone, oversized sweater slipping off one shoulder slightly, wedding ring blazing under the runway lights.

"She was tied up in a dark room," Adrian said quietly.

Susanna’s throat tightened.

"Yes."

"She was afraid."

The words sounded wrong coming from Adrian.

Too soft.

Too personal.

Susanna reached for his hand slowly.

Adrian let her.

Barely.

"I should have protected her better."

Susanna looked at him immediately.

"No."

Adrian’s jaw flexed.

"I sent her away to learn independence. I wanted her strong enough to survive without the Croft name carrying her."

"And she did."

His eyes darkened.

"She survived people like Anthony Morrison."

Susanna squeezed his hand tighter.

"And she survived because she is yours."

That made him go still.

Susanna smiled faintly.

"You forget something, Adrian."

"What."

"She learned strategy from you."

A pause.

"And stubbornness."

Adrian almost looked offended.

"She got that from you."

Susanna laughed softly for the first time all night.

Then her expression shifted.

"What happens if we find the child?"

Adrian looked toward Lucian now.

Lucian stood near Theo speaking quietly while Elias reviewed coordinates.

"Then Lucian decides whether he wants revenge," Adrian said calmly.

Susanna frowned slightly.

"And if he does?"

Adrian’s eyes turned cold enough to freeze oceans.

"Then I help him."

⸻

Lucian & Theo

Theo found Lucian alone near the rear cabin just before takeoff.

The private jet hummed softly around them while rain streaked across the windows.

Lucian looked up as Theo approached.

"You’ve been avoiding me."

Theo leaned against the doorway casually.

"No. I’ve been deciding whether to threaten you before or after international travel."

Lucian sighed softly.

"There it is."

Theo’s expression stayed easy.

Too easy.

The mask.

Lucian knew Theo well enough to see through it.

Theo only joked when something mattered too much.

"You love her."

Not a question.

Lucian answered anyway.

"Yes."

Theo looked away briefly.

Just briefly.

Then laughed under his breath.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I figured."

Silence settled between them.

Not hostile.

Not comfortable either.

Theo shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You know the really annoying part?"

Lucian waited.

Theo smiled faintly.

"She likes you more."

Lucian’s brows lifted slightly.

Theo continued before he could respond.

"I’ve been in love with Allison since she dragged me out of the rain six years ago."

The confession landed softly.

Honest.

No performance.

Lucian looked at him carefully.

Theo shrugged one shoulder.

"She probably knew eventually. Allison notices everything when she lets herself."

Lucian’s voice stayed calm. "Did you ever tell her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Theo looked toward the cabin where Allison’s laugh drifted faintly through the plane.

"Because she deserved someone who would stop the world for her immediately."

A pause.

"And I would’ve watched it burn first."

Lucian went still.

Theo finally looked back at him fully now.

Dangerously serious.

"I love her," Theo said quietly. "Enough to know she needs peace more than she needs obsession."

Lucian held his gaze.

Theo stepped closer.

"So listen carefully, Calloway."

His smile vanished completely.

"If you hurt her, I will absolutely ruin your life."

Lucian didn’t flinch.

"Fair."

Theo blinked once.

Then barked out a laugh.

"That’s it? Fair?"

"Yes."

Theo stared at him for another second.

Then slowly nodded.

Because strangely—

That was the right answer.

Lucian’s voice lowered.

"I won’t hurt her."

Theo studied him carefully.

Then said the thing neither of them usually said out loud.

"You already look at her like she’s home."

The silence afterward felt strangely intimate.

Lucian looked down briefly.

Then admitted quietly—

"She is."

Theo closed his eyes once.

A small painful smile touched his mouth.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I know."

⸻

Sharon

Back at the safe house, Sharon sat alone in the guest room staring at her laptop screen.

Anthony’s interview replayed silently in the corner.

His face looked different to her now.

Not charming.

Not ambitious.

Weak.

Weak enough to destroy everyone around him because he couldn’t stand failing alone.

Sharon’s hand rested over her stomach instinctively.

The baby shifted faintly.

Her chest tightened.

"No," she whispered.

Not this life.

Not this fear. ℴℴ𝘮

Not this poison.

She opened a new encrypted account.

Anonymous routing.

