Chapter 270

Emilia was still staring at the message when Christian approached her.

The security team had begun pulling up property records, floor plans, and everything they could find about the address Dante had provided. Adrian stood beside the operations table, speaking quietly to one of his men.

Emilia barely heard any of it.

Her mother was somewhere in that building. Kylie was somewhere out at sea. And she had no idea which of them she would see again.

"Emilia."

She looked up.

Christian stood in front of her, his expression serious. "Go with Adrian."

Her brows drew together. "What?"

"You’re going with Adrian to the address. Kylie would be okay."

Emilia looked away. "We don’t know that."

"We will."

Christian exhaled, dragging a hand over his jaw.

"I know you’re worried about Kylie. I’m worried about her too. But we have a possible location for your mother, and Dante has given us one hour to deliver something he wants badly enough to threaten you with her life."

"The necklace."

"Exactly."

Emilia looked down at the phone in her hand.

Christian continued.

"We don’t know what happens if you hand it over. We don’t know why he wants it. We don’t even know if your mother is alive inside that building. The only thing we know for certain is that Dante wants you to make a decision before you have time to think."

"I have thought about it."

"I know you have." His voice softened slightly. "That’s why I’m asking you to think about something else."

She looked at him again.

"Kylie. I need to see Kylie."

Emilia’s expression changed.

"Kylie is missing," he said. "We have a possible signal from her phone, but we don’t have a confirmed location. We don’t know who else is on that ship or what they intend to do with her."

Emilia swallowed. "And you think I should just leave her?"

"No."

"Because that’s what it sounds like."

"I’m saying you should go with Adrian to get your mother."

She stared at him.

Christian leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice. "Listen to me, Emilia. Kylie would need you as far away as possible for this to work."

Her expression shifted. "What does that mean?"

"It means whoever took her may be counting on you and Adrian being distracted by Dante. It means that if there’s a connection between these two situations, we cannot afford to assume we understand it yet."

He paused.

"And it means that if we divide ourselves without a plan, we give whoever took Kylie exactly what they want."

Emilia’s fingers tightened around her phone.

Christian watched her absorb that.

"You going with Adrian doesn’t mean you’re abandoning Kylie," he continued. "It means you’re letting us handle both emergencies instead of trying to carry both of them yourself."

For a moment, she said nothing.

Then she looked towards Adrian.

He had finished his call and was watching them from across the room.

"He’s right about one thing," Adrian said as he approached. "You shouldn’t have to choose which person you love enough to save."

Emilia’s eyes filled.

She blinked rapidly and looked away before either man could comment on it.

Adrian reached for her hand.

"We’ll find your mother. Christian will continue the search for Kylie. And if we discover a connection between the two situations, we’ll deal with it together."

She let out a shaky breath. "I hate this."

Adrian squeezed her hand. "Then don’t sit around. Come with me. Help me get your mother out of there."

Emilia looked at Christian one last time. "You’re going to find her?"

His jaw tightened.

"Yes."

It wasn’t a promise he could guarantee. They both knew that. But it was the answer he could give her.

Emilia nodded. "Okay."

Christian gave her a brief, grateful look before turning towards the security chief.

"Any progress on the address?"

The man glanced up from his computer.

"We’ve identified the property. It’s a detached house on the outskirts of the city. The ownership records are complicated, but we’ve traced the most recent transfer through two shell companies."

"To whom?"

"We’re still verifying the final name."

Christian’s expression hardened. "Keep going."

The man nodded, then hesitated.

"There’s something else. Mr. Ashford’s father filed a report several years ago concerning a missing item from the Belmont estate. That’s what Dante is after."

Adrian turned. "What item?"

The security chief looked at the screen. "A key."

Christian frowned. "A key to what?"

"The Belmont ultimate safe lock. It’s an old security system installed beneath the main estate. The key was declared missing after an inventory discrepancy. Mr. Ashford’s father reportedly believed it had been stolen."

Adrian went very still. "What did the key look like?"

The security chief opened a scanned image of the old report. It showed a small pendant attached to a delicate chain.

A letter B had been engraved on its face.

Emilia stared at the screen. "Wiat."

Adrian turned towards her.

She was already shaking her head. "No, that can’t be right."

"Emilia?" he asked.

She stepped closer to the screen, staring at the image as if she could make it become something else.

"I have that necklace."

Silence fell over the room.

Christian looked at her. "You have what?"

"The necklace." She pointed at the image with a trembling finger. "I have it. It’s been in my house for years."

Adrian’s brows drew together.

"Your house?"

"In the basement. Mum kept a box of old things down there, and the necklace was inside it. I thought it was just something Dad gave me when I was little. That is the necklace he wants."

Her voice faltered.

The pendant had never seemed particularly valuable. It was small, ordinary-looking, and easy to overlook among the other things in the box.

She had worn it as a child. Then, as she grew older, she’d stopped wearing it and eventually forgotten about it.

She hadn’t even thought about it in years.

Until now.

Adrian looked at the image again.

"My father declared this missing?"

"According to the report," the security chief confirmed. "The safe lock was part of the Belmont estate’s security system. Its contents were never publicly disclosed, but the access record was restricted to a handful of people."

Adrian’s expression changed. "Who had access?"

"The family. A few senior staff members. And anyone who knew the system existed. Dante knew about it."

Christian’s gaze sharpened.

Emilia barely heard them.

Her father had given her the necklace when she was seven.

"Do you still have it?" Adrian asked.

Emilia nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Can someone retrieve it?"

"I can tell your men where to look. Mum kept the box on the lower shelves, behind the old storage cabinets."

Christian immediately turned to the security chief.

"Have someone retrieve it. Two people, no unnecessary stops. Photograph it before it leaves the house and keep it in a secure case."

The man nodded and began issuing instructions.

Adrian looked at Emilia.

She shook her head. "He won’t release Mum without it." Her jaw tightened.

Adrian studied her for a moment before nodding. They had less than an hour.

And now they had a much better idea of why Dante had chosen that particular object.