CHAPTER 2: THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
Emma stared at the message as the car rolled through the rain-soaked streets of Manhattan.
Mrs. Weston, your jet is ready.
She almost deleted it.
Almost.
Then another message arrived.
This one included a name.
Margaret Hayes.
Emma froze.
She knew that name.
Margaret Hayes had been her grandmother's closest friend before she passed away. A woman worth hundreds of millions who had disappeared from public life years earlier.
Before Emma could react, the phone rang.
"Emma?" an elderly voice asked.
"Margaret?"
"My dear, I've waited long enough."
Emma's throat tightened.
"What are you talking about?"
"I promised your grandmother I would help you if you ever needed a way out."
Tears filled Emma's eyes.
For the first time that night, someone sounded like they cared.
Margaret continued.
"The jet is yours. No strings attached. Go somewhere safe."
Emma looked back at the glowing skyline.
At the city where she had lost herself.
Then she made her choice.
"Take me to the airport."
Thirty minutes later, the private jet lifted into the night sky.
And by the time Andrew Weston returned to the penthouse, his wife was already gone.
The divorce papers waited on his desk.
At first he laughed.
Then he called her.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
By midnight his confidence had begun to crack.
By morning he was panicking.
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Because Emma Weston had vanished without a trace.
And suddenly the woman he had ignored for years was the only person he could think about.