Untraceable upload path.

Voice distortion software.

Anthony once taught her how executives buried scandals online.

Ironically—

That meant Allison taught Sharon how to expose them.

Sharon uploaded documents first.

Internal Morrison communications.

Anthony taking credit for Allison’s work.

Timestamped edits.

Emails.

Meeting transcripts.

Then she added the video.

Her own face hidden in shadow.

Voice distorted.

But steady.

"I’m Sharon Vale Morrison," she said quietly into the camera. "And Anthony Morrison is a liar."

She inhaled shakily.

"He cheated on Allison Croft for over a year while she ran his company behind the scenes. He manipulated records, stole work, and used emotional abuse to control the people around him."

Tears burned her eyes.

Still she continued.

"I helped him hurt her."

A pause.

"And Allison Croft still protected me when she didn’t have to."

Sharon wiped at her face roughly.

"If anyone still believes Anthony Morrison is a victim, you’re wrong."

She uploaded everything.

Then hit publish.

Within thirty seconds—

The internet detonated.

⸻

Anthony

Anthony’s phone would not stop ringing.

Calls.

Messages.

Alerts.

News requests.

Every screen showed the same thing.

Sharon.

Sharon exposing him publicly.

Anthony stared at the video with hollow disbelief.

"She wouldn’t."

But she did.

The comments flooded instantly.

ALLISON CROFT WAS THE REAL BRAINS

SHARON CONFIRMS YEARS OF MANIPULATION

MORRISON EMPIRE COLLAPSING?

WHERE IS ANTHONY MORRISON NOW?

Anthony hurled the phone across the room hard enough to crack the wall.

His breathing turned ragged.

Everything was collapsing too fast.

Too fast.

Vivienne had disappeared into another room after the marriage announcement, making calls he wasn’t allowed to hear.

Now Sharon betrayed him too.

Allison destroyed him.

Lucian married her.

His mother stopped answering.

His father sent only one text:

You failed.

Anthony pressed both hands against his head.

He couldn’t think.

Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t stop replaying Allison standing in that dark room looking at him like he was pathetic.

A knock sounded sharply.

Anthony looked up.

One of Vivienne’s guards stood in the doorway.

"Miss Laurent-Cassel wants to leave immediately."

Anthony laughed bitterly.

"Of course she does."

The guard didn’t smile.

Anthony stood slowly.

Then froze as the television screen changed.

Breaking news.

Private jet departure footage.

Lucian Calloway boarding with Allison Croft.

Married.

Together.

Untouchable.

Anthony’s stomach twisted violently.

Then the screen zoomed in.

And Anthony saw something that made his blood run cold.

Behind Lucian—

Adrian Croft’s security team loaded tactical gear into the jet.

Weapons.

Armor.

Extraction equipment.

Anthony whispered—

"Oh God."

Because suddenly he understood.

They weren’t just chasing Vivienne anymore.

They were coming for the child.

And if Lucian found that island—

Everything buried there would surface.

⸻

The jet lifted into the storm just after midnight.

Inside the cabin, Allison sat beside Lucian while Nova Scotia maps glowed across the monitors.

Theo slept lightly near the back.

Simone curled beneath a blanket with one eye open because apparently millionaire conspiracies ruined healthy sleep cycles.

Adrian and Elias reviewed satellite feeds together.

Then—

A sharp beep cut through the cabin.

Elias looked down at the screen.

His face changed instantly.

Lucian stood.

"What."

Elias turned the monitor around slowly.

Live security footage appeared.

An isolated island property surrounded by cliffs and crashing waves.

A little girl stood near the edge of the dock in a gray sweater clutching the silver crescent charm.

Alone.

The timestamp blinked red.

LIVE FEED DETECTED

Then the camera tilted upward slightly.

And Vivienne stepped into frame behind the child.

Elegant.

Cold.

Perfectly composed again.

She looked directly into the camera.

Then smiled.

"Lucian," she said softly.

The child turned around at the sound of her voice.

Vivienne rested one hand gently on the little girl’s shoulder.

"If you want answers," she said calmly, "come alone."

Then she leaned down beside the child and whispered something into her ear.

The little girl looked directly into the camera.

And quietly asked—

"Are you really my daddy?"