Chapter 271.

The necklace arrived twenty minutes later.

It looked exactly as Emilia remembered it.

A fine chain. A small pendant, with the letter B engraved on the front. She held it in her palm, turning it over beneath the harsh lights of the operations room.

It was difficult to reconcile the unremarkable object with the reaction it had provoked.

Adrian stood beside her. "Whenever you’re ready."

Emilia nodded.

"I remember wearing it to school when I was little. Mum used to fasten it for me because the clasp was difficult."

She closed her fingers around the pendant. "I don’t understand why Dad gave it to me."

"Whatever his reason was, we can investigate it later. Right now, we need to focus on your mother."

She looked at him.

Her father had never been a man who made things simple for anyone else. When she was younger, he loved her but she knew better.

Adrian brushed his thumb over her knuckles.

"You stay close to me until we reach the property. When we get there, we assess the situation before making any decisions."

She nodded. "And Emilia?"

She looked up.

"If something feels wrong, you tell me. Don’t convince yourself you have to handle it."

A faint, humourless smile touched her mouth. "I think we’ve established that I have a terrible habit of doing exactly that."

"You have." Adrian leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Then he took her hand, and they left.

........

The address led them to a detached house beyond the busier parts of the city.

It stood behind a high wall, set back from the road. The windows were dark, and the surrounding grounds looked neglected. There were no obvious signs of activity, no parked cars, and no one standing outside to greet them.

The kind of place a person could pass without giving it a second glance.

The security team had already positioned themselves nearby, out of sight.

Adrian received a brief update through his earpiece while Emilia sat beside him in the car, the necklace clenched in her hand.

"Two possible exits at the rear," he murmured. "No movement visible from the front. We’re waiting for confirmation on the other side."

Emilia looked at the house. "Do you think she’s inside?"

"We can’t see through the windows yet. They are tainted."

She swallowed. "Do you think he’s inside?"

Adrian turned towards her. "Probably."

The answer made her stomach twist.

For years, she’d wondered what it would feel like to stand in front of her again if he suddenly rose from the dead, and told her his death was a prank.

She hadn’t imagined sitting in a car, holding a necklace he had given her as a child, wondering whether her mother was chained up somewhere inside.

Adrian took the necklace from her long enough to examine the clasp.

Then he placed it back in her palm.

"Remember what we discussed. You’re not going to make decisions because he frightens you into making them."

Emilia nodded.

"And you don’t have to prove anything to him."

"I know."

He held her gaze for another moment.

Then the security chief’s voice came through the earpiece.

"Rear perimeter is covered. No visible movement. We have eyes on the surrounding streets."

Adrian looked at Emilia.

"If you see your mother, don’t assume the room is safe just because she’s there. Look around. Look for anything unusual. And if you see Dante—"

"I know."

He paused. "I needed to say it."

Her expression softened. "I know."

Adrian drew her into a brief embrace, pressing his lips to her temple. Then he opened the car door.

They approached the property together.

At the entrance, Adrian stopped.

The front door was unlocked. That unsettled him more than a locked one would have.

He glanced towards the surrounding windows, then at Emilia. "Stay behind me."

She did.

He pushed the door open.

The house smelled of dust and damp wood. A narrow hallway stretched ahead, leading towards a staircase. There was no furniture in the immediate space, only bare walls and a faint light coming from somewhere deeper inside.

"Selena?" Adrian called.

Emilia’s heart hammered against her ribs.

They moved further inside. Then they heard something.

A faint metallic scrape.

Emilia stopped.

Adrian’s hand closed around hers. Another scrape came from somewhere ahead. They followed the sound towards the staircase.

And then Emilia saw her.

"Mum?"

The word escaped before she could stop it.

Selena was sitting on the floor at the foot of the staircase, her wrists secured with chains that had been fastened around one of the wooden posts. Her clothes were rumpled, her hair dishevelled, and there was a bruise along her cheek.

For one terrible second, Emilia couldn’t move.

Then she saw her mother’s head lift.

"Baby?"

Her voice was hoarse.

Emilia’s eyes filled immediately. "Mum."

She took a step forward.

Adrian’s hand tightened around hers, but she gently slipped free.

"Emilia," he warned quietly.

She looked back at him. "I have to."

He searched her face, then glanced towards the staircase and the dark hallway beyond it.

"Carefully."

Emilia nodded.

She began moving towards her mother, one slow step at a time.

The necklace was still in her hand.

Every instinct told her to run, to drop to her knees beside Selena and wrap her arms around her, to make sure she was alive and breathing and real.

But something about the silence unsettled her.

The house was too quiet.

She glanced towards the open doorway behind them, then at the dark space beneath the staircase.

"Adrian, leave. He wants me alone."

"No_"

"Stand at the front door." She desperately pleaded. "I’ll scream if I need you."

Adriand pulled her into his arm one more time. "Are you all positioned?" He asked his team.

They gave him a positive feedback. He kissed the crown of Emilia’s head one last time, and left through the front door.

Nothing moved aftet he left.

"Mum, are you hurt?"

Selena tried to shift closer to her, but the chains rattled.

"Emilia, don’t—"

A sound came from behind her.

A footstep.

Emilia froze.

She knew that sound.

She had spent years trying not to remember the particular weight of his footsteps, the rhythm of them approaching a room, and the smike that speard across her face before she see his face.

Slowly, she turned.

Dante stood at the foot of the hallway.

Alive.

For a moment, Emilia couldn’t breathe.

The man she’d spent so long fearing, grieving, and trying to escape from was standing in front of her as though he had never left.

Her eyes widened.

The necklace slipped slightly in her palm.

All the colour drained from her face.

She stared at him, unable to reconcile the sight before her with everything she’d believed about his death.

Dante looked at her. Then he smiled. "Hello, my lovely princess."