All Chapters of The Billionaire Hidden in Plain Sight: Chapter 181
- Chapter 190
200 chapters
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO
Liam stood with his forehead pressed against the cool glass, arms crossed tight over his chest. Two floors above, Emma was asleep in their bed. She'd climbed out a window in that warehouse and run through unfamiliar streets until she found a police station. She saved herself while he was across town, offering those bastards money, offering them anything like some fool playing a game he'd walked away from years ago.The old rage stirred in his chest. A soft knock came from the study door."Come in."Thomas stepped inside, twisting a worn cap in his hands. He looked around the room like he'd accidentally wandered into a palace, which, Liam supposed, he had. The gardener had probably never been past the ground floor."You wanted to see me, Mr. Clarke? I was halfway home when your man caught up with me." His voice trembled slightly.Liam turned from the window. "Thank you for coming back. Close the door."Thomas did, then stood there awkwardly, clutching his cap. "Is everything alright? T
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE
Liam stood alone in the study, the city glittering behind him like a million eyes watching. He pulled out Thomas's paper and studied it again. He picked up his phone and dialed the first number. A man in Zurich answered on the second ring."I need a meeting," Liam said. "Tomorrow."The voice on the other end hesitated. "Liam? I heard you were out.""I'm back in, one time only. You in?"Another pause. Then he asked, “Where and when?"Liam gave the details and hung up. He dialed again, one by one, men who owed him silence agreed to meet.By the time the sky began to lighten, Liam had built the army. He finally climbed the stairs to the bedroom. Emma stirred as he slipped beneath the covers, murmuring his name."I'm here," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."She turned toward him, still half-asleep, and he wrapped himself around her. Liam closed his eyes.—The private jet cut flew clouds at thirty-seven thousand feet. Liam sat alone in the leather seat, a tablet in his hand, Thomas's fol
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR
He was still there when the sun came up, coffee untouched, watching three different screens display the same breaking news. Everything was going according to plan but he didn’t celebrate.His phone buzzed around noon, it was a number he recognized."Liam." The voice was tense. "You seeing the news?""I see a lot of news.""Don't play games. This has your signature all over it."Liam said nothing."I'm not calling to warn them. I'm calling to ask, am I on your list?""Were you in that warehouse when they held my wife?"There was a short pause, then he said, "No. I wasn't even consulted. I'm running legitimate operations now. Nothing more.""Then you have nothing to worry about."Another pause. "They're going to figure out it's you eventually.""Let them.”Liam ended the call and set the phone down. Outside the study window, Thomas was visible in the garden, pruning roses like he'd done a hundred times before. Nothing in his posture suggested he was anything but a gardener and that was
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE
Something woke her at 3 AM. Emma lay still and listened. The house was quiet and Liam's side of the bed was empty, the sheets cold. He was probably in the study again, running his war while the rest of the world slept but that wasn't what pulled her from sleep.It was the baby. Or rather, the lack of movement.She placed both hands on her belly and waited. Nothing. She shifted onto her side, still nothing. A cold feeling settled in her chest, the kind that made it hard to breathe.She grabbed her phone and called the only person who'd answer at this hour.Margaret picked up on the second ring, her voice alert despite the time. "Emma? What's wrong?""I haven't felt the baby move in hours. I don't know if I'm overreacting but—""Stay right there. I'm coming."Twenty minutes later, Margaret walked through the front door wearing a coat over her nightgown, her gray hair slightly wild, her expression completely focused. She found Emma in the kitchen holding a cup of tea that had gone cold a
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX
The hotel room smelled like bleach and old cigarettes. Ethan sat on the edge of the bed, staring at a phone that hadn't rung in three days.Six months ago, he'd had money, status, and a future. Now he had this room, a prepaid phone, and a list of numbers that nobody answered anymore.He'd tried calling his old contacts first. The businessmen who'd laughed at his jokes and called him a genius now they were silent. Then his so-called friends, also silent. Then his family, finally, desperate enough to swallow his pride. His father had hung up without a word.The only people who still might take his calls were the ones too dangerous to want to talk to.Ethan picked up the phone and dialed a number he'd memorized years ago, back when he'd first started circling Liam Clarke like a shark smelling blood. The number connected to a man named Dominic.A voice answered on the fourth ring. "Who is this?""Ethan Blake. We met two years ago in Vienna. I bought you dinner." "I remember. Why are you
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN
The International Summit on Economic Security had drawn leaders from forty nations, along with enough press to populate a small city. They gathered in the grand convention center overlooking the lake, cameras ready, notebooks out, and waiting for the first major speech of the day.Liam Clarke was scheduled for 10 AM.Ethan sat in the third row, dressed in a suit that cost more than most people's monthly rent. He looked like any other attendee, a businessman there to network and observe. No one glanced at him twice and that was the point.His phone buzzed softly in his pocket, a single word from his hacker, “Ready.”Ethan smiled and settled deeper into his seat. Around him, the audience murmured with anticipation. At exactly 10 AM, Liam walked out.He looked calm and composed, dressed in a dark suit with no tie, the only man in the room who seemed completely at ease. He adjusted the microphone, glanced at his notes, and began to speak."Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here. W
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EIGHT
Liam was in the study going over reports when his phone rang. An unknown number and he nearly ignored it, but something made him pick up."Liam." The voice was soft, familiar in a way that made his jaw tighten. "It's Tara. Please don't hang up."He said nothing."I know I'm the last person you want to hear from. I know what I did. What Ethan made me do." She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice cracked slightly. "I was stupid and cared and he manipulated me just like he manipulated everyone else."Liam leaned back in his chair. "Why are you calling?""Because I want to make it right. I want to see you apologize properly, not over the phone like a coward." Another pause. "I miss my family, Liam. I miss Emma. I miss Sunday dinners at Margaret's. I miss... I miss who I was before all of this.""You betrayed them, betrayed Emma and everyone who trusted you.""I know." Her voice broke for real this time. "I know, and I have to live with that every second but I'm asking for a chance.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE
Liam was in a meeting at his office when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen. Margaret. He almost let it go to voicemail, but something made him pick up."Margaret?""Liam." Her voice was calm but tight. "Emma's in the hospital. She's stable, the baby's stable, but you need to come now."He stood up so fast his chair rolled back and hit the wall. The men across the table stared at him."What happened? What—""Just come. St. Mary's. Maternity wing." The line went dead.Liam was already moving. He didn't grab his coat or tell the men waiting where he was going. He just walked out and ran for the elevator.The drive to St. Mary's was a blur of red lights and loud horns. Liam ran two of the lights and he didn't care. His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white.“She was stable, the baby was stable.” Margaret had said that.But Emma had gone into labor alone without him and he hadn't been there or known.He slammed his palm against the steering wheel and kept
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY
Liam left the hospital at noon only because Emma made him."Go," she said. "Go shower and change. Eat something that isn't hospital coffee and get whatever proof you have. Bring it back.""You're sure?""I'm sure. I'm not going anywhere." She looked down at the baby in her arms. "We'll be here."He kissed her forehead, then the baby's, and walked out. He drove home on autopilot, his mind already working. Tara had planned this carefully especially with the email scheduled to send after she lost consciousness. She'd thought of everything but she hadn't thought of the cameras.Liam sat in his study and pulled up the security footage from his property. There were cameras at every entrance, every corner. He'd installed them years ago, back when he still thought about threats the way soldiers think about war.The footage from the night before was clear. Tara arriving, walking up the path and entering the house.He pulled up the interior footage next. The study, where they'd met, every angl
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY ONE
Three days after coming home from the hospital, Emma made a phone call.Victoria answered on the second ring. "You're supposed to be resting.""I'm supposed to be doing a lot of things." Emma sat in her home office, the baby monitor on her desk, Maggie asleep upstairs. "I need your help with something.""Anything.""I'm holding a press conference tomorrow. Titan Global headquarters, 10 AM. I need you to invite every major news outlet in the city."Victoria was quiet for a moment. "Emma, what are you doing?""Nothing serious, just fixing a problem.""Does Liam know?""Not yet."Another pause. "You're scaring me a little right now.""Good because fear is appropriate." Emma glanced at the folder on her desk, thick with evidence. "Can you make the calls?""I can make the calls butEmma, whatever you're planning—""I'm planning to handle my own family. That's all."Victoria was quiet for a beat. Then she said softly “Is it Tara?”"Yes.""I'll make the calls."The next morning, Emma dressed